Oct to Dec 2006 - Barras and Pond fishing

2006 Oct to Dec Archives... Some NICE BARRA

The last days of 2006... 

were spent fishing. Most were short trips. The weather was wet all the way and I knew the fish were not going to be in a hungry mood, but I still went fishing anyway. I think it's the expectation of catching a fish that makes fishing so fun.

  On 26th Dec, I brought my kids to the Punggol pond, but it was raining the whole time, and we caught nothing. In fact, many there caught nothing, and when the guy lifted the net, he had to scoop up more than 40 dead or dying fishes from his nets. Poor chap. 

My kids having some fun waiting for the bite that never came, but they had fun anyway

Then on 28 Dec, despite the rain, I launched the boat and fished for 2 hours in water that looked like milo. But I saw some action in an Ubin river, where I got some good bites, but lost the fish to the snags. These rivers are hard to fish man, especially in the rain. 

Here I am in the rain, trying to coax my fish out of the snag, but to no avail, my line snapped eventually

But the next day, 29 Dec, was better. The rain finally stopped! So even though I had a meeting till 3.30pm, I launched the boat with my guest angler, the notorious INVISIBLE MAN (actually this guy was on MC, hahaha...), and we had a great time pulling in the hungry fish in one hour of fishing. 

Here's a small ray I landed, just right for a small family's sambal ray dinner

For obvious reasons, the invisible man couldn't appear on camera, so I had to pose with two of his fat grunters (we caught more than that, of course). 

It was constant action the moment we dropped anchor, I guess the fish were hungry after so many days of rain

So we ended 2006 on a high at least. I actually started 2007 on a high too! With a short family trip, we all landed some stuff. Here's the 1 Jan 2007 customary trip, and I'm holding up a grunter while my youngest kid plays with a Croaker. 

The family came on board, and caught some stuff too!

I fished again on 6 Jan 2007, but I'll leave the story till the next time I get my hands on a laptop. Happy New Year!!!

14 Dec 2006 - 10 minutes of fishing while on holiday

- Haha... I'm actually on a short holiday on an offshore island. Brought my small telescopic rod and a few lures, so I just popped out of my hotel room after dinner, made a few casts, and caught a GAROUPA!!! Took some pics and threw it back.

The horizontal angler was present watching me cast my lure and he suggested casting on my left, and that's when I caught the garoupa, using an 8cm pink nilsmaster invincible. 

How's this for a quick Garoupa???


Btw, made a memorable first hole in one on Saturday 9 Dec 2006. OK, better go back to my holiday...

2 Dec 2006 - Monsoon Season? Bite Window getting smaller?... The Day of the Monster Fish!!!

Out for a full session of fishing today with Norman, John, Philip and Chng.
The bite window was going to be small today cos of the mono-directional outflowing current, so I tried hitting the Barra zone early, but was a little too late.

Bites were indeed slower, partially due to poor tide conditions and poor weather the last few weeks (too much rain). Anyway, I lost a few good bites, strong takes, and caught a few small fish at the first spot when Norman struck into what was to be the best fish of the day... a healthy one kilo Barramundi -- his first wild Kim. 

Norman and (the late)John with a Beautiful Barra

Anyway, we shifted around quite a bit but found the going slow, until the Mud Channel provided some entertainment when I landed a Malabar Red Snapper and a decent Garoupa.

But Philip was going to encounter... MONSTER!!! As soon as I landed 2 sting rays, and John added another ray, Philip's drag started screaming at high speed!!! Fish on? Or was it a speedboat?

Seeing this happen before, we immediately upped the lines and I proceeded to follow the boat around in order to save Philip from getting spooled out. We could already see the metal at the base of his spool.

