Secret Spot and Tanjong Rhu

I had actually plan to go Tanah Merah canel. Recced the place 2 days back and found it to be quite a good spot. But on the way, there was a downpour. Stopped by Changi for some food and to wait out the rain. Got some live prawns and sarong to try baiting also. As we were going there, I decided to check out a spot that was mentioned in the forum.

The directions were not specific, as it was a secret spot. But I roughly know where and tried an opening that look promising. Bingo, got into the right entrance. Surprising, there weren't any no entry signs. So, I don't think it is illegal afterall.



Reach there after a long slow drive. Road was rough and bumpy. Not a soul in sight. A few heavy trucks passed by and must have been wondering what a private car is doing inside the area. I headed towards the sea and managed to find the way there.



Tide was low and the water breaker was exposed. Too far to do any casting. However A found the low tide to her advantage. She could pick top shells from the along the shore. In no time, we got a bucketful of top shells. D was excited and wanted to follow. But the rocks were very slippery and I disallowed her from going down to the sea bed.



Then to our surprise, a van drove up next to us. A truckload of thai workers. They came here with nettings equipment and all. But after "fishing" around our spot, they moved to a further spot to our left, leaving us the place all to ourselves again. Another few vehicles came by and they all seemed to move further down. Maybe the spot there was better.



I tried luring and baiting. But no luck. The live prawns were untouched even after parking there for 30 minutes. Tide was coming in and at times, the waves were pretty rough. The sun was setting, and it was quite a pretty sight. However, daylight was fast going away. I had to pack up as it would be quite dark over there. No source of light near to us.

Left the spot around 7pm and made the long drive out. It was already very dark and my headlights lighted the landscape with an eerie quiet silence. Along the way, there were packs of dogs. They chased after my car and actually kept up with the following for quite a distance. Imagine if you had walked in. Would surely be attacked by the wild dogs.

I still had some prawns left and decided to move on to Tanjong Rhu to use the remaining prawns. From what I read, it was probably not a great spot. But no harm trying. At least, it would be comfortable there.

Reached there and rigged up my line. After a while, there was a slight movement detected and quickly grabbed and pulled to set the hook. Upon reeling in, no movement felt. Should have been a false alarm. Nevertheless, reeled the line in to check. To my surprise, there was a small fish (scat).



Just read yesterday that they have sharp venomous spines. So I was careful not to touch it. Upon closer examination, I didn't actually hook the bugger up. It was rigged by another baiter, and my guess was that he used it as a bait. Somehow, the line got tangled with mine and I managed to pull it up. I unhooked the poor fish. When I left the place, I released it back into the water. Score is still ZERO. This fish don't count.

Spotted Scat/Kim Kor
http://www.handlinefishing.com/whatsthisfish/scats/spottedscat.htm