Let’s start with Mersing.
On 18 June 2006 (Sunday) , the pro Dave , together with Alex, Kok Meng and me drove down to Mersing Town on the East Coast of Malaysia to target the famous HeyBey, or giant Chermin. We set off from Singapore at around 6am and managed to settle breakfast and bait around 8am at Mersing. Together with deckhand Ali, we launched the small boat before 9 and headed to the spots provided in the GPS.
All of us had high hopes for strong runs, as the last Mersing trip had provided a harvest of more than a dozen large Heybey. SO…. When we let down our first baits around Pulau Besar, you could sense the excitement in the air. I started first with a Snapper, then all of us started pulling in some decent coral fish ranging from Parrotfish, Spanish Flag Snapper (Timun), Coral Garoupa (red with blue spots), Kaci, normal Garoupa, Emperors, Bream, Snappers, and of course the Ninja.
Here's a Coral Garoupa.. we had several of these
And yet, the Heybey had not appeared. Despite moving around quite a bit, all we landed were standard table fare and not the Power Puller. Of course, a few big reef dwellers came to entertain, like big Parrotfish and even a beautiful Wrasse (like a Sou Mei) was caught by me. There were three huge pulls and bust-offs which could have been the HeyBey or some large Coral Garoupa (which we landed several of), but still no HeyBey.
Does this look like a Sou Mei to you?
And of course, being Monsoon season, a couple of Dave’s plans were foiled by the rather large waves and strong winds when we tried to switch to the more open water locations in search of that elusive HeyBey. Once, he even tried driving into the wind but after getting seriously whacked by the waves, we turned around and hid behind the islands, catching table fare.
Finally, the sun set and we made our way back up the Mersing River to dock the boat with an eskee full of coral fish. We were all rather disappointed with the lack of HeyBey, but come to think of it, a bad catch in Mersing is still better than a good catch in Singapore fishing. We made up for it with a solid dinner at a Mersing restaurant and a quick drive back via the second link to avoid the massive jam at the causeway.
Full ice-box is the minimum for a Malaysia trip... good trips would have 3 to 4 boxes
Anyway, the whole trip was rather cost effective as and fun. And we did fill up a whole ice box after a day of action.
But…. HeyBey…. Where are you?
3 June 2006 - Sat Morning Trip with Kings and Frank - only had time for a morning trip and so we only picked 1 kilo of liveys and headed to the Deep Channel.
Water was cold today and saw several charter boats moving in from the Johor Shoal Area and the Changi Naval Base Area, and heard several anglers complaining about the lack of quality fish today.
I admit the bite rate was slow, but we still managed some good stuff like Snappers and a Big Garoupa.
After Kings opened accounts with a small Snapper, Frank also landed a Golden Snapper. Then we moved to Good Feeling and fed the Fatboys. After feeding time, we went back to the Channel and waited for the big Garoupa.
Raju came along soon after and anchored beside my boat. I hope they got some fish after we left at 1pm. Anglers on his boat managed to see us land a few more fish though. Kings struck into a fighter, which turned out to be a good Goldie.
Kings contemplates the muscle power in this decent Snapper
Then I finally landed what I came for, a big Garoupa, after a pretty good fight.
I got what I came for today, a biggie Garoupa, just like last week's
Then shortly before we went back, Frank struck into a strong fish.
Frank puts the pressure on a deepwater denizen while Kings waits with the Landing Net
And a beautiful fat Blue-Spotted Ray was landed.
Fit for the touch pool... a beautiful Ray
Finally we reached back to the boatel by 1.30pm and I made it in time to bring the kids to Sentosa for a fun time at the beach. Great way to spend a Saturday, right?
27 May 2006- Sat Day trip with Kings, Weeboon, Choonkit, and Foul Weather Karen. Why do you think I'm home early from my fishing trip typing this report? You guessed right. Foul Weather Karen never fails to bring the foul weather with her and we brought the boat up at 3pm just when the rain hit us.
Karen waits for the last fish as her friend gathers strength overhead.
But this begs the question. Did we have a good trip? Of course!!! Here's what happened.
