28th Sept Night Offshore Trip with Ah Cheng Boat

A night at Southern Island

Tides:
28Sep 0556 0.4
28Sep 1143 2.9
28Sep 1805 0.2
29Sep 0016 3.1
29Sep 0637 0.6

Chinese Calender: 八月十八 (28Sept)

Ah Cheng Boat

Ah Cheng, the west side boatman gave me a called to invite me for night fishing at the Southern Island. Needless to say, it was pretty tempting. Since, I’m not working the next day, I quickly agreed to his invitation. Weather at 1730 on the Friday evening was utterly bad with heavy rain when I was setting off to Pandan Loop. Despite of it, I’m determined on wetting my line no matter what.

Low tide at Pandan River

Reached Pandan Loop at around 1845 and after parking my car near an Industry canteen, I walked around 10mins with all my “Barang-Barang” to reach the secluded pier behind the Cycle and Carriage Factory. Ah Cheng and his 30ft Fiberglass boat with a 200HP Suzuki greeted me and i was also introduced to another friendly fishing fanatic, Bro Joe, who came before me.

My Rod and Reel

As we are still waiting for another 3 anglers (Simon, Simon’s friend and Mario), our pleasant boatman informed us of his itinerary and explained to us what setup to be used. For the first few hours, we will be catching squids and doing some light fishing. The area we are fishing will be having rocky seabed. Hence, it’s advisable to use Apollo rig with Dupont 40lb and size 3/0 hook. Maybe at 0200, we will set-off to deeper water to catch our big fish and heavy tackle is a must. Being safe than sorry, I paired my Daiwa SL50SH multiplier with 50lb braided for the first time with my 5’6ft Zeus Red Scorpion.

Best No.1 killer Live Bait

101% look-out for the Squid

Deep-Sea KBL caught by Apollo

Ah Cheng dsiplaying Roy's 2kg Ang Chor Kee

Sweet lip and me

Many live Squid was being scoop up during the night and obviously this is the No.1 killer bait for the creature which we are targeting tonight. However, my 1st catch, a deep-sea KBL is by using dead prawn. Roy and I seem to have better luck for the first few hours as I caught a 1.5kg Sweet-lip (Kaci) and Roy had a good fight with a 2kg John Snapper (ACK). The current underneath us was not pretty strong and a size 10 weight is good enough for our first few hours of fun. The catch rate was pretty bad and Simon, fell asleep at around 2130.

LeopardRay caught by Simon's Friend

My First Shark

At 0130, we ventured into deeper water to target our main objective using our freshly caught live squids. The underneath current was extremely strong whereby a size 20 and above weight is needed. As I do not have such heavy weight, I combined a size 10 and a size 16 weight to make sure my line touches the seabed. Rangong was used with Gang hook tied with 2m of 50lb Dupont. Simon got his first catch with a small Spotted Bamboo/Lizard Shark which was being hook on its body and was release back to the sea. Minutes later, Simon’s friend also caught a decent size Bamboo shark and follow by two 5-6kg leopard Ray. I have also caught and released a small bamboo shark without much resistance from this fellow. With the Sharks and Rays, chances of catching big size Snapper are pretty low. Strangely, the current dies off less than an hour and no bite was taken. As my eyes are getting heavier and no fish, I also dozed off to my dreamland uncomfortably. Miserably, no fish was caught. At 0800, we called it a day.

Everyone including boatman knock out

Sadly for me, there wasn’t any big fish giving me a good fight although we have the best live bait for offshore fishing. Nevertheless, its a good experience for me and to prepare myself for the upcoming offshore trip at the Southern Island. Besides, I’m able to wet my line with some aching on my body while reeling in the heavy sinker for the whole night and of cos, with a total of 3 fish caught without being a Zero fighter.

Nearly a Zero Fighter at Labrador Jetty :P

Venus: Telok Blangah- Labrador Park

Tide:

14-Sep 0018 2.8
14-Sep 0646 0.5
14-Sep 1228 2.7
14-Sep 1843 0.5

Chinese Calender: 八月初四

Since it’s my off day, I decided going Telok Blangah for my fishing. Reached the LP jetty at 1130 and saw people having a wedding video shootout at the Jetty under the hot blazing sun....not very sure whether it’s from TCS.....The bride seems like an unfamiliar celebrity’s face from which I know of but she sure looks pretty enough for my 2nd look on her......hohohohoo :).

OK, back to business......Found a comfortable spot which is at the left end of the jetty to start wetting my hook. However, after 10mins, a few Malay youngsters came to where I fish. In fact, it’s ok for me to share the place with them as after all, this is a public place. However, one of the Malay guys took out his casting net and cast it like nobody business. This makes me pretty mad but I managed to control myself by not making a fuss over it...anyway, I’m here for FISHING and not finding trouble. Hence, I just walk off from my spot with my Barang Barang to look for a better place and most importantly, a quiet spot without the presence of such misery. From what I know, Net Casting is prohibited in this area.


