Upgrading rod

After breaking my telescopic rod on my last trip on Ah Fong's boat, I decided I needed a better rod for fishing. But I still liked the idea of the rod being small and portable. I searched the Web again and found Shimano had a range of rods that are designed for traveling anglers.

Shimano TCurve Revolution Travel Inshore series

Problem was these rods were meant for the Australian market and I can't find similar products in Singapore.

So on my next visit to Australia, I managed to find a tackle shop that stocked these rods. I had a feel for all of them in the range and after speaking to the tackle shop owner, he suggested I get the Tropical version.

Specs:
Length - 1.83m
Sections - 3
Reel type - Spinning
Line rating - 5-8kg (11-17lb)
Lure rating - 10-35g

It was light, flexible and each section only measured 3ft. I think it will fit perfectly for boat as well as kayak fishing.

I also collected another 4 pieces of Shimano Eclipse Telescopic rod. 2 piece of 6ft and 2 piece of 6ft6in. These have PE0.8 rating.

I also purchased another Shimano Saros 1000F reel since I planned to start bringing 2 rods out for kayak fishing.

First trip on Ah Fong's boat

I've never tried fishing on charter boats in Singapore before. So when saw that there was a slot available for fishing at Changi waters on Fishingkaki website, I decided to join. Contacted the organizer, Alvin and secured my spot.

Reached Changi Point Ferry terminal and introduced myself to Alvin. I actually brought with me my kayak fishing gear for this trip as I don't know what to expect. After buying live prawns from a farm near Pulau Ubin, we set off to the fishing grounds. As I was watching the other anglers getting their gear ready, I realized that my gear was utterly inferior to what was being used! I saw overhead reels, large spinning reels, thick 1pc rods and size 4-8 sinkers. And here I was, using a telescopic rod, 1000 sized reel and split shots! I think the other anglers were laughing at me......

So without backup gear, I proceeded to use my UL gear. I had to tie two sized 3 sinkers on my rig just to get it down to the bottom. Even with that, my line was just flying out, unable to reach bottom. I had to borrow a heavier sinker from Alvin.

As the hours went by, quite a few fish were caught by other anglers. Groupers, Ang Chor (John's Snapper), Kaci (Painted Sweetlips) and Threadfin Salmon. I was still a zero fighter. In the late afternnon, as we were drifting near the shipping channel, there were 3 multiple hookups. As I sat there, envious of the anglers bringing the Groupers up. my telescopic rod bent double! SHIT, all I could do was hold on. I tried pulling the rod up and started reeling. The next run, the fish went deep and as I pulled the rod up, SNAP!! My telescopic rod broke! I thought, gone already! Holding on to the rod butt and reel, I felt again the fish pulling. So I quickly reeled up with whatever rod I had and managed to bring the fish up. It turned out to be a Grouper of about 1.5kg.

With the fish safely in the ice box, I looked down at my broken rod and told myself, I need to upgrade my gear for charter boat fishing!

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg  (broken!)
Reel - Shimano Saros 1000F
Line - generic 20lb braid
Bait - live prawn
Rig - Apollo style

Fish ID - Malabar Grouper (Epinephelus malabaricus)

New launch site

Decided to try a new launch site today. Pasir Ris Park seems like a safe place for kayak beginners. The waters are relatively calm and the blue barrels do provide some 'shelter' from the waves. I made my way out of the barriers just after sunrise towards Pulau Serangoon. I did look ups some markings on the Navionics app prior to heading out.

I navigated using the app and anchored up to what I think was some underwater structure. Baited up with dead prawn and started fishing. Not much action until about 8am when my rod bent straight down! I quickly strike and fish ON! Fight didn't last long and up came an Orange-Spotted Grouper. Fish released after photo to fight another day.

An hour later, got another hit. This fella was a bit more feisty. A couple of small runs, then it surfaced. A juvenile John's Snapper. Nice colouring too! This fish was released as well.

