A Luring Night trip on 25th Oct07

A fruitful night

Tide:
25th Oct 07 0405 0.7
25th Oct 07 1001 2.9
25th Oct 07 1618 0.5
25th Oct 07 2237 3.0

Chinese Calender: 九月十五

Since my last fishing trip with Arthur, my fishing urge was growing and I was unable to stop thinking of the big grouper which he has caught on that day. Therefore, I sms Arthur for a night luring trip on this Thursday as the water should be ideal. Darren, another fishing kaki was also interested and hence, we decided to meet at the East side before going to our productive spot.

On the Thursday morning, SMS was received from both Arthur and Darren. Arthur was asking whether the night trip will be confirmed and where else Darren informed that he was not able to make it for the night trip. Although one kaki couldn’t make it, it doesn’t reduce my growing urge to get some good fight.

My luring gear

Arthur and I met at a nearby hawker center near our fishing spot at 1945 to fill up my stomach making sure I have enough strength to fight the fish. At 2030, we reach our fishing spot. My arsenal for the night is a Pinnacle 1 piece 6ft BC rod which I have bought in year 2000 and have not been using it for not more than 5 times. This rod was used to pair up my Quantum Iron Bait-caster with 10lbs Tuf braided line. Another setup which I have brought is my 10ft Surecatch Prokat rod pairing with my Shimano GT Biomaster 4000 coupling with 30lb braided. For the first 30 minutes, no fish was caught and the night is really quiet. No surface action was seen and I was a bit disheartened. After so many casts on my newly bought sinking lure it doesn’t look promising at all although I have a good feeling that I might get something with it.

The first catch of the night






Hard to resist Berkley SP

My first grouper on lure

My 2nd Grouper on lure

The grouper terminator

Even a small glass fish could not resist it

What a hungry fish

Soon, the biting frenzy started when Arthur’s SP caught a 200g grouper but was release back to the water unintentionally which will be better not to mentioned it. Luckily Photo was taken on his first catch. Since then, the night becomes much better for both of us where we started to land fish one after another. Surprisingly, I caught my fish grouper on a lure and I can see that I have bought something which is effective for this trip. The Grouper seems to be unable to resist the temptation of our lure.

Give that man a beer...!

At about midnight, I move to another location near our spot to try out my lure. My 1st cast was a disaster as my lure was struck to some bottom object. Luckily, I managed to retrieve it. Out go my 2nd cast and was utterly shocked to see the rod which I’m holding on was bending like no tomorrow. My 10lb line was tearing out from my Quantum Iron in a fast pace and the strength of the fish was unstoppable. After a tough fight with the unknown biggy for around 10minutes, a silvered-bodied fish at a length of 3ft or more surfaced. My initial feeling on the fish could be a Barramudi(Siakap) but I’m wrong….. It was a BARRACUDA and a big one.

The big monster which harressed my sinking lure

The rear treble hook on my lure was securely hooked onto the mouth of the Barracuda and I’m pretty lucky that my line was not caught at the mouth of this big fish or else, I have no chance to see this fish surfaced. Even though I have won the battle seeing the exhausted fish floating, I had another problem. The fish was too heavy for me to lift it up from where I’m fishing and I can feel the amount of stress on my leader line and my rod. Without a Gaff, It’s extremely difficult for me to do anything. Eventually, my leader could not hold on anymore and off goes the big Barracuda and my 11 dollars lure. With despair, I see my fish sinking down into the bottom. As this is the very first big fish I landed on lure, I wanted to take a good picture of it. At that moment, I unloaded all my stuff on my body (with my shirt and shorts on) and jump into the water to salvage it. Due to the depth of the water, I can hardly do anything as the fish was gone from our sight.

A wet man with his toad fish

What a handsome face

With my whole bodied soaking with saltwater, I continued with my lure fishing with sadness. After an unexpected battle lost, the night becomes quiet and no fish was biting on our lure. Managed to land a decent sized Toad fish with my 10ft rod and nothing was landed after it. The tide was going down at a rapid speed and the current was strong underneath. Lots of rubbish was seen floating on the water and both of us called it a day at 0200.

It was a pretty fruitful night for both of us and I have a very satisfying encounter with a big Barracuda. With this experience, I have more confident in doing luring and it will be a very good alternative for me if I’m not going for an offshore trip. Do stay tuned on my blog and I will update my luring activities to you soon.