Anyway, the weather is pretty good for fishing but it seems the “No fish curse” is still blessing me.......or perhaps, should be mainly due to the on-going Underwater Cable construction which causes the no bite syndrome. Tried out the squid jigging and utterly disappointed with not a single tug on my line. In addition to my “No fish” pain, I even lost my Yo-Zuri 2.5 Shrimp Hunter which cost me $15 and a $1.50 pink Surecatch Squid jig due to my lure got stuck onto the seabed structure. Now then I realized that the Eging setup use at Sibu-Kelong does not applied for LP jetty. Damn it, I got a big hole burned in my pocket!!! According to an Uncle’s advice, my setup is not suitable to be applied on this Jetty. As the Uncle himself did not managed to catch any squid, I decided to cease fire my Squid jigging mission as well.

Without a single bite, I decided to pack my stuff after the lost of my favorite Squid Jig. Another Empty-handed result once again....for Mr. Zero fighter. It’s pretty miserable and demoralizing to have such fishing ending. Nevertheless, through my conversation with the Uncle whom I met, his words seems a sort of encouraging with his past fishing experience in this Jetty.....Ok I will give this Jetty another chance. (Hahahahaa.....for so many months after being a zero fighter, I have been telling myself to give this Jetty a 2nd chance or maybe the Jetty giving me another chance)

While I was heading towards the Jetty exit, I saw a Yellow Cast Net dangling on a structure at the bottom of the Jetty. As the tide was pretty low, I decided to recover the Cast Net......This Net should belongs to the Malay youngster whom I met in the afternoon whereby I have saw him casting his net at this location earlier in the day.

I unloaded my stuff on the beach and walk towards the nets’ location. To my surprised, a decent size crab was seen feeding on a dead whiting.....without delay, I took off my sandals and pound myself at the crab. Bingo.....no escape for this poor crab. “Cool.....finally; there is something for me to put into my Icebox”. After retrieving the Cast Net, which was found to be in restorable condition, I headed straight back home to have my fresh steamed Crab for dinner. What a weekday fishing trip for me!!!

Birthday Trip to Sibu Ah Ngan Kelong

Sibu Ah Ngan Kelong on 8th Sep ~ 9th Sep 2007

Tide:
8-Sep 0300 0.4
8-Sep 1028 2.3
8-Sep 1531 1.6
8-Sep 2105 2.5
9-Sep 0358 0.3
9-Sep 1103 2.4
9-Sep 1613 1.4
9-Sep 2158 2.7

Chinese Calander: 七月二十七 ~ 七月二十八

Another achievement was made on 8th Sep 2007 whereby I had my so called “VIRGIN” experience driving up all alone to Tanjung Leman. This time, I have booked my trip to Ah Ngan Kelong. The weather in Singapore was pretty bad with heavy downpour. Regardless of the bad weather, I set off from home at 0800 and reaches Woodland at around 0820 to have my currency exchanged. My friends had told me that driving up to Malaysia alone is dangerous and it is not advisable but in the end, I still made up my mind to try it out or else it would be a boring weekend for me staying in Singapore.

Reached Tanjung Leman at 1025 and without my Jay Chou Album, I will definitely be bored..... Jay Chou ROCKSssss....hohohohohooo!!! The experience of traveling alone is really thrilling but alertness is a must at all time while driving. Weather was superb and the sea was not choppy at all. Heard the conversation from a group of Uncles that Ah Fatt Kelong has around 100 people and luckily, I have not booked with Ah Fatt or else, no chance for me to placed my rod....Hehehe!

Waited nearly an hour at the Jetty and finally, my boat came. I was the only one to board the boat to Ah Ngan Kelong. The Malay boatman told me that Ah Ngan Kelong has only 20pax today and it was indeed a piece of good news for me.

On the Kelong, everyone started to have their lunch. There were a bunch of Singaporean girls around and a group of Malaysian families who has came in the morning session. As I’m the lone ranger on the Kelong, the in-charge specially prepared a “One-man” lunch for me resulting a pretty full lunch with 3 dishes and a bowl of soup. The feeling was strange eating alone but who cares as I’m here for fishing...hohohohooo! After my lunch, I started to romp around the Kelong to search for a good fishing spot. Without delay, I took out my Pioneer 6ft rod and Penn Extreme Spin Reel to jig for some bait fish. The Sabiki hook which I have bought is not effective at all. Oh boy ...the Selar and Kuning is not biting although I can see a bunch of big juicy Selar and Kuning swimming happily under the Kelong. Tried out my self-make Sabiki jig but its no better than the a dollar stuff....another failure once again..so sad! No catch for the whole afternoon with only some small snapper and a couple of juvenile rabbit fish. The Malay Kelong in-charge really had his ways to impress the girls on the Kelong. He took out his DIY Sabiki and immediately, the Selar bite like nobody business. Really annoying seeing this and how I wish I could dig a hole to hide myself...hahahaha!