Nothing else came to play so I headed back to shore to pack up. Managed to wash my kayak at the public toilets so that I don't have to do it at home. Awesome benefit for launching here!

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Shimano Saros 1000F
Line - generic 20lb braid
Bait - dead prawn
Rig - Carolina style

Fish ID - Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)
             - Ang Chor aka John's Snapper (Lutjanus johnii)

Deepavali kayak gathering

A group of kayak anglers on a forum decided to hold a fishing gathering at Sembawang Park on Deepavali. I decided to join so that I can meet other kayak anglers as well as exploring new fishing grounds.

It was a great outing as everyone was pretty helpful in sharing knowledge and helping others who are new to the kayak fishing scene in Sg. The morning was sunny with calm waters to begin with. The group basically set off and ended up with 1 group fishing inshore and another group further offshore. I was fishing inshore most of the time. Seeing some baitfish activity about 20m from shore, I decided to follow the ripples and cast out a live prawn to near edges of the ripples. Held the rod and waited. "Tap...........tap tap............" , the next thing I know my rod was bending slightly and I slowly allowed the fish to take the bait further before firmly lifting my rod up. "Zzzzzzzzzzzzz........" FISH ON! The circle hook worked and I was on to my first fish. The fish didn't make any spectacular runs to open sea but instead made circles around my kayak. I think I must've made my rod go round the kayak 8-10 times! I didn't show itself until near the end when I finally saw what it was. Red Drum aka 'Taiwan Ngor'! It didn't have the distinct black spots on the tail, unusual. Anyway, I was stoked to have hooked my first fish so early in the morning. Slid a hook from the fish clip keeper onto the fish and continued fishing. Later I found Billy, who was the other only person using Airis, who kindly helped me with a picture.

After a few casts near the shore again, no more bites and moved on to a open channel. Drifted and had another rod on the rod holder. Then heard "Zzzzzzzzzzzzz....." again and turned around to grab the rod. Fought this fish and it felt a little different this time. Up it came and it was a slightly under a kg Orange-Spotted Grouper. So happy!

As the current and wind was picking up now, decided to head back near shore where I met up with Billy again. He was drifting near the shore when his rod bent over! I could see that he had hooked on something solid. He was trying his best to get the fish out of the snags a few times. Pumping hard! Finally when his fish came up, it was another Taiwan Ngor.

At around 12pm, the clouds were getting darker and I had to leave soon anyway. As Billy was still going to fish a while longer, he had to take back his fish and stuck them on his small fish clip attached to 30lb leader line. After the transfer, as I was kayaking back to launch site, I felt my kayak was going slightly faster. Turned around to check my fish clip keeper and to my horror, my Taiwan Ngor was missing! The bloody swivel at the clip broke off! $#@$#%^&**!*#! All the curses were uttered and resigned to the fact that I practiced Catch n Release involuntary. Luckily I had a picture to prove it! Anyway, Billy was nearby and I explained to him the situation which he suggested we put all the fish into my bucket at the back of my kayak. He said he's going back as well.

The picture of my broken swivel. So there is a Red Drum swimming out there with a very big piece of 'jewellery' in its mouth.

Although I lost the Red Drum, I still had the Grouper on the stringer in the bucket and that was the consolation prize for me.

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Shimano Saros 1000F
Line - generic 20lb braid
Bait - live prawn
Rig - Carolina style

Fish ID - Taiwan Ngor aka Red Drum (Sciaenops occelatus)
             - Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)

'Hot' mini Grouper session

After the Rompin trip, I did get some insights from Merv on how to find fish on kayaks. He was explaining that fish can be found in shallow water as well because that's where the fish can find food. The sun can only penetrate to a certain depth and animal and plant life needs the Sun to grow. Algae growth brings micro organisms which feeds the smaller fish which feeds the bigger fish and so on. So on my next kayak fishing outing, I decided to try out some of the theories.

Launched at my usual spot and headed out to the fishing ground. This trip I planned to use only small plastics with weighted jigheads. I brought some Curly Tail Grub, mini prawns and Jerk Shads.

