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2009-12-01T12:31:00.004+08:00

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PRPP CR - By Raymond

2007-12-19T12:21:00.000+08:00

Went down to PRPP with doubts as heard the CR not so good...
Since Dec so decided tis is my last trip for Pond fishing for 2007.

Reached ard 1940.
End ard 2240.

Bait = Live prawn
Fishing method = Floater
Total catch = 3
Fish pui hook @ me = 1
Fish eat bait dun eat hook = 2

Overall rating = 5/10
No plastic bag provided reason ran out. Need me to buy @ shop selling bait.
Setting up half way come collect $$$
Fish released = Taiwan Ngor

Below is the catches.
Rod used. (My Lucky Rod ! Nearly Sold away !)

Reel used.

2nd Catch.

Total Catch.

Notice the skin of the Sagai... It was sick... Wanted to release it.. But in the end gave it to a uncle and his fren...

When i left they caught only a med Sagai and a Taiwan Ngor.. the rest of the peeps no catch... CR pretty bad there..

Marin South Paypond CR - 10/11/07

2007-11-12T19:28:00.000+08:00

If you had noticed, we have not been actively fishing for the past 3 months! In an attempt to end our fishing "drought", 3 members of the team decided to head down to Marina Paypond. The reason why Marina South Paypond was chosen over the other available payponds was pretty simple. This was a new "hunting ground" for us, and it has been confirmed that it was going to be closed down soon, so we jumped at the chance as soon as Raymond suggested it.

Being a typical Saturday morning, there was already quite a crowd when we arrived at the place. With a light drizzle over the area, Ho, Raymond and myself quickly paid for our rods before commencing to cast out our baits of dead prawns, dead kembong and live prawns.

Team A.S.A.M in action - Raymond and Ho preparing their tackles.

Raymond picking up his freshly landed Golden Pomfret by the fin.

The place was quite small, with a triangular pond and the nets in the centre. The disadvantage was that people tend to cross their lines with the design of the pond, but the smaller pond meant that the fish had lesser space to roam, meaning that the chance of landing a hungry fish was higher. The place also had taps near to each table, which was kind of handy for you to wash up after you had prepared your bait. (i.e cutting of kembong)

At the end of the day, we managed to land a total of 6 fishes - 3 Golden Pomfrets, 2 Star Snappers (Peh Tiam), 1 Seabass (Kim Bak Lor) and 1 Mangrove Jack (Chia Zhor), our rewards for fishing in the rain.

Understanding Poppers

2007-08-19T00:38:00.000+08:00

I've always been intrigued by how lures work. It was a pretty radical idea that predatory fishes such as the Toman or Queenfish would readily gobble down a plastic fish. That was my admittedly dim view of lures.

There aren't a large number of lure fishermen in Singapore as compared to other countries such as the US or Australia. Having started off from casting baits such as dead prawns and sotong myself, and progressively moving on to live bait such as prawns, tambans and milkfishes, I do understand that most Singaporean anglers are content with casting their bait into the water and then kicking back to relax with a nice cold drink and a magazine while waiting for a bite. In the context of our fast-paced rat race, we usually dedicate our short weekends to "relaxation fishing" and that is probably the reason why we don't lure that much over here.

If you have not tried luring before because, previously like me, you have absolutely no idea what are the retrieval techniques to be used, and would like to try one that would be easy to use but yet highly effective towards predatory fishes, you're looking at the right page now.

Enter the Popper.

Described as "A floating fishing lure or fly with a cupped or flat, forward-facing indentation that splashes or "pops" the surface of the water when tugged.", the popper is a versatile lure that can be used in both freshwater or saltwater fishing. Most models also have rattles built-in to add sound that, well, helps to attract fish even more when the popper is retrieved. Popular models of poppers have been designed by big names such as Rapala and Storm. Some of the more popular models include the Rapala Skitter Pop, the Storm Rattlin' Chug Bug and the River2Sea Pop 88.

I'm sure that many will agree that nothing beats the thrill and excitement of striking a fish while retrieving a lure using different techniques. Poppers draw fish up from the depths, perhaps having been deceived by the sounds into thinking that baitfish are splashing around on the surface.

Rapala Skitter Pop

Now, how does the Popper make your angling trip much more interesting? Poppers are a fun way of catching predatory fish as these fishes often rise from the depths, attracted by the popping sound and thrashing water, to come to the top and smash a surface popper to oblivion. It's heart stopping and it gets your adrenaline pumping. A few examples of surface feeding fishes in our local waters that will readily accept poppers will be Todak, Giant Trevally and the much sought after Barramundi.

Even Barracudas can't resist a well placed and well retrieved popper.

Some poppers are built to sink slightly while some others float on the surface irregardless of whether the line is being retrieved or not. There are also certain models that will swim on the surface when retrieved slowly between pops and splashes. It all depends on choosing the right popper and technique to determine how many fish you will land.

A good general rule of thumb when it comes to deciding on how large a popper to use is that the deeper, darker, and rougher the water is, the larger the popper should be used to draw fish up from a greater depth.

Poppers that sink are normally heavier than others of the same size and shape and thus cast a lot further . These sinking poppers are suitable for beach casting where achieving a long distance cast is important to get to the bigger fishes.

