2007 Jul to Nov Updates - then flew to Changsha for a work trip.
22 Nov 2007 - Good day out
With our fishing confidence buoyed by the previous day's catch, Dave, Alex and me went for another afternoon trip. And this time, I went over to Gina's at Changi Village and individually selected each prawn. And I made sure I had enough prawns.
By midday, we were at the selar jigging grounds cos Alex was keen on some Selars. Indeed we caught a whole bagful of Selars and Kunings in about an hour. And now it was time for proper fishing.
First we tried the MJ Reef, hoping for some Mangrove Jacks, but only some small fish obliged. I did land a Parrotfish and a Timun though. We moved around quite a bit but still the bite rate was not that impressive till we reached Reef 47 (quite near reef 40 from the previous day). The moment I let down my line, the bait was taken even before it had hit bottom. The fish was strong and I knew we had hit jackpot for the day. A big Timun was landed and then a Tanda (Russell's Snapper). The thing about the Tanda at this spot was that each Tanda was BIG!! This was not normal for local waters. These Tanda looked like the ones we caught at Rompin or Eastern Banks. Monster Tanda! Soon, Dave and Alex were all onto good fish and triple hookups were the order of the day.
Check out the size of these two Snappers. One is a Russell's Snapper and the other is a Spanish Flag Snapper
As we landed fish after fish, mostly Snappers of various sorts, I started commenting aloud that we should be getting some variety such as Sagai (Trevally), and true enough, Alex was soon into a strong pulling fish and he said 'Sagai' even before landing the fish. And yes, when we finally saw the fish, it was nice.
Then I was thinking to myself that it was about time to land some Coral Trout since the bait was running out, and then WHAM! A strong fish hit my bait and I was fighting a real brawler of a Coral Trout. Dave knew that I was fighting a Coral Trout when he saw me using some strength to fight the fish to boatside, and when I got the fish into the boat, the feeling was SHIOK! And to add icing to the cake, Dave soon landed another Coral Trout! That's 2 Ang Gao within minutes of each other!
Check out this beauty! Coral Trout
Here's a pair of beautiful Ang Gao to top off the catch
This time we caught much more than the previous day, with great variety too! There were Tanda, Timun, Waigeu Perch, Sweetlip, Parrot, Coral Trouts, Queenfish, Sagai and Bream. And by 5pm, it was time to call it a day. Every last bit of bait was used up, and we even tried Selar as bait but the fish decided to call it a day too, so we zoomed back, washed the boat, and split the fish among us.
Guess we don't have to buy fish for quite a while.
I'd have to say this trip was above average! Real good fun! Will try again next week.
21 Nov 2007 - long time no see
This marked my first trip out to sea for a proper fishing trip in about 4 weeks, and boy, were the fish hungry!
Richard, Dave, Alex and me met up at around 1pm for our short afternoon trip at the boatyard. By 2pm, the boat was over Deephole2 when the action began with 2 good sized Spanish Flag Snappers (Timun), yet the action was not fast enough, so we shifted about till we reached Reef 40. That's when most of the action took place.
Now here's a solid Timun! Good eating fish
We kept landing a good variety of fish in quick succession. These were mostly Timun, with some Parrotfish, Sweetlip and Bream. Occasionally there would be a strong pull and the first Scarlet Breasted Maori Wrasse was landed by Dave, and then I had one on my line that was really strong but as I was lifting the fish into the boat, the hook pulled and the fish fell back into the water. So sad... I saw it swimming away into the depths.
Anyway, not to be defeated so easily, I threw my line to the same spot and voila! A heavy fish was on the line and I knew what fish this was. True enough, after a nice brief fight, a beautiful Scarlet Breasted Maori Wrasse (SBM Wrasse), a cousin of the Soumei, surfaced and was promptly landed. Hooray! I have to admit that's the first SBM Wrasse I've landed in Singapore. (Caught a number of them at Merimbula in Australia a few years back and I'll never forget such a beautiful fish.) Well, seeing one in Singapore was a good sign!
Here are two of the beautiful SBM Wrasse
You want to know how the SBM Wrasse tastes like? See the picture below.
I got my maid to cook this the moment I reached home, and it was eaten in minutes
Anyway, we caught some nice fish, and ran out of bait quite quickly (didn't buy enough I think) but we headed back to the boat yard around 5pm with smiling faces. I guess the catch was not too bad for a short trip.
Notice the 3 SBM Wrasse? Yes, Dave caught another one
A standard catch for a short trip to the reefs
10 Nov 2007 - Saturday outing with the family -
Upon special request from my captain, I am now writing my first fishing report.
On this fine Saturday, my personal pawang decided to take the family out for a day of fun at a fren's private pond. While the 2 kids fed rabbits and geese nearby, my pawang and I were kneading gardenia bread into balls and ground-baiting the area. We had a competition to see who can throw the furthest. Of cos my man beat me.. but by a little bit only lah.