After meeting up at the boatel we went to the aunty's farm and got 2 kilos of prawns on Karen's advice. She was confident of a good catch I guess. Then we moved to the first spot off one of the TJUTS and started fishing.
Kings was the first to open accounts with a Star Snapper, and I soon followed after with a big Garoupa. Then I settled down for breakfast while the rest had some bites and missed some bites.
We shifted to the deep reef in the Channel and Kings landed another Star Snapper and some other stuff like Garoupas. Looks like this was going to be his day again, and I was satisfied with my Garoupa anyway.
After losing 2 more good takes, we moved to a shallow reef off Changi but the whole place was full of nets. We still gave it a brief try and Choonkit was rewarded with a Tiger Garoupa.
But the best was yet to come. Just when we dropped Kings off at the boatel cos he had a workplace meeting, we went to the faithful Snagpile and realized the fish were all waiting for us. Immediately after anchoring, Weeboon grunted (pun intended) and fought a decent Grunter to the boat.
Weeboon with his bleeding Grunter
While taking his pic, I noticed Choonkit striking hard into a good fish and started to go and help him, but then my own rod took a fierce bend and it was a double hookup. Both fish fought hard but Choonkit's came first and there was the unmistakeable scarlet flash in the water as a Malabar Snapper surfaced. Then my Malabar Snapper came up too.
Choonkit with a Malabar Snapper... exquisite taste and beautiful to look at
But that wasn't all, Karen got into action with some Javelin (Chior Lor) and then while watching her handle her fish, something strong almost wrenched my whole rod out of my hand with BRUTE FORCE... and the fight was on. This fish was a strong big one, taking line while I tried my best to keep it under control. There were times when I knew my line was at its breaking point but I couldn't afford to let the fish run home so I took a gamble and tightened the drag, and it paid off. I managed to get the fish into midwater but the fight was far from over, taking a while more before it surfaced and we stared in admiration at a beautiful large silver saltwater Barramundi. After some anxious moments with the landing net, the fish was landed. And we exclaimed with joy!
A wild barra of this size is capable of putting up an amazing fight!
And after some more fish, out baitwell was a nice sight.
Notice the Malabar Snapper? Or the big Garoupa?
Then the rain came as expected whenever Karen came fishing, but we all happily headed back to the boatel around 2.45pm as all of us had caught some decent stuff.
Here's the customary catch pic
Here's to more good trips ahead!
20 May 2006 - half day trip with Kingsley on Sat afternoon. It was a day of losses for me even though I had several good bites. Kingsley was the champ though, with several good-sized Star Snappers. I did land one at the beginning ya?
Kings back at the boatel with 2 of his good sized Star Snappers
14 May Sunday morning short trip with my brother After 2 weeks of flu, I just had to launch my boat again. Since my brother was on a stopover en route to Sydney, we decided to go for a short 2 hour morning trip. A 'farewell'trip for my brother, I guess.
And what a great trip it turned out to be. We bought just a few hundred grams of prawns from the Aunty and went to a rocky patch. Almost immediately after setting the anchor, my brother dropped his line and was on to something strong. Turned out to be a big Red Emperor. What a great start!
Even before I could do anything else, my brother was on to another fish! It seemed as though the fish knew he was going back to Sydney, so they eagerly took his bait. This time the fish fought deep and made some fine runs before emerging from the deep... a good-sized Garoupa made its way into the net.
I was happy for him and started getting bites of my own, but lost a few fish. My bro lost a few more fish before bringing in another BIG RED!!!
Looks like the Reds are here to stay!
Not one to be outdone easily, I decided to NOT BE LAZY and tied a proper rig. The moment I let it down, I took out my Nasi Lemak and settled down to eat my breakfast. But the fish didn't let me off. The moment I bit into the chicken wing, my rod took a menacing bend and line started peeling off my reel, a BIG FISH was on! A little chaos ensued as I flung my nasi lemak packet dunno where and rushed to my rod.... my brother was faster and struck for me, and I took over as he grabbed the video cam and handphone cam. He managed to snap a pic and take a video all at the same time! Amazing! I hope he emails me a copy of the video... it really looked fun.