Sinking poppers will require a rod that is a bit stiffer and longer to get it up on the surface and keep it there so it works properly when the line is being retrieved. Otherwise, it's movement will be erratic and the fishes will not bite.

Floating poppers, which are my personal preference, are good in a variety of situations and conditions. In areas where there are lots of rocks and little water depth, such as Tanjong Rhu or Lower Pierce Reservior, floating poppers will skim the surface with ease with a significantly much lesser chance of hanging up, or sangkut-ing, in local terms.

In instances where the popper is used for freshwater fishing, when the water surface is relatively calm, floating poppers can bring some explosive strikes. Fishing in these conditions early in the morning before the sun comes up or late in the evening as it goes down will reap the best results as freshwater predators like to feed during these times. Being able to keep the lure on the surface and in front of the fish's face helps immensely while trying to lure him to the surface.

While most sites write that attaching a swivel to a popper is sufficient, it is highly recommended that using a split ring attached to the front eye will help in making it work better, giving it more natural movement in the water. Split rings also don't open up accidentally during fights, unlike swivels. Poppers do cost quite a bit so taking this extra step is pretty crucial! Loop knots are also good to use when fishing poppers, commonly used by Fly fishermen. Being easy to tie, loop knots have very good holding strength on almost any mono leader when tied properly.

Poppers may be fished in many ways, keeping in mind that lots of frenetic motion and commotion generated by the popper will ensure it's success. One such technique is called skitting, where a steady retrieval of line while pumping the rod tip creates the commotion of a fleeing baitfish.

Another technique would be popping the lure, The popper is given a sharp jerk and rested intermittently. The slack line from the jerk is then reeled in between jerks. This makes the popper spit water quite a distance and creates quite a ruckus.

Other anglers simply use a steady retrieval of the line in freshwater and this works as well. At the end of the day, it all boils down to experimenting and finding out which technique works best for you.

The key point is to cast slightly further then where the fishes are and retrieve the line in an attempt to lure the fish to take a bite. Polarised glasses help a great deal when spotting for fishes. This was evident when Raymond spotted several Peacock Basses with his pair of polarised sunglasses while all I managed to see was the darkened reflection of the sun on the water with my normal shades.

Alright, back to the popping. When I tried out popping with Raymond's Pop 65, I did a simple twitch and crank retrieval. I guess taking into consideration the various methods available, you're bound to come across one that would suit you best.

Do give popping a try. I'm sure it'll enhance your fishing experience and give you a good arm workout at the same time. Tight Lines!

Solid Gold

2007-08-10T06:45:00.000+08:00

Our visit to Bedok Jetty on a rainy National Day morning paid it's dividends when Dave managed to get a monster haul of nine Golden Trevallies during a fierce feeding frenzy. We wouldn't mind getting ourselves wet and cold for such a wonderful catch!

Meanwhile, we managed to witness Shoreangler land a gigantic Queenfish right in front of our eyes as we were nearby. He is undoubtedly the champion of all surfcasters in Singapore and setting new standards for big catches regularly. Congrats to him for such a gigantic catch!

South China Sea CR - 27 to 29 July, 2007

2007-08-02T00:07:00.001+08:00

This post is a chronology of events that happened during our offshore trip to the South China Sea from 27th to 29th July, 2007, as seen through the eyes of The Peranakan Angler. It is quite a lengthy read so sit back, relax, and enjoy the pictures!

Day 1 - 27/07/07 (Friday)

0800 hrs - The anglers meet up at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal for a light breakfast at the Killiney Kopitiam prior to our departure at 0930. Seems like a lot of anglers were making their way to Tanjung Pinang judging by the numerous rod bags and ice boxes around the terminal.

0930 hrs - Time to board our ferry, the Wavemaster 88. The weather looks good. All the boys were psyched up about the trip.

1120 hrs - Arrival at Tanjung Pinang Ferry Terminal. Oh no, it was raining cats and dogs. We weren't going to let the lousy weather dampen our spirits though.

1125 hrs - We met up with our helpful and friendly driver cum concierge, Hussien before moving off to purchase some snacks and most importantly, drinks, before we moved to the jetty where our fishing boat was waiting for us.

1245 hrs - We arrived at the small seaside kampung where our charter boat was berthed. It was still drizzling. While our stuff was being loaded up to the boat, we took the chance to get some hot drinks and delicious otak-otak at the makan place beside the picturesque jetty.

1310 hrs - All aboard! The fishing boat started to depart the jetty. The eager anglers started to set up their rods and reels, and to chope their preferred "parking" spots around the boat.

1335 hrs - The hardworking deckhands started to break up the large blocks of ice to chill the drinks as well as to fill up the "Catch Of The Day" icebox.

1440 hrs - With the rods in place and rigs ready for action, the anglers managed to squeeze in some time for a photo session. The light drizzle didn't faze us one bit.

1425 hrs - The boat stopped by a jetty along the way to fill up the water tank with fresh water via a long flexible pipe. The chef served us piping hot fried turmeric chicken wings that everyone snapped up with glee. Some of the senior anglers went into the cabin to rest while the young ones stayed on deck to enjoy the wonderful view and sea breeze.

