Unexpected catch - Hello Mr Barramundi, long time no see!

Decided to go for a short session at Changi Boardwalk. Wasn't trying to catch any fish, only practising my casting using a baitcaster.

Armed with my Shimano Curado baitcaster and a pack of Squidgy Slick Rig, I began casting around the boardwalk.

The wind was pretty strong but the soft plastic had enough weight on it for some nice casts. Worked my way along the boardwalk, casting in and around the bottom structures.

Tide was on the way down and the wind got stronger.

On one of the casts as I was retrieving the soft plastic back, I felt a thump. I thought I had hit a snag then I felt the soft plastic "moving away". Quickly set the hook and it was FISH ON!

The fish jumped, showing itself as a Barramundi. Not big but he was giving a few nice leaps out of the water. I was so afraid of it throwing the hook. Managed to control the fish and landed it.

Woo hoo!!

Unexpected catch on a soft plastic! Ecstatic!!!

+++TIPS+++
When using lures/soft plastics, it's essential to try to aim your cast right at the edge of structures, be it rock bars, submerged boulders, boardwalk pylons, mangrove roots, fallen trees...etc.

It's risky and expect to lose a few lures from casting so close to snags. But the gamble is worth it as fish will surely hold very close to a structure for protection and also predation.

Try different types of retrieve - slow retrieve, short hops, side twitches....etc
+++TIPS+++

Gear used
Rod - Berkley Nomadic Travel Trigger PE0.8-1.2
Reel - Shimano Curado 201HG
Line - generic 20lb braid
Bait - Squidgy Slick Rig iFish Series (Red/White)
Rig - 15lb FC leader to soft plastic using a Kreh loop

Fish ID - Barramundi aka Kim Bak Lor aka Siakap (Lates calcarifer)

Kuching Ocean Shadow Trip #1 - New fishing destination

Signed up for my first trip to Kuching after missing out last Sept.

Around this time is supposed to be the opening season for fishing in Kuching. Target fish were big Ang Kuey and Tenggiri.

Surprised to see that the jetty below is where we are going to board the boat Ocean Shadow. River was swollen due to heavy rains the last few days.

Cloudy skies as we set off on our trip. 

Reached fishing spot after 6hrs and it was night already. Boat anchored up and we began fishing for Tenggiri using wire traces with a ranggong rig. Bait was frozen sardines. Decided to try out my 3-ganged hooks without wire trace. Wind and waves were very strong and made the boat rocky. Cannot tahan..... went below deck to sleep.

Awoken by commotion of fish caught. A kaki managed to hook this big Ang Chor.

Was a pretty quiet night with only a few fish caught, a lot of Ah Sengs though!

Morning came and we set off to our bottom fishing grounds. Daytime is targeting Ang Kuey so change to my heavy setup and using Apollo rigs. Tried out my 6/0 circle hooks on the rigs. Bait was frozen squids. We did catch some live squid at night and used some cut fresh squid too.

The boat will circle the spot to find the mark and then do a drift over the mark. Each drift would only last 1 drop. If you're hooked up, then great. If not, then wait till the next drift.

First up was table-sized Ang Kuey. Some kakis were lucky to get double hookups!

Groupers were also feeling hungry. Can see here how the circle hook is nicely pinned at the corner of the fish's mouth.

Orange-Spotted Groupers here have a slightly different markings from the Groupers back in Sg. Same species but different habitat? Or different species altogether?

Travelling to different spots throughout the day. Most of the fish caught were Ang Kuey, Groupers and a few XL Kaci.

2nd night anchored up again to target Tenggiri. Was told that the water wasn't conducive for Tenggiris as it was too 'dirty' due to the rains recently.

But still we tried. Throughout the night, we only managed to catch 3 smallish Tenggiris. My baits went unmolested yet again.......

Called it a night after midnight.

Around 5am, was awaken by shouts that fish were biting. A kaki had hooked and boated a nice Stingray and a few other fish. Then just before sunrise, everyone began hooking up! This fish was giving us a tough fight. The first fish was gaffed and it turned out to be a Bludger Trevally.

Soon my rod began to buckle over. Quickly grabbed it and strike. The fish was on and I began reeling in. It was taking some line out when suddenly it came off! Damn it! Reeled back to check my hook and everything seem to be ok.

Re-baited with squid this time and waited. Tap-tap-tap... I free-spooled for 5secs before engaging the drag and strike. Fish ON! Started reeling in and just to make sure, I did 2 more strikes. Reeling halfway through, the fish was off again! Can't believe it, 3 ganged hooks and still can't get a solid hookup.

Tried again.... this time, the fish took the bait and ran. Engaged drag but line was still going out. Slowed down a bit then suddenly a big jerk and the line snapped! £*$&!"%! What the hell??!