All right, the Garoupa fight video can be viewed here... FIGHTING THE GAROUPA VIDEO, and there's a baitwell video too.
This one was a tough fish! A real bruiser running like a Russian Tank!!
After a solid fight, a really fat Garoupa surfaced and was promptly netted. I was satisfied with this one fish, but I was going to receive another pleasant surprise soon.
After resuming my Nasi Lemak breakfast (or what was left of it), my brother struck into another good fish and landed another big Garoupa. Wow! This was a great trip, I thought, and then my reel started screaming and I fought another big bruiser Garoupa to the boat. AMAZING!!! And I was just about ready to go home!
Jason with his 2 garoupas
Me and my two fat Garoupas just right for the dinner table
And we took some pics of the baitwell too... live fish are always nice to observe.
Swimming around, one of them spit out a large Crayfish
ANd back at the boatel we took the customary pics.
How's this for 2 hours of fishing?
We were back at the boatel before 12 noon and had spent only 2 hours fishing (my bro had to pack his bags for the flight and I had a badminton game after lunch)... and I think that was 2 hours well spent! Looks like the fish are back after my long MC period.
29 April Sat trip with Pro Dave, Alex, WeeBoon and Kings Caught some fish that day, but the highlight must be the nice Malabar Red Snapper that I caught and Dave threw back into the water, hahaha... injured fish, he said.
Anyway, Kings was the champ for the day with several Snappers and other stuff. Wee Boon had a nice Diamond Trevally to save his day too, while Dave and Alex managed some stuff on handlines.
Only managed to take this pic of the fishes sticking out of plastic bags at the end of the trip cos of bad weather
15 April Sat trip with Kings and the gang... ANOTHER BIGGER ANG GAO? CORAL TROUT??? - Ate the Tiger Garoupa (I cooked dinner for the family a few nights ago and deep fried the Tiger Garoupa... MAGNIFICENT. Cooked black pepper crabs too, but the Garoupa had a really thick fat skin which made it taste wonderful after frying, like Soon Hock.
Well, this Saturday the tide was good for my targets and Kings brought Michael and their 2 gals along, Ariel and Evelyn. We got 200 bucks of petrol and 50 bucks of prawns and were ready for some action.
At the spot 734, some small fish were biting and I struck first with a BIG brightly coloured Golden Snapper which actually put up a really good fight, pulling drag quite a bit. Then Kings suggested a scenic tour for the gals so we moved around a bit and ended up at Tekong, where an old spot produced something quite unexpected.
Just last week Daniel pulled up a Coral Trout which was quite rare in Ubin waters, but this time, when the lines were let down, Ariel's rod took a fierce bend into the water and she struggled with the hard-fighting fish. I thought it was a big Snapper when all of a sudden, a good-sized Ang Gao (Coral trout) made its way into the landing net. What an awesome fish! Beautiful metallic blue and turquoise circles decorated this handsome fish as it swam around in the bait well.
Kings and Ariel pose with the beautiful Coral Trout
I couldn't resist posing with my Snapper and the Coral trout too You don't get this chance very often in Singapore.
Well, anyway, I caught 2 more Snappers before the girls felt a little seasick... so the quick remedy? We upped anchor and made another scenic cruise around Ubin and finally ended up at the SCENIC STRAITS, where the water was wonderfully calm and clear. Everyone was ok and enjoying the breeze when Michael had a savage pull, but the fish was light... only when the fish pulled did it show its strength. Finally, a small Queenie arrived and we decided to fry it along with all the other smaller fish we caught today.
Mike and Eve pose with the small Queen scheduled for the deep fryer
Soon, we moved around a little more just for some cruising, but ended up in front of the boatel to make a quick escape in case the dark clouds forming in the distance came too close for comfort. ALready the air was turning cold so we just hung around the boatel.
And surprise surprise, I landed another Snapper while some Grunters came to entertain. Took some final pics.
Kings puts the pressure on a hard fighting Grunter
We then headed back early to give the boat a good wash... anyway $50 of prawns was gone.