Finally, we slowly caught up with the submarine and Philip started retrieving line. Unfortunately, after the fish turned and ran again, the line snapped. Sigh... it turned out that Philip had tightened his drag to the max until no line could come out. It was his first time fighting a big fish, he said, and he didn't know that the drag was supposed to allow the fish to run. Sigh... I guess we all have first times. If his drag setting had been ok, we could have chased the fish with the boat till it tired itself out, but nevermind, I guess we'll have to target the monster another day. And Philip can tell his family about the BIG ONE THAT GOT AWAY.

Poor catch, but quality fish at least 

After this encounter with a Spooler Outer, I think I'll go target these buggers during the next few weeks. Watch out for my report on the MONSTER of UBIN landed!!!

1 Dec 2006 - Short boat trip with Bren - Brendon passed his pleasure craft license recently, so he took leave and we decided to go fishing on the boat.

It turned out that Brendon's good feeling was right. At the first spot, we fed the fatboys till, as I expected, the Wild Saltwater Barra struck! My custom made Siakap Rod went into full bend as the Barra went for a run. Good speed too! After a few moments, I knew the fish was tiring as the fish surfaced near the boat. Beautiful Barramundi man!

Brendon helped with the landing and we spent a while admiring the fish. 

A good sized Barramundi for a family dinner!

Soon, we ran out of bait so we topped up the bait, caught a coupla insignificant fish, and then at Cliff Valley Brendon caught a healthy Estuary Cod.

We called it a day early cos we both had family duties. Another wild Barra for the record! Tomorrow going again. Yeah!

30 Nov 2006 - Freshwater and Pond escapades

- Did some small time pond fishing at Punggol with my younger one and landed a Mangrove Jack. Not much action there on Tues 28 Nov, but still fun for my kid. 

A young angler in the making? With a magnificent Mangrove Jack!

Today went with Bryan to do some lure fishing at a few freshwater locations and landed a few Peacock Bass, and lost a few too. Quite a fun morning. 

A nice Peacock Bass ready for release 

Tomorrow and Saturday will be doing boat fishing. Hope for a decent catch and fine weather.

Short November 2006 update


- Due to lots of golf, inclement weather, and lack of internet access cos I'm hardly in the office during Nov to Dec, here's a very brief update of my fishing activities.

Did lots of short morning trips to the reservoir to spin for Peacock Bass, went to a pay pond at Yishun and one at Punggol. (Both had plenty of fish that were relatively easy to catch. With good variety at the Yishun pond too.) 

Here's my younger daughter posing with another lure caught Peacock Bass... notice the metal spoon I'm using?

Like I said, the weather was quite bad, with fierce afternoon thunderstorms, so I spent some time checking out the Ulu parts of Singapore for land-based fishing. 

Landed a nice Malabar from one of our Northern Swampy locations, but I'm not going back there again!!! Plenty of sandflies. 

I also entered a fishing competition at Keppel Club, landed a 2.2kg toman which was no where near the winner's 6.5kg toman. But was glad to be there cos I managed to rekindle an old friendship with an old primary school friend Berlin, and he introduced me to another fishing fanatic Bryan. By the way, my friend Berlin was the overall champion for that competition, with the 6.5kg toman. 

Overall, the land-based fishing has produced some pleasant surprises, I even enjoyed an afternoon watching people swim for dazed fish at the Seletar Dam after the water was released... quite huge fishes actually surfaced cos they couldn't take the saltwater. Song He, Toman and Peacock Bass... what an interesting sight! 

Well, since the golf club's closed today, I think I'll go fishing now. Some boat trips coming up, stay tuned for the fishing reports... though I'm afraid the recent storms might have slowed down the bite. But a bad day of fishing still beats a good day at the office!!!! 

2 Nov and 4 Nov 2006 - Freshwater escape.

 For a change, and some variety, I decided to explore some freshwater spots since I had time to kill on Thursday (2nd Nov) morning. So I headed down to one of our legal reservoir spots with some lures to target Peacock Bass, but I didn't expect to be so successful.  