1515 hrs - The boat left the long channel it was in and began to venture into the open sea. This is the first time I have seen the South China Sea up close and it was simply beautiful. The blue of the sea was so stunning, it was hard to believe that sea water can be so bluish, like blue food dye! A sumptuous lunch of chicken wings, stir-fried vegetables and onion omelette was served.

1845 hrs - The sun was setting over the South China Sea as we approached our first spot. Seems like the skipper decided to bring us straight out into the far reaches of the open sea instead of stopping along the way. Some of us who had dozed off began to wake up to wash our faces and stretch our bodies.

1915 hrs - The skipper dropped the anchor for the first time and everyone dropped their lines into the deep blue sea like clockwork. The undercurrent was pretty strong. Within a few minutes, the first fish, a nice table-sized Kaci (Painted Sweetlips), was landed by Ho. This started a feeding frenzy where several Kaci, Leng Jiam (Pink Ear Emperor), Ang Kuey (Crimson Snapper) and Amoy (Coral Snapper) were landed on both apollo rigs and long snood bottom feeders. I personally landed 2 Kacis and 1 Amoy. Not too bad for a first-timer out at sea, I guess.

1930 hrs - I was talking to Ishak, who had just landed a Kaci, when my rod bent down in a sharp and sudden movement. "Kena fish already!" shouted Raymond and Ishak in unison as I raced over to my bent and wildly shaking Ugly Stik. Picking up the rod, I felt real resistance for the first time as I pumped and reeled in my rod furiously.

1935 hrs - "I think it's a stingray, man." exclaimed Ah Beng. "Quite good fight, huh" Whatever fish it was, it wasn't going to throw in the towel easily. Several times, I felt it cutting the water and running back out despite my constant pumping and reeling. "Sekali it's a big Bata* giving you a fight!" shouted Ho cheekily.

*The Remora, also locally known as a Bata after the local chain of shoe stores due to it's shoe-like shape when viewed from the top, is considered a pest as they often attach themselves under the hull of an anchored boat and chase after baits that are dropped from the sides of the boat. They live near sharks and other big fishes and feed off the scraps of these big fishes. Although edible, they are not known to be tasty and thus this could be the reason why they are not kept by anglers who hook them up.

1940 hrs - By now, the gang had crowded over the port side of the boat, urging me on. I was the noob of the team, after all, and their encouragement spurred me on while I tried my level best to pump this fish up from the depths of the sea.

1942 hrs - The fish was finally up. A good-sized deep sea Ang Kuey that was about 1.5 kg. "Haha, good fight huh? Snappers are all pretty strong fighters irregardless of their size." said Raymond.

2030 hrs - The sea was getting choppier by the minute and making everyone seasick. Rangit and Ah Beng were having very bad nausea and followed the senior anglers into the cabin to rest, leaving only Raymond, Ishak, Ho and myself on deck. We were determined to camp here despite the rough sea.

2115 hrs - Our resilience was repaid when Raymond's rod bent down hard and his reel drag started screaming like crazy. "Zzzzzzzzzz...." His line seemed to go out forever. Being a little seasick, it took him a while to realise it before he ran over to his rod. At the right moment, he raised his rod up and Bam! It was a strike! Fish on!

2125 hrs - 10 minutes of solid action and the fish was still fighting like mad. Raymond was equal to it and pumped hard on his rod with each action. "It's very heavy!" shouted Raymond.

2140 hrs - The fish was coming in. The deckie had a gaff ready while we waited eagerly to see what fish it was. Judging by the fight and the bend of Raymond's rod, it had to be a big one.

2143 hrs - The fish was about to break surface. Although we initially thought it was a shark, it turned out to be a humongous Ah Seng (Marine Catfish)! The deckies quickly gaffed it up and broke off it's three venomous spines before lugging it into the largest icebox. The monster tipped the scale at well over 5 kilograms. "Wah, good fight!" said a tired Raymond.

2218 hrs - Ho's rod started to bend like Raymond's. Within 10 minutes, he hauled in another Duri which was slightly smaller than Raymond's in terms of size, but equal in terms of the fight. The Duri started to shake around the deck wildly, prompting us to jump up onto the bench to avoid it's venomous spines.

2230 hrs - Deckie hauled in yet another Duri! Darn, there's a whole school of them here! Meanwhile, the co-pilot managed to get a Kaci double hook-up on an apollo rig from almost the same spot.

2245 hrs - Ho was one lucky guy. After he parked his rod for a short while, it bent downwards again. This time, he managed to get a Nurse Shark. Now that's a peculiar catch!

2305 hrs - Ho's rod started to bend once again. This time, he brought in a beautiful Red Emperor that weighed about 2 kilos plus.

2335 hrs - I fell asleep when I was awakened by the excited shouts of Ishak and Ho. It seemed that a giant school of bonitos was attracted to the light emitted from our boat. It was a beautiful sight to see a whole orchestra of bonitos swimming behind the boat in the middle of nowhere. Too bad the light wasn't strong enough for me to get any decent photos of the school.

2345 hrs - Ishak manages to land a couple of bonitos on handline. He was joking about how the bonitos convulsed like a handphone vibrator when they were hooked up. Pulling them on deck, the bonitos shook wildly and quickly. Ishak was right. They were convulsing as fast as, if not faster, than a vibrator! That earned them the term coined by us, the "Vibrator Fish".

