Byline: Al S. Mendoza

I LOST my first fight with a dorado. No alibis. I lost fair and square.

A dorado is tough. Found mostly in the Pacific Ocean, dorado is one of the costliest fish in Hawaii. In the United States, it's a premium fish. It's almost as expensive as rock lobster or Angus beef.

"It's one of the most delicious in the world," said Vic Vic Villavicencio of dorado. "It's one of my favorites, really."

In my first encounter with a dorado, I was knocked down cold. After it had bitten the bait, my dorado fought back fiercely. It didn't take two minutes before I lost the bout. I guess after the debacle, San Vicente, a scenic patch of Pacific Ocean water off Sta. Ana in Cagayan, laughed at me.

"Welcome to trawling, the ultimate in sport fishing," said Rey Buencamino, president of the Philippine Game Fishing Foundation. Rey is presently defending his angler of the year title.

Before surrendering, my right arm hardened, my left shoulder grew stiff, my knees weakened. It was as if the rod and reel had caved in on me.

Sol Juvida, that eagle-eyed professor of literary journalism at UP-Diliman who was with us in the 30-foot banca, asked: "How heavy was the fish?"

It weighed like a sack of rice (50 kilos).

Rey laughed. My dorado maybe weighed only seven kilos.

"You weren't relaxed," said Rey, my teacher at sea. "You were very tense."

Right he was.

I wasn't breathing normally. I wasn't focused. I didn't have the right frame of mind. I charged it to rookie jitters.

When I went back the next morning to fish again, it was with a vengeance.

That should be a story worth telling.

Just hang in there.

***

PUBLIC SERVICE. Jun Velasco of the Bulletin who edits the NPC Digest of the National Press Club, called to say he is running for NPC director. I will vote for him on May 5 not because he is my kumpadre but because he has an excellent record of community leadership; he has been a topnotch, multi-awarded community journalist for almost three decades now. His being an activist during martial law has made him a reasonable and a principled person. Poets are like that because Jun, like his brother Dante, is also a poet of note. The NPC will benefit from him.

Not only my fellow journalist Jing Cardinoza has invited me to the Dagupan Pistay's Dayat celebration tomorrow but also that humble businessman Charlie Ngo and my high schoolmate Teody Lalas. Charlie, the amiable owner of the spic and span Star Plaza Hotel, said Dagupan would bid for the Guinness World Record of producing the longest array of grilled fish-about 1,000 bangus. The grilling starts at 6 p.m. today along A.B. Fernandez Avenue in Dagupan City. I really don't know what to do as I have pressing commitments in Manila. Let's just keep our fingers crossed, buddies?

Many thanks for remembering, anyways. And yes, let's go for the record, fellas.

Byline: Vic Vic Villavicencio

THE BIG game fishing season opened recently (April 12-14) with the Amado Dy-sponsored fishing tournament in San Vicente, Cagayan. For the serious big game angler, veterans and aspiring ones alike, all roads will lead to the PGFF Fishing Camp in Barangay Santa Ana where one finds the kilometer post in the Northern Luzon highway system.

For these guys, no distance is so great they will not find a way to get there. By plane to Tuguegarao as the first leg of the trip, then by land to San Vicente, or over 10 hours by land, these are just means to an end-great fishing, as the last tournament proved. For sailfish, maybe even a marlin or two, dorado, barracuda, jacks....

The PGFF maintains a number of outrigger bancas at the camp for members and guests, and there are more available from local fishermen. But don't be surprised if along the way you pass a 4x4 pulling a trailer with a Boston whaler or a similar craft on it. That is surely one of the increasing number of anglers who like the convenience of fishing on their very own boats.

That San Vicente, Cagayan is the billfishing capital of the Philippines can no longer be denied. From personal experience, we can say that the chances of landing a marlin in San Vicente are even better than in Kona, Hawaii, and next only to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. My informal finding: one every five days in Kona; one every day in the Great Barrier Reef; and one every three days in Cagayan. That is something tourism promotion officials might like to consider.

And now we would like to pay tribute to the sponsor of the forthcoming fishing tournament- Amado A. Dy.

Sportsman of the unquestionable caliber, Amado is a well-rounded angler who has fished with the best of them at some of the most prestigious fishing spots all over the world, including Asia, Hawaii, and Australia. And yet he can also be seen in Caliraya, or Calatagan, and even the hito pond of Nayong Pilipino casting a line, or simply enjoying the company of those who share his passion for the fishing sport.

We hope the present crop of anglers realize that there is no bigger patron of sport fishing today than Amado. He shows this in countless ways. But none more evident than during the annual year-end get-together of anglers when he gives away half a dozen gift certificates of entry fees to any of the monthly PGFF tournaments -at the recipient's choice! As if that was not enough, he also sponsors participation in the annual Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT) for whoever wins the PGFF Angler of the Year title.

With benefactors like Amado A. Dy around, we can all look forward to many, many happy fishing days.