When I first arrived at the spot, I saw a sign reminding anglers that only artificial baits were allowed. No fears, I had my arsenal of lures ready, and so I tied on my trusty Hydrotiger and started casting...
and casting.... till my arms were a little tired, but still no take, so I walked down the path to another fishing section, and saw a little surface action. Still no fish showed interest in my lures, so it was time to change. 

I took out a metal spoon and cast, and with my second cast, which was a poor cast that didn't go far, a violent strike shook my whole rod the moment I moved the lure. FIGHT ON!!! 

There was a clear jump and flash of colour as a good sized Peacock Bass cleared the water. After a good fight, when the fish tried to snag me in the weeds on several occasions, I had the fish on dry land... what a nice fish! 

Peacock Bass can be pretty good fighters but from what I know, they're not really good eating, so I set about to release the fish, but a guy fishing beside me asked for the fish, so I gave it to him. 

The next few casts were also rewarded either with fish or good strikes and several misses. But I did manage to land at least 10 Peacock Bass (threw most of them back as they were tiddlers) but I managed another good sized one which was taken by the guy beside me again. 

Here's the two 'keepers' ... beautiful colours!
Introduced into local waters a few years ago, the Peacock Bass (from South America) appear to have taken over our waterways. They seem to be breeding in huge numbers too, judging by the number of tiddlers I landed. 

Many tiny ones like these were caught and released 


I had a fun time landing the Peacock Bass and gave Sunny a call, remembering that he wanted some Peacock Bass for his private pond, so we arranged for another trip on Saturday to catch Peacock Bass to stock his pond.

Before I left though, I spotted an angler landing a fat Soon Hock and couldn't resist taking a pic. 

Now THIS is what I call a nice eating fish... hard to catch on lures though, but definitely possible

Anyway, on Saturday (4 Nov), Sunny and Des (briefly joined by Wee Boon) came down around 7am to the spot and I showed them the artificial baits that worked best with Peacock Bass, and then the action began!

We didn't catch much at first, but a Japanese guy using a metal spoon started by landing a good-sized Peacock Bass, and gave it to Sunny. Then we all started landing Peacock Bass in various sizes, and I added another good-sized Peacock.

Des was fighting a nice Bass when it was suddenly attacked by a Toman near the shoreline, and the fish was bleeding badly when landed. That was exciting.

Anyway, soon the box was full of swimming Bass, and we headed down to Sunny's pond to release the fish. (And of course do some fishing)

The Bass were released, with some casualties of transportation, and some of the Bass immediately tasted the wrath of the resident Tomans, as huge splashes and injured fish were soon spotted around the pond.

We wasted no time catching Tilapias and using them as bait. Of course, Tim and Bob were there and several Patin and Rohu were landed, and I landed many Pink Tilapias and fought several BIG FISH!!! Most fish caught were released again, except those which floated up again soon after release.

Overall, fishing in freshwater provided a refrshing change from the usual boat fishing. And the action was good too! Screaming drags all the way! 

Here's one of the smaller Tomans which we tried to release after landing, but it didn't survive, sadly

28 Oct 2006 Sat with Norman, John and Chng.... 7 kilo Barra and Kuraus

 - Out for some serious fishing today, and rounded up the posse at Changi Village before heading out to sea. A great day lay ahead of us.

The first spot was the Cliff Valley and it pulled off some pleasant surprises. Almost immediately after anchoring, I let my line down in the very clear water and settled to eat my Chai Peng with Chicken Chop. I saw Ahmad and Old Man's Boat go past and we wished each other luck for the day.
Then the action began. After finishing my rice, I went to my rod, reeled up my line, checked the bait (all still alive) and cast my line towards the cliff edge...

WHAM!!! My line was running out and the rod was in a good bend. After a good fight, a decent Chior Lor (Javelin) came to the surface, and Norman netted the fish. That was a good start. So I rebaited and cast my line to the same spot.