Instead of finding deep water and dropping the lure over, I tried casting towards shallow/rocky areas and then twitching the plastics back towards deep water. On my 3rd cast, I felt a light pull and I striked! Fish ON. It was a small Malabar Grouper so after taking pictures, it was released.

Thinking it was a fluke shot, I continued casting towards the shallow/rocky area. This time another pull and out came another small Malabar Grouper.

It looks like the theory is proven albeit only catching small fish. But I was having some mini rod-bending action on my Shimano Telescopic rod! And the Groupers were not shy in whacking the plastics that were tossed to them. I did not get any big fishes that day but managed about 5-6 mini Groupers which were good fun on UL tackle. This fella is a Orange-Spotted Grouper.

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Shimano Saros 1000F
Line - generic 20lb braid
Bait - plastic Jerk Shad, Curly Tail Grub, mini prawn
Rig - Carolina style

Fish ID - Malabar Grouper (Epinephelus malabaricus)
             - Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)

Upgrading reel

Since I started kayak fishing, I've been using the same Tica reel. I was not fishing for about a month and it seems now my Tica reel is failing on me. The saltwater has done some damage to the internal parts that even the handle won't crank!

Time to upgrade. After much research (again on Shimano Australia website), I decided on a Shimano Saros 1000F reel. This reel was decently-priced and would fit my kayak fishing activities. So I purchased it online and picked it up.

I was surprised to find an extra spool inside the box. Since this was a new reel, I decided to change to braided line as well. As I wasn't too sure about which brand of braided line to use, I popped into a local tackle shop. It so happens that they have a cheaper, generic braided line and suggested I start out with that. So I let them spool the reel with the generic 20lb and 30lb braided line on each spool.

Is it overkill to load 20lb and 30lb braid on size 1000 reel? I don't know.......

But now I'm ready to rock and roll again!

Rompin #1 - Second day Rompin

We set off in the morning around the same time but this time on the way to the fishing grounds, the ride was extra bumpy! The wind was blowing and it was a dark and gloomy sky. Got wet from the sea spray as there was no where to hide from the wind!

Even when we reached the unjam, the boatman was having difficulty tying up boat to the unjam. In the end, we just motored to stay in position while we tried as fast as we could to catch enough live bait for today's fishing.

When we reached the Sailfish grounds, the seas were still very rough. Merv and Ian decided it was not safe to launch in these kind of swells so all of us fished from the boat. We all had our rods out with live baits at different distances and depths. Soon, Ian had a hookup and it was indeed a Sailfish. The Sailfish had him going round the boat in circles a few times but finally it was subdued. A couple of pictures later, the fish was released.

Video of Ian's hookup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T-epCTCGkCM


I also managed to hook up my first Sailfish. It was quite spectacular when they do their acrobatics in the air, trying to dislodge the hook.

Video of my with my Sailfish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6Bk7XzSwHFM

All in all, we managed to land 2 Sailfish and 2 Spanish Mackerel.

It was an enjoyable trip with new friends.


My gear:
Rod - 1pc rod borrowed from Merv
Reel - Shimano Stella 20000
Line- 80lb braid
Hook - 4/0 circle hook
Bait - live Selar

Rompin #1 - First day Rompin

I was messaging Merv just the other day on his weekend kayak fishing plans when he mentioned that he was going on a 3D2N trip to Rompin with Ian to catch Sailfish on kayak. I checked my own calendar and found out that I was free. So asked if I could tag along and he said, "No problem".

Woo hoo! First time going fishing offshore in Malaysia. As a newbie, I told them I don't mind just fishing from the boat while they go on their kayaks. I can be their deckhand too for loading and unloading their kayaks.

Merv picked me up from Tiong Bahru MRT and off we went to fetch Ian from MBS. After a 2hr plus drive, we arrived at Rompin and proceeded to check-in at our accommodation. Had dinner and some shopping for drinks/snacks for the next days trip.