Day 2 - 28/07/07 (Saturday)

0535 hrs - The sun was already beginning to rise when we got up from our deep slumber on the deck. It was good to see the sun once again after a whole day of rain. The sea was still a little bit rough, though. After dropping our lines into the water, Ishak, Raymond and myself took this chance to pose with our catches the night before.

Photos: Raymond with his Crimson Snappers (top), Ishak with a brace of Bonitos caught on handline (middle) and me with my Painted Sweetlips (bottom).

0700 hrs - The sky was turning dark once again and the skipper decided to raise the anchor and move away from the rainy area. While on the move, I captured this photo. It was sunny on one side of the open sea while raining heavily on the other.

0715hrs - Skipper decided to drop anchor at a new spot. The rain had caught up on us despite our efforts to get away from it. Well, no choice but to put on our waterproof jackets and fish in the rain.

0720 hrs - The chef served us a breakfast of bread with kaya and margarine, as well as hard boiled eggs. His hot kopi and tea was a real lifesaver in the adverse weather condition.

0730 hrs - Felt a tug on my line and reeled in the first fish of the day which was, horrors, a pesky Remora that was released back into the sea.

1030 hrs - Chef began preparing one of the Ang Kueys caught during the previous night's frenzy for lunch.

1218 hrs - Lunch was served. The Ang Kuey, which was fried with a delicious turmeric batter, was snapped up quickly by the hungry anglers. The flesh of the fresh catch was sweet and tender. Nothing like fishes freshly caught and eaten on the spot, huh?

1310 hrs - Time for a good shower while the boat was in transit to another spot. Ah... soap and water never felt so good.

1435 hrs - Skipper brought us to a spot nearby where another boat was already anchored. Hmm, could this be the spot where we can get some good fishes?

1508 hrs - Bam! Rangit's rod bends down and his reel starts screaming. A fight ensues.

1512 hrs - The fish broke surface and was netted by the deckhand. A nice 1.5 kilo plus Ebek! Great work!

1532 hrs - Rangit's rod bends again. He picks up the rod for another thrilling fight while Raymond's reel starts screaming at about the same time. The pair of anglers pumped and reeled hard while the rest crowded around them ,eager to see what fishes they had hooked up. This is turning out to be a really good spot!

1539 hrs - Rangit lands yet another similiar sized Ebekn and strikes a quick pose for a photo with his twin Ebeks. Raymond is still fighting hard.

1547 hrs - After a long and hard fight, Raymond lands his first Golden Trevally! He was extremely satisfied as the GT was one of his fishes on his wishlist for this trip. Nice work, bro.

1612 hrs - Raymond lands a nice Cobia.

2015 hrs - It was a moonless night and Ho managed to catch a sotong which swam alongside the boat's spotlight with a net. He aims the squirting sotong at the gang for fun and got everyone inked pretty badly. Deckie catches 2 more sotongs. The sotongs were then cut up and used as bait.

2100 hrs - Mama and Ah Beng both caught a Big Eye Jack each with sotong as bait. The rain started pouring relentlessly again.

2110 hrs - Deckie gaffs a nice Cobia landed by the skipper.

2118 hrs - My rod bends hard and I quickly tugged at it to set the hook. I could feel a large fish resisting me and I pumped away. It was pretty heavy and I knew this was going to be a big one.

2120 hrs - In the midst of my fight, Ishak's rod bent down hard too. He did the same and started fighting his fish.

2125 hrs - My fish was landed as the deckie scooped it in with his net. It was a 2.5 kg Bulat (Big Eye Jack)! It gave a pretty nice fight and although the size of this fish much to shout about, it's my personal best so far. My arms were extremely tired by now but I ran over to Ishak, who was still fighting away.

2140 hrs - Finally, after a long fight, Ishak's fish breaks the surface. It was a huge Bulat! After getting it on deck, Ishak quickly picks up his 3 plus kg catch for a photo.

2235 hrs - Fatigue had overcome me and I bid the rest of the hardcore anglers a good night as I went under the deck for the first time to get some beauty rest. The bed was hard and the mattress was thin,but it sure beat sleeping on the wooden bench and getting drenched half the time.

Day 3 - 28/07/07 (Saturday)

0430 hrs - I woke up a little groggy, which was probably due to the rocking motion of the boat. Almost three quarters of the other anglers were up on deck enjoying a hot coffee and bread when I went up. Boat was in transit so I sat down on the icebox for a quick cuppa and prepared an apollo rig.

0600 hrs - The boat was anchored and all lines were dropped. It was the last few hours of our trip so we wanted to make the most of it. In the horizon, I could make out the silhouette of an island. We were close to land once again.

0630 hrs - The skipper had positioned us close to a nice coral reef and Kacis, Amoys and Leng Jiams were coming up at a nice rate. I took a quick picture at the rear end of the boat at the break of dawn.

0715 hrs - Rangit takes up his bent rod once again for a good fight.

0725 hrs - Fish was landed and netted. A nice Nurse Shark that Rangit said would be good for Indian-styled Shark Curry!

0930 hrs - Lines up! Skipper decides that we should return to land as it would take a 3 hour ride.

0945 hrs - En route to the jetty, the deckies start to gut and clean the fishes.