Mike in a relaxing pose with the fish after a pretty relaxing trip
On the whole, the company was great and those who bothered to fish caught some good stuff. What a beautiful Coral Trout. 2 weeks in a row now with Ang Gao, I wonder when the next one will be landed.
8 April Sat 10am to 2pm trip - Only had time for a short morning trip this Saturday cos of my daughter's golf lesson in the late afternoon. Fishing buddy Daniel was scheduled to fly off on Monday, so we thought we'd try a short trip in the morning.
I reached the boat early at 0830, pumped petrol and tied my rigs while waiting for Dan... and finally he called me at 0930. 'eh? COnrad? I just woke up leh...'
So Daniel rushed down and we launched the boat immediately, zoomed to the Aunty and headed for Good Feeling... but only the Jacksons and the Fatboys obliged. Still, we hung around, chatting about fishing and Australia... till about noon, when we decided we needed some fish, so we went and got some.
Moved to SK32 first, didn't intend to fish there but Dan spotted some good surface activity. What a good call it was! Anchored nicely the first time and let down the baits.
Dan spotted the Surecatch rod bending slightly and he said 'Bite!', but I noticed it too and told him 'insignificant lah', but as though in response, the whole rod took a huge bend and drag started running. 'NOT INSIGNIFICANT!!!', we shouted in chorus. I struck and the fight was on, the fish had some weight, and I knew it was a big Garoupa. But when the fish surfaced, I was blubbering and all excited... 'Lao Hu Ban!' A huge Tiger Garoupa was struggling at the end of my line. Dan expertly netted it and we were celebrating! This is indeed a prized fish, better than the standard Flower Garoupa (with the orange spots), and the Greasy Garoupa.
Take a close look at this fish, quite a rarity in our waters until recently, thanks to the building beside the boatel... LAO HU BAN
The Tiger and the Slipper, to get a clearer idea of the size of this Beautifully patterned Garoupa
Soon, we decided the time was right for table sized fish, and we moved to Seafood City and let down our lines. We anchored perfectly this time too, while another Charter Bumboat was nearby not seeing much action. Then, I experimented with Dan's special baiting method with live prawns and let down my line nicely. While one friendly guy on the other boat was telling us there was no catch, my rod almost immediately dipped and the drag ran again. FISH ON!
After a good fight, the Star SNapper surfaced. In fact, the bites came quite regularly, and Daniel got in on the action with two more Star Snappers. Felt so sorry for the other anglers on the bumboat, they moved off... I hope they got more fish (but there was a storm soon after).
I guess the best was saved for last. Just when I thought we should start heading back, Dan had a slight tug and he struck, but due to his heavy equipment, he thought he didn't have anything on... but guess what fish popped out of the water? A fish I hadn't seen in these waters for a long while now, maybe the waters are getting cleaner.
A happy Daniel with his farewell gift... not many of these are caught around Ubin waters, so he's one lucky chap!
A beautiful Coral Trout... small, but still a great fish for our waters
Since Dan had another appointment at 3pm, we decided we had quite enough fish so we headed back, and the boat was up on shore by 2pm. This was a pretty fun trip... great company and amazing fish!
How's this for a short fishing trip? Leaving enough time for other appointments in the afternoon.
Well, take care back in Australia, Dan my buddy. (He'll be going for the monsters down there as usual... Samsons and 10 kilo Macks.) Maybe one day I'll visit him in Perth.
Well, for a bonus, Kingsley messaged about BBQ dinner and the whole family went to King's place for one of those amazing Saturday evening BBQs again. All the folks were there too, including the famous Horizontal Angler, our familes had fun catching up and playing games, and the food was in top form as usual, a truly good ending to a GREAT DAY!!!
1 April Sat - Dave and Alex came along, caught a few fish only (fished from 2pm to 5pm cos of a badminton game in the morning), but forgot to take pics. Bad Storm during the trip too, but had fun catching up and talking.
Experimenting with putting video links on my site. Here's one of my Deckhand Steph with a Snapper... taken sometime last year during a trip. (The link may not work for those without a 3gp plugin.)
2005 Video of a LIVE SNAPPER (Just a short 7 sec clip.)
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