Overseas Fishing, Ubin

It was the long weekend and I was itching to go to the kelong in Sibu. However, not a good timing as most of the project team members were Malaysia bounded. Someone had to stay back to hold the fort. So, I thot why not just dropped into Ubin for a spot of "overseas" fishing.



Ubin is just about 10 minutes by bumboat, costing $2 per passenger. However, getting back was the issue as I was planning to stay till the late evening. I checked around and the boating uncle said that you can get a boat back, around $12 for all. However, it turned out later that I had to pay $24 for a 10 minute boat ride back. But anyway, no choice.



We reached there around evening time and walked around a bit. There were sandflies at the beach area and we left it in a hurry. The jetty area looked ok and pretty comfy for night fishing. Clean cemented floors and lights around. I was wondering why no one was doing it there. There were people in and out with fishing rods, but I didn't see them doing it at the jetty. Maybe there are some other hotspots around. Anyway, being my first time, Jetty looked good, and also later when we needed to do a quick getaway back to Singapore, it would be easy. From here, I could observe the traffic of the place of the people coming and leaving.

There were some bites and the bells went off a few times. But everytime I reeled back, there was nothing. A few times, my rig got snagged and I had to cut it away. I set up my luring set and did some luring too. Things were quiet at the start and the people milling around lessen as the night settled.



I tried my luck at the berthing area and on one cast, I pulled up something strange looking. On closer look, it was a tiny sotong! D got very excited and so was I. Just the other day, I was wishing that I would be able to hook up a sotong, maybe at the Sibu kelong. Little did I know that I would actually get one so soon, and on a lure! Interestingly, it was making a sort of chirping sound, just like a tiny bird. When I dropped it into the container, it started squirting ink all over. Cool.



Shortly there after, the rods bell rang and we pulled up a crab (bait stealer). The other rod got a small fish. Checking from the Net, it ended up to be a Goatee Croaker. Haha, the tiny beard at the end of the mouth was cute. Not bad for a night. It was more fishes that I had caught in one session.

Some more luring got me into trouble. The lure got stuck on one of the boat's anchoring rope. It was a goner for sure as the lines were quite tangled up. Another lure lost. Luckily, this one was a fairly cheap one.

Checking the time, I realized that it was pretty late already. However, there wasn't any boatman around. I checked with a Malay family on how to get back to Singapore. They seemed like regulars here. Luckily, he had with him the boatman contact. I made a call and was told that the fare would be $24. Well, ok then. Packed up and left the place.

D, I think had a good time. Before she nodded off when we reached home and hit the bed, she asked to go there again next week. :)

Goatee Croaker
http://www.handlinefishing.com/whatsthisfish/croakers/goateecroaker.htm