BAM!!!! Another strong take and this time the fish was fast, changing directions frequently, and when I netted it, I was pleasantly surprised with a decent sized Threadfin Salmon (Kurau).

That's when everyone else got in on the action, with Chng landing several more Grunters and Chior Lors, and John landing Gelamas and Catfish (we were disturbing him about his luck the whole day). Then Norman had a strong tug and after a brief fight, he contributed with a table-sized Chior Lor.
'You're gonna get a Kurau next, just like me.' I said to him,'cos after I got my Chior Lor I got a Kurau...'

True enough, on his next cast, Norman had a good pull and pulled in a slightly smaller but still beautiful Threadfin. 

John shows what a good photographer he is by chopping off Chng's head in the photo... and half a Kurau

After catching so many fish that I lost count, I decided to change spot for some variety. So off we went to many different spots, and I found myself at Tekong, where 2 Garoupas and a Bream were landed on my Hongkong Hook method.

After more shifting a not much action, we finally reached Good Feeling. And the feeling was GOOD!!!! About 5 minutes after anchoring, I had a strong pull and fought a Barra around the 3 kilo mark to the side of the boat, then Norman's line got entangled with my line, and the fish jumped out of the water before shaking off my hook. Well, at least we all got to see the fish, right?

Chng was inspired, so he dropped his line straight down, like mine and soon he was into the fight of his life!!! As he sat there, he felt a slight tug at his rod, and he was telling us to look at his rod tip. Then....

ZZZZZZZZAAAAAAGGGGGGGG!!!!! His rod bent almost to breaking point and his line started screaming out of his reel at amazing speed. This was a huge fish!!!

Norman thought he could be helpful this time and he promptly tightened Chng's drag, thinking that Chng's drag was too loose... and Chng's line almost snapped!!! As the fish was still taking line at maximum drag setting. Fortunately, Chng had the experience and presence of mind to loosen his drag a little so that the hooks wouldn't straighten. He has caught his fair share of big fish before anyway.
SO.... the fight was long, and Chng was pumping the fish in whenever the fish stopped pulling drag, and then, after a good 5 minutes, a huge white shape became visible below the boat.

'WOW!!! What's that?' exclaimed John as the fish came up to the surface.

It was the biggest Barra any of them had ever seen!! (Of course, I've seen many of them before, some even bigger, see my 10 kg Barra pic?) But it still looked beautiful to me. Norman soon had the head of the fish in the landing net and attempted to lift the fish, but he had some trouble cos the fish was so big. Nevertheless, with some help from John, they got the fish into the boat.

'That's the biggest proper fish I've ever caught!!!' shouted Chng. (He has caught big rays and shovelnose rays before, but never a proper scaled fish like this!!!)

We gave high fives all around, and took several pics with the fish. I took out my brass scales to weigh the fish. Chng said, ' 7 kg'... and he was spot on. The fish really weighed exactly 7 kg! Chng said ,'Of course I know, I had to carry that heavy thing while you were taking the photos!'
So here's Chng with the 7 Kilo Barra. 

A Barra this size weighs 7 kilos.

We caught a few more fish, I lost one more barra at boatside... sigh.... but at least I still had several good fish in the ice-box. Chng was definitely the champion of the day!!!
Great trip man!

24 Oct 2006 Tuesday - Mermaid Hunting

- Had to bring the family out on this Hari Raya holiday. Since my wife wanted to bring her friends onto the boat, I brought everyone out for a short cruise and some swimming at the offshore islands. And Bala got lucky with a mermaid. Haha.

First we visited the Aunty's farm, and admired the fish and seahorse. Chatted with Ah Seng (now the diamond man, but also the prawn man of changi) for a while, and he showed us the seahorses for research with NUS. 

Here's the whole gang at the farm 

Then we headed to some clear water area for a swim. I dropped the kids and the gals at Croakie's Island, and proceeded to fish with Bala and Pat in the channel.
Then Bala got lucky.... Ubin had a mermaid waiting for him!!! 

