2003 Fishing Log - Barramundi Fever

18 Dec 2003 - Thurs morning trip 9.30am to 1.30pm - Sunny, Adrian and me - several barras, 1 flathead and some small garoupas kept while others were released.***** 

I'm typing this while some barras are making a ruckus in my freezer. We landed several barras, but not as many as during one of the trips early last month (12 Nov). Where size was concerned though, today came out tops. Anyway, here's how a typical 5 star trip goes.

When I got to the boatel, Adrian and Sunny were already waiting for me. So we quickly fuelled up and sped to get 1 kilo of assorted prawns from the aunty. The first few spots we hit were some old spots close to the Queenfish Plains where the structure was there and the fish were there, but all I got were two lost fish (one Snapper was dropped at boatside). Feeling rather pissed, I decided to move to the Sunken Kelong, where I was hoping to redeem myself. Upon anchoring over the right position, I tentatively released my handline, and almost immediately felt a small tug, so I struck and started pulling in what I thought was a small fish. I pulled it slowly, not bothering to take out the landing net and I took a casual glimpse over the side to see what I'd caught when I saw a good sized Barra head pop out of the water. Then came the panic as I struggled to bring out the landing net and the fish started pulling hard. After some Kan Chiong moments, Adrian scooped up the barra and all was calm once again.

Soon after, I mentioned something about Adrian's bait so he took my advice and let down his line. Just when I turned around to get on with my own fishing, he grunted and struck into a good fish. After a brief struggle and a few jumps, Adrian finally landed his first wild Barra. 

Adrian and his first wild barra. 

We then moved around a little and finally I decided that we had found a good spot to anchor. Fish were showing on the sounder and the moment the boat stabilized with the current and wind, I let down my line again, only to pull up a good Kim. Then I pulled up a Flathead with my rod. And then all hell broke loose just as a gust of cold wind hit us!

First, Adrian, then Sunny, then me, then Adrian again, then me, then Sunny, then I can't really recall what happened cos everyone started pulling in barras around the 1.5kg to 2 kg mark, with some double hookups and plenty of acrobatics. The next thing I knew, I was picking up dead prawns lying on the side of the boat to use as bait because I didn't want to waste any time getting live bait from the well. And with one dead prawn, and among the action, my rod took a full U bend and line started screaming out of my reel. Big ONE!!! This brute fought really well but with maximum drag pressure, a magnificent big barra was brought to boatside. We estimated it around the 3 kilo mark and it sure looked bigger than the other barras! 

Nice healthy wild, almost 3 kilos of Golden muscle! 

The action was good. At one point, the fish started becoming a little cautious, and Adrian was missing some good bites. But he persisted, and I remember a moment when he got a small bite and we saw the line moving around in the water. A fish was swimming around with Adrian's prawn in its mouth! I told him not to strike till the fish pulled, so we watched the line move in wide circles as the fish seemed oblivious to Adrian's hook. Finally, the fish decided to make a break for it and Adrian wound down and struck hard, connecting into yet another fine Barra.

Finally, after landing 16 barras in a brief moment, all went quiet and I took a breather at the front of the boat while Sunny noticed that we had almost run out of bait. So we moved to Good Feeling to have our Nasi Lemak and then zoomed back to the boatel to take the customary pics and weigh the big barra. About 5 of the barras were already above 1.5 kilos and the big one weighed in at 2.5 on the rusty scales which Adrian commented was inaccurate. So the fish might have been heavier yah? 

Adrian and Sunny pose with the morning's catch. Fun trip!!! Can you believe that this is considered a poor catch compared to several earlier trips when we could land about 40 Barras per trip? (but released more than half of them)

Gave the engine a rinse and gave 2 barras to the boatel guys for their help. It was then that Sunny noticed we still had a bit more bait but it was all hidden under the barras in the bait well. But anyway, I'm contented with the catch. How often do you run into 16 good sized wild barras in a short fishing trip? Sunny also gave a good first outing to his new birthday reel and Adrian landed more than just his first wild Barra. Excellent outing!!! Next week is Christmas so here's an early Christmas gift from the sea. Probably will take a Christmas break and resume fishing closer to the New Year.

