Went out for a short jigging trip with Kings and Bryan. Reached the spot around 2pm and fished till around 5pm. We had plenty of action, with multiple hookups of Giant Trevallys from 3 - 6kg. The Queenfish were also everywhere and became quite a nuisance when we were trying to catch GTs and Longfin Trevally.
The highlight of the day was when I caught a Coral Trout, brought it home immediately, and steamed it for dinner.
Here's the Coral Trout steamed Hong Kong Style.
Basically, we caught and released many light game fish. All GTs (around 10 pieces) were released, so were all Queenfish (too many to count). Only kept the coral trout, two Goldspot Trevally and three Longfin Trevally. In terms of fighting ability, the GTs were clearly the strongest of the lot, with the Queens being the most acrobatic, and the others being pleasant surprises in between.
Here's a Longfin trevally we kept.
First Jig Caught GT
When we first hit the spot, I opened accounts with a Queen. Then Kings started the GT frenzy, with a nice big GT which was released after a few pics. Then I caught a small GT, but it was significant in that it was my first Metal Jigged GT. After that, everybody kept getting hooked onto either GTs or Queens - continuously.
Bryan with one of the larger specimens, promptly released.
The Queens were hitting anything we threw into the water, from stickbaits, to Sabiki, to metal jigs and Poppers.
It reached the point where we didn't even bother with the landing net and started using a pair of pliers to shake the fish off at boatside. Everything was rather chaotic, and Bryan didn't even get an opportunity to finish his lunch.
Here's one of two Goldspot Trevallys which showed up just before we left.
On the whole, this was a perfect trip. Wish there were more days like this. Here's a short video of me releasing a 5 kilo GT I landed after a good fight.
Kings caught a hard fighting Giant Trevally today. Released to fight another day.
Headed out around 1.30pm today and fished at the jigging zone for a while. The Queenfish were everywhere and we kept landing and releasing them, until Kings hooked up a stronger pulling fish and we knew it was a GT. He was secretly hoping for a Mack, haha. Anyway, all the fish we jigged up were released.
Did a few minutes of bottom fishing, landed three nice sized Cheng Yi (Parrotfish) and kept them for dinner. We were kept very busy today. Fish were jumping all around the boat. It was very exciting indeed. Here's a short clip of me releasing a Queen.
The weather was perfect today,and the kids wanted to go fishing again. Bryan joined in this time, and we had a late start, 800g of live prawns, and tried Lao Di Fang first. There were a few decent takes, but only one nice Garoupa and one Waigeu Sea Perch were landed, so we went to Good Feeling.
Bryan posing with the kids at the front of the boat.
Over there, the Barramundi were not as cooperative as before, but a few good Garoupa and a nice Golden Snapper joined us. Dylan landed a big Cuttlefish too, and that was the signal for lunch, at 3pm.
A simple catch for a short fishing trip
We zoomed off to the floating restaurant and had two of the Garoupas and the Cuttlefish for lunch. Yummy as usual. I think I could make this a habit. Simple Saturday fishing trips like this make the work week worth it. Next week, however, I'll probably go for some serious trips again.
Barras still common at Ubin. Kids still having fun.
I brought kids out fishing again at Ubin on Saturday and the Barramundi were still obliging. The sad part is that I lost a big Barra at boatside when it jumped and threw the hook. The good part is that we ate one other Barra at the floating restaurant and enjoyed the fresh mussels and calamari. Overall, an excellent trip. Heavy rain and strong winds kept us at the restaurant until dark when I could slowly make my way back to Punggol. Spent the next day cleaning the boat thoroughly.
Had a half day trip with Bryan at our new spot and the fish showed up as scheduled.
Armed with Cast Fighters (shhh... don't tell anyone how effective these lures are), Bryan and I went to our jigging hotspot and landed several BIG Longfin Trevally. Each was about the length of my proper blue ice-box, with some even longer. These fish fight hard and the Hunter Stick was given a good workout, together with my biceps and forearms. I was hoping to try out my new formula for Black Soybean Sauce with Leek and Onions and I did just that the next day. It was so delicious, I added this dish to my Home Menu.
Inspired by the Fried Black Pomfret with Black Soybeans, leek and onions I had a few days earlier, I did my own sauce for a fillet of Trevally and it turned out beautifully.
I was free early this morning so I did some luring, and managed to Catch and Release this young Peacock Bass.
Anyway, the new Jigging spot seems great so far. I'm sure there's more to come.
Went out with the kids on 13 Nov at Ubin, landed a few nice Kims and a big garoupa that didn't have a chance to get a proper pic before we ate it at the floating restaurant, haha.
The Kids waiting at the front of the boat
Waiting for the bites at the back of the boat
Hong Kong Steamed Garoupa
On the 12th we had a trip to the Southern Islands for some light jigging. Bryan contributed the pics and short write-up.
Nadine with her first ever GT. On a metal jig too.
Bryan with a 10 lb Giant Trevally - GT for short
Here's what Bryan wrote: Today's fishing started slow. Couple of groupers over what seemed ages while drifting. Then when we decided that the bite was too slow we shifted to some reefs and were all rewarded with specimens that were delivered on metal jigs. I was the first to score on a 10lber GT which delivered a blistering run which turned my spool hot, followed a double hook up of smaller about 5lber GT with Nadine. Totally stoked for her as it was her very first fish on jig. Kingsley too was not left out as he delivered a solid ebek on jig and finally to round off the day con took an ebek just over the kilo mark.
Bryan shows that it's all about the shorts
Kings makes the Hunter Stick Gang proud with a decent Ebek
Went out for a short trip with Kingsley. Intended to catch some Longfin Trevally (Sagai) but since Kings brought some balloons along, we ended up using most of our catch as bait for sharks. Had four solid hookups on 50 pound tackle, lost one possible Giant Garoupa which made it to the rocks, lost a monster that bit right through the 80 lb wire leader, lost another 5 footer which took the biggest Sagai bait, and landed the final 4 footer which we released after some pics. It was an enjoyable trip indeed, especially when the shark fever ended and we headed to the Best Spot.
Here's the Sagai we used as bait to hook up a five footer lost at boatside.
Here's what's left of it.
Here's a video of the fight with the smaller 4 footer we caught and released. Enjoy!!!
We're gonna bring more balloons next time.
Here's the Blacktip we released to fight another day.
