Desaru on Badol boat Trip #2 - Success!

After returning from Desaru, I felt a bit disappointed that I didn't catch a Tenggiri on my own. So I called Badol and arranged for another boat trip. As it was a rather impromptu decision, I was open to any other kaki to join the trip. In the end, we managed to get a total of 5.

We wanted to start early as some of us needed to return to S'pore early. Tried to arrange with Badol to launch at 0700 but the best he could do was 0730. So we were at the beach on time and launched.

At the first unjam, we started jigging for baitfish. Another angler was casting out pintails for Tenggiri and he was duly rewarded with a decent-sized fish. With enough baitfish, we proceeded to the Tenggiri spot. Deckie Zam helped rig up my terminal tackle with wire trace for the hook and sent it out with a nice, fatty Kembung as bait. While waiting, we continued to jig for baitfish.

We were hauling up Cencaru almost on every sabiki drop. In the mix, we would get some Kembung or Selar. I even managed to catch a Bonito on the sabiki after the hooks all wrapped around the fish! Boatman Badol in the meantime was hand-lining for Tenggiri. It may seem old school but he hooked up another Tenggiri just before lunchtime!

After lunch, my rod bent over and the reel screamed! Fish ON! Zam set the hook and handed the rod to me. I fought the fish and it was a fighter! As soon as it approached the boat, it turned around and fired its afterburners! So after about 5mins, I managed to bring it closer to the boat and with a accurate gaff-shot, the fish was hauled up on board. So happy to have caught my first Tenggiri!

With that catch, I was a happy man! Gladly went back to catching more Cencaru! Another angler had her bait in the water and when she brought it back up to check, what's left was this:

Cleanly sliced off! Missing the hook completely. Fish are smart too!

Later in the afternoon, we didn't get anymore bites from Tenggiris so we headed back early. Back on shore by 3pm and we split all the Cencaru, Selar and Kembung equally. The Tenggiri was cut into sections and each person took back an equal share.

On the drive back, we were caught in a heavy downpour which flooded certain parts of JB. We managed to get through the M'sian side of Customs/Immigration pretty quickly but then got stuck on the S'pore side for close to 1.5hrs! All the booths were open but all the cars were channelled into 2 lanes only at the exit. Ridiculous!

Gear used:
Rod - Eupro Giant King Jigging rod PE0.8-2.0
Reel - Shimano Saros 2500F
Line - Spiderwire Invisibraid 15lb
Bait - live Selar
Rig - leader to wire-traced hook.

Fish ID - Tenggiri aka Spanish Mackeral (Scomberomorus commerson)