12 Dec 2003 - Sunday picnic at East Coast with the family. Cast out a line with live prawns as bait and got some puffers. Had lots of fun with them! 

Me and my daughter contemplating Fugu... but released it.

11 Dec 2003 - Sat last minute trip 11 to 4 - Sunny, Ted and me - barras and garoupas *** -

NOTE-WATER TURNING COLD PROBABLY DUE TO CHANGE IN SEASON, BITE WINDOW VERY SMALL

Almost didn't go fishing today due to a bad connection to the bilge. After tinkering with the wires a little, and with a little useful advice from Yew Seng, the bilge suddenly decided to cooperate. Nothing was wrong with it except for a bit of loose contact and old fishing line.

Sunny came to the boatel with Ted, his son, intending to fish at the boatel's jetty, but got more than he bargained for. We had some fun at the fish farm viewing big garoupas, wrasses and barras at the fish farm and she gave us some secret BIG GAROUPA bait to fish with FOC. Must have been Sunny again.

Anyway, at the sunken kelong, Sunny tried the secret bait and even before I had threaded my line through my rod, he was on to something BIG!!! We had no doubt as to what fish it was, a BIG GAROUPA. After some serious tug of war, with extreme pressure put on the fish by Sunny, and a big U bend in his silver ringless rod, a huge Garoupa head emerged next to the boat. 

Sunny and Ted, with a fat Garoupa. 

This was fatter than the one Sunny landed last week too. And it looked a little strange, like the Barramundi Cod shape yet coloured like a normal Red Spotted Garoupa. The SECRET big garoupa bait proved itself once again, just like in previous trips.

Shortly after, Ted hooked onto something strong and I was about to help him when a Barra grabbed my bait and ran. DOUBLE HOOKUP! Mine came to the surface and was netted after some acrobatics, while Ted's was landed after managing to tire him out (he was complaining about a painful arm after the fight).

We moved to several other spots, Tree, Good Feeling and another Sunken Kelong where we landed more barras and garoupas.

Kept a total of 5 barras and 2 really good sized garoupas, giving the boatel helper a Barra for his efforts, which he was visibly happy about. Took some pics, then Sunny cleaned the fish while I washed the boat and checked the bilge again, working fine!

Just found out it was Sunny's birthday too, guess the BIG Garoupa was his birthday gift from the sea. Happy Birthday Sunny. 

Barras and Garoupas like these make a decent trip! 

6 Dec 2003 - Sat full day trip 9 to 4 - Sunny, Tim, Bob, Yonghui and me - 5 barra, 3 garoupas and 2 snappers kept, the rest were released to fight another day. ****

This was a pre-scheduled trip and we got 1.5 kilos of prawns from the aunty. The wind was very strong today but we still managed a decent catch. In fact, yonghui dropped 2 barras at the surface, and one of them was easily 3 to 4 kilos.

The first spot we hit was the Sunken Kelong, where I landed 2 barras within the first 10 minutes of fishing. Lots of assorted fish were caught there but most were released, including a John Snapper by Bob. After shifting around the sunken kelong a bit, Sunny cast into the drop and got rewarded with a big Garoupa, which looked beautiful in the bait well.

I caught a few more barras and a good sized garoupa, and we moved to Good Feeling, where Yonghui struck a good-sized barra in a matter of a few minutes. He landed this one. Then when he cast again, he waited for a short while before he got a few taps on his rod. He struck and connected well into a BIG fish, which started stripping line off his multiplier and put a good bend in his heavy duty boat rod. Then the fish headed for the surface and when it jumped, all of us looked in amazement as a huge barra around 4 kilos cleared the surface and threw the hook. What a waste. Anyway, the bites slowed after that and we decided to escape the wind by heading to Sunken at Ketam and a few other related spots where a Snapper was pulled up. The Gap produced a slightly bigger Snapper which caused me a bit of panic when I saw it was only lightly hooked outside the gill plate. Luckily managed to boat it with the landing net. 