Next morning, we launched from the wooden jetty with boatman Ah Ken. The seas were pretty rough. Luckily, I had taken my seasick pills. We started out at an unjam (Fish Aggregating Device, FAD) looking for baitfish. Used sabiki rigs to catch Selar or Kembung. Managed to fill the live well pretty quickly and off we went to the Sailfish grounds.

The seas calmed down somewhat and both Merv & Ian launched their kayaks. I was pretty happy just to fish from the boat. The boatman set up 2 rods at the back and sent out 2 live baits rigged under balloons to target the Sailfish.

While drifting, I continued to use my sabiki rig to catch baitfish around the area. Just before noon, the drag on one of the rods started to scream! Under the instruction of the boatman, I just held the rod until the line stopped peeling out and just lifted the rod. As soon as the fish felt the hook, it went on another screeching run! When it finally stopped, I went about pumping and reeling. The boatman called it for a Tenggiri (Spanish Mackerel) because there weren't any acrobatic jumps as expected from Sailfish. Soon enough, we got the fish boat-side and it was indeed a Spanish Mackerel. Quite a large one as well! He gaffed it up and its picture time! Woo hoo, my first Spanish Mackerel!

Later, when Ian paddled back to the boat to refill on baitfish and water, he told us he kept getting hooked up on GT. GT?? Giant Todaks!! (Needlefish) Before the live bait can be presented for Sailfish, the Needlefish would get them first.

                                            Ian, fishing from his Advanced Elements kayak.

Merv on the other hand, managed to land a Spanish Mackerel from the kayak and later in the afternoon, he managed to hookup and land a Sailfish. It was quite a spectacle to watch him going toe to toe with the Sailfish. In the end, he managed to bring the Sailfish boat-side to unhook and release after taking some photos.

The Sailfish was handed to the deckhand to revive and finally releasing the fish to fight another day!

We thoroughly enjoyed our first day of fishing. Hoping the next day would be better!

Gear used:
Rod - 1pc rod borrowed from Merv
Reel - Shimano Stella 20000
Line- 80lb braid
Hook - 4/0 circle hook
Bait - live Selar

Fish ID - Spanish Mackeral aka Tenggiri (Scomberomorus commerson)
             - Sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus)

Escapee hunting

Decided to go hunt down the escapees today!

Bought $10 worth of live prawns from Gina and launched from Changi Boardwalk. Paddled across to Ubin and began to cast at places that I think might hold some fish. Paddled along the shoreline till I reached a river mouth. Looking around, I saw a large tree that had fallen over near the bank at the river mouth. "Let's try there", I said to myself. Casted a live prawn and landed right under the trunk. I let the prawn sink till the shallow bottom. Straight away I could feel the vibrations as if the prawn is darting around. Next thing, felt a sharp tug and the fish was ON! The fish darted into the snags but I managed to maneouver it out. As it came to the kayak, saw dark red sides and bingo, Mangrove Jack!

Woo hoo! So happy to land my first Mangrove Jack. Put him on my clip stringer and continued fishing. Tried the spot again but nothing turned up. Moved into the river and fished but nobody else seem to be home.

Called it a day and paddled back to the launch point with my dinner in tow!

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Tica
Line - generic 8lb monofilament
Bait - live prawn
Rig - Carolina style

Fish ID - Mangrove Jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus)

Fish escapee news!

Read on the forum that there were some fish escapees from fish farms in and around Ubin a few days ago. Specifically, Mangrove Jacks! I've not caught one of these before.

Go Bucket

Was looking for something to put all my fishing gear in on my kayak. Searched the Web and found this. Its a Seattle Sports Go Bucket. I think it should fit nicely in the round space behind on the kayak. Ordered!

Barradise!

Pulau Ubin just looks so fishy from every angle! Fish farms, mangrove systems, small creeks..etc all seem to be a perfect place for fishes to find shelter and food.

