'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!