0955 hrs - We took the opportunity to take some photos with our own catches the previous night while the deckies gutted away.

1100 hrs - The gutting and cleaning was completed. The anglers began to distribute the fishes among ourselves.

1300 hrs - Arrival at jetty. We survived the 3 days "Survivor at Sea" angling trip! Well done boys!

Fishes Caught:

The Big Ones
5 x Big Eye Jack (Bulat)
3 x Marine Catfish (Duri / Ah Seng)
3 x Cobia (Hai Luui)
2 x Ebek
2 x Nurse Shark
1 x Golden Trevally (Boon Nang)

Medium and Small Sized Ones
8 x Crimson Snapper (Ang Kuey)
15 x Pink Ear Emperor (Leng Jiam)
18 x Painted Sweetlips (Kaci)
3 x Coral Trout (Ang Kao)
2 x Orange Spotted Grouper (Kerapu)
1 x Tuskfish (Parrot)
1 x Red Emperor
1 x Fingermark Snapper (Ang Cho Ki)
1 x Blackspot Snapper (Dory Snapper)
1 x Stingray
3 x Bonito
37 x Coral Snapper (Amoy)

Bedok Jetty CR - 24/06/07

2007-07-25T00:23:00.000+08:00

It has been a long hectic month for me at work and my poor rod and reel had not tasted any action at all during this "dry" period. With the short break I had this weekend, I decided to wet my newly purchased braided lines at Bedok Jetty along with my wife and my colleague and fishing kaki, Raymond.

With the highest tide of the day coming in at 5:28 in the morning, I met up with Raymond at around 4:30 to have our breakfast and also to get some prawns from his neighbourhood market in Bedok. After that, we were raring to go. I guess the averse break from fishing had us craving for it even more.

When we arrived at the jetty, it was not as crowded as we would have expected, considering that this was the last Sunday of the school holidays. Nonetheless, we took up our usual spot near to the end of the jetty. By 5:40, 2 of our lines hit the water with long snood bottom feeders hooked with the prawns we bought earlier while we rigged up another 2 rods in preparation for the schools of Tamban coming in at first light.

With a steady supply of live tamban after jigging for them, we changed our setups for our baiting rods. Raymond attached a float and splitshot weight setup to his live tamban while I rigged up a Cable Car rig for mine. Wifey continued jigging for Tambans and got a Butterfly Whiptail amongst her catches.

About 15 minutes after my live Tamban bait hit the water, an uncle who had tied his handline beside my baiting rod started to pull in his floating rig. Unfortunately, due to the current, we had crossed lines and we started to rectify it. While we were at this, I could see a flurry of activity in the water in front of us.

As luck would have it, my line started to tug hard and I tried to land a strike. Unfortunately, due to the acute angle of the crossed lines, I guess the hook didn't set in properly. I started pumping my rod in hope that this would help. My rig appeared on the surface of the water almost instantly with a Long Tom biting on to my Tamban. In that split second, it fell back into the water and swam back into the depths, splashing around wildly. Even the uncle was saying that it was a big one and that it was very "suay" that the garfish had to bite while we were uncrossing our lines. An estimation of it's length based on our view of it from the jetty was about 50cm. (Heart pain...)

When it was around 10 plus, the Tamban stopped biting even though there was visibly a huge school of them. Raymond was joking that feeding time was over for the tambans. Everyone was still casting their lines to try their luck but it seemed that there were no more Tamban hookups anymore.

Anyway, we managed to catch an assortment of fishes using dead prawn. It was a pity that my camera battery went dead when I tried to photograph the fishes at the jetty so I could only take them when I reached home instead.

From top: Juvenile Orange Spotted Grouper caught by Raymond, Crescent Perch caught by me and the last two hookups were by wifey, a Smallspotted Dart as well as a Green Rough-Backed Puffer which puffed up when we tried to remove it from the hook.

Thanks for reading and, tight lines!

Romzi's Catch @ Air Papan, Johor

2007-07-14T23:58:00.000+08:00

This is a most peculiar catch from my pal, Romzi, during his very recent 1 day angling trip to Air Papan, Johor. He managed to fish out a Bar-Tailed Flathead from the crystal blue waters and was rather apalled as he had never seen anything like it before, especially being taken aback by the beautiful colours of it's tail, which in fact explains the name given to this otherwise normal looking flathead.

For the record, he released the flathead back into the waters for "another fight, another day".

Weekend Catch - 07/07/07

2007-07-08T00:04:00.000+08:00

Here are a few catches over the weekend.

Our inshore catches from our recce cum short angling trip to the the Marina channel were (top) a juvenile Malabar Grouper and (bottom) a pesky Estaurine Moray.

Raymond managed to hook up a large Todak but unfortunately, it got away when it bit at the leader line with it's razor sharp teeth during the fight.

We have fun getting several Freckled Hawkfishes on small tamban hooks attached with prawn meat. There were also several bites (the rod bells were ringing every other second) but no hook-ups, resulting in empty hooks when our lines were retrieved. And these are sharp Owner hooks, no less. We're talking about skilled bait stealers here, probably a couple of Ah Sengs (Catfish) or larger sized Groupers.

