2002 updates - Australia

2002 - first half log- A Spotted Eagle Ray turned up. It did an aerial battle and fought superbly. Caught a small Jewfish when showing David some new spots for him to try in his new DX20. Janice and Yifang joined me for some fun in the sun. Daniel and I did some night fishing - landed the usual Ray and Grunters. Two big Garoupas showed up one night. Baby grows a little bigger.

Late 2002 log- Clarence came along and we landed some Grunters. Snappers are disappearing all around Ubin. A pretty good Giant Trevally showed up in November... but not many fish are appearing. Flew to Australia and rented a houseboat to stay on the Murray River. We figured out how to catch those delicious Yellow Belly which look a little like Barramundi. Caught plenty of wild carp to feed the Pelicans (the wild carp are seen as an invasive species in the Murray. The Aussies see these fish as pests. Baby is turning into a toddler and having fun in Australia, picking berries and fishing.

2001 Sep to Dec Baby goes fishing and updates

2001 September Log - Samuel and his dad came along for a couple of trips, Des and I kept running into nice Snappers, I landed a nice fat Garoupa at the Snagpile one morning with Brendon and David, my dad came along for a fruitful night trip with many Snappers ... that was when I could feel the prawn panic just before the Snapper hit the bait. Very exciting times indeed. Finally, I brought my newborn with me to the reservoir, and I caught a baby toman on an Abu Toby.

2001 Oct log - Brendon and Sengkang Sam came along and we fished the Ubin rivers. Showed David some new spots where he landed a nice Kim. David Kang and partner joined me for a comfortable night trip where he taught me the secret of cod liver oil... landed healthy snappers that night. Mel came along and got some fish too, including a decent Snapper. Baby made her first friend - Adele.

2001 Nov to Dec Log - End of year garoupas are coming in. Guek Fa and I landed the usual Ubin fish like Kims and Garoupas. Caught a big che mak Squid. Kuan Wai had fun at First Kelong spot. Barracuda caught on lure at Fairy Point rock when I noticed a school of small fish being harassed. Tossed a lure and WHAM! It hit - not nice to eat though. That's the last cuda I'll ever keep. Felip and my godson Reuben came along for some light action. Brought baby for a walk at Marina Bay.

2001 April to August Newborn Baby

Fishing Log -

Ok, here's what's been happening. I got married in November 2000, went to Mauritius for a major fishing trip cum honeymoon, moved into my new house in Sengkang, gave my boat another overhaul (which prevented me from fishing for 3 months)... and made my wife pregnant.

But the fishing's been great lately, perhaps it's due to the long break that I took from fishing. Nah, I'm just bragging. Seriously, although I've only managed trips no longer than 3 hours, the fish have been more than co-operative. Here's a brief summary.

Let's see, I bought 3 crabnets and brought my pregnant wife crabbing from the boat. You can see the results above. Does she look pregnant? You'd better not tell her that. Then there were the brief evening trips with Brendon and Desmond. Brendon's been having some luck with the yellow grunters and snappers. He even caught a Giant Trevally off Ubin. It was only a baby, of course.

Then there was an evening when Wayne caught a big Garoupa. And another evening when the fish just wouldn't stop biting and I got a big 2.5 kg Garoupa and a 3 kg Silver Javelin (Chio Lor) and a Snapper while Desmond got 3 Snappers. We were happy to go back to shore in under 2 hours cos we know when enough is enough.

Then I had a happy reunion with my old fishing buddy from the Grant era in the mid 1980's, Eng Joo. I almost couldn't recognize him, and neither could he me, I think. Life has been good to us, I guess. Anyway, even while waiting for him to come, I caught a 3 kg Queenfish just 50 m from shore and I knew it was going to be a good day. That day, I managed to land a 65cm Barramundi and some other fish, but Eng Joo was the champ with a 1 kg Coral Trout which almost got away, but he grabbed it in time.

Then there was this short trip with Kelly (a guy, by the way). See the Barramundi he's holding up? We went to my place straight away and steamed it for dinner. Mmmmmmmm mmmm.

I would say it's been rather eventful lately. But wait till you see what the next roll of film has in store. It's still in the camera, by the way. I brought my wife out for a 45 minute trip just off Changi and she hooked onto a ... (see what she caught, in the next update).

Oh ya, I just bought a scanner too. Still not sure how it works... as you can see from Picture Gallery 18, the fuzzy one. Ok, till next time, fish well!!! The Phenol thing has happened before, don't worry about it, things should be ok soon.

A most interesting thing just happened to me in August. I became a father. Can you spot my baby girl's picture among the pictures of fish? That's her first ever photograph.

I've still been fishing regularly but have been unable to bring friends out fishing for full day trips because it's simply too tiring. All my trips are now no longer than 3 hours as I'm usually contented with my catch. Samuel has been joining me quite frequently after school for short evening trips.