Decided to kayak across to Ubin today to explore the area. Launched from Changi Boardwalk at sunrise and kayaked out to Fairy Point channel marker. Checked that the shipping channel was clear before I started paddling across. Wind was calm and no chop on the water so the paddle was quite smooth. Took me about 15mins to paddle across the channel using the shortest distance to the nearest fish farm on Ubin side. From there, I just paddled along the shoreline, exploring the area.

I entered one of the river systems and it was rather quiet and peaceful in there. Fished around the river bends and along it. Then I spotted and submerged tree trunk that was in line with the river edge. I tossed a live prawn next to it and started to reel it back slowly. As I was enjoying the scenery, I felt a sudden jerk on the the line and then slack..... Nabei! Reeled back to find an empty hook. Ok, the fishes are here! Tossed in another live prawn and concentrated this time. Line pulled and this time I pulled back. SET! Fish ON! The fish made a bee line for the deep part of the river, which was good for me. Slowly played the fish and brought it alongside. Yay, a table-sized Barramundi! Snapped him on the stringer clip and fished on.

Casted another live prawn into the same area but nothing else. So I ventured deeper into the river system. As I was heading out of the river, I decided to try the same spot again. Tossed in the live prawn and felt the hook snag. Gave the rod a light flick upwards, trying to free the hook, and felt it come out. Immediately there was a BOOF! and my prawn was inhaled by fish. This fish decided t do a few acrobatic jumps and I saw it was another Barramundi. Reeled it it and strung it up.

So happy that I caught 2 Barramundi today. Headed back with a big smile on my face!

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Tica
Line - generic 8lb monofilament
Bait - live prawn
Rig - Carolina style

Fish ID - Barramundi (Lates calcarifer)

Beware the spines!

Was out fishing yesterday and caught a few Duri (Marine Catfish). Was aware of their sharp spines so was quite careful in handling near my inflatable kayak. On the 2nd duri, the fella somehow did a somersault as I was dislodging the hook(didn't bring my boga) and fell right smack onto my kayak. Next thing I heard was "Pssssss" . All expletives came out but now here I am with a leak on my kayak and having to cut my trip short. The kayak didn't deflate completely as it has dual chambers. It was a slow leak as well so even when I reached shore, it just felt a bit 'soft'.

The culprit!

Went home to check on the puncture and found 1 leak about 2mm and another about 1mm. Looks like I've got some repair work to do before my next outing.

I think the next time I catch a duri, I shall cut my line at the hook end and leave it. Not worth the puncture to retrieve the hook.

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Tica
Line - generic 8lb monofilament
Bait- dead prawn
Rig - Carolina style

Small CnR

Day off today and went kayak fishing.

Decided to launch near Changi Boardwalk. Launched at sunrise and brought with me some frozen market prawns. Within 5 mins I was the fishing spot that I wanted to try out.

Tossed out my thawed prawn into the water and waited. Nothing for about 20mins so moved a bit to another spot. Next cast, I let the bait sink to bottom and began small twitches back to the kayak. Then I felt a small take. Slight rod bending and up came a small Chocolate Hind aka Arumugam fish. CnR.

The next fish to come up was another small grouper. CnR


Decided to call it a day around 1130am.

Still figuring out where best to place all my stuff on the kayak.


Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Tica
Line - generic 8lb monofilament
Bait - live prawn
Rig - Carolina style

Fish ID - Chocolate Hind aka Arumugam (Cephalopholis boenak)

Queenie comes to the Fairy!

Decided to go kayak fishing today. Loaded up on live prawns and was on the water after sunrise.

Was testing out the Navionics app on the water, looking for nice places where I think might hold some fish. Decided to test a spot marked "OBST" and kayaked towards it. As there was a bit of current, decided to anchor up. As I was releasing the anchor down, little did I realize that I was drifting over the spot that I intended to explore. Next thing I knew, my anchor was stuck! Try as I might, the anchor won't budge. And at one point, I nearly pulled till my kayak tipped over! Reluctantly, I made a 'donation' to the sea and cut the rope as far down as I could reach. Damn! Brand new anchor and rope some more. Not a great way to start a fishing session.

