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.