First catch was a rather large tilapia, caught by my younger daughter who got sick of feeding the geese. Then, to everyone's surprise, Conrad put a huge hook through the fish and flung the poor guy to the centre of the pond. My maid was still mumbling "so big, catch what?" when suddenly the rod bent and Conrad's white marker started swimming away swiftly.
Of cos he got so excited and struck and got the bugger hooked. "Big fish!" he kept yelling. All of us crowded around, and were thrilled to see a giant toman thrashing near the surface of the water.I could hear Conrad's drag screaming everytime the fish ran. So, we got the fish. Here it is.
Princess and the Pea, plus Big Fish
Next I got a little bit bored and decided to start a bread frisbee competition. This time I won, hands down haha. That guy has no technique, just brute strength. Or maybe he purposely let me win lah. Or else tonight he will get it haha.
After a while I caught a huge sucker fish. I was quite upset with the grotesque looking thing hanging on my line. But my pawang just knew the correct words to say. That guy is a real smooth talker man. He said "Hey, it's a really good quality sucker fish. It's a Plecostomus!" (Of cos I din spell this by myself) "It will be really useful in our pond. The pond needs a sucker fish of this size."
Ok, that did it. I was in a good mood again. Then I thought I can return the favour by praying for another big fish for my hubby. True enough, not very long after, Con's rod bent and he was yelling away as usual. See the next catch. Con said it's a good quality catfish. Sounds so familiar.
Nice Patin ya?
Soon after that, we happily left for home. Both toman and patin were safely released back to the pond. Sucker fish made its way back to our pond. It seems very happy cleaning our pond.
THE END
27 Sep 2007 - finally a chance to do my monthly updating. You know the saying..."If the fish are biting, what the hell are you doing on the computer?!!"...
I've been really busy the last few weeks, fishing and buying another boat (yes, now I run 2 boats), moving house, eating quality fish, buying goldfish, etc. But the answer is YES, I've been fishing and getting good catches, and that's why I haven't got the time to update till now. I'll dump the pictures in first and tell the stories if I can find the time soon.
Tekong produced a good number of Kim Chew (Fairprice calls it a Golden Pomfret but it's actually a Permit)
The Northern Waters are still productive, where two separate trips produced good variety and a school of Kim Chew probably swam in for the month to take cover... landing a number of those recently.
I was talking on the phone when this Queenfish bit and almost dragged my rod into the water together, and I almost lost my handphone too. Tried to release him but he died.
The Kim Chew are still around apparently, and the Northern shallow waters off Tekong, facing Pengarang, are producing them in good numbers. I might head there this Saturday again.
Of course I tried my new boat out at the Southern Islands. Even without the canopy, we braved the elements and were rewarded for our efforts. The fish in the South are mostly reef dwellers, and I think they are more abundant than in the North, so now I know I can focus on Barramundi in the North.
Here Kings shows a typical Spanish Flag Snapper - Timun - plentiful in Southern Waters, and good-eating too
When Kings wants a ray for BBQ, he gets a ray with his new-found super ray bait technique
Of course I've saved the best for last. In the latest two consecutive trips, very nice Coral Trout were landed. I think I know where they live now, and the season is about to begin.
Here's the first one landed on the new boat. How's this for a 2 kilo Coral Trout?
Basically, when the water is good, the catch can be really nice. An average catch of ten Snappers and plenty of Garoupas and Parrotfish is not rare. Now I've really got fish to last a month!!
Here's a sneak peek into my ice-box... basically quality stuff!!
Here's Fishing Expert Dave, Kho and me with some samples of fine fish on our most recent trip. Note: here's another, smaller, coral trout, smaller than the one caught the previous week (the one in the previous picture), but still great!
VERDICT: The fish are out biting in the North and the South! What are you doing on the Internet???
30 July 2007 - really short trip to cure the fishing itch ...
once again, the four letter word prevented me from fishing the last two Saturdays, my designated fishing days -- WORK. So on a hectic Monday, when Mr MCKing smsed me to go fishing after work, I said "sure".
After knocking off at 3.25pm, we met at the boatel around 3.45pm but had to wait for Ahmad to shift some boats around before I could pump petrol. Still, by 4.20pm we were zooming to Aunty's farm for 300g of live prawns. Had to be back by 5pm cos the boatel closed at that time on Mondays, so we tried to zoom to the GT spot but suddenly my engine cut off by itself. This went on for a while and, on a hunch, I switched my petrol tanks, and we were on our way again. Though we could only put in about 40 minutes of effective fishing, in the words of MCKing,"It sure feels good to be out at sea on a weekday!"
Okay, at the spot, I started tying my rigs and we soon baited up and let our lines down... shiok feeling man! The anticipation of a fish striking our baits just took away all the stress of the previous 2 weeks. Don't you just love fishing? No fish , no problem.
So, we waited, trying out different tactics, and then I just HAD to receive a work related call. In the middle of my conversation, MCKing suddenly struck and a huge bend formed in his rod, and I didn't really pay attention to the poor chap on the phone, while helping to land a healthy Golden Snapper.