With the anchor gone, I knew it's going to be a tiring day drift fishing around the area. So decided to abandon spot 'OBST' just in case my line kena tangled up with the remaining anchor rope. Paddled to another spot which was relatively calmer and started to see some bait fish jumping out of the water. "Hmm...something is spooking those baitfish", I thought. So I cast towards the middle of the baitfish, and the prawn sank. In less than 5 secs, something swallowed the prawn and made a bee-line for open water! Whoopee! Fish ON! This fish was strong as it was taking me & my kayak for a ride! Then it showed its face, out jumped a Queenfish and made another 3-4 for more jumps in the direction of open water. I was hanging on for dear life, looking out for any boats/ships in the vicinity. I hung on and slowly reeled back the line. Again the queenie went on another dash. This time it went even further than the first run. It took me almost 15 mins to slowly reel back the line and even then it stayed all the way at the bottom, never surfacing. When it was finally tired out, I manage to bring it to the surface and was shocked by the size of it. Grabbed its lip and lifted into my lap. Took pics & some stats, weight-4kg, length-80cm! I wanted to release it so I quickly put it back in the water, hoping to revive it. Tried for 5 mins but it just floated and didn't move much. So decided to take it home. Tied it to the side of the kayak and looked up to see where I was. I was a good 500m away from where I got the strike, so had to paddle slowly back to the spot, with aching arms from the fight as well as paddling!

Continued to fish and had 2 small bites but didn't get a proper hookup. With aching arms, decided to call it a day and headed back to shore. My kayak's big fish virginity has been spectacularly broken by a 4 kg Queenfish!! Hooray!

A few lessons learnt today:
- be really careful where you drop anchor. If its really stuck, cut it loose. Don't risk tipping over and losing all other stuff! Anchor/rope can be replaced. Need to learn more about positioning the kayak.
- keep the live bait well chilled/cold. My live bait was dead after 2-3hrs fishing. Aeration helps too, I guess.
- fighting a fish for too long reduces their ability to be released.

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Tica
Line - generic 8lb monofilament
Bait- live prawn
Rig - Carolina style

Fish ID - Queenfish (Scomberoides spp)

Anchor rope

After looking through all the various types of anchor setups online, I've decided to go with the humble electric cord winder. It's made of plastic, light-weight and can hold quite a bit of rope.

While the anchor trolley setup seems like a good idea, it's just not practical for me to use on the inflatable kayak. I think I'll just tie the rope to the side of my kayak for anchoring purposes.

Anchor for kayak

After my first kayak fishing adventure, I figured out that I will need an anchor to anchor over the fishing spot. It's just too tiring having to paddle back each time. So I went to Tan Ban Yau at Kim Chuan Lane to buy my anchor for my kayak. Bought the 1.5kg version for $20. Now to find the rope......

Post kayak fishing

Phew! Just finished cleaning up the kayak and stuffs. Man its tiring! After the fishing session, still have to wash up the kayak and rod/reels. Took me close to 2hrs to clean up!

First kayak fishing trip on Airis Sport 11

Since I did my kayak wet test at Changi Boardwalk area, it seems pretty natural to head there for my first kayak fishing adventure!

Armed with my new telescopic rod paired with Tica reel and some dead prawn, I started my kayak fishing adventure at sunrise. After a short paddle to the spot, dropped my line over. I was using the same Carolina rig like my last kayak fishing trip with Merv. The current was moving rather fast and I kept having to paddle back to the spot. As usual, I got 'sangkut' quite a few times due to the rocky nature of the bottom. By the time I re-tied my rig, I had drifted quite a distance from the spot. Paddling back to the spot each time was rather tiring!

Then around 9am, I felt a little tap on the end of the line. Getting ready, 'tap, tap'. STRIKE! Hookup! Fish ON! Didn't feel too heavy and I brought up the fish with ease. Up came a small Grouper. Yay! My first fish on my kayak!

