Pontian Again

This is my 3rd visit here. So far, the fishing hasn't been that great, but there had been a few surprises. The original plan was to go Sibu but due to some constraints, we decided to head for a day trip instead. Pontian Kelong was just right and since most haven't been there, it was worth a trip there again.

We met up early that morning and headed down to Kukup for breakfast. After that, it was a quick tour of Kukup for some tidbits shopping. From there, it was about half hour to the Jetty. As we wanted to try out the fishing with some live prawns, Eric and I headed to the nearby fishing pond at Parit Sikom to buy some live prawns. It was quite expensive here at RM1 per piece.

TC and Friend finally arrived after being lost on the way. We touched down at the Kelong at around 11am, on the up-coming tide. Everyone was quite impressed that the Kelong was quite big and well designed for fishing.

TC lucky catch of a small Kurau


Just within 5 minutes, TC had a catch of a Kurau on his smelly prawn meat. Not bad a catch and that fueled us with high expectations for this trip. But the fishing from then didn't improve. Andrew's rod did have quite a number of ringing strikes but the fish always got away.

KT preparing hammock for afternoon siesta


The half-beaks were out here again in big numbers. I tried my luck to see if I could get one on a tiny Altima spoon. It wasn't easy but I finally managed one. But the fellow slipped away before I could take a picture. We saw a large todak (should be a metre in length) circling the Kelong, but it was smart and didn't want to take our offerings of live bait, even when right in front of him.

Z first half-beak


Z first Queen


Lucky Flounder on live prawns


Bait fishes were sparse but it was fairly easy to get them after some tries. Zu got her first half-beak, and later on, got her first Queenie. The bait fishes seemed to come out in numbers during the late afternoon and the guys had some fun filling up the pail with them. I had a lucky fish of a flounder on live prawn. An unusual catch at a Kelong.

Lau's string of catch


Just as we were about to leave the place, the baitfishes came in numbers. To my surprise, there were plenty of juvenile Queens that were being caught. Andrew's rod had a strong take that saw his stiff rod bending a U. But alas, today wasn't his day and the fish got away again. From the bend, it must have been a fairly good sized fellow.

On the way back, we headed for Permas for a good johor style street food for dinner and after that, visited FishingLine for some tackle shopping. As expected, the causeway wasn't that jammed and we arrived home at quite an early time of about 10pm or so.

KFC - Pontian Kelong

It was a rare occasion for Andrew's family to be out full force with us. Today, the plan to head for the Kelong at Pontian. Andrew was eager to try it after reading the write up on the last recce trip. IZ and Jean too came along for their first try at Pontian. We were to find out that Jean studied here and hence was familiar with the area inside out. Since we were rather early as the tide was to be at around 3pm, we headed for Kukup instead to have a look see.

Reaching the town of Kukup

Quaint town of Kukup with the newly built ferry terminal

There was a chinese storey telling competition going on here

Kukup GSS!

20 years ago, here got lots of fishes

Kukup belongs to Pontian

Being the first time in Kukup, it was a "nose" opener for them. Kukup has a distinct "salty fish" smell to it mixed with all the garbage collecting below the stilts of the buildings. But this is a famous place for seafood and local delicacies. We did some shopping for crackers and tidbits and such, as we are not going to get lunch on the kelong.

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

Although I planned to bring them to the nearby durian farm, all thought it was best to head straight for the kelong. So from Kukup, in about 40 mins, we arrived at the jetty. I contacted the owners and soon, they came along to meet us.

Tide at that time was really low. The boat had to move slowly in the shallow waters. But once we hit the deeper waters, we zoomed away to the Kelong just ahead of us. Water turned better the further we leave the shore. Reaching there, we found the place to big and spacious. Also, not many people were there.

Yes, we are

I caught this fish!

Renovation going on

Just 15 minutes here, got commotion!

Holy cow! A 2kg or so Kurau!

Wahsay..

And into the icebox with the other big fishes *saliva dripping*

Just within 15 minutes, there was a commotion. Someone had gotten something big and his friend was scrambling for the long net. We all ran there to have a look, and I was shocked to see a 2kg+ Kurau in the net. The fishing looked promising indeed. And when the man open the icebox to put the latest catch, we found many other catches inside it. From what we gathered, the group had been there since yesterday.

Andrew also catch sight of a leaping Kurau said to be in the region of 6-7 kilos. We hastily toss out all our bottom fishing lines and kept our fingers crossed. But alas, the fishes never did come.

I am a dedicated bait fish supplier

Extreme fishing (for half beaks)

Finally got it!

I also have! female one

The group left the place around 3pm leaving the entire kelong to us. But despite the incoming tide, there wasn't any bite at all. The only one was when Andrew got a malong eel. It was lost however when we failed to navigate it into the net. Luckily I managed to catch it on video.

We did have some fun though catching the swarms of half beaks and little todaks. Iz and Jean managed to get their very first half beaks.

Quiz time..

Are we there yet?

Hoo...I challenge with you, kor kor. We swing 1 thousand times can?

A Pari left its mark here

The dried up tail

Hmm...looks like "matchbox" car

Pure, simple happiness. I am a bumblebee

We left the place around 5pm and headed for Pontian town for dinner/lunch. Jean wanted to bring us to try the famous Pontian wanton noodles. Unfortunately, upon reaching there, we found it closed. Hence we went to the only mall in Pontian, Billion mall for KFC instead. That was followed by some shopping before we headed back to Singapore via Tuas.

We all agreed that the place was rather promising and vowed to try an overniter one day.

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