Furthermore, it's not nice going fishing when there's pressure from fellas who desperately want a good catch.
But to maintain my boat, I might have to bring some friends out on full night trips at least once a month from now onwards. I only go on one full cost-sharing trip a month. That's just to help me defray the cost of the trip and not even half a month's maintenance costs.

Of course, there's no guarantee of fish. I'll still be sarcastic and I'll still be trying my best to be the one who catches the most fish on the trip. So I guess my offer only applies to diehards. Are you sure you're still keen? If so, you can still try to email me.

As for usual fishing pals, don't worry, nothing's changed. Some trips are free, some cost you lunch, and some cost you a million dollars!!! Muahahahaha...

Brendon has been joining me for night fishing at the yacht club, and we got some grunters. Can you see the big Garoupa he is holding? That was caught by me just hours before my baby was born. Brendon had called me up after my wife had some contractions. We went to KK but the doctor said it was a false alarm and told us to go home. That was when Brendon called and told me he had a GOOD FEELING, and had bought some milkfish to try for biggies.

My wife told me to go ahead and fish cos the baby wasn't due. So I met Brendon at the boat and we went to a spot near Ubin. That's when I landed this nice big Garoupa. 

When we reached back to shore, my wife called me and told me that she was having contractions again, and this time it was for real. So I rushed home, took a shower, and went to KK again. Shortly after, my baby girl was born. Looks like Brendon's Good Feeling was right. Now I call that spot GOOD FEELING and I have been landing Barras, Snappers and Garoupas from that spot consistently.

Nikki and Eudon show off their Snappers while Clarence proudly poses with a baby car seat he managed to land after a long struggle. He offered to give it to me but it wasn't the right colour. At the bottom is me at home with Baby. 

2000 Sep-Nov Pre-wedding fishing

Fishing Log

Really busy now with my wedding just around the corner... these fish were caught during short 2 - 3 hr trips after work. Some Pics even have me in my working clothes. Lots of Snapper, Desmond was lucky with lots of Garoupas (amongst other things, haha)... September's always good. (See September 1999 Pics)

Des and I had a good time at Malang Tiga just off Tekong when we hit some nice Snappers before a big storm came along.

Didn't have time to edit any photos to size, just dumped them in. Dunno if this page will take a long time to load. The last photo is of me holding a 4 kilo Barra. Would you believe it? The guy behind me, Oliver, was actually calmly fighting a 2 kilo Snapper while this picture was being taken. That was the last shot from this roll of film, the catch that day was good, so I went back to shore and bought another roll of film. That roll is still in the camera... really no time to fish now that my wedding's just around the corner. Hope I'll have time to fish after my honeymoon in December.

The excitement of a big Garoupa can get a guy calling out the wrong name for the landing net... very funny trip.

Girls are good at fishing too. Fought and landed a big ray sometime in Oct too.

I'm posing with my big Barra from the Snagpile with the last shot on the roll of film, and Des only managed to get half a fish in the pic. Oh Man! By the way, Oliver behind me was fighting a big Snapper while the photo was being taken - doesn't he look calm? Des caught this nice Garoupa on a jumping rolling handline - our favourite style in 2000.

 Most of these trips were short, 2 hour trips. Top row: Jes before wedding; Another Barra; Mel and Hai Larn; Des and Garoupa. Middle row: can you see Kevin's police patrol boat closing in behind me? He came to check on the catch; Junio, the fishing expert, with a Diamond Trevally; Clarence and I relaxing. Bottom row: Kenny and JJ show that good things come in pairs.

Finally got married and flew to Mauritius for a fishing honeymoon. Landed my biggest fish there. Big Tuna, a 300kg shark, Big Trevally, Big Dorado. No pics for the internet except for this 25kg Dorado (we landed 5 of those before going for other fish).

 

2000 Mar to Aug - Big Barra and the Gang

Two years ago, in June 1998, Jamie came aboard and we landed this 5 kilo Barramundi.

Now, in 2000, almost two years later, when Jamie comes for her second trip, we land this 6 kilo Barra. I think she attracts big Barras.

Fishing Log

So, after a long hard quarter at work, I managed to soak a line a coupla times with interesting results. From the jungles of Malaysia to the FADs off Pahang, not forgetting Singapore's Northeast and Southern waters... all these places produced the goods. Here's a brief summary:

1. Endau-Rompin jungle rivers - 3 juvenile Patin around 2 kgs (my Patin record still stands at 15kg) and 1 Seluang (according to locals). I was actually going for a Kelah but didn't put in enough fishing time I guess.

2. Offshore livebaiting and trolling (Endau) produced 2 Sailfish, 1 Marlin and lots of table fish, including Coral Trout and Wrasses.

3. A long ride to our Southern waters with a bunch of colleagues produced some nice Parrots, smallish Timuns and Sea Perch, as well as Xiao Ming's 3 kg Garoupa.

