I admit I did a little lure fishing in the freshwater regions on a few occasions, but that's another story.
So on Thursday, before Good Friday, I decided to take the boat for a spin to make sure everything was OK and also to check out the wind and water conditions. The idling speed on my V6 engine seemed a little off so the mechanic came and found a piece of foam stuck in the throttle. Once that problem was settled, me and Nathan were zooming to Tekong against a rather choppy sea. Marked out a few new potential spots to try out, and headed back to shore to give the boat a rinse. Topped up the petrol and the boat was ready for the Seasick Gang.
Number one in the Seasick Gang was my mother, yes my mother, who never failed to impress with her loud arguments with the sea the moment the engine was turned off. Then there was Ii Chik, my mum's sister, who was rumoured to take to a rocking boat like a snail to salt... and the rest of the family (about 8 in total) with various histories of vertigo and seasickness.
I had to find calm water, but where? Thankfully, after getting the prawns from the aunty, the first spot we went to was extremely calm... and on the first bait up (I was the deckhand as usual), mum hooked up a fish and got everyone excited. But out popped a semilang, which was kept for scientific research. (Yes, a cousin who came along is a Marine Biologist who finds all manner of weird unwanted fish interesting.)
The coldwater gang moved in and a sting ray, an eel and a stargazer showed up. Then the tide turned and after some berleying (with partly digested Man Zhang Kueh) courtesy of Ii Chik, two Garoupas turned up.
Then we shifted to another location at the Cliff, and mum brought in a Snapper and some small Grunters, so did one of my uncles. They all seemed happy, then we ran out of bait and sadly, we had to head home though the fish were biting.
Altogether, we landed a couple of fish, but the most amazing thing was that my mother DID NOT PUKE!!! In fact, she did not even feel seasick at all! She's been boasting about this ever since, and is insisting that I bring her on another trip... well, she was lucky, the sea was very calm that day. Maybe I'll go again this coming Saturday to try the new Tekong spots off the old Malang Tiga.
12 Feb 2005 Sat Day Trip 0830hrs to 1600 hrs - Fishing pro Junio came along with sidekick Kings and old Uncle Eddie for an experiment. Since I'm normally the one getting fish, I was supposed to tie all rigs, bait up, and cast the line for everyone.
So... at the first spot, I gave Uncle Eddie the option of going for a single hook rig or a double hook rig. He chose the single hook rig. I rigged up for him, baited up, let down the line for him, passed him the rod, and before anyone else could start fishing, his rod took a violent tug and a big fish was on!! Uncle Ed became so excited that he passed me the rod and started using his hand to pull in the line. I was afraid his hands might get cut, but years of construction work gave his hands the texture of extra rough grade sandpaper... and a Big Barra was eased into the landing net. What a start!!!
Soon, Fishing Pro Junio (you can see more of her photos in My Other Fishing Adventures section of my webpage) and Kings got their lines wet. And I started tying my own rigs.
After a short wait, the show really began... first with a table-sized Barra, then with a Bigger Barra almost matching Uncle Eddie's. And then the Fatboy Syndicate moved in so we shifted to another spot, a good one at that, but the fish were not cooperative. We then moved to 2K and the show continued.
Sensing a change in tide and weather, I expectantly let down my line, telling Pro Junio that the fish were going to bite. I guess she did not really believe me at first, but the moment I put the rod in the holder, the fish tugged and in came Garoupa number one. Then, when I baited up, cast, and immediately brought in Garoupa number two which was even bigger, she got the hint, but it was too late, her rod was not ready for action. So I baited up and cast my line again, knowing that a fish was going to pull the line in under a minute, and I passed the rod to her. As soon as I turned my back, she was fighting a whopper!!! The fish pulled the drag even though it was set really tight, but it finally surfaced... a big fat 2 kilo Grunter.
Sadly, we soon ran out of bait and had to return to the boatel early. Some rubbish fish gave us some action as well...
so here's the catch we kept!
Some nice barras, garoupas and a grunter... the rest were thrown back
Fishing pro Junio posing with the catch
6 Feb 2005 Sunday Morning Trip 9am to 12pm - Dad and me went in search of some fresh fish for Chinese New Year... and we got some. The wind and current were not cooperative during the first hour, but the fish were. Just when I let down my line, I had a good pull but failed to hook up. Then dad pulled in a nice Snapper on his handline. I baited up again and landed a beautifully coloured Garoupa for my efforts. But the next bait up had something bigger in store. Just when I placed my rod into the rod holder, the rod bent into a full U and I even had trouble lifting the rod from the holder. With my drag set at max load, I played tug of war with the fish which was pulling real hard, trying to reach home, but I managed to bring it slowly to the boat. Just one pump away, the hooks pulled! Shucks! When I checked the hooks, I realized that the hook had straightened because my drag was too tight and the fish was too strong.
Not giving up hope, I re-rigged and dropped my line straight down. And even before I managed to put the rod into the holder, the drag was going and the rod was almost wrenched from my hands... something even bigger than the one I had just lost was on the other end. This time, I couldn't even stop it. It headed home, and I felt my line rubbing against the structures, and the mainline snapped. MONSTER FISH!!!!
Fortunately, I was rewarded with another garoupa and a strong pulling Grunter before we had to head back to shore so that I could be in time for my badminton game. Anyway, the target was met.... fresh fish for the New Year!!! Yummy!
Here's the Grunter, in the boat shed.
29 Jan 2005 Saturday Trip - First Barra of 2005 Alright!!! The wind is dying down with Chinese New Year around the corner. This gave me an opportunity to target barra, and I was rewarded with 2005's first barra on my second outing for the year. Nice healthy barra took my bait and was jumping about even before I picked up my rod. Good drag-pulling too!
Some nice garoupas showed up together with a cuttlefish and a grunter. Will probably go again this Saturday to get some fish for Chinese New Year.
24 Jan 2005 - First trip in 2005 Finally made a trip since December. Weather hasn't been good the past weeks. Only cleared up the last few days. Past experience has taught me to stay at home in bad weather... I remember asking myself (while freezing in the pouring rain and howling wind) what the hell am I doing out here when I could be watching TV at home, or maybe catching a movie at some cinema.
Well, anyway, the weather looked ok so Sunny Ong and gang (total 6 anglers) came on board for another WATCH CONRAD CATCH THE FISH session. HAHAHAaaa... Don't know why, but the fishing was good... for me. Started with a decent garoupa, then a snapper, then a garoupa, then a Grunter, then a Snapper, then another Snapper... all nice table-sized fish today... all landed by the one with membership that the fish recognize, hahaha....
here's 2 of the fish that pengsanned in the baitwell before I put them on ice. Can you identify the species?
I think if I keep this up, nobody will want to go fishing with me anymore. At the end of the day, I think they still had fun pulling up other species of fish like gelama and duri, and semilang.
Well Tiger Woods won the Buick by 3 strokes to open 2005, and I opened 2005 with 6 great fish! Let's see what the rest of the year has in store.
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