Our take home prize

18th Oct 07 Night fishing trip with Arthur

An unforgettable night fishing trip

Tide:
18Sep07 0343 2.2
18Sep07 0818 1.6
18Sep07 1401 2.7
18Sep07 2111 0.7
19Sep07 0450 2.1

Chinese Calander: 九月初八

Recieved a SMS in the afternoon from Arthur that he wanna try out squid jigging near my home at Punggol Jetty at 11pm. Since, i have nothing much to do except repairing my spinning rod, i agreed. We met at the Jetty at ard 11pm to do some squid jigging but the tide and the water condition was not good. After around 30minutes of jigging, we decided to make some changes to our plan. Initially, we would like to try some luring at Punggol track 17th but due to the afternoon rain, the track will be a disaster for our car to enter and also, at this late hours it will be crowded with lots of monkey's business going on....you know what i mean..hahahahahaaa!!!

The amazing plastic lure

Arthur suggested that he would like to try out Changi area, which is the broadwalk. Hmmm...not a bad idea as i have not tried fishing there and maybe we can have better luck on squid jigging. Off we go to the broadwalk. After trying around 30minutes of Squid-jigging, whereby in between, i nearly lost my Yamashita pink, i decided to change my strategies into luring. Arthur who was also doing his squid jigging and luring with his Yo-zuri lure seems very quiet as expected. Both of us decided to walk towards the further end to give it a try. I was a bit tired during this hours and luring indeed summon me to doze off even faster. Arthur offered me his Plastic lure whereby all the while, i thought that, "Oh no... not another gimmick stuff" or rather useless plastic thingy and what the HELL will take it in our local water? Anyway, i give it a try to see how things go....mission impossible!!!

"Man of the Night" with his supper




The Grouper weapon

So, both of us used the grub whereby none of us have tried catching fish with it. While we will chatting and retrieving our grub, Arthur shouted that something caught his line and the next second, i can see his Ryobi rod bending. At this very moment, my initial perception of the Plastic Grub was totally diminished into the thin air. This stupid looking thing really works in our local water...Wow, amazing!!! Soon, a fat 1kg greasy grouper surrendered to our man of the night,Arthur. A very special moment for Arthur himself as this is the first time for him to catch a grouper in local water and his first fish ever to be caught with a plastic lure. What a lucky guy!

Am i chubby?



Another nice shot

Ice box with the prize


Seeing that the time was already 3am, both of us call it a day without anymore surprises. Although, i have no luck to catch any fish, its really an enjoyable trip for me especially being impressed with stuff that i never ever thought of buying and also able to see decent size fish landed without going offshore.

Ubin Luring trip 12th Oct 07(Friday)

A ubin luring trip with Arthur

Tide:
12Oct07 0546 0.7
12Oct07 1122 2.8
12Oct07 1745 0.4

Chinese calendar: 九月初二

As I’m having my 4 days off since Wednesday till Saturday, I intended to have a good rest as well as to start planning my New Zealand Honeymoon trip which I have owe my partner for nearly 3 year. On the Thursday morning, I received an email from Arthur saying that he will be going to Pulau Ubin to try out luring on some spot which he have not been to. As I have stop doing luring for more than 3 years, I decided to give it a try and also to recce the beautiful island.

Just to keep it short and sweet, after having our Prata breakfast at Changi Village, at about 0800, we reached Ubin. As it is a weekday, there were no crowds on the island whereby during holidays and weekends, the island will be packed with people. Due to the journey was quite far, both of us rented a bicycle to explore the island and to find our fishing spot. The weather was pretty good throughout the day although during the afternoon it was pretty hot. We traveled to a few spot and there was no sign of Barramudi (KBL) or any other fish. Till 0130, no fish was caught and we called it a day. Although, both of us got a big egg on this fishing trip, it was rather a fruitful trip for both of us as we really enjoy looking at all the wonderful scenery on the island, busy taking our photos and having a delicious lunch at one of the island’s restaurant.

Info Cost for this trip:

Boat from (Changi point -> Ubin) = SGD$2

Boat from (Ubin to Changi point ) = SGD$2

Bicycle Rental at Ubin= SGD$4 per bike

The Beautiful Pulau Ubin




Our First Luring Spot





Bicycle Convoy with Arthur leading the way




My DUEL red lure




Oh boy, i lost my lure..Hiazzz




Quick... take a photo before i lost it again

Our 2nd Luring Spot

Lotus Flower

Arthur making sure we are heading correct way

Our 3rd Luring Spot

Monitor Lizard having a sun bathing

Able to see the tree Lizard?