Night time was the time for me to test out my Squid jig. Has tried Eging (Squid-Fishing) on my last trip at Ah Fatt Kelong but was unsuccessful using the “Surecatch” squid jig. This time round, bought a size 2.0 Yamashita Pink and a size2.5 Yo-Zuri Orange Shrimp Hunter to make my squid jigging a mission possible. My concentration for the night is mainly just for Squid Jigging and by hook and by crook; I need to catch my very first Squid of my Life. I have been jigging for nearly an hour with nothing caught and was quite doubtful of my pink Yamashita Squid Jig which cost me $7. Nearly gave up on this Yamashita and I was thinking it will be another hopeless night for my Kelong fishing. At the other corner, saw the Malay Kelong in-charge started his Eging and within 5 minutes, a decent size squid was caught. Oh my god.....I really got to bang my head against the wall.....am I really that unlucky? Despite of being so unlucky, I quickly go check out what and how the Malay Uncle done to his squid jig and did the same thing to my setup giving my Yamashita a very last chance. Bingo... Within a couple of minutes, I landed my very first Green-eye Squid which is half of my palm size. Now then I know how easy and fun was Squid Jigging. Another decent size Green-Eye was caught at 2300 which was the second Squid of the night. As the current was quite strong and no squid caught, I knock off to bed at around 2330. What an achievement and a splendid 29th Birthday gift for me.

Woke up at 5am in the Sunday morning feeling fresh and first thing to do is to had a good wash up to make myself more energetic. 9th September is my birthday and my wish is to catch more squid. At 0530, another decent size squid was seen chasing after my orange Shrimp Hunter at the water surface. Without much difficulty, the third squid was recorded into my list. Since then, no squid was caught and hence I call it a day for my squid Jigging activities. At 1000, I took out my Shimano Biomaster Special GT4000 and 10ft Surecatch Prokat to try out on the Todak. As there wasn’t any baitfish caught, I use a big piece of dead prawn as my Todak’s bait. Waited for nearly 20minutes when I saw my rod started to bend and my line started to peel off like crazy. This time round, I need not worried too much of line snap as I used a 50lbs braided on my leader. The fish was jumping here and there trying very hard to get my hook off but there was no escape for this fish. After couple minutes of good fight, the 1.5kg Todak surrender itself to me.

Overall, this trip was one of the best Kelong trips I have been to date and was quite happy to be able to celebrate my birthday on the Kelong rather than staying in Singapore. The catch was not too bad and most importantly, I had broken my own record by catching my very first Squid in my Fishing History and also first time driving up here all alone.

4th Sep 07 Punggol Track 17 fishing

Punggol Track 17

Date: 04th Sep 07 (Tuesday)

Tide:
04-09-2007 0413 2.3
04-09-2007 0931 1.3
04-09-2007 1516 2.6
04-09-2007 2230 0.3

Chinese Calender: 七月二十三

Left from home at around 1200hrs and after 30mins of driving while listening to my favorite Jay Chou Album, I finally reached my destination, Punggol Track 17th. Have thought that no one will be fishing on Tuesday as many people should be working instead of fishing but I’m wrong.....there still many people like me who are really free and came here for fishing. Today the weather was pretty fine throughout the day, there isn’t any rain to welcome me and the sun was still hiding behind the clouds.

Without delay, I quickly setup my gears hoping to be the lucky one to have my braided line tearing out from my Shimano Biomaster GT4000. Oh boy……again I was building my lovely castle in the air. Within 10mins, a 13ft Holiday Spin pairing with my Shimano Aerlex4000, 10ft Surecatch Prokat with my Shimano Biomaster GT4000, 8ft Shakespear Uglystik with Shimano Sienna4000 and lastly, a normal 9ft Telescopic rod together with my small Penn Extreme FD1035 for jigging bait fish.

Unfortunately, the "No-catch" curse is still sticking onto me. All I can say is that, the more I hope the more I'll be disappointed. Fishing for nearly 5 hours, my total catch were 5 pathetic helicopter fish (CNR), 1 female flower crab which accidentally being hook up when trying to steal my bait and a baby emperor snapper which I used as live bait. Until today, no big fish was caught while fishing in Punggol and has been a zero fighter in some of my previous Punggol fishing trip.

I have even tried to do some Cuttlefish jigging with my Pink squid jig but no luck for me. Luckily this time round, still got a flower crab for my dinner...sweet and fresh....yummy!!!