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.