4. Of course, Ubin and Tekong still produced (even though I managed only 2 very short trips... one trip was so short, even good 'ol Kuan Wai, who's usually happy to just dip his line into the water, complained that the fish kept disturbing him. Kaci, Mangrove Jacks, Garoupas, Grunters and the usual Barramundis were in a friendly mood. I guess they missed me after such a long absence.

Till next time, tight lines!!!

Below are pics from 2000 Jul-Aug

From top left to bottom right: KC with a nice night Snapper; Viv with a double header of Pasir Pasir; these Pasirs averaged 22 cm; Bajin and Garoupa; Desmond shows off a 1 kg Barra; Xiao Ming with a Snapper; Jes with a Grunter; I caught another Grunter; Jewie; Grunters and a Kurau; Johnny with a greedy Garoupa; Mel and Xiao Ming with a decent haul of Barra from a short self-drive boat trip to Kong Kong in Johor, Snapper, Garoupa and Grunters; Me wit a Garoupa; Yan Ching with a Parrot; a baby Jewie.

Got spooled out once at Changi... must've been a ray.

2000 Jan Fishing with Colleagues

From top left to bottom right: Andy with a small Snapper; Brendon with an 8 kg Ray; David and Red Bream (Kerisi); Me with a rare Fatty Mangrove Bream; Evening Barras with colleagues.

The new year brought with it more work...

... and after a really hectic week at the office, I decided to unwind by bringing a couple of non-fisho colleagues out for a spin on my boat. What a fun 2 hour trip it turned out to be!!!

 
After work on Friday the 14th, we drove around and bought some snacks and cold drinks. It was to be a short cruise, with a little bit of fishing, topped off by a seafood dinner by the beach. Just past 5pm, the six of us, Xiao Ming, Mdm Carol, Geraldo, his wife Khim, Mel and me, were speeding towards our first destination - the fish farm. I docked the boat at the farm while my highly professional colleagues oohed and aahed at the giant Garoupas in the nets. Then we bought a few live prawns and went on our way.

While we were cruising off into the sunset, Geraldo brought out his Zoom Lens Hi-tech Camera and asked if we could go to the swamps which I had been telling him about. So we went into Sungei Puaku where we witnessed some interesting wildlife and a sad picture where the wildlife had to give way to a sparkling new Chalet Resort which was an eyesore among the lush greenery. There were obvious signs of construction and soil erosion, and even an artificial beach!!! Anyway, at the end of the river cruise, we were zooming to Blakang Ubin (the back of Ubin) to do a little fishing.

The first bait from my handline went down at around 6 pm and I started setting up the rods for my colleagues. Before I even had the chance to set up the third rod, Mel's flimsy rod was in action and a nice Barra cleared the water about 30 ft from the boat. Then suddenly, Xiao Ming's rod also dipped and he was on to something big too. Fortunately, the fish I was fighting fought near the surface while Xiao Ming's fish fought deep. I heard him mention somehthing about not being able to wind when his line suddenly went limp and he lost his fish. Nevertheless, after a reasonable fight, I led the first fish into Xiao Ming's waiting landing net. It was a Barra around the 4 kilo mark.

After several pics, I let down another bait and moved to the front of the boat. We were all talking about Xiao Ming's fish that got away when Mel's little red rod dipped again! When I struck, the fish was gone, and it had taken the bait with it. Unhindered, I hooked on another livey and let down the line.

After about ten minutes, when I was thinking of going for the seafood dinner, Mel's rod dipped again. I think it must have been the colour of the rod. This time, Geraldo fought the fish. It fought deep and much harder than the first fish, taking line whenever it had the chance.

Everyone had moved to Geraldo's side of the boat and the boat was tilting at an awkward angle, but no one seemed to notice as Geraldo huffed and puffed as he struggled to win the battle. By now, everyone had gotten used to the sound of the drag and the pumping action of the rod. Then I saw a flash of silver and realized that he had caught a Barra too!!!

This one was heftier, around the 5 kg mark, and it swam quite willingly into the landing net. It seems that the fish had caused quite a bit of pain to Geraldo's wrist as the pumping action had taken its toll on both the angler and the fish.

Over a scrumptious dinner by the beach that evening, I had a hard time convincing my colleagues that fishing wasn't always so good... but I don't think they were convinced. Their first fishing trip had produced two excellent fish in under 2 hours and plenty of excitement. Take a look at the gang here.

Me, Mel, Ming, Carol and Gerald

Garoupas and Grunters galore -Oct to Nov 1999

Here are some pics of the catches in Oct-Nov 1999. 

The two Kennys and Vivien were regulars on the Ranger 17. We landed Garoupas from the Snagpile and Grunters from the Club Spot. Big Congers also entertained us at night while we waited at the Club Spot. That's where I lost a Gaff that was ripped out of my hands by a huge Conger Eel - which we call Malong.

At the Club Spot, Grunters and Stingrays were a common feature at night which never failed to entertain us with their hard pulling. We also ran into a school of Threadfin Salmon which disappeared when a big ray came to give me a fight on 8 lb line.