"Wow! That's a nice fish! Hmmm... was I on the phone?" I sort of remembered being on the phone, haha... priorities sorted out.
I had to pose with the fish for obvious reasons
Straight after landing the fish, we zoomed back to the boatel as fast as we could and managed to get the guy just before he closed the gate. Phew! Gave the boat a rinse and MCKing was nice to invite me over for a fresh fish dinner, but Monday was dinner at my mum's so I had to give it a miss, maybe Saturday man!
Anyway, in view of recent events, I really couldn't help reflecting on this: life's really too short, so if there's anything you'd like to do, do it. (before it's too late). Things like family, personal passions like fishing... hey , these are the serious things in life! So if anyone asks me to go fishing on a whim, my fishing rod is ALWAYS in the car.
Though I caught nothing this time around, this super short trip really felt like GOOD MEDICINE for me.
14 July 2007 - short afternoon trip with Kho -
after running some errands in the morning, I finally found myself free in the afternoon, so by 2pm, Kho and me were zooming out to try to land a biggie.
At the sandy spot, all we landed were Sharks and Puffers, and of course Catfish, so we made a quick move. I tried to go to some deep reefs, but the wind was really strong and proper anchoring was almost impossible with the current going against the wind at the spot, so I had to go to a shallow reef.
That was not a bad decision. When we let down our lines, there was some light action and I caught a small Coral Snapper which was promptly released... it was a good sign of a healthy reef. True enough, a short while later, while I was filling myself with delicious Otah and Tuna buns (thanks to Kho), my thick rod took a MONSTER BEND!!! And got me scrambling and injuring a toe and bleeding... but I didn't even notice until after the fight. The fight was strong, even on heavy gear, but the fish once again turned out to be smaller than expected, yet the fight was extraordinary. You guessed right! I managed to land another decent Giant Trevally! Lovely powerful fish.
Here's a small but turbo-charged GT... have you tangled with any of these?
Then, while we were talking about getting a fish with colour (like a Reddie), my light rod took a dip and a good fight was on! Good drag pulling and heavy headshakes were providing great entertainment, and after a nice fight, a bright red shape came out of the deep. It was indeed a BIG RED! Hooray!
Lovely fish, lovely fight... oh the joy of fishing!
Of course, the weather started turning bad and after three hours of fishing in choppy waters, we made the decision to head back to shore instead of facing the storm. We'll be back!
Aha... on Sunday 15 July I made a short trip... to Jade Palace restaurant and ate a delicious Alaskan King Crab... the deadliest catch! It was yummy!
If only we could catch these .... haha... only the head left after we were done with the long legs
7 July 2007 - bad water conditions...
The water was bad today, just after a heavy downpour, and the low salinity level was obvious in the kind of fish that were being landed. Yet, when I moved to the outer reefs, I still managed a beautiful Parrot Fish, and good size too!
Of course we landed some other small stuff, but on the whole, besides a strong drag-puller lost by Kings and a gigantic fish that jumped near the boat, busting Gerald's rig in the process and giving everyone rapid heartbeats... the action was not as good as we hoped. Well, still fun to be out at sea.
2 July 2007 - CnR pond fun
Just for fun, Matt, Terrance and me went to a CnR pond to kill time and enjoy some big fish fight. I used my tiny Shimano Slade with 4 pound line, together with my thin telescopic rod, and had a pretty fun time.
We started off trying several different baits from Goldfish, to Bread, to stinky leftover bait from the previous anglers. And finally, after quite a long while of trial and error, we found the secret combination (won't spoil your fun by revealing the secret bait). And Matt opened accounts with a really fat Pacu.
Then I got my Pacu.
Here's one fat Pacu set for release
In fact, we started landing quite a fair bit of Pacus and I was hoping for a different fish when I suggested that the next person to catch a fish would buy the rest a beer. All agreed and after a short moment, my rod took a huge bend and a big fish cleared the water at the opposite side of the pond. It was a big freshwater Barramundi. It provided good fight on light line and was soon landed for pics and released after I managed to revive the fella.
Here's a nice big Freshwater Barramundi set for release
While enjoying the beer, Matt was still complaining that his one Pacu was worth $50. Nevertheless, Terrance and me landed more Pacus. And finally I said I wanted more variety when I had another nice pull and landed a Patin.
Here's a Patin for variety
Soon, I had caught and released enough fish so I wanted to go back, after one last fish of course, and a big Pacu obliged. But during my fight, I noticed that Terrance had hooked up into a really large fish that was hugging the other end of the pond. This was the ONE! The giant Mekong (or Chao Praya?) Catfish was finally here.
After a very long fight, I finally helped Terrance land the big bugger and we took pics with the fish before it was safely released.
Huge Catfish... and this is still a small one compared to those found in the Mekong Delta. Still a good way to end the trip.
After that, we had a nice meal at Punggol and I bought some succulent durians home. Yum Yum. Overall, the CnR pond can be considered a fun place to tangle with big fish, and I'll probably be back again.