The mermaid takes the bait





Bala helps mermaid Jo out of the water

Then mermaid Jo starts fishing and see what she catches? 

Vegetarian fish 

On the whole, just a fun trip. No mermaids were harmed during the trip, and no fish were caught.

21 Oct 2006 - Saturday land-based fishing

My maid had to fly back to Indonesia today so I sent her to the airport at noon. Then I realized I had a little time left for fishing, and Des suggested a spot in Yishun, so we were soon on the long dirt track in Yishun heading for a swampy area with a pond.

Using live prawns and a float, I had an almost instant strike that left me shocked! The fish just ran and my tight drag couldn't stop it... and then my line went limp. After I wound up the line, I saw that my hook had straightened!!!

After that shock, we both experienced a moment of no bites, and then Des was called by his Home Affairs Minister... 'Oi, your son has woken up and is looking for you...' So off to home Des went, and I'm alone.

Then I cast my line again, and immediately saw a barra strike my bait (the water was so clear), but i missed it. And rebaited, then a huge fish swiped my bait from just 3 metres in front of me, and the fight was on. BIG FISH!!! Turned out to be a big Golden Snapper around 2 kilos. Cast again and got a second one. Both fought hard.

Here's the catch... from the Yishun Pond. 

  2 golden Snappers pose with my slipper... both above 2 kilos... a break from boat fishing?

14 Oct 2006 - Saturday... from bad to good

- Gerald, Hansel, David, Daryl and Kuanwai came on board for some fishing fun (which almost didn't materialize).

After meeting at Gina's to get bait and food, we went to the boatel and tried to launch the boat.

Problem One

The tilt motor was not working properly. So Tsang was quickly called in and his experience showed as he solved the connection problem in minutes. Problem solved.

So we headed to Coney Island for our first spot, and just shortly after anchoring, I took out my chap chai peng and started to eat.

Problem Two

Immediately, I saw an MPA boat headed our direction from a distance, but I continued eating. Then the guy came closer, and I knew trouble was afoot. Sure enough, the MPA guy came out and checked my license and even asked about my lifejackets, and he warned me not to fish in this area because it was in the shipping channel. I was even invited on boat the MPA boat to see his chart, which apparently showed that EVERY spot on this side of the channel was IN the channel, even if I was fishing from THE SHORE. (I decided not to point this out to the MPA guy, and it was the right decision, as he let me off with only a stern warning... phew, no fine.) Problem solved, I'm never gonna stray into problem areas again!!!

Those turned out to be blessings in disguise, because I was forced to move to several of my old spots for the rest of the day. One of the old spots, the Cliff, was firing up.

Gerald was the first one into a nice garoupa, and we were glad the accounts were opened. 

WATCH THE BEND!!! 



A healthy Garoupa

We caught some other stuff, then moved to Ketam, where the fish were really biting! Kuanwai cast away from the boat and landed a Ketam Barramundi. Then I had a heavy pull and it turned out to be TWO fish on one line. Both were quality fish. In one minute, we had a Barra, a Snapper and a Garoupa (the three Kings of Ubin).

A happy Kuan Wai with a wild Barramundi

A good double header of quality table-fare

We caught more stuff like Garoupas and other things, then decided to go for Grunter. So at the fast current zone, I rigged up for Grunter and was happily surprised with a hard pulling and beautiful Malabar Red Snapper. 

Quality Fish like this are wonderful 

And there was plenty of action as I moved around the zone, catching FOGS(friends of Grunter) and finally the Grunter School arrived.

And within 5 minutes, I fought and landed two VERY STRONG drag-pulling grunters, fat ones too!!!

 

Have you tangled with any of these? Strong fish man!!!!

After several more grunters and stuff, we headed back... around twenty good fish were caught. Looks like the bad day turned good in the end, and it still beats the office. 

Here's some of what we caught, gave the FOGs to the tractor man's wife... she was so happy