I also joined Wifey, Dave and Anna for a whale of a time over at Taman Jurong Paypond and we were rewarded for braving the torrential winds and cold rain with 3 Barramundis (The Missus managed to fight 2 of them by herself, impressive!) and an ever elusive Mangrove Jack caught by our lucky lady angler Anna, who landed her first fish on her new Taurus rod and Daiwa reel. I know it's often said that paypond fishes don't bite when it rains due to the pond's salt water becoming a little brackish but these fishes sure aren't letting the live prawns go!

It's official. The myth has been broken. There are Mangrove Jacks in Taman Jurong. There probably aren't many of them in the pond as the owner only releases Kims on a daily basis, and that would be the reason why people are only catching Kims almost all the time.

Thanks for reading and, tight lines!

P.S Never attempt to handle Mangrove Jacks or any other kinds of snappers with your bare hands. I picked this one up at it's lower lip with a pair of pliers and it kept nipping hard at my pliers with it's sharp teeth. Scary stuff.

Tanjong Rhu CR - 30/06/07

2007-07-01T00:21:00.000+08:00

With a little break over the weekend, Raymond and I decided to try out a recommended angling spot nestled below the Benjamin Spears bridge. With the imminent closure of the Marina channel due to the construction of the Marina Barrage, affecting most saltwater angling spots in Kallang, Marina Bay and Tanjong Rhu ( including this one) soon, we figured it would be a good time to try our luck there.

Now for all the fishios who go by the mantra "Fishing is for relaxation", I would highly recommend this spot to you. With the overhead flyover providing shade from sun and rain, coupled with an immaculate view of the Kallang Channel as well as the Marina Channel in the distance, this is truly a haven for anglers.

The only boon would be the occasional Ducktour LARC-V passing by. We had a couple of close shaves with kayakers nearly crossing our lines as well. I understand that this spot is the limit that all kayakers can go to and most of them would come over to this spot before heading back to the Kallang Watersports Center located downriver.

The tide was pretty good and we tried using live prawns attached to floats to get some bites. There were a couple of times where huge chunks of prawn were bitten off the hook. With the vessels passing by frequently, the floats were often pushed back inshore and we decided to change our rigs.

Trying out a cable car rig for fun, my bell started ringing shortly after to my suprise. It was a small Orange Spotted Grouper which decided to munch on the juicy live prawn struggling in the water. Incidently, that was the only hook-up we got on that day.

Having said that, there were several bites but no hook-ups thereafter. Often, we have reeled in our hooks to find half-bitten prawns. Raymond also had two fights but the dirty fighters went under rocks to snag his line, much to his dismay.

I would recommend short snood bottom feeder rigs for fishing in this spot to prevent frequent snags and if you have live bait, why not try a cable car rig as well? It might just work.

Thanks for reading, and here's wishing you tight lines and screaming reels forever!

Taman Jurong Paypond CR - 28/06/07

2007-06-29T00:18:00.000+08:00

This may sound really crazy to some, but Raymond, Felix and I were back at the paypond again on Thursday after we knocked off from a hectic day at work. I guess the break from fishing due to our work commitments 2 weeks ago had really fishing-deprived fanatics. Hah.

That pump in the picture above is featured later in this post.

Anyway, we were pretty lucky as the sky seemed overcast while we were on the way but the clouds began to dissipate when we reached our destination. After making the payment for our rods and buying 100g of live prawns (Read my little write-up on live prawns here) from the main booth, we began to set up our tackles at our usual marquee near to the nets where the fishes are released from 2 times a day. It was also pretty good that the place was quite empty and that we virtually had the whole pond to ourselves. I guess the signs of possible rain put many anglers off the idea of patronising the place tonight.

It was a warm and humid night, a stark contrast to the heavy downpour we encountered here a few days ago. Felix's rod was the first to land a strike, getting a hit while spinning his live prawn back towards the bank. His screaming reel was music to all of our ears. Within a short while, the Kim was hauled up and quickly clipped on the lower lip before being lowered back into the pond with a holding rope.

"Not bad leh, this one's fight." Felix commented. It was pretty unusual to hear those words coming out of his mouth as he had always made it clear that he feels that fights with paypond fishes are, in his own words: "like pulling up a cloth from the bottom of the pond".

Next in line was Raymond. Never one to sit around, he got his reward for changing his casting spots several times by hooking up another Kim near the other end of the pond.

Despite several half bitten prawns, I wasn't getting any hookups on my rod. I decided to change my bait to the frozen Tamban I had brought along for fun. After trying to spin it a few times across the pond to no avail, I casted it near to the mouth of the release nets and sat down to rest for a short while. As soon as I sat on the plastic chair, the reel started to scream as my line started running. I quickly picked up my rod and gave it a hard backward jerk.

It was a hit.

The Kim wasn't giving up. It broke to the surface twice, only to jump and wriggle in a valiant attempt to escape. I wasn't going to risk it cutting the line with it's sharp gill plates so I held my rod up high to tension up any slack line that may have gone under. When it got near to the pond bank, I quickly grabbed hold of my leader and pulled it out of the water.

After keeping the fish and re-casting to the same spot, there was another strike about 10 minutes later. I wasn't so lucky this time though. The darn fish started taking line and swam out to the right. I knew it didn't look good when I saw my line going towards the pump. In the blink of an eye, my line ran into the pump and the spool turned even faster. Knowing that there is no way to untangle the line, I had no choice but to cut off my line.