1999 Sep to Oct Ubin's Three Kings: Barra, Snapper and Garoupa

From left to right: A nice Red Emperor before a storm; Healthy Golden Snapper; Golden twins; Desmond with a Queeny; Releasing the Queeny. 

Here's a quick summary of the recent trips...

Although the 8 kilo Barra was the highlight of the past two weeks, there have been other significant catches as well.
  4/9/99- morning trip... Desmond, Linus and me went around Ubin and I hit two large Snapper while Desmond C&R a Queeny. Linus hit a Garoupa and there were other small stuff.

5/9/99- 2 hr trip. Me and my gal went out and caught some Garoupas for dinner.

10/9/99- day trip... Boon Liang (Snow), Hong Neng, Davis, Weng and I went half way around Ubin and caught some Grunters, Garoupas, a Sweetlip, a Blue-spotted Ray and some other stuff.

10/9/99- night trip... Sau Pin and gang from NUS and NTU came with me but the water was cold and all kinds of Catfish were the order of the day. I caught a decent Snapper somewhere among the Catfish though. Sad night.

11/9/99- day trip... when the sun rose, Des, Krista and me hung around Ubin in the morning where I caught a decent Grunter and we caught some Soapies (young Jewfish). Then we zoomed off at high speed to Tekong where the Chermin were (supposed to be), but ended up flying kites instead.

19/9/99- day trip... after a hard week at work I was back at sea again to de-stress. What a day it turned out to be!!! An 8 kilo Barra showed up! For the full story, go to the Barra Story Post 19 Sep 1999. I've put up the pic of Wong with the special 'sign of Barra' Tanda in this Gallery. Never look down on the Tanda... those who have read my 9 kilo Garoupa story will understand.

Overall, the fishing was great... except for the day the water was cold. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks.

From left to right: Jes with a dinner Garoupa; Grunter and me; Davis with a Garoupa on lure; Garoupa with a 65kg Hong Neng. 

From left to right: Weng with a nice Grunter; a bunch of buddies with their catch; THE SUPER TANDA thanks to Wong 

Here's a further update:

260999: Jengwe and gang came on board for a night trip, went through some rough weather, and came back to shore in the morning with a decent catch of Barras, Snappers and Garoupas. (Biggest fish during the trip was a 2 kg+ Barra caught by yours truly)We even got a bonus of 2 nice flower crabs which were entangled on a piece of broken net I hooked up.

021099: Winston and his friends came for a day trip and went back with the usual three types... Barra, Snapper and Garoupa. Winston caught the biggie of the day ... a 2.5kg Garoupa. Terrible weather again... we got sunburned and drenched.

091099: Alex, Haoming, Sean and Ghee came for a day trip which was marred by highly polluted water in the morning. It was a wet day but we still managed the usual three of Barra, Snapper and Garoupa (and some other stuff as well). Haoming bagged Gold with a Barra of 2.4kg.

Well, it seems the baitfish are coming in and this should signal the start of a good wet season ahead... just be prepared to get drenched. 

From left to right: A healthy 2 kilo plus Barra; Winston with a 2.5kg Garoupa; Roland with small Barra. 

From left to right: Haoming with a nice 2.4kg Barra on 091099; later that evening, I caught this small but feisty Snapper just before going back
So far, Barramundi, Snapper and Garoupas are showing up with in good numbers. These are Ubin's Three Kings.

8 Kilo Barra Story 1999 Sep 19

For a whole week, I'd been thinking of nothing but Barra... strangely, I had a strong feeling I was gonna land a Barra soon...

... Kenny had been corresponding with me via email throughout the week and he had booked a trip for 4 with me on 19/9/99. As the day drew nearer, I remember saying in an email 'Frankly speaking, I'm quite confident of getting a Barra on Sunday.' I don't know what made me say that, but it just came out. Those words came true alright, but in a way I never expected.

Sunday finally came, we met at Pasir Ris MRT Station and I drove the four of them down to the boat. They were Kenny (The Lureman), Kenny (Vivken), Wong (who loves to eat fish) and Vivian.

After getting my special live prawns from the usual fishfarm, we headed for the Big Grunter spot where I had brought some other chaps a week ago. The previous Friday we hit 2 there and on Saturday I hit another one there. Sadly, this week, the Grunters were not cooperating.

So we went to a couple of my other spots where all we could manage were smallish Garoupas, Snappers, a Queeny and even a Leatherjacket. Then a storm came and we took shelter in Ketam.

After the storm, we headed back to a spot which I had known for seven years. Seven years ago, we used to land Barras, Snappers and Chermins at this spot, but about two years ago, man-made changes to the sea-scape made me think that the spot had outlived its glory days. So I stopped going to this spot. Once in a while however, I would visit the spot for old times' sake but only for a few minutes. This time, however, I realized that my two-year absence had simply made the fish Bigger, Better and Stronger.

