Last Fish of the Year

We wanted to catch the fireworks for the new year. Since the celebration was at Vivocity, the idea was to try to get a glimpse of it from Lab Park. We got there around 8.30pm and by then, the car parks were already full. Apparently, everyone else also had the same bright idea. In fact at the pavilion, the atmosphere was carnival like, with children running all over the place.



I brought along my rods and set it up with a grub. The plan was to do some luring until the final countdown. But the fishing area, were all fully occupied in one long row. I managed to squeeze myself between 2 surfcasters again, the trick being not to cross their lines. The tide was quite low but I couldn't move down the rocks to cast as it was very slippery and dangerous. Luckily, the person on my left moved away and I have a wider casting angle. I must had been doing at the rate of 3 cast per minute, and had gone on for one and half hours. That should put me somewhere between 270 casts for tonight.



Grub finally got stuck in the rocks, and I had to snap the line. Next change was to my trusty crystal minnow. And first cast from this fellow, the line came back with something vibrating like a broken portable massager. I was quite puzzled at first but on closer look, I realised I got a fish. A very small mudskipper. That must had been some record. To think that a fellow that small would go for a lure that big. Having gotten this, nothing else is impossible. I unhooked the tiny fellow and released it.

Feeling all re-engerised, I made a couple hundred more cast. But nothing else was biting till the countdown. Still, I was glad that I wasn't going back empty handed. A fish is still a fish.



The countdown was over as soon as it started. No loud shouting of 8,7,6....etc. All I knew was suddenly, there were fireworks in the sky. But the viewing angle was bad as it was mostly blocked by an island in between. The fireworks were over in 5 minutes. Quite a disappointment for all of us.



After that, everyone was scrambling to get out of the area. Needless to say, leading to a huge jam on the way out. We had to wait in the car for about an hour before the traffic cleared.

Dragon Tooth Gate

What eating too much candy will do to your tooth


I hadn't really try out the new Lab Park Extension during the day, and decided to swing by. But reaching there, people was jammed packed with people, and scorching hot. The new extension was pretty shelterless, and hence I walked a little down the towards the old park.

I managed to find a little spot between two surfcasters just at the Dragon Tooth Gate sculpture, and did some fishing with prawn meat. But totally zero bites at all. And also nothing despite downsizing my hooks all the way to size 8. The terrain here also very trickly. Throw too near, sangkot as there are lots of rocks just in front of the railings. So need to cast far. Water was choppy and I couldn't feel any bites throughout the afternoon. But I spied some small todaks jumping around the water, which was a good sign. Water was quite clear too.

Actually a nice luring spot, standing on the rock


After a while, surfcaster on the right left. I decided to do some luring. So climbed over the railings and stood on the rock for some casting. First cast, saw a todak following my lure. Quite encouraging. But after that, cast and cast and nothing was biting.

The weather took a sudden turn, and started raining cats and dogs. I hardly had time to pack, and we were all soaked to the skin. But the children found it fun and was quite an experience.

*Sigh* Another fishless day.

LPR Ranger

Mr Ranger in green


Just went for a quiet Xmas afternoon in the park. Naturally, I took out my rod for some casting exercise. This place had not been very productive, having only caught 2 Tomans here before. But the terrain was quite flat and shallow with no weeds and hiding place ie. Not likely to have fish.

I played cheat a little and went to the further end for casting, slightly beyond the legal grounds. There the water deeper and had better chance. But along came the Ranger and asked to see my lure (was using a grub). He must have took that I was using live bait. Seeing that it was a plastic thingy, he just gave me a warning politely and asked me to fish within the legal area OR else will book me. I gingerly obeyed, relieved that he didn't give me a ticket.

A group of family with some noisey kids came along and saw me fishing just outside the signboard. Little boy turned around and scowled at me saying "You break the rules!". Yeah yeah...>:(

Merry Xmas Mr Cat

I had planned to head for Ubin Jetty to do a spot of light fishing. But alas, I had a prior meeting that ended a little late. By the time I got to changi, it was already about 8pm. Ferry to Ubin not likely to be still operating. No choice. Decided then to head for BJT, our famous fishing/blading jetty.

