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