Yonghui with a table-sized Garoupa. Sunny and Yonghui pose with the day's catch.

Then, we moved to the Rock to finish the remaining 5 live prawns. Brought up the boat and Tim and Sunny cleaned a few fish at the boatel, which we promptly ate at dinner over a few beers with the wives and kids at Pasir Ris. We ate two of the barras and two of the garoupas which the restaurant owner kindly cooked for us at a small cost. A pretty good day of fishing, we managed to finish 1.5 kg of prawns quite rapidly. It's days like this that make me keep coming back over and over again.

5 Dec 2003 - Fri morning short recce trip - solo - assortment of fish, of which only 4 table sized garoupas were kept. Used the echo sounder and plotted 3 very promising underwater structures around Ubin. Will probably try them at different tides to fully assess their potential. Lost a huge drag puller at one spot after the hooks pulled. That spot will definitely be on my hit list! 

Des and Wee Boon. pics courtesy of ubin expert des. story below. 

29 Nov 2003 - Sat morning short trip 9 to 1 - Wee Boon, Desmond, Sunny, Ted and me - 4 barras and 1 really good sized mangrove jack + several small garoupas which were released.***

On Friday night I was starting to feel a little better after a bout of flu, when Sunny smsed me about fishing on Saturday morning. Rounded a few kakis and the trip was on!

Everyone turned up punctually at the boatel and we headed straight for the prawn aunty where Sunny worked his usual charms to get us a whole kilo of prawns in assorted sizes. Then we zipped over to the ever productive Tree where I was surprised to find nobody anchored there yet. So we baited up and slipped our lines into the water. Des struck first with his handline and pulled up Russell's Snapper which was soon followed by a good sized barra after some anxious moments during the fight. Then my own handline started rolling about and I pulled in a barra to boatside, but some hesitation with the landing net gave the barra enough time to shake the hook off and swim back to its home, what a waste!

Anyway, the bites immediately slowed after I dropped the fish and we moved to one of the submerged kelongs I remember from years past. No sooner had we dropped the anchor when I had a good pull on my handline, but lost the fish after a few seconds. Wee Boon suddenly grunted and we knew he was hooked onto a big one, as he started struggling with a fish that was trying desperately to return to its safe haven. There was a really good bend in his rod, I must say! That fight took a while and soon a magnificent mangrove jack pushing the 2 kilo mark was eased into the waiting landing net.
We moved the boat around the area where we lost several bites when I finally struck 2 barras in a row on my handline and Sunny pulled in a gleaming barra after observing where I was throwing my bait. Ted also did well with a garoupa at that spot. Saw Ah Bee move into the area and they pulled up a bubu (fish trap) with some garoupas, as the excited anglers on his boat were shouting 'Wah! Gao He!'. Said hi to him when we finished our bait and were heading back. 

Our day was done at around 1 pm cos Desmond had to go for classes and we had run out of bait anyway. Plus, everyone was contented with the decent catch, especially today's champion Wee Boon with his prized Mangrove Jack. Cleaned the boat and scaled the fishes at the ramp. A pleasant morning trip altogether!

24 nov 2003 - mon half day 12 to 4 - sunny, bob, tim and me - barras and garoupas.*****

MORE THAN 40 Barras today!

Was feeling under the weather on Sunday when Sunny messaged me and asked whether I was going fishing on Monday afternoon. Told him I was sick. Then on Monday morning Bob called and asked if I wanted to go fishing. He managed to convince me that I could relax on the boat so we decided to meet at the boatel at 12 noon. Sunny managed to escape from a meeting and meet us at the boatel.

 After some snags at the boatel, we were finally in the water around 1230hrs and went to get bait from the aunty. Somehow, whenever Sunny goes up the fishfarm to pay the lady, she seems to give us more prawns than what we pay for. This time was no different. Must be the 'leng zai' effect.