Beautiful quarry

Our last Luring spot

Our Lunch Spot

The Coral trout and mullet in the tank

Our delicious lunch

Heading back to Changi Point Terminal

05th~06th Oct Offshore boat Trip at Ah Ngan Kelong

Perfect Showdown at Ah Ngan Kelong and the pathetic Boat fishing trip

Tides:
05 Oct 07 1150 1.9
05 Oct 07 1722 2.3
05 Oct 07 0758 2.2
06 Oct 07 0126 0.7
06 Oct 07 0905 2.3
06 Oct 07 1418 1.8
06 Oct 07 1943 2.3

Chinese Calendar: 八月二十五 (05Oct07), 八月二十六 (06Oct07)

Without having much sleep, I manage to wake up at 0400 to prepare myself for my all time favorite Sibu Kelong trip. At 0545, I pickup Lu Cong at Marsiling 888 Coffeeshop and headed to Kranji MRT to meet up with Darren and Richard. After the JB custom, we head towards the Malaysia to have our usual delicious Wan-Tan-Mee at the Pelangi Coffee Shop which opens 24hrs everyday if I’m not wrong.

The 3 "Fish-keteer" (Lu Cong, Darren, Richard)

After our breakfast, my 3 friends decided to get some cheaper beer to make this trip more fantastic but due to such early hours and the petrol kiosk in Malaysia does not sell alcoholic drinks, therefore the idea was drop. Arthur, whom I met on my last Changi offshore trip, also joined me for this Trip together with his friend, TC. Being the organizer for this trip, I was a bit sad to see my initial planning setting off from JB to Tg Leman at 0630 was sort of delay by an hour which causes some unhappiness on my friends. Anyway, at 0730 after meeting up with Arthur and TC, we headed straight to Leman Jetty using the Sedili route which proved to be much faster than I expected.

(TeckChin, Arthur and me)

Along the way to Tg Leman, I called up Ah Ngan to inform him that I’ll be late. But to my surprise by using the Sedili route, we managed to reach Leman Jetty less than 2 hours. Jetty tax was bought for the 6 us and at 0930 sharp, the malay boatman greeted us at the Jetty and all our hearts were excited to board the Yellow Boat to the Kelong.

Morning "Green Eye" Galore

The boat ride to the Kelong took around 30-40 minutes and upon reaching the Kelong, we were greeted by the friendly Ah Ngan and his workers. In order to delight the customer, our belongings were carried up to the Kelong by the Kelong’s worker which I like about coming to Ah Ngan Kelong. Without delay, all of us setup all our gears and headed directly to wet our lines and hook. In the morning, many squid was caught by the malay guy from the Kelong. Was informed by thw workers that during the previous night before we arrived, huge amount of squid was caught. Darren was lucky enough to catch his first squid or his first biggest Squid on his first jig using his Yo-zuri 3.0 Orange Shrimp hunter. As for me, I went out to target Selar using my DIY sabiki hook and for my 1st jig, 3 decent size selar was caught on my Sabiki but 1 manage to escape while I reeled in my line. No Selar was biting since then after the fish escaped. As no fish and squid was caught, Darren, Lu Cong and I tried targeting the Rabbit fish and we will really successful catching it whereby we caught nearly 50pcs within 1-2hours.

The 1st 30minutes catch at Kelong

Darren, The Champion Sotong terminator with his first and largest Squid

After our luscious lunch, we prepared ourselves for the offshore Sibu trip. Ah Ngan, even teaches us the correct way of tighing knots and even told us our chances of getting big fish like Chermin and snapper with our live prawn. In the end, for the entire trip, no fish was caught for the few hours. There was one time when all of us included the boatman dozed off. Only by the last one hour, some small coral fishes were caught. What a pathetic offshore trip I ever been to. In addition, the worst things happened when 2 of my friends, Darren and Richard our “Captain Jack Sparrow” became the Merlion. They were cursing and swearing of not going for any offshore trip never and ever again. It was indeed a painful experience having seasickness and suffering on the boat but one's really got to get over it if you are into offshore fishing. Usually for many people, after a few trip, you will most likely prone to seasickness. Luckily for the first timer, Lu Cong, he has survived from being a merlion under such rocking condition but still swearing that no boat fishing ever again. Well, according to my 3 dear friends, they would rather spend their money on Pay-pond fishing rather than going offshore ever again... .Well, what to do...really hard to delight them leh....hohohohohoooo.