It had been almost 2 years full cycle, when all this fishing craze started within me. I was here end of 2005, doing a countdown when I noticed everyone fishing. Someone had gotten an octopus, and I found it quite relaxing and interesting. Today, I wasn't too sure if it would be packed due to the Xmas hols. When I reached there, it was indeed very crowded. But I was lucky to find an open spot, quite near the far end.

But I was absent minded and forgot to buy batteries for my pump. Without that, my live prawns didn't have long to live. Not much of an option, but to use them until they run out of breath and keel over.

Tide was coming up and the weather was unusually nice. We chanced upon our Pica Frnz, Su and Isham. They were camping there overnight along the beach near the toilet area. We chatted a little and I jokingly said to bring my catches for them to bbq. But at that time, still nothing yet.





However, shortly after they left, I got a bite and managed to hook it. Up came a 500-800g Duri that was quite strong for its size. It even managed to spool out my line a little from my Zauber. Not a very good catch, but still Duris are a lot better than the other slimy variety.

After that, I had quite a few dull taps, but couldn't quite get the fishes. It appeared that those at the bottom of the jetty were quite clever, and would just bite at the edge of the bait. Every so often, I would bring up the bait with just the frontal part or the back part nibbled off.

Around 1pm, I ran out of prawns and A and D were already quite tired. We packed and called it a night. I looked for Su and Isham to give them the fish, but couldn't find them anyway near the shore. There were too many campers to single them out.

Recce - Spot at Lor Halus

I had very much wanted to fish today, given that I had not done so for the long weekends. But the tide was unfavourable. The weather was hot and being the afternoon, I didn't want to get scorched by the sun. I drove around and decided to visit the old charcoal factory. The last time there, some shade was possible. However reaching there, water was low like anything. Though I fished for a little while, I gave up. It was just not worth the time. Furthermore, someone else was wakeboarding in the dirty river.





I drove around with my GPS, and chanced upon a possible spot. A few people were fishing there. But the ground was rough, and I had to bash into some forestation to get there. Being lowtide, fishing seemed crazy at that time too.

New Stuff - Boga and Old School Crystal Minnow

I had lost this sometime back and never could find a replacement anywhere else. This was the one that got me my first decent catch of a ribbon at Changi waters. Finally found this at the new tackle shop at Yishun 731. Lure is the old design, with the flat mirror surface. The new ones got all the serrated finishing. Was thinking to buy or not, but since hard to find, got it at about $10.



Also saw that the boga was very cheap at $13, and finally bought my first ever boga. Boga is useful for the weighing mechanism, and not so much for lip gripping the fish. For gripping the fish, a normal plier would do. With the weigh, one could adjust the drag more accurately.

New Stuff - Jigs

Was at Fisherman that day and had gotten some jigs. (Well, I had recently bought a jigging rod, hadn't I?). It was timely to start collecting some jigs. It might just come in handy soon.

Featured here also a jig I got a month back. Duel Salty Rubber. Tried in Kelong but yielded nothing.

Yozuri Blanka 40g




Duel Tamentai 28g




Salty Rubber 40g

Recce - Cemetary spot

No plans for fishing today, but just a lazy afternoon driving around. I was curious about another fish icon on my GPS, this time in Singapore itself. Looking at the map, it was deep into our renown Chua Chu Kang cemetary. After lunch at Jurong Point, I drove over to have a look see.

One of the many tracks


Now this place, never come at night. I am sure it would be downright spooky. But in the bright afternoon, it was in fact quite a nice and peaceful place. Maybe in 20-30 years time, I would have a spot here.

It's true. Birds of a feather, flock together






Aw, the way in is blocked


There were a large gathering of Heron just flocking around that area. They are beautiful birds, and we snapped quite a number of pictures of them. Following the directions on my GPS, alas the way to the fish icon was blocked by a authoritative fence with an army no trespassing sign. The entrance was just outside of the National Shooting Centre. From where we were, there were shootings going on for sure. Oh, there even was a bus service in.

