The tide was rising so we hit Sunken Kelong 1, on the Queenfish Plains, hoping to get some monster pelagics, but all we got was a lost fish by Jeevan. After 20 mins, we moved to Sunken Kelong 2, where some great action took place.
First, my handline started spinning wildly on the floor of the boat and I was soon fighting a brute of a fat Golden Snapper which pulled real hard but finally we managed to ease it into the waiting landing net. Then my faithful rod dipped violently and I pulled up a decent Garoupa. Then Jeevan got in on the action with some great bites, but lost most of his fish. Some baits came up crushed by Snapper jaws.
Then Mikko grunted as he struck into a heavy strong fish took a pic of the fight and some good pumping later, a large Garoupa around 2 kilos was swimming merrily in the baitwell, wondering if it had died and gone to Heaven, surrounded by FOOD (live prawns). And Jeeves soon got a good bite, struck firmly and brought in a good Garoupa too. The action slowed as the current slowed and we moved to Good Feeling, but someone was already there, so we went to Kurau, but no fish turned up.
Shifted to Onga and Centro, but the current was bad, and finally ended up at spot 2000, where some fishes like Snappers, a Sickle Fish, and a Garoupa obliged. Some good action was also seen at the Snagpile, accounting for two of the Golden Snappers. Some cats came out to play and we moved to the Cliff, but someone else was there too, and we waited for them to move off before I could position the boat at the prime spot, then suddenly the other boat came back but we had already anchored nicely. So the other boat had to watch us catch and release a nice Queenie. The fellas on the other boat asked why I released it, I just felt like it.
Then the highlight of the day came as I lost two good bites, feeling good weight from an aggressive fish, and it came down to the last two prawns of the day. Baited up and held on to the line, knowing something big was going to tug strongly, and it did. The take was strong and I was soon fighting a handsome Barramundi, which came to the surface after some good pulling. Mikko helped net the fish and take some pics.
Time was up at 5pm. Bait was gone too all 1 kilo of prawns used up. We ended up with a baitwell full of beautiful fish Good variety. Good Size. Completed the cycle with the famous trio Barra, Snapper and Garoupa. The company was good! Headed back and to Changi Village for dinner and beer with the guys! Real fun.
2 Jun 2004- morning trip 10am to 2pm.** Wee Boon, Jo, Dad and me.
Had some battery and phone problems in the morning so the trip was delayed for over an hour. But we soon got the boat running and headed straight to the snagpile, where I immediately opened accounts with a good garoupa. Wee Boon lost a strike too.
Then dad pulled in a slightly smaller garoupa and things were looking better, but everything became quiet, so we shifted from the snagpile to spot 2000, where very soon I landed a Snapper after losing another fish to a snag even after using my lure retriever.
Then the action picked up, with even a stargazer showing its face. But the highlight must be the 3 big fish lost. First was my rod, which took a sudden bend while I was holding it and the fish was huge and strong, but the fish reached home and my line was stuck. Then dad struck into a monster of a fish which he struggled with for a while till the line went limp. Somehow his line was bitten through, so we consoled ourselves saying it was a Barracuda.
If we lose a fish, it's either a barracuda, stingray or catfish. But if we land it, it's a snapper or garoupa .. that's the unspoken fisherman's consolation, now spoken.
We didn't have much time to mourn the loss as my rod was almost ripped from my hands as another monster grabbed my bait. The drag screamed for a moment and the line went limp, the hooks pulled. We spent the next few moments cursing and swearing... all the what ifs appeared.
But Jo soon started with the biggest Snapper of the day! What a beautiful fish! And I closed the accounts with another garoupa before heading back before a storm hit.
At least everybody got something.
1 May 2004- May Day morning trip 10am to 3pm.** Robert, Desmond, Wayne and me.
After the previous week's good catch, Des and gang decided to come along.
After getting 1 kilo of prawns, we zipped to the Snagpile which was good the previous week. The instant bites did not come. But after a short while, Desmond opened accounts with a table-sized Snapper, which was encouraging.
