Date: 06 Sept 08
Location: Sedilli
Time: 0300hr till 1800hr
Tide: 0303hr 2.3m High tide
1420hr 2.6m High tide
1613hr 1.2m Low tide
My best Birthday Present
Last two week, Joon informed that he has booked the Sedilli boat on the 6th Sept. Since i'm having my birthday on the 9th Sept, i informed my wife that i don't wanna have any birthday present for this year and all she need to do is to accompany me to this boat trip and of cos, everything and fees will be on me....really worthwhile for her. Seriously, this is a meaningful and the best present for me cos this is the very first time my wife is joining me to a offshore fishing trip.
Few weeks before this trip, i had a nightmare at Sedilli offshore where i puke throughout the trip and until today when i think of it, i still have the seasick phobia with me. As i have ample of offshore fishing experience beforehand and its impossible for me to throw out and eventually, it still happened to me on my last trip which is unbelievable. This time round with my wife accompany, i must make this trip a fruitful and a meaningful one. Hence, i went to the Pharmacy and get some seasick pills for the both of us which was meant to be very effective from my research in the fishing forum. Beside, i also brought some fresh ginger and cut it into slices to be consume on the boat.
On the 5th of Sept evening, we went into Johore using the woodland checkpoint and was caught in the infamous checkpoint jam. Fortunately, it took us around 40 minutes to clear the miserable jam. Since, we are earlier than what we have expected, my wife suggested to have a full body massage at JB to relax ourselves. After our dinner, we went back to our JB home at Setia Indah and have a early rest as we need to wake up very early on the next morning.
At 0300hr, we leave our home to meet at the Petrol station near to Tebrau Jusco to meet Joon, Chinlong, Frank and Louis. At the same time, we bought a few packs of ice as well as some drinks and bread for this trip which are meant to be our lunch on board as the malay boatman and the decky is on fasting month and no food is provided. After the puchasing the stuff, we headed off to KotaTinggi to collect our Live prawns for the trip whereby the boatman reminded us to brought it for this trip. Hmmm...looks like the boatman will be bringing us to tackle on some crimson snapper aka "Red chicken" , Grouper and of cos the Ebek.
Reaching the Sedilli Jetty at 0430hr
Our hardworking prawns
At 0430hr, we reached the Sedilli Jetty after 1.5hr of driving but was kind of disappointed when the sky started to drizzle but luckily it lasted for just 10minutes. At 0500hr, all of us were on the blue wooden boat setting off to our first fishing ground. Joon predicted that the wave for this trip will not be strong but he was wrong as our boat was rocking left and right non stop. I was kind of worried even though both me and my wife had taken the seaksick pills but in my mind, the "Merlion scene" on my last trip was growing heavily on me. As and when, i would be checking with my wife if she is alright....however, all my worries is too much as she replied me......"Dear, even though it's my 1st trip, don't worry as i wouldn't be as lousy as you"......hahahahahaaa!!!
At 0430hr, we reached the Sedilli Jetty after 1.5hr of driving but was kind of disappointed when the sky started to drizzle but luckily it lasted for just 10minutes. At 0500hr, all of us were on the blue wooden boat setting off to our first fishing ground. Joon predicted that the wave for this trip will not be strong but he was wrong as our boat was rocking left and right non stop. I was kind of worried even though both me and my wife had taken the seaksick pills but in my mind, the "Merlion scene" on my last trip was growing heavily on me. As and when, i would be checking with my wife if she is alright....however, all my worries is too much as she replied me......"Dear, even though it's my 1st trip, don't worry as i wouldn't be as lousy as you"......hahahahahaaa!!!
C'mon don't shoot me when i'm sleeping
I wouldn't get any seasick
The 3 muskateers
Its time for breakfast
At around 0700hr, we reach our 1st fishing ground and all of us started to wet our lines. Most of us started bottom fishing where as Joon started doing Jigging. Soon, Louis and my wife landed their first fish of the day. It was an easy job for my wife as she was using the Shimano Aerlex8000 and Zeus Legend PE2-3 for this trip. Both of them landed the MonogrammedMonocle Bream if i'm not wrong. After 20 minutes later, i had a bite and it should be something big but after few minutes of struggling, the fish managed to escape sucessfully as my line was caught with the unjam rope. What a missed for me on my 1st bite!
At around 0700hr, we reach our 1st fishing ground and all of us started to wet our lines. Most of us started bottom fishing where as Joon started doing Jigging. Soon, Louis and my wife landed their first fish of the day. It was an easy job for my wife as she was using the Shimano Aerlex8000 and Zeus Legend PE2-3 for this trip. Both of them landed the MonogrammedMonocle Bream if i'm not wrong. After 20 minutes later, i had a bite and it should be something big but after few minutes of struggling, the fish managed to escape sucessfully as my line was caught with the unjam rope. What a missed for me on my 1st bite!
Louis's first fish landed
Wifey caught a bream as well
Oh, it's not a small fish
On the 2nd fishing spot, Frank was jigging with his Sabiki for baitfish and out of sudden, a mackeral came near to his bait and snatched off his bait fish right infront of him. Joon and Chinlong who was doing the Sabiki jigging also saw the scene and was stunned at that evry instance...What a arrogant mackeral! After 5 minutes of bottom, another fishing boat came to our spot and fish just beside us. Seeing this, the boatman informed us to reel back our line and off we went to our next fishing spot.......very thoughful of our boatman indeed!
Grouper frenzy started
My Double hook-up
Crimson Snapper by Louis
Frank landed a Crimson as well
The third spot was fruitful for us as we managed to land a couple of grouper and crimson snapper. Although the coral spot is not very big but our boat managed to park quite near to it. My wife had a successful fishing luck whereby she landed around 4-5pcs of grouper on that spot. For me, i had the same luck as her as one of my biggest grouper which i had landed is almost 2kg. Most of us managed to landed a grouper except for our poor organizer, Joon. Hohohooo....He should have reached his quota for this year as he already caught a very big fish, a mermaid of cos to be exact. :P
Grouper for my wife
A good fight with my Aerlex8000
A Spanish flag snapper
Another Grouper for dinner
The biting frenzy on our 3rd spot lasted less than an hour and since then nothing was landed for all of us. Seeing this, i took out my Shimano Basstera rod matching with my Ryobi Zauber 2000 to jig for some small fish. Soon, somthing was landed and i thought that it would be a simple job to land this fish. To my surprised, my line suddenly burst out from my reel at an alarming speed and i was shocked to see my Basstera was bending to a horrifying angle. At that moment, i dared not reel in my line as the fish underneath is much bigger than i have expected. Moreover, i'm using light setup and my main leader is just 10lbs braided and its kind of impossible to play with this fish. After 5 minutes of struggling, the fish escaped at my expectation. Luckily, i'm able to recover all my lines and my Basstera is still in one pieces.......thanks god!
A good fight with light tackle
Its going home time
Our favorite Blue wooden boat
Our favorite Blue wooden boat
Overall catch for the day
The catch rate is not that good after our 3rd spot and nothing much was landed for everyone of us. We ceased our fishing trip at 6pm and everyone of us are happy to have some fish to bring back home and all of us enjoyed this trip. Although, our harvest is average and no big fish was landed, it was a pretty good trip for me. Both me and my wife was free from seasick throughout the trip and most importantly, i had my best birthday present ..............a priceless birthday present indeed.