I almost e-brake upon seeing this


It looked like the place was a live firing area, and certainly doesn't looked safe. Disappointed, I drove around to see if there was perhaps another way in. But no luck at all. However around a certain stretch, I saw a familiar sight, someone fishing! I was curious enough to stop the car and came down to have a look.

Walking nearer to him, I exchanged greetings, spurting the usual "got fish or not" type of questions. Man was quite friendly and said no fish today, due to the constant raining. From the canal entrance, I could see a long dirt path down. I asked man politely where it lead to and was told that it would lead to Poyan reservoir. But the way in was deep and would need about half an hour. This reservoir, I am sure that lots of Singaporeans didn't even know about.

From here, a long interesting way in


Opposite a disused army camp?




I was very curious as to what I would find at the end, and decided to make a trek in. With my camera, I took a slow walk down and was prepared to do the half hour walk. The road in, I was to find out, was quite rough. There were no proper tracks, but more like muddy field dirt path. My sandal got quite dirty and needed a wash when I returned. But the water along the way was full of activities. For sure there were plentiful of tomans and haruan in this area. I even once saw one sticking up the head for air.

Canal beside these residents




Something here


Dead end (for my slippers)


About 10 mins in, I came to a sort of dead end. To go further, I needed to have proper tracking shoes or army boots. I was just on my slippers and it wasn't safe to proceed. I made the turn back and went back to the man fishing to chat more. He was doing live baiting with 3 rods. One with a tosat, one with worm and the other, I wasn't sure. He told me that he just missed one. Man seemed experienced in this kind of fishing.

After that, I drove out and right into a "jam" at the muslim cemetary. I think due to the coming Hari something holiday, lots of them were there to visit their family grave. Never thot that a cemetary could be that busy.

New toys - Sail fish tackle

I had wanted for the longest time to fill up this gap in my tackle collection. Amongst all my rods and reels, none was suitable for big game fishing, the likes of TP boat fishing or Rompin sail fishing.

I had researched quite long, and almost settled for a Shimano Blue Rose coupled with a Shimano Ocea Jigger 4000p. But after thinking about it, I very much wanted a lever drag reel, not having owned one before. But lever drag reels are limited, and the good ones cost an arm and leg.





I walked into Riverland this evening and asked for some recommendations. They took out a Shimano Tyrnos, an Okuma Titus, Shimano TLD 2speed and Avet. To my surprise, the Tyrnos was just around the $350+ region. Quite affordable, comparing to a $650 for a jigger. Okuma I wasn't too sure of the brandname, but actually it looked quite good. The feature was that it has a lever wind, not a common feature for such a reel. TLD looked too blackish for my liking. Avet design wasn't my style, but it was also expensive at $500+. I asked what could be paired with a Tyrnos and I was shown a Daiwa Monster Mesh, a Loomis rod and something else. The Monster mesh caught my eye as it was quite thin for a PE 6 rod. The look and design was quite nice too. And price was attractive, at $257, almost the same as my jigwrex.



So I settled for this combo which I felt was quite good. Tyrnos looked like a Torium except for being a lever drag version. Capacity was very big, and it didn't have a lever wind. I later found out that it could spool in 500m for my 50lbs braid. Not having a lever wind, I would need to get used to. Also, cheap also meant that it was a 1 speed reel, compared to a 2speed reel for some. As for lines, I was shown some, and the boss recommended a good line from Japan. The colors were nice but I didn't quite know how much I needed. Ended up that I had to reel in 500m of lines, and that was 5 spools of 100m at $36 each. Wow, that was alot and really broke the bank for $188 just for the lines. *faint*





But no choice, just had to bite the bullet for now. Big fish meant big equipment and big money needed to be invested. After this, I am all geared for the coming Rompin Trip. Now I only need to add saltwater and stir, and that phone call.

