Target fish is Kurau aka .. It's a fish that I've not caught before.
Set off early via MPV pickup with 5 other anglers and we were at the jetty around 8am. Was told the fishing grounds were only 15-20mins away. So got my jigging setup done with a Kurau 40g jig.
Capt Tony was instructing us the method to jig for the Kurau. Let the jig hit the seabed and then do 2 short lifts and free-spool down again. When the jig hits the seabed, it should create a "puff" of sand and that should attract the Kurau to come investigate. Surely enough, during his demo, a fish took the jig! He slowly worked the fish up to the boat but when the fish saw the net, it bolted like mad! So his advise was to be ready for that final run and keep pressure until the fish is in the net.
Soon other anglers were hooking up. Most of the fish were under 1kg but still decent. I didn't get a hit all morning..... soon the bite stopped and we moved to a lighthouse in the Straits of Malacca.
Here we were going to be jigging for Spanish Mackerel. The technique here is different.
++++++++++++++ TIPS +++++++++++++++
According to Capt Tony, the Tenggiri at Batu Pahat tend to feed nearer the bottom of the water column. We were told to add a treble to the end of the Kurau jig and let it drop to the bottom. Once at the seabed, we are supposed to rip it fast all the way to mid-water and free-spool back to the bottom. Repeat.
++++++++++++++ TIPS +++++++++++++++
As the current wasn't really strong, the 40g Kurau jig I was using was good enough. Once the jig was on the seabed, I lifted the rod once and felt like I was snagged. Gave it a pull and it came free but felt heavy. I thought I had snagged a piece of coral and slowly reeled back. Then I felt some light head shakes and thought maybe its a small fish snagged on a plastic bag. Continued to reel in and as it reached the boat, I saw that it was actually a Spanish Mackerel! The fish reached the side of the boat and bolted to the horizon! The next thing I felt was limp line......... Damn! Reeled back and the fish had spat out the jig. I didn't do a proper hook-set as I thought it was a piece of rubbish!
Went back to jigging and this time I got a solid hookup! Decent fish gave a good fight. How I missed the sound of a screaming drag!! Slowly played the fish close enough to gaff.
The other anglers were also hooking up, with a few scoring the rarer Tenggiri papan aka .
Among 5 of us, we managed to catch a few more Tenggiri before ending the day. It was a slow day for me but made up with the fun from the Tenggiri.
The 1st day catch
Next morning, we headed out again with Kurau 1st on the list. I need to catch one!!
Reached the fishing spot and began jigging with the Kurau jig. After about 20mins, I had a take. Didn't feel heavy but when it came close to the boat, it bolted as expected! Slowly worked it back to the boat and netted!. Finally, my first Kurau! Less than 1kg specimen but I'm still happy!
Dropped my jig over again and within 5mins, I was onto another fish! Same fight and up came another Kurau. This time take a wefie with the fish!
Capt Tony managed to hookup a much bigger Kurau, in the 2kg range. Boy the fish can run!
In amongst the Kurau, we here also hooking up small Croakers like this one. This fish aren't shy in hitting a jig too big for its mouth!
Just before lunch, the bite quieten down so we moved to the Tenggiri spot. Tied on a 40g Kurau jig Chrome and began jigging. Managed to score another Tenggiri on the Kurau jig.
As I had lost a few Kurau jigs by this time due to snags, I switched to a White Rabbit MJ-3000 jig and started jigging. After about 10mins of casting around the structure, I hooked up on something. It started to speed off in the horizon! Fish ON! I thought it was another Tenggiri but this time it fought differently. After some careful reeling, the fish came near the boat and I saw I had foul-hooked it at the rear. Still managed to gaff it up!
Continued jigging but things had quieten down.
Later in the afternoon, we moved back to the Kurau spot and tried to catch them. But they weren't around so we called it a day.
This was a pretty good introductory trip to Batu Pahat. The fishing here requires a different technique and as always, its best to listen to what information the boat captain has to offer in order for you to catch fish.
But always listen with a large dose of salt!!
Gear used:
Rod - Shimano TCurve Tropical PE1-2
Reel - Shimano Stradic Ci4 3000
Line - Sunlin Siglon 30lb
Lure - Kurau jig
Fish ID - Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson)
- Kurau aka Blue Threadfin (Eleutheronema tetradactylum)