But the bites were slow and we moved to 2K, where my handline started rolling and I pulled up a slightly bigger Snapper. Then my rod took a good bend and some exciting fighting brought in another tough looking Snapper.
Rubbish fish were caught along the way and we moved back to Snagpile where Wayne brought up a huge Flathead for dinner. And Wayne proved that his specially tied rig was effective when he fought and brought up the biggest Snapper of the day.
The bites slowed and we moved around Ubin, trying various old spots like the Temple and Army, but nothing big showed up, and we moved back to Snagpile, where the Garoupas showed up.
Des got his Garoupa first, grumbling about catching rubbish fish when he pulled up a Garoupa and started smiling. Then I got a good bend on my rod, and tightened my drag to prevent the fish from running back into the Snagpile, and got the big brother of Desmond's Garoupa.
Des had to rush back home so we ended fishing just as the water was clearing up, it had been yellowish all morning and the incoming tide was bringing on the bites, but satisfied with our catch of Snappers and Garoupas, we headed back, washed the boat, and went home.
23 Apr 2004- Fri afternoon trip 2pm to 5pm. **** Sengkang Samuel and me.
After work, I decided to test the new Ultegra my wife gave me. Called Sengkang Sam along as he was free.
After launching the boat and buying half a kilo of prawns, we looked at the dark clouds overhead and decided to go to the Snagpile instead of the Sunken Kelong. What a good decision it was!
The moment I let down my line, I had barely enough time to close my bale arm when my rod took a good bend. But when the fish surfaced, we initially thought it was gonna be a bad luck day as a Stargazer croaked at us. So that's the first fish caught by my Ultegra. Sam said some positive things about at least being able to sense some excitement when I let down my line in the exact same spot and this time, the huge pull was unmistakeable and some hard pulling later saw a good sized garoupa come to the surface. This time it was a good fish.
In fact, after that, the bites came too fast too furious as we caught some, then lost some, then caught some more. There were big ones which managed to run back into the Snagpile, and there were those we managed to drag up by sheer brute force.
We ended up finishing our bait rather quickly, with Sam providing variety by landing good Grunters, a Snapper and a Garoupa, while I landed 8 Garoupas myself.
We were quite surprised at the size and number of the fish. Looks like the fish have grown fatter in my absence and they really have missed me. Gotta have more trips like this one!
9 Apr 2004- Fri morning trip 10am to 2pm plus. *** Des, Anya and me. Since the birth of my second child, I had hardly enough time to update this website, let alone go fishing. Finally, a window of opportunity came on Good Friday and I grabbed this chance to see if I could start my engine.
Upon reaching the boatel, Des helped me un-stiffen the stiff steering, and we soon found ourselves in the water, trying to start the boat. Some patient cranking brought the engine slowly to life and soon we were speeding to the aunty's fish farm to get prawns. The engine sounded as good as ever!
At the first spot, the sounder showed fish at about 50ft depth near a drop-off and we let down our lines expectantly. Anya struck first with a Ribbon Fish, which was fed to a majestic Ubin Eagle.
Then at the second spot, which seemed to have been overfished and over netted, we struck a school of Star Snapper (usually caught around Hong Kong to Southern Japan). That's the fish that's been puzzling Singaporean anglers recently. All they recognize is the Snapper shape and the white spot on its back. Thanks to Mike Guerrin of the Jump fishing page, now we know it's called a Star Snapper. And I've re-verified this name with other dependable sources. We used to call it Peck Tiam. Well, if this fish is here to stay, then more people will slowly catch on to the Star Snapper name.
Anya also caught a Diamond Trevally which gave some excitement and a good fight for its size.
Lots of bites. Finished the bait. Released many undersized and unwanted buggers. But after laying off fishing for so long, I'm glad to find the fish are still around. Even the newly introduced Star Snapper were co-operative. Here're the pics of Des and Anya.
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