Nice markings on the fish too. Since it was a small fish, I released it after the photos. That was the only action I had and I called it a day at 11am. Not much action but I rather enjoyed the peace and solitude on the water!

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Tica
Line - generic 8lb monofilament
Bait- dead prawn
Rig - Carolina style

Shimano Eclipse Telescopic Rod

Tried out my new telescopic rod with my current reel, a Tica reel with 8lb mono. Not too bad leh! Probably hold out on getting a new reel.

Shimano Eclipse Telescopic Rod

I had a flight to Sydney and found a tackle shop that was right in the Sydney CBD. Emailed ahead to ask whether they had the model I was looking for in stock. They said they did.
So I visited the tackle shop and had a feel of the telescopic rod. Not bad, pretty light, extends to 6ft6inch and best part, its only AUD$30. So I bought it!

Rod options online

I'm the kind of person that likes to look for information online before I commit to purchasing an item. So when it came to fishing rods, I did my research the same way. The problem is that the Singapore tackle shop websites are just not that great to navigate around. In the end, I went to Shimano Australia website (http://www.shimanofish.com.au)to get all the information I needed for the rod. Australia seems to have the closest fishing conditions like Singapore so their gear would be suitable for use locally as well.

While scouring the pages, I came across the Shimano Eclipse Travel Telescopic rods. They have a wide range of rod lengths and it 'stows' to only 40 cm! I think I've found my fishing rod!

Kayak fishing tackle

With kayak fishing, one needs to really cut down the number of items one brings for the trip. With this is mind, I decided to go with ultra light tackle gear. Shortest 2pc rod and lightest reel.

Went to Changi Village to look around at my options. Most of the UL rods were 1 pc and the 2pc rods were at least 3ft for the longest section. Not a good sign.
The reel selection wasn't too bad. There were lots of options to choose from depending on budget.

So I thought I'd better scour the Web to see what rods are out there that suits my criteria.

Wet testing the kayak

Hi all,

Today I went out for the first time on my new inflatable kayak. Got all the safety gear in place as what was shown by bro babymerv on my kayak adventure with him. 

0745 -Launched at Changi Boardwalk area and started safety drills first. Sat in the kayak and rocked the kayak to its tipping point(rather difficult actually, due to its wide base), and capsized. I made sure that I was not able to touch bottom when I capsized to simulate capsizing in deep water.  Once overboard, flipped kayak over and tried re-boarding. Successful re-boarding on 2nd attempt but took in a bit of water into the cockpit. So decided to try another time. This time, less water in the cockpit and boarded quicker. 



Capsize drill:

1. Turn over the kayak by grabbing the handle that is furthest away from you. Pull this handle towards you while pushing up the handle that is closest to you. This will flip that kayak back to its normal state.
2. Find the middle of the kayak where the handles are and position your body facing it. 
3. Reach over and grab on to the opposite handle. In one big effort, kick your feet hard and pull your body up and onto the kayak.
4. Try to pull yourself so that your core(stomach) rests on top of the kayak. 
5. Once up, it's just about trying to turn over into a sitting position and you're SAFE!

Look up some of kayak capsize drills on Youtube. The kayak may be different, but the recovery is the same. 

Once safety drills completed, loaded up with a ultralight rod n just a lure as this was supposed to be a familiarization session. Kayaked around near the red buoy on rocks and tried casting the lures. Problem was that the wind was blowing easterly while the current was going the opposite direction! Kayak was drifting eastwards and had to keep paddling back to the buoy area. Tried a few casts but no bites.

Around 930am, the wind really picked up and decided to head back to launch point. All in all, it was an interesting day and very satisfied with my new kayak. Hopefully I can now follow some bros here when they go out kayak fishing!

Opening my new 'adventure'!