Monster Mesh


Top guide


SIC Guide


Specs


Butt joint


Gimbal


Fuji Reel seat


Guide wrap


Whole setup




Reel on rod


Tyrnos specs


Front plate


Front plate closeup


Rod clamps


Gear ratio


The most expensive lines. I could use it to hang myself


Model number


Brakes


Lever

$8 fishing

I was doing some tackle shopping at Beach road when Andrew asked if there was any fishing tonight. Nothing was planned yet, and the weather was so wet. But I said to meet him for dinner at CV and we could go do some light fishing, weather permitting.

To our surprise, when we arrived around the vicinity, there wasn't any rain at all. At CV, seeing that Andrew had yet to arrive, I continued my tackle shopping at the shops there. I finally settled for my heavy tackle, and was all set for any sail fishing in the near future. But that really put a hole in my pocket.

The idea at first was to go broadwalk. But we had been there quite a few times. Wanting to try something different, and being the low tide, I suggested yacht club. Yeah, the fee was a ridiculous $8 per rod, but I thought that was the best location given the low tide.

Reaching there, we were shocked to see so many anglers. Looked like $8 was still quite cheap for most people. We moved all the way to the end, and was lucky to be able to get the prime spot, just next to the habour entrance to the Marina.



But prime spot or not, we didn't have much action. I did manage to get a good sizable bite, but due to my loose drag and my clumsy reaction, fish ran into a snag and couldn't be dislodged. It was probably a Grouper, as there are many Groupers lurking at that location. Seeing no chance, we snapped the line to try again.

AD took out his newly acquired slim max and got a Glass fish for christening. Thereafter I got an Emperor. Seeing that we didn't have any icebox, I released the fellow. AD finished up with a catch of a Kuku just under the jetty. We had a hard time trying to disgorge the hook from the mouth. After accomplishing that, we released it too.

Around 1.30am, my line got snagged and had to be snapped. After that, we called it a day. Not very fruitful despite the prime spot, but some activity nevertheless.

Secret spot at Sg Rengit

Beautiful fresh water spot at Sg Rengit

Monsoon Fishing - Ah Ngan Kelong

At the office on Thurs, I got a sudden SMS from Eric to go Kelong this Sat. Just the day before, it was raining cats and dogs, with news about Johor flooding. Naturally everyone else that I asked to come along probably thought that we were crazy to fishing at the Kelong under this kind of weather condition. Truth be told, I was a little worried myself. But kelong in a Monsoon is safe, acting as a shelter from the elements. Only worry is the boat ride there. If the waves were too big, the ride would be very bumpy. And also the drive there in flood prone JB. I saw it as kind of different experience, and was keen to try how fishing in a full blown Monsoon would be like.

To beat the jam, we woke up early and crossed the causeway at 6.15am. But to my chagrin, it was already jammed starting from the turning after Woodlands town centre on the ramp. But the jam was moderate and we got over like in 20 minutes. From there, a quick change of Ringgets and we were on the way.

Heavy rain on the way there


We stopped here for toilet break


True to the weather report, it started raining, and was this way mostly along the way to Leman. We took the Sedili way, which I knew to be more flood resistant. Although it was raining and at parts quite heavy, we didnt' have any problems reaching Leman.

Gloomy weather over the kelongs


Reaching Leman, the rain subsided. We met up with Eric's family and were soon on the boat to Ah Ngan. Eric came with his Dad, Ann and husband (Another Eric) and their son, Edwin. The kids were glad to meet each other again and after that, fishing was secondary for them. In fact, they didn't touch the rod at all and spent all their time playing in the Kelong, with another newly made fish, ZhiAo.

Reaching there, we unpacked. And again, the Kelong helper came to say that we had to sleep on the upper and lower deck, citing that the Kelong was full. I was annoyed as everytime I came, I get the same old story, even though it couldn't be that the Kelong was full. Ignoring him, we took the other bunk instead and he relented and prepared 3 beddings for us.

