Finally, back on the kayak!

It has been a long time since I went out on my kayak. A very busy Xmas season plus a very unpredictable monsoon season in Singapore prevented me from going out on my Hobie i9s kayak.

So when the opportunity arose, I quickly decided to head out on my kayak early in the morning. I set out from WaterCross, at Pasir Ris to the nearby kelongs. Made a quick pit stop at the blue barrels to load up on some mussels to use as bait and berley. Lo and behold, the mussels were tiny! I guessed that the 'contractor' must have come and cleared the mussels from the blue barrels.

So I went searching around the chains and anchor points, hoping to find larger mussels that were not cleared by the 'contractor'. Luckily, I managed to score about 20 large pieces which should be sufficient for my day's fishing. With the mussels in the box, I pedalled to the first spot. Anchored up and began my fishing. This area is a super snaggy area, and soon I had lost about 4 rigs to the snags.

After about 2hrs, I decided to switch to another spot. Rigged up the mussel bait and tossed it over. After a few minutes, I started to slowly reel back. Suddenly, the rod tip bent over and FISH ON! I quickly set the hook and played the fish to the surface. Up came a very shiny body and I knew it was a Sickle Fish. Not very big but it put up a good fight on light tackle.


When I was trying to unhook the fish, I saw that the hook was very deep in the fish's throat. No wonder I didn't feel any bite. He must've swallowed the bait and stayed there. Managed to manoeuvre the hook out and released the fish. Then the fish floated back to the surface. Retrieved the fish and began 'swimming' it next to my kayak. After a few attempts, it still wasn't responding. Fearing the worst, I tied my fish clip on its lip and gave it a few long tows, hoping to revive the fella. Finally, I felt it swimming against the clip so I unhooked and released it. It powered off strongly into the depths. He'll live to grow bigger and fight stronger!

That was the only notable action for the day besides many small nibbles that I believe could be the work of small Scats. The wind was blowing strongly now so I called it a day and returned to shore.

I think I'll wait a few more months for the mussels to grow bigger before returning to Pasir Ris Park to fish!

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Shimano Saros 1000F
Line - Fireline Crystal 10lb braid
Bait - mussels
Rig - Carolina rig

Fish ID - Chao Xi aka Sicklefish (Drepane Punctata)