Hit the first spot, now nicknamed Tree and started out with great expectations. But after about an hour, we realized the fish weren't biting. I had a few good pulls but failed to hook up on one and lost the other one to a snag. Tim opened accounts with a fat Greasy Garoupa which impressed with its size. Then I struck a Barra. Then the action picked up as the tide opened the window for biting period. Bob and Sunny both landed one Barra each and then, after a few more misses, the bites stopped. Moved to Good Feeling and after a few minutes, I felt a good take on my rod and my line went limp. The fish was swimming up. Wound furiously to catch up with the fish and when I felt weight, I struck hard and the fight was on. After some good pulling of the drag and a few jumps, I eased a good sized Barra into the landing net. Then, just as I was looking at the fish in the net, my handline started rolling about on the floor and I grabbed the line. It was a good fish. Nice red-spotted garoupa landed on handline. Then we ALL started catching Barras non-stop and releasing them because we did not want to spoil the spot.

Sunny and I, back at the boatel with two of the fish. I kept my promise not to post pics of the whole catch in order to keep the spot safe from others.

Later, the bites stopped and we moved to Kurau, where Sunny landed a Garoupa while trying to clear a bird's nest on his multiplier. Saw a ship heading our way and we scooted off to the Marina for a trial docking. Just in time too cos a storm hit immediately after we had settled down in the canteen of the Marina. Probably the fiercest weather to hit so far this season. Sunny's trying to persuade me to get a membership there. Total 4 barras and 3 garoupas for the bag, the rest were released. Not bad for a short afternoon of fishing. Less barras than most of the previous trips this month, but still, the Garoupas more than made up for it. 

Samuel poses with a barra set for release, into our stomachs!

20nov 2003 - thurs half day 1 to 5 - sam lee and me - barras and a baby garoupa which was released. One barra weighed in at 2 kilos. The others were around a kilo. *** 

That's me putting a bend in the rod.... ending up with a 2 kg Golden prize. 

18nov 2003 - Mon half day 1 to 5 -sam liu + andrew + sunny + ted - barras and a baby garoupa which was released. *** 

Andrew and Samuel with some Barras from the trip. 







12nov 2003 - wed full day 9 to 5 - sunny and gang - barras, solefish, flathead and a baby garoupa - *****great trip, with several barras released to fight another day. Another day with over 40 Barras.

Bob with Barras 

Caught a beautiful sunset. One of the joys of boat fishing. 

08 nov 2003 - sat afternoon trip 2pm start - wee boon + sunny + kelvin -garoupas and strange looking snapper type of fish -** 

07 nov 2003 - fri full day trip - sam lee + daniel + david - garoupas, snappers, chermin and queenfish -*** 

 

Sometime in early nov 2003, Desmond landed a couple of nice Diamond Trevallies. 

I also can't remember when I caught these, but this was in the camera together with the november 2003 pics, so I thought I'd put them up. 

011103 - Here are some recent pics I managed to snap with my hp. 2 Ubin Barras with Rachel, and Wee Boon with a 16 kilo ray caught on light gear. 

 

Wee Boon and his 16 kilo Ray 

231003 - Trying out a handphone camera. Went out to test my new fishfinder and my (pregnant 7 months)wife caught this barra in under 5 mins at the spot. Went back there the next day and I landed one myself while Des brought up 2 trevallies. 

I think handphone camera technology is still sub-standard. Will have to keep scanning standard photos until camera technology catches up.

130903 - Here's one of the 3 Snappers landed during a short trip on the 13th of Sept 2003 with Johnny and the Chan family. 

090903 - Sailfish in Pahang on 9 sep 2003. Wee Boon and Kingsley also caught theirs. 

Sailfish from Rompin, quick photo before release. Sky Chong delivers the goods.

2003 First Quarter Big Barramundi

Early 2003 Log- 

Samuel, his dad and a friend came for a nice Ubin trip where I landed a 5.6 kg Barramundi. We landed an assortment of fish at the edge of Ubin like GT and the Three Kings - Barra, Snapper and Garoupa. Wife and kid met us at the docks.

Jeevan and gang joined us on another trip where I landed a solid Threadfin Salmon on a handline which jumped up and hit the canvas top when the fish struck. I had stuck it under an icebox. What an interesting start to 2003.

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.