Brought back my Airis kayak from US and began unpacking it at home. Following the way the kayak was packed ex-factory, I used a permanent marker to mark where the crease/fold lines were on the kayak so that I know how to repack later.

Inflated the kayak and seat cushion in less than 15mins!

The pump included was like those bicycle pumps except that it had a pressure gauge and its 2-action pump. Meaning it pumps on the up AND down cycle. Awesome!

Buying my kayak

After my kayak fishing experience, I decided that kayak fishing was something that I would like to do. So I searched the Internet for the kayak that would suit my situation. I needed a kayak that is within my budget ($1k), portable, takes up little storage space and big enough for me (I'm tall). Hard shell kayaks were out of the question as I don't have a car. So it was down to inflatables.

There were some fishing kakis in Singapore that were using the Advance Elements kayaks. I had a look at the specs and decided that my legs wouldn't fit in properly under the kayak's coaming. Next up was the Airis Sport by Walker Bay. It was a sit-on-top kayak and had several lengths depending on the model. So far, it passed my criteria of:
Budget - under $1k after conversion.
Portable - it was rolled up and fitted into a backpack. (The advert had a guy carrying it while cycling!)
Storage space - Carries like a backpack, so storage no problem.
Big enough - they have several models to choose from. (9, 10 &11ft)

SETTLED! I'm getting an Airis Sport 11

As this was a US company, it meant shipping it to Singapore would have costs a bomb! So I decided to go and collect it myself in US.

Hello everybody. Starting the new year with a blog about my fishing escapades. I've been fishing since young but only recently caught the fishing bug again after reading awesome catch reports in forums like FishingKaki.com. I used to think that fishing in Singapore waters is a waste of time as there is so much shipping traffic around and not very conducive for fishing. How wrong was I!

It took an introductory course in kayak fishing, done with a fellow forumer, M, that convinced me that there are still some large fish around Singapore! I hooked up with M at SAFYC Sembawang one morning and he lent me a Tequila hard shell kayak to go kayak fishing. Having kayaked before, I proceeded to kayak out to a buoy about 30m out just to get comfortable with the kayak. Rounded the buoy and feeling comfortable with the kayak, I returned to shore to load up my fishing gear. My fishing gear consisted of light 2-pc rod and cheap reel that I bought from Changi Village. I was told to rig my terminal tackle as a Carolina rig and we will be using live prawn as bait. So off we went to the fishing spot. Nothing at first so we changed to another spot. M moved off to another spot 10m away and I was about 20m from the shore when I felt a light tap on my line. The next thing I know, the reel was screaming with line peeling out. After that short burst, I managed to reel in the fish and voila, a decent-sized chermin(diamond trevally). I was so happy that with I just plopped the fish on the deck and started to make my way to M to tell him of my catch. I reached his kayak and proceeded to unhook the fish. Feeling stoked after catching my first decent fish, I then turned around to get another live prawn from the bait bucket behind me. Felt my weight shift, and next thing I know, I was staring at the sky and then SPLASH! Into the water I went! Floated up quickly and realized I was still holding on to my fishing rod and bag with my tackle box. M came over to turn over that kayak and stayed beside me. I then tried to haul myself back onto the kayak. Took me a few tries before managing to re-board the kayak. After the initial shock, we took stock of what was 'donated' to the sea. The bait bucket, set of anchor and rope and a bit of my pride! With the bait bucket gone, I had to share M's bait and continued fishing. At the next spot, the current was pretty strong and M decided to anchor up and I tied my kayak to his. After another 30min or so, I had another hookup and it was another chermin! With that, we decided to call it a day and what a day it was!

I was truly convinced that there are still fish in Singapore waters and thus, my fishing hobby was re-ignited.

Gear
Rod - 2 pc Wild Country Adventure Series
Reel - Tica
Line - generic 8lb monofilament
Hook - size 1 J-hook
Bait - live prawn

Lesson learnt: When you want to reach for something behind you in a kayak, always swing your legs out 90 degrees and sit sideways so that you will always be in control of your balance.