My Daiwa sealine SL50SH and Zeus Red Scorpion

My Daiwa Dynastar and Shakespear Contender

Darren and our Captain Richard Sparrow surrender!!!

No fish until Organizer Doze off....Zzzzzz

Grouper anyone?

Beautiful sunset at Sibu

After having our dinner and a good bathe, our fishing urge was filled up to the max and everyone started to jig for squid or do some luring. Arthur who is concentrating on doing his luring managed to catch a few juvenile Barracudas. Darren, Lu Cong, Captain Jack Sparrow and I continue on Squid jigging and all of us are very happy with of catches during the night. Yamashita Squid jig seem to be the most effective for the night on Green eye Squid and Aero Squid.Darren became our man of the match for the night, “Sotong-Terminator Champion of Ah Ngan Kelong”. The night supper, coconut milk with red bean soup was fantastic. During my Eging, I have lost a couple of Squid jig which is fortunately enough, all are cheapo lures. This Cheap stuff still managed to get me some Aero and Green eye squid as well. At 2300, I’m too tired to carry on and I stopped my squid jigging but on the other hand, I started my squid dreaming. Judging by my personal test on all the squid lure which I have used, I can concluded that Yamashita is the best to be used for Squid Jigging….Yamashita san, do consider giving me a few percent of your increase sales on the Squid jig....hahahahahahaaaa!!!

Cheap lure seems effective too but not as effective as YAMASHITA!

Who say cheap lure is no good?

Aero Sotong also cannot resist the temptation

Woke up at 0400 without enough sleep is really tiring but who cares if I can get some good fishing. When I woke up, Arthurs has already started his luring and Eging. Luck was with him when a school of Parangs was attracted to his Yo-zuri L-minnow. One after another Parang was being caught by his deadly Yo-zuri weapon....which I think will be out of stock soon after reading my blog..... J Total of 6 Parang was caught by him within less than an hour. No squid was caught after I started jigging for squid and everything is quiet till around 9am where the Selar and Kunning started feeding. Within 20 minutes of bait fish jigging using the sabiki, I have already caught more than 50 over pieces of my favorite Nasi Lemak fish, Kunning. Although not much fight by the small fish but it was really fun. Lu Cong managed to catch a decent size todak and he was really out to target them. As the todak become more careful in feeding after the first was caught, no fish was brought up since then. I have also setup my line for Todak as well but without paying much attention to my rod, I discovered than my leader (50lbs braided) was torn and my 2 gang hook was missing after retrieving back my line. Oh boy, what kind of fish had took my bait and escaped with my hook?

Arthur, The 6 Parangs and Yellow tail Barra Terminator

Yo-zuri did it again!

Around 1030, everyone started packing up so as to prevent stuff being stolen when the crowd came. Our Captain Richard Sparrow has full of energy like the Alkaline Energetic Battery. He can talk for hours none stop and every one of us will sit in and chat with him. All of us really enjoy listening to his conversation which brightens up everyone’s heart. His action speaks louder than his words when he performed his spectacular casting which reminds me of the action hero, Superman....hahahahaa. Our Captain Richard Sparrow never fails to delight us with his action and words. Without him, this Kelong trip will be a boring one, isn’t it? Everyone stopped fishing as the weather become hotter and we waited for our lunch before heading back to Leman Jetty.

Captain with his pail of "Kunning"

Good morning...Captain Richard Sparrow

Hey...This is the correct posture to cast far... OK!

Captain Richard Sparrow waiting for his "Yellow Ship" with pretty girls

Lu Cong the Todak Terminator


Ok, a guideline for newbies who is interested. The Total spending for the 6 of us is roughly close to RM1200 which inclusive of the stay and food at Kelong (RM132 per pax), offshore boat fishing (RM300 per boat) and the live prawn (RM75) used for the boat fishing. The Kelong trip was indeed fantastic for me but not the boat trip which I personally felt that it’s not really worthwhile as Kelong is more productive compare to boat fishing. Maybe it’s our luck for choosing the wrong timing and tide resulted in the poor catch which is beyond of our expectation. Nevertheless, its part and parcel of our life where unexpected always happened. All in all, I have really enjoyed the 2D1N trip but still having some mix feeling of disappointment whereby i will not mentioned it here to spoilt my mood....hohohohoho. Just be happy and forget the unhappiness and i'm sure I will have better result on my next upcoming offshore boat trip with big fish. FISH FOR PASSION!!!



50 over Rabbit in the bag



Darren and friend's partial catch

TC's catch

Arthur's catch

The 6 Happy angler for the gathering shot