First Selar


Ann husband (Eric)


Ann with one of her many Leng Chiams


Ice now come in this packaging


Eric's dad


Tiniest Leng Chiam (Emperor) I ever seen. Released


To our utmost surprise, the day in the kelong was not raining at all, and in fact, it even gotten hot. Actually, I came back from the trip with a little suntan. However due to the strong winds, the water was not clear, with alot of sediments being kicked up. Visibility was poor, and we could hardly see the fishes from the top. First fishing saw tambans on jig, and that was a good sign. In fact, Selars were in season and for the whole trip, everyone was getting them like in pailfuls of it.

Salty Rubber


I didn't do any jigging for bait fish, spending my time instead trying out all my lures. I had brought along some flies and wanted to test them out in the Kelong. But first experiment was with my Salty Rubber that I got. But try and try, nothing at all.

This was taken by a Todak


Next, with my flies, I cast out a grasshopper and tried luring with them. I got a good hit, and the fish was running away with my flies. I was trying to control it and got down on my knees to get a better leverage. But the excitement was short lived, and the line snapped. Later inspection showed it snapped at the leader. Signs of a toothy critter. My guess was that it was a todak. Leader only 8 lbs.

Waiting


Waiting


Waiting


After that, I changed to a Bee fly but that didn't worked. Bees just not popular here. So no action for a while. Seeing that I didn't have any results, I started parking my rods with bells, and caught my first 3 tambans to use as live bait.

This Emperor took my Tamban bait meant for Bigger fishes!


Of the 3 rods, one went on a sporadic spasm of twitching. Checking the line, in came an Emperor (Leng Chiam). Goodness, this fellow was ambitious enough to go for my live tamban.

Came back with this after rod took 2 serious dip


The other rod (my black rose) took 2 sudden serious bents. But by the time I got to the rod, fish already gone. What a waste. 3rd rod, no action at all.

Somebody caught a slipper fish


Someone from another group got a Slipper fish. Quite a big fellow, and his line was spooling out as it dived into the water. Caused quite a bit of commotion.

So came dinner, I only caught 5-6 tambans while the rest had already plentiful of Selars and Tambans to bring home. A was fishing and leave that collection in that department to her.

How many Kelong helpers to change light bulb? Two, one to change and the other to throw it into the sea


After dinner, night started to fall. I tried some squidding but no action. No one else was getting any squid. I gave up and started to use my L-minnow to Lure. But the water was very murky, and visibility was poor. Due to that, hardly any taps. And also the rowdy all night long Karaoke, wasn't helping either. On one badly executed cast, reel accidentally locked and lure flew into the darkness.

Rare catches on jig


Night Selar jigging


Kunings at night


Future Mahjong Kaki


Everyone else was jigging for Selars. The Selars here seemed never ending. A got lucky and got 2 trevallies. She was to get another smaller one, and also a big eye (Selar looking fish)

Next change of lure, I used my Crystal Minnow. Around 10pm, I was just sitting at the edge of the Kelong doing my mindless cast and retrieve routine. Well, no fish, exercise also good. Some small taps started at the surface from todaks and small barras. The usual gang of predators on a dark windy night.

So about cast #3478, I got a sudden take. At first I was thinking a Parang. The tug wasn't that strong, but when I tried to retrieve it to the surface, the pull got stronger and stronger and it started spooling my reel. I was shocked and realized that the fellow at the other end was a huge fellow. The fight was strong and mean, with it spilling my lines effortlessly many times and lasted about 5 minutes. My curiosity was piqued and I really wanted to see what this was, before my lines were to snap. I was using my regular Record with 10 lbs on my Regno. Not heavy duty tackles.

When the fish broke surface, I saw it to be a big Barra with my lure nicely hooked on the lips. I looked around and couldn't see any of Eric's people, nor A or the children. I started shouting for help and someone to bring a gaff. From where I was sitting, I could see the Kelong manager just 20m from me. But either my shout wasn't loud enough or he was ignoring me. Seeing no response, I started screaming for someone and a man and a girl came running towards me. They were to tell me later that they thought I had dropped into the water and was screaming for ambulance. :P They asked what they could do. I shouted, "use the gaff, use the gaff". In my heart, I was worried that the lure would give way and I would lose the fish if they couldn't gaff it up in time.