We were anchored almost over the spot and Kenny was getting snagged on the structure below although he knew it was there. It was a good approach he was using... the 'no risk no gain' approach.

In order not to compete with Kenny, I cast my line to the other side of the structure and waited. After about 5 minutes, Wong, who had been keeping himself busy pulling up baby Grunters and catching tiny fish with little chunks of prawn meat, pulled up a Tanda.

Those familiar with my 9 kilo Garoupa story will know the significance of a Tanda. So when I saw the fish, my hopes were raised and I was clearly saying, 'Wow Tanda, that's the sign of the Barra's presence!' when an explosion made us all turn around.

I turned around just fast enough to see a half-hearted jump of a HUGE BARRAMUNDI. I saw that my line was limp and I knew that it had taken my bait.

Screaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!!! went my tiny reel newly filled with 8 lb line. Jump! Another Jump! With each jump, my heart skipped a beat... I had lost so many such Barras when they jumped like that... I lost count. So all I could do was hope that my hook stayed firmly in place.

After about 5 minutes, the fish seemed to have tired itself out and I started to gain line. What a naive angler I was. This fish was a fighter... and it was just swimming towards me to get to the other side of the boat.

It easily swam under the boat and headed for deeper water. This time, the drag seemed to go on forever. I had half a mind to raise the anchor and follow the fish, but a quick check on my spool assured me that I should have enough line to play the fish till it tired itself out.

After another 10 minutes of more giving than taking, I was demoralized. The fish seemed to know this and fought in a wide circle around the boat, using its weight to its own advantage, making me clamber wildly all around the boat while the other guys started speculating. Although they were half joking about whether the fish felt the hook at all, I could almost believe them. Every time the fish took off on a run, I would look worriedly at the amount of line I had left in my small spool.

Mind you, trying to pull in a HUGE BARRA like that on spiderweb was no easy task. Eventually, as the circle around the boat grew smaller, I knew I had him. After a few anxious moments with the anchor rope at the front of the boat, the fish had made its way to the rear of the boat. A few more half jumps and weight-guessing attempts later, the fish was almost within net reach. Kenny had put its weight around the 4-5 kg region while I had earlier estimated it to be around the 8-10 kg region. Eventually, we settled on 6 kg. But as the fish drew nearer, we saw the thickness of its shoulders and immediately revised our estimation.

Finally, after almost half an hour of sweaty battle, it came within reach and Kenny, with a clean swoop, managed to get the head of the fish into the landing net... and the battle was over.

Vivken took out his brass weighing scale and we weighed the bugger... exactly 8 kg. What a fish! As the fish lay there glistening in the sunlight exhausted, I too rubbed my cramped right arm and in that brief moment, my eyes were re-opened to the beauty of the Barra... and the beauty of fishing.

All it takes is a fish like this, which fought like there was no tomorrow, to keep an angler going. Though I have fought countless big Barras before, this, I would say, was the BEST BARRA FIGHT I EVER HAD!!!!!! Thanks Kenny, Wong, Kenny and Vivian for the encouragement and assistance during the fight. 

1999 Aug Queenfish Festival

From left to right: Howie was in this position very often... fighting Queenies... why else do you think his avatar is called Queeny?; that's me netting one of Howie's bigger Queenies; a quick pic with a healthy Queenfish; and a quick release. We release all Queenies.



From left to right: Colin looks cool as he pumps in his Queeny; a quick pose before the Queeny is released; Alvin and Edmund with a decent Flathead; sunburned Francis with a small Snapper; a decent catch of Snapper, Garoupa, Barra and a 2.5 kg Kurau. 

Do Not Use Cheap Swivels, or Cute Ones...

... either, as both Colin and me learnt that day as we each lost big Queenies due to Swivel failure. Colin's 'cute' swivel broke during a highly acrobatic fight, while my cheap swivel 'opened up' during a trememdous Queeny leap. 

1999 July Ubin Snapper Schools

From left to right: That's Robert with a nice kilo plus Snapper; an 'artistic' arrangement of a decent haul of Snapper, Garoupa and a Barra; that's me putting some serious bend in my rod to keep my line from touching the propeller while Desmond stands by with the landing net.

Silence is Golden...

... Snapper. Here's an important point to note if you're keen on catching more than one Snapper per trip... bring the fish in quickly, absolutely DO NOT let the fish thrash around the boat, and stay as quiet as possible.

  These fish normally feed in schools and experienced fishermen will stay extremely silent when they chance upon a school of Snapper. This gives them a chance to pull in a good number of Snapper before the bites 'turn off'.

Inexperienced fishermen, on the other hand, would not be able to handle a fish properly, letting it flop around the boat, or they would talk very loudly, turn on a radio (or even a portable TV), do a victory dance, and do everything to prevent anyone else, including themselves, from catching any more fish. (I have to admit that I too, have been guilty of some of the above crimes... heehee... but numerous hard lessons have taught me well.)