The catch of the day, 3 Kims in total.

Oh well, there will be another day for revenge.

Taman Jurong Paypond CR - 25/06/07

2007-06-26T00:22:00.000+08:00

To fill up our insatiable hunger for fishing, we were out and about the next day after our weekend Bedok Jetty trip to try our luck at the Taman Jurong Paypond. With an affordable rate of $30 for 12 hours of overnight fishing, which is, by the way, applicable from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am the next morning , we couldn't think of a better way to chase our Monday blues away.

We were using rigs that consisted of simply a leader line with a live prawn on a size 1 hook, and variably a size 1/0 hook, attached to a braided main line, which has higher sensitivity due to it's non-stretching properties. Within 30 minutes, the fishes started biting and we started hauling them in.

Dave and myself posing with a Barramundi. The fish weighed close to a kilogram.

It seems that the pond only has Barramundis, also known commonly as the Seabass or colloquially as the Kim Bak Lor (a direct translation would be the Golden Eyed Perch), but we weren't complaining as they are known to be one of the fiercest saltwater fighters that an angler could hope for.

After 3 hours of solid fishing, the heavens opened up on us, literally raining cats and dogs and drenching the whole gang of us. The fishes had also seemingly stopped biting due to the heavy rain so it was time for us to pack up our stuff.

At the end of the day, we managed to get 6 Barramundis, which was an extremely satisfying result , our drenched selves notwithstanding. Well, the rain may have dampened our clothes but it had, most certainly, not doused any of our passion.

The fishes were brought home where the Missus and I decided to make a scrumptious meal of beer-battered fish and chips with our Barramundi fillets. Adding a dash of freshly squeezed lemon juice on top of them, the fillets were simply, with the lack of a better word, heavenly.

Before...

After!

Here are some pictures of the paypond when it's semi-drained below, which is taken off the paypond's website. Hopefully this will give you a rough idea where to cast your bait if you're planning to fish there.

I've also included the opening hours, price list, fish releasing times and contact details for the paypond if you're interested in paying a visit to the place soon:

Thanks for reading, and, as always, Tight Lines!

Understanding Gear Ratios

2007-06-19T00:13:00.000+08:00

Prompted by a friend's recent questions about how to understand what the gear ratio in a reel means, I've decided to provide a short write-up on gear ratios to hopefully clear the air about this often-neglected area when choosing a reel.

Don't be intimidated by the many numbers that appear in a reel's gear ratio. They merely reflect the number of complete revolutions your spool makes as opposed to one complete revolution of your reel handle.

Here's a simple example: You have a reel with a 3:1 ratio. That simply means that when you turn the reel handle once, the spool turns 3 times.

Some reels are very fast with a high gear ratio like, for instance, 6:1. However, it is also important to note that the measure of the speed of a fishing reel is determined not by how fast the spool is turning, but by how fast it can pull line through the water, which is known technically as the line retrieval rate.

The retrieval rate depends on your spool speed and spool diameter. A reel with a high gear ratio but with a small spool diameter will not necessarily retrieve line as fast as a reel with a slower gear ratio and a larger spool diameter. Always check these 2 factors before determining which reel is right for you.

The other thing which my friend mentioned was that there are certain reels on the market with 3 figure gear ratios, such as a reel which variates between 3:1 and 1:2:1. These are twin gear reels or more commonly known as 2-speed reels, meaning that they have a higher gear (3:1) and a lower gear (1:2:1) in the reel. The higher gear understandably provides more speed in line retrieval while the lower gear provides the extra torque needed for the really big ones.

Undertanding Live Prawns

2007-06-16T00:16:00.000+08:00

Foreword: I did this write-up as a guide for my fellow anglers and beginners out there who may have never used live prawns before and therefore need advice on how to rig up live prawns or generally just need a rough overview on live prawns. If you are an experienced angler and would like to contribute your valuable few cents worth, please feel free to add a comment on this article and I will review and change the contents accordingly.

What?
Many experienced anglers swear by it as a killer bait for Barramundi and it seems to be one of the most popular live baits in payponds all over the country . Yes, I'm talking about the humble saltwater bait prawn, otherwise known as the Swa Lor (沙卢) or Udang Merah Ros. (Thanks to handlinefishing.com for the info on the names)

Raymond hooking up a live prawn by it's tail.

Why?
Why do many anglers choose the Swa Lor over other live baits available on the market? I guess it would be due to their versatility, as several species of fishes such as the ever popular Barramundi (Kim Bak Lor / Seabass / Siakap) and various kinds of Groupers (Gao Hurr / Kerapu) do take live prawn readily, as well as their cheaper price in comparison to other kinds of live baits such as Milkfishes, which are generally more expensive (the rate is 5 milkfishes for $4 at Pasir Ris Paypond, while you can get 100g of live Swa Lor for the same amount, which comes up to about 10 prawns) and the aptly-named Sarong Worm (known as the Tubeworm to saltwater aquarium enthusiasts), which smells pretty bad, requires a little squeezing to be removed from it's caked mud casing (like a tube of toothpaste) and may bite when being handled.