Luckily, the gaff was just right in front of me on the Kelong floor. But the man didn't know how to do it. I was shouting, "get the Kelong helpers". But the helpers were no where to be seen. Man tried to gaff the fish but missed a few times. Each time, Barra would respond by swimming away and doing acrobatics on the water. Each time it did that, my heart would miss a beat. If Barra teeths were just to touch my 20lbs leader, it would be "bye bye" fish.

Me with my Barra


Eric with Barra (somehow it looked bigger)


Group pose with all the children


After about 5 times, the man finally got the hang of it, and successfully gaffed the Barra and brought it up. Once on the floor, it was mine. By now, the commotion had attracted lots of people, and I was naturally a happy man. I thanked the man and girl who came to my help. Without their assistance, I would have lost the fish. After this episode, I was quite angry with the Kelong helpers for their nonchalant attitude. The manager even had the cheek to tell A in malay that this fish this kind of size, no need to shout one. From now on, Ah Ngan certainly had dropped a level in terms of my preference for Sibu Kelongs.

Fish was weighed to be 2.8kg. My record for being the biggest fish on lure. The fight was memorable, and I was close to losing it. If I had not shouted and basically made a din, that was likely to happen.

I got the children over to see first hand a big Barra. ZhiAo said the funniest thing to me, "uncle, release the fish later. This kind of fish, not nice to eat". I looked at him unbelievably.

My Ribbon!


Ribbon with lure


After rounds of phototaking, things quieten down again. I went back to my luring at the same spot and carried on with the exercise. About 15 minutes later, I got lucky again and hauled up a catch. Fish was light and near the surface and it easily lifted out of the water with it's shiny body flashing. I first thought Parang but on closer look, a Ribbon! Wow, luck was with me for sure. My last Ribbon (also on Lure) was about a year ago.

Sea snake!


It got late and I went to sleep thinking to wake up at 5am. Eric was trying out his newly bought pole rod, and A wanted to copy and I rig up a line with a fly for her. But that didn't work and she didn't get anything on that. Eric managed 2 small barras with this new Technique. Some of the other old hands at this game was pulling up Trevally with this. Rather amazing.

It drizzled


Kelong at 5+am in the morning (my hot tea on the counter)


My only catch in the morning


Strong wind in the morning. Floor a little damp from the rain


Next morning, I woke as planned at 5am. Surprising, Eric and his Dad were up much later. It rained a little, although only for small periods. I tried luring a bit, but didn't get anything. I dropped a first strike of a todak(?) and another with a small Barra. Just in front of our bunks, while talking to Eric, I got a take that felt like Parang. 2 minutes later, that was confirmed when I pulled up a Parang from the water. But the hook set wasn't firm and it dropped back into the water.

Difficult pose to take


All crowded around this area


Flocks of seagulls


So many Selars


Long queue


When daylight came, flocks of seagulls visited our Kelong for their breakfast. It was nice to see such activity, as it was indicative of fishes in the sea. But water was still murky as the day before. The rest of the people were busy catching more Selars at the back of the Kitchen. A got quite a bit and managed to fill the icebox to the brim.

Sotong


The sun came out and it soon got hot again to fish. I tried to squid and managed to catch one and only sotong of the trip. Seeking shelter from the hot sun, I climbed down the landing area and did my squidding there. But jig got stuck under some structure and I couldn't free it. So, another jig donated to the Kelong.

Leaving Ah Ngan


The "lighthouse" looking structure at the Jetty


A red flag warning was issued


D lost her slippers somehow, and we had to wrap up her foot


The Kelong helpers said that we had to go at 11.30am due to the tide. Tide would get too low for the boats to reach the Jetty. So, everyone packed early and waited for lunch. After lunch, it was back to the Jetty. Eric (Ann's husband) followed me back via the Sedili way and back via Lorry checkpoint. After that, we bidded goodbye and hoped to see one another at another trip in the future.

Our small catches (all by A)






The device that scared away all big fishes


Naughty children in the Kelong


Spot where I hit the Barra


Barra in the daytime


Closeup

Sebana Cove

Fishing at Sebana Cove