As we all know, Snapper are highly sensitive to sound and even the smallest lead weight dropped carelessly in a boat might ruin a whole day's fishing as these fish are only 'turned on' for brief moments in a day. Thus, turning them off the moment they start biting could be disastrous, not only for you, but also for everyone else on the boat.

From left to right: Kelly plays tug of war, nearly cutting his hand because of the speed of the fish, while an Aussie couple observes the battle; well what do you know?... a frisky 2 kg Kurau; Henry with an Octopus ... we had great fun with it, throwing it at each other's face and letting it stick; Howie with a White Spotted Ray off Tekong. 

Jun 1999 Ubin Lobster and MJ

From left to right: George with a last-minute Spotted Sicklefish; Thim Choy and a famous restaurant fish... Sek Ban or Garoupa; Bajin and me enjoyed a beautiful calm sunset where we were accompanied by our friends Mr Snapper and Madam Javelin; Daniel never fails to surprise, this time with a lobster (can you believe it???) and a Snapper.

Careful!!! It's a Stingray, Daniel exclaimed...

... as he quickly dumped whatever he had caught a glimpse of back overboard. According to him, he had seen the long, whip-like tail of a Stingray after reeling in something heavy.

 
We were anchored off Changi at about 1 am in the morning when the fish started biting. I'd just had a brief struggle with a huge eel-tailed Cattie and was trying to unhook it safely when Daniel said he was stuck on something.

I didn't pay him much attention as I was very much focused on risky task of unhooking the frisky 2 kilo plus Catfish. (One such fish had sent me painfully to the hospital sometime in 1998 where, out of complacency, I'd let a big wave swing the fish towards me and onto my knee... sigh... what a painful lesson.)

Anyway, after a couple of minutes, I had just unhooked the Catfish when Daniel exclaimed about catching a Stingray and quickly let whatever he had brought up fall back into the water. "Stingray?" I wondered as I peered over the edge of the boat to try to catch a glimpse of the creature Daniel had caught and ALMOST released. Nothing. So I pulled in his line slowly using my hand till I saw a long whip-like thingy slowly emerge from the water. Then I realized there were two whip-like thingies and heard a snapping sound as the creature curled and uncurled its body in a frantic struggle to free itself. The silhouette of the creature as well as the sound seemed vaguely familiar and it suddenly dawned upon me... "LOBSTER!!!!!!! QUICK, PULL IT IN!!!"

So that was how Daniel caught the lobster. For those of you who want to know what his lobster formula was, it was a whole Australian Pilchard double hooked on Big-mouth hooks.

Some people say that it was probably an escapee while others say that they used to catch them there. Personally, that was the third time I'd seen someone pull up a lobster in the wild on a hook in all my years of fishing, so lobsters can indeed be found in the wild. Whatever it was, escapee or wild-child, it tasted GREAT... right, Daniel?

From left to right: A true brawler... the wild Mangrove Jack, caught just after sunset with my Godson Reuben; Felip with a similar MJ caught earlier that day; A box of Snapper, Red Emperor, Garoupa and Sweetlip... all in a day's work; Garoupa galore (we released the small buggers, these are the table-sized ones) with a few Snapper, a Batfish, a Stinger, and even a Jewfish.

Fishing Ponds Have Done a Great Injustice to the Awesome Mangrove Jack...

... because when I was a small boy following my dad and his Pawang out in our Western waters, The Mangrove Jack, or Onga Api (Api means fire) was highly prized both for its eating as well as its fighting qualities. I'll never forget the expression of great pride on Razali's face as he hauled in a gleaming reddish brown MJ around 1.5 kg and how he kept talking about the eating qualities of the fish. I'd known Razali (a really experienced guy who lived off the sea) for some time and I had never seen him so thrilled by any other fish before. It not only looked magnificent, but when we cooked and ate it, its flesh was sublime. So, deep down in my heart, the notion that the MJ was a great fish got firmly implanted.

Then one day I had the opportunity to tangle with a wild MJ (during those times, Pasir Ris "Fishing Pond" was still a swampy ox-bow lake with children playing with toy boats along its banks). I'll never forget that fight.

I was using 6 lb line on a Daiwa reel with a Nilsmaster lure and reeling in slowly when something almost wrenched my rod out of my hand. The shock of the strike left me stunned for a moment as the Daiwa's drag screamed and howled while my rod was bent into a complete U-shape.

The fish never really gave me a chance to calm my shaking legs as it created havoc all over the place, even at times swimming towards me and then suddenly bursting off in a different direction at speeds that would put the Barra to shame. I tried really hard to get a glimpse of the fish but all I saw were huge boils, explosions and swirls in the water.

After participating in about 5-10 minutes of tug-of-war, with the fish still keeping out of sight, I decided that this fish was gonna be a whopper. 3 kg? 5 kg even?