Being able swimmers, live prawns are also able to be used with various set ups such as the popular Cable Car Rig, Long Snood Bottom Feeder or even with a float. They are also fast and easy to hook up and do not cause a mess.

Where?
Live prawns are sold in tackle shops all over the country at an average price of $3.50 per 100 grams. These prawns are packed in plastic bags after weighing, which are then turn filled up with oxygen which is enough to last you for 6 hours so that you can carry them around until you're ready to deploy your rods.

In contrast, live prawns sold at payponds cost slightly more at about $4 per 100 grams. However, if you're planning to fish in a specific paypond instead of other angling spots, do note that despite the higher price, prawns purchased from their respective payponds do have a tendency to stay alive for a much longer period of time than prawns bought from tackle shops. I guess the attrition rate of prawns bought from tackle shops is much higher due to their failure to adapt to the water in the pond whereas prawns bought from the pond owner are reared in the same water.

Sheng Siong Supermarket also sell live prawns at $1.10 per 100g but there have been complaints that they are way too big to be used for fishing. I've personally not used any Sheng Siong prawns before so I'm not really able to comment on their feasibility.

When?
Live prawns may be used for both day and night fishing, as their movement in water attracts predatory fishes. An experienced angler friend of mine, Felix, has also told me before that live prawns attract fishes as their eyes reflect light in the water.

How?
Live prawns are normally hooked up from the tail, or less commonly on the head. The rule of thumb is to avoid the intestinal vein when inserting the hook into the prawn to avoid killing it accidentally.

Gripping the prawn in one hand with too much strength while hooking it up with the other may kill the prawn as well. It is also important to note that prawns are known to wriggle vigorously and "jump" out of your hands if your grip is too loose so you must hold them with just the right amount of force.

These pictures below will hopefully give you a clearer picture on to hook up a live prawn properly. To understand the pictures and instructions better, you might want to take a look at the anatomy of a prawn here first.

Tail Hooking (Refer to picture above) - This is inarguably the most common way to hook up a live prawn as it allows the prawn to continue swimming freely without any restrictions once it hits the water. Notice that in the picture above, the hook is inserted in the last segment of the prawn, carefully avoiding the intestinal vein. Other variations may include hooking the 2nd last abdominal segment or even the middle segments.

Head Hooking (Refer to picture above) - This method is used much lesser by anglers as immaculate precision is required to insert the hook slightly below the rostrum of the prawn head . In other words, one wrong move and your prawn goes kaput. Nonetheless, it ensures the bait stays on the hook for the longest time as the rostrum is one of the hardest parts of a prawn. Like the tail hook method, the prawn continues to swim freely without any restrictions. Only attempt this if you have more live prawns as back-up as death is imminent to prawns which get hooked in any other part of the head by mistake.

Conclusion
I do sincerely hope that this rough write-up gives you a better picture of the live prawn as a bait, as well as served as a guide for those who have never handled or hooked up a live prawn before. And, as always, here's wishing you tight lines and screaming reels!

There we are. All set to go!

Tamban Jigging at Bedok Jetty

2007-06-01T00:25:00.000+08:00

I ended up at Bedok Jetty early today morning after a quiet night at Tanjong Rhu, which had a horrible catch rate for me. There were zero bites. I figured that I might have been using the wrong bait of sliced sotong and dead prawns.

Anyway, we ended up at Bedok Jetty at about 2 a.m and thought it might be a good idea to pick a nice spot to rest before waking up in the early morning to jig for tambans as live bait.
When the sun started to rise at about 6:35 a.m, we started jigging for them.

After about 3 hours, the weather was too hot to bear for us. It ws a pity that we did not bring any sunblock along, due to this trip originally being an overnight fishing trip.

Bedok Jetty looks almost surreal at dawn, it was so beautiful with the orange hue of the rising sun casting a magnificent glow over the jetty and from where we were, we could see that the surrounding sea was teeming with literally tens of thousands of tamban darting around the water!

Anyway, at the end of the day, it was a pretty good haul of a hundred over tambans and 3 kunings which I have since kept in my freezer as baits for future use.

There was also a strike to our bigger rod with live tamban bait attached to a long snood bottom feeder, with the rod suddenly jumping up high while we were in the midst of jigging.

Unfortunately, the fish went under the jetty and the line got snagged beneath it. It was later retrieved with everything intact except the hook and live bait. Oh well, we'll be back for revenge another day.

Lim Chu Kang Jetty - 01/05/07

2007-05-01T23:53:00.000+08:00

It was a nice May Day public holiday when Dave and myself made our way down to the Lim Chu Kang Jetty to try our luck. I casted my bait to the right side of the jetty near to the end while Dave casted far out into the water at the extreme end of the jetty.

Here were our catches at the end of the day, after 6 scorching hours under the hot sun. It was a pretty slow day, but we were grateful that we still ended up with some fishes after braving the hot sun.

This Tropical Sand Goby was caught by me using dead prawn as bait.

The picture below shows Dave's catch, a nice Goatee Croaker, also known locally as Ikan Gelama in Malay, caught using sliced sotong.

In addition to both of thos fishes, Dave also managed to catch a small Estaurine Moray Eel, which was smearing mucus all over the leader line.

Needless to say, I have left out the distasteful photos of the eel, which was released back into the water shortly after.