But then, just when I thought that my fish was gonna break all previous weight records, it literally "popped" out of the water and landed at my feet. I felt really humiliated yet amused at the size of the fish, it was a Mangrove Jack barely hitting the One kilo mark. From then on, my respect for the MJ grew tremendously and I remember a couple of heart-stopping fights similar to that first one.

Then one day, Pasir Ris Fishing Pond was born and many other commercial ponds sprouted up all over Singapore. These ponds started stocking mostly Barras at first but suddenly the MJs started turning up in epidemic proportions. What made things worse was that most of these MJs were bred in brackish water ponds in our neighbouring countries and did not have the same amount of exercise and muscles as the wild ones. So, many of the new anglers in Singapore who appeared along with the fishing pond trend started catching these weakened, captivity-bred MJs and they probably started wondering what the hell these black coloured fish were.

And, of course, along came the "pond pro" who, after catching hundreds of such undernourished MJs, would 'educate' everyone else by telling them that these were Michael Jacksons or Chia Chors which tasted far inferior to the nicer-looking Kim Buk Lor or Barra. This was not hard to believe, if you'd seen a pond-reared MJ before. Thus, the MJ started earning a bad reputation at commercial ponds and people even started swearing when they caught one of these poor MJs. Deprived of any real experience with a wild MJ, the masses started looking down on the MJ. They don't know what they're missing.

So, before you jump to any conclusions about a fish, whether about its fighting qualities or about its taste, know that the wild MJ, in terms of strength, speed and taste, has very few peers. Also ask yourself, the next time you catch one in a pond, whether you see the fish you catch through the eyes of someone else who doesn't know as much as he thinks he does, or through your own eyes.

Whatever it is, to me, the Mangrove Jack will always be a SUPERB fish.

9 kg Garoupa Story Jun 1999

9 KG GAROUPA FROM 15ft of WATER OFF PASIR RIS.  

I looked up worriedly to the West...

... for that was where the storm was coming from. After all, there were two girls on the boat together with Neng Siu, Jason (my brother) and me, and it didn't seem wise to sit there waiting for the storm to hit. Reluctantly, I reeled in my girlfriend's line, for she was already starting to take cover beneath the boat's modest shelter. The day hadn't gone according to plan... strangely, the current was dead for very long periods and the spots I thought would produce fish didn't even produce a bite.

Now, as the storm drew nearer and we started to feel the first few drops of rain on our faces, Murphy's law decided that it was time for the current to pick up. By that time, the boat had started to swing with the ever-strengthening wind and not the current, but Neng Siu began pulling up small Tanda.

Although I knew it was a good sign, as many past encounters with Tanda schools had resulted in one or two monster fish such as Barras and Garoupas, I decided that the chance was not worth taking so I picked up my own rod, which had been lying motionless in the rod stand for at least half an hour, and started reeling in the slack. Stuck!!!

"What a time to get stuck!!!", I thought to myself. The storm was almost on top of us and I was the only one left with the line in the water while my brother was about to raise the anchor.

So I tugged hard at the line in order to snap it. My 12 lb line was pretty new so it managed to put up with quite a lot of tugging and guitar-string plucking. I couldn't waste anymore time so I gave it a really hard tug this time. But something tugged back... strongly.

I managed to shout, "Big fish!" while trying to untangle the line from my hands but I got slightly 'burnt' by the line anyway. Grabbing the rod just as the drag started to scream, what came to my mind was "Stingray". But somehow, the full scream never came. Instead, there was a low groan from the reel as the fish moved off slowly but purposefully into deeper water.

By then, the rain had started to pour and the wind was pushing the boat strongly against the frail anchor. Nevertheless, all of us were oblivious to the raging elements and standing in the rain, wondering when the fish would turn.

We waited for what seemed like ages as the fish took line as though it was a machine, grinding away slowly but surely. I looked down at my spool and gained some confidence from the fact that the fish, due to it's slowness, had only pulled out about half a spool of 12 lb line. We all knew that there was no real cause for worry unless I could see the back of my spool.

Finally, while I was still pondering about the 'mechanical' pulling motion of the fish, it turned, not because I made it turn, but it turned on it's own decision. It was the fish's big mistake. I started gathering the slack as the fish swam towards me. By the time it realized it was swimming in the wrong direction, it was quite near the boat and I tried for about 5 minutes to get a glimpse of the fish. But everytime it got closer, it somehow had the strength, or weight, to stay out of sight.

It was just a matter of time before the fish would rear its head, we guessed, and we were right. I thought I had snagged a log while fighting the fish as I saw a huge brown object surface near where my line met the water. Then the brown object started moving its tail and I gasped as I realized that it was a Garoupa... a monstrous Garoupa.

Then, as swift as the lightning that flashed above us, my brother stretched out and netted the fish in one swoop. Bringing the fish onto the boat and gazing into its huge eyes, my brother let out a scream of victory. I decided, "Why not?" and let out a yell too. Neng Siu and his girlfriend, however, seemed taken aback by our screaming in the rain, or maybe it was because of the fish?

Anyway, we made it back safely to the boatel and it was still pouring so I had to dump the fish into the boot of my car and take photographs of it in my kitchen. Since my brother was more decently dressed than me, as all my clothes were soaked, it's his photo that I've decided to put up for you guys to see.

So whoever said that there are no huge fish in Singapore? ... well, then there's the GT story too, but I guess I'll leave that for another day.

April-May 1999 Update

From left to right: That's Clarence happily holding two decent-sized Snapper caught within seconds of each other; John with a table-sized Barra at night; Yup, that's Chris Soule with what's probably his last Singaporean fish to date, a Garoupa; Clarence with a hard-pulling Giant Catfish (tastes like Tenggiri too!!) and some Snapper; Desmond with a solid 2 kilo plus Garoupa, many seasoned fishos' favourite fish; Guek Fa with a nice pre-dawn Barra. JUST LOOK AT THOSE SMILES!!!

So what's your favourite...

...fish? Well, locally, I've got two categories of favourites: Best Fighting; and Best Eating. My favourite fighter would undoubtedly be the GT, such a pity huge specimens are so rare in our waters. However, the favourite eating fish would be the Garoupa... such tender, tasty, white flesh...mmmmmmmmm mmmm.

Amongst the rarer local species would be the Blackspot Tuskfish, Leopard Coral Trout and the Scarlet Breasted Maorii Wrasse of course... these are delicacies with tender white meet.
 
But realistically, if I had to choose a favourite fish that is reasonably abundant in our waters and has good fighting as well as eating qualities, I'd choose the Snapper. They don't only fight well and taste good, but they look good and are dependable (as in, there's a high chance of catching them) as well.

Sometimes, while fishing locally, I try to remind myself that beggars can't be choosers, so even the odd Catfish might bring a smile... and sometimes there's even a little tender spot for the much-despised Stargazer (or Kukup) too.

Whatever it is, to each his own . If you say your favourite fish is the Eel, I'd say "Good choice!" coz it's only right that we all grow to respect each other's views, be it on Favourite Fish, Catch and Release, Most Effective Rig, or Most Powerful Deodorant.

From left to right: Desmond with a highly-prized 2.5 kg Threadfin Salmon or Kurau and an assortment of fish; Just the usual overnight Northeast stuff like Barras, Mangrove Jacks, Snapper and Garoupa; Daniel with a dawn Garoupa; Chermin are rarely caught at night, but this one went against the norm; Sunset Sweetlip make a perfect calm evening; Des and me back at the boatel in the morning with plenty of good-sized Garoupa from 1 kg - 3 kg, and a Barra to top it off. 

People often ask me whether fish bite at night...

... "What do you think?" I would reply. Well they obviously do. But sometimes I have had to wait the whole night at a spot without a single bite and then suddenly, as the sun appears, WHAM WHAM WHAM, the bites start coming incessantly, at that very same spot!

 

But at other times, I have had to wait the whole hot day without a bite, and when the sun goes down, POW!!! a monster shows up.

What can I say? Well some spots do fire up at different times of the day and some spots are strictly "Day Spots" while other spots are labelled "Nightspots" not nightspots as in Boat Quay and Mohammed Sultan Road. (Stale Joke Alert!)

For variety, I go for both day and night fishing. Girls I know, on the other hand, seem to prefer night fishing as daytime fishing can get pretty hot in Singapore. Which type of fishing do you prefer?

1999 Jan to Feb

From left to right: a nice 3 kilo Garooupa landed by gaff, the usual catch at Rivermouth, Cephas, Howie and I hit a school of Golden Snapper in a heavy downpour.

Do fish bite...

during a downpour? Well, I guess the pictures answer the question. In fact, I find the onset of a downpour marvelous for fishing. However, there are a few dangers such as getting your camera wet and spoiling it (and ruining all the film inside with shots of magnificent fish). But the biggest danger lies in the weather itself. Rain by itself poses little danger, but rain with wind can be HELL !!! Here's to those tough guys who have shared cold, wet, windy, shivery nights on my boat with me!!!

From left to right: Dennis puts the pressure on his fish with a G.loomis and Calcutta 100 set; safely landed, a nice healthy Diamond Trevally; Oblivious to the rain, Francis tries to prevent his fish from diving into the rocks while Jeff looks on; it turned out to be a 2 kilo plus Garoupa; Howie and Edmund with a 10 kilo Ray, just after losing a fish which almost spooled him out on 20 lb braided line. 

Action pics are hard to take...

... you never know when a fish is gonna take the line and whether it's gonna fight long enough for you to snap a pic.

One trick is to hold on to your camera while the angler casts out his line. Then you wait. HAHAHAAAAAAAAA...

The other way is to keep a camera handy and DON'T HESITATE to take it out of the bag or case the moment somebody's rod bends. Then, of course, you've got to quickly position yourself well and hope that the fish cooperates by pulling out a little drag so that you'll have enough time to snap some award-winning photos!!!