++ +TIPS+++
Always check the terminal gear even after you have lost the fish. It might tell you why you lost the fish. It might also be weakened after the bust-off. Make sure leader, knots and hooks are all still in good condition.
+++TIPS+++

Checked the rig, line snapped at leader. Quickly tied a new ranggong rig but now using 2-hook setup. Baited up and waited. Tap-tap-tap-tap.....STRIKE! Fish ON! Gave it one more strike for insurance. Fought the fish and finally brought it up on board the boat. Nice fish!

Action lasted for almost 1hr and we caught 11 fish in total. We lost quite a few fish too due to their hard-fighting nature and also bad luck.

After breakfast, off we went drifting again. Hit a good spot that had us bringing up quite a number of Ang Kuey and Groupers. I had switched to regular 6/0 hooks now.

After lunch, dark clouds were forming and the wind began to pick up. Shortly thereafter, it began to rain. And it just got heavier! The heavy rain lasted for almost 30mins and continued to drizzle for the next 2hrs. 

Nice set of chompers!

Woke up from afternoon nap and the sun was shining again. Continued fishing and some solid fish were hooked up.

As the sun was setting, we headed off to our final anchoring spot for the night.

Tenggiri setups came out again but we were catching only Ah Sengs! Big ones at that! No other fish were biting. Then around 1am, the boat captain informed us that we will be heading back to the jetty.

Took 6hrs to get back to the jetty and that's the end of our trip.

Fish was brought to the freezing facility for sorting and dividing.

 Clearer picture of the Bludger Trevally

Stingray

 Big Squid or small Tenggiri?

Total haul from 11 anglers

This trip is definitely an eye-opener for me. Although we didn't catch the Tenggiri that we wanted but it was still a good fishing trip. Looking forward to the next one in May!


Gear used:
Rod - Expert Graphite JigForce PE3-6//Blackmarket Slow Jig PE3-5
Reel - Accurate DPX500N//Shimano Talica 8 II
Line - Sufix 832 50lb
Bait - Fresh & frozen squid, frozen sardines
Rig - Apollo style (day), Ranggong style (night)


Fish ID  - Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)
               - Ang Kuey aka Crimson Snapper (Lutjanus erythropterus)
               - Jemuduk aka Bludger Trevally (Carangoides gymnostethus)
               - Areolate Grouper (Epinephelus areolatus)

Southern Island fishing with Uncle Lim #4 - The BIG ONE!

Finally got a spot on Uncle Lim's boat after seeing so many CR on the monster Groupers.

5 kakis this time and we set off early, just as the sun had risen.

Was told to prepare heavy tackle for this trip as we are targeting whopper Orange-Spotted Groupers. Brought my Accurate and PE3-6 rod, 8/0 hooks and 80lb leader. I had set the drag on the reel to a point where with all my strength, I could only pull out a bit of the line.

Tried out my air cushion and it works like a charm! My butt is going to have a comfortable day today!

Reached our spot and hooked the live bait on with a ranggong rig. Dropped the rig over and waited. Was bumping the seabed occasionally when suddenly the line went tight. Damn, stuck onto the seabed. Pulled hard and my 60lb main line leader gave way. So lost the whole ranggong rig plus the bait. Haiz...

Rigged up another setup and sent the live bait over again. Shawn, who was beside me at the front said he was feeling the fish nibbling. He waited and then strike. But he didn't managed to get a hookup and lost the bait. Then one kaki at the back of the boat hooked up. It was a biggie as the rod had serious bend! When the fish surfaced and boated, boy was it big! Estimated around 9kg. That got everybody excited!

I continued bumping the bottom but somehow got snagged again. Darn it! Pulled and lost the whole rig again! As I was re-rigging, Shawn had another hit but failed to get a hookset again. He was cursing his luck.

Onto my 3rd rig and started fishing again. The guys at the back managed to hookup a few more Grouper around the 1-2kg range. I don't know what's wrong with me today but I got snagged yet again! @*#&*$*@#*!. Ran out of ranggong and my size 10 sinkers. Had to borrow one of Shawn's ranggong and resorted to using 2x size 6 sinkers. This is crazy! I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I let the sinker touch bottom and immediately do 3 cranks of the reel. That should be sufficient to let the bait swim just right off the bottom.

Wasted 3 precious live bait already. Dropped the 4th one over and this time, cranked 4 times. By this time, the 3 kakis at the back had already hooked up another 2-3 Groupers, including 1 Coral trout which somehow threw the hook right at the surface.

It was already 11:30am and I still hadn't got 1 bite. Shawn had already 5 bites but missed the hookset on all of it. Then as I was sitting down feeling dejected, my rod bent over almost ripping it out of my hand. Uncle shouted, "Strike! Strike!" which I promptly did and held on. This fish was taking out line still even after I had set the drag pretty tight. Tried reeling but the fish was just powering on. Then the worst thing happened. The fish found a hidey hole and I was snagged! Oh man!!

Uncle Lim saw what happened and asked me to release tension on the line and he began manoeuvring the boat to try to coax the fish out. Shawn took over on my rod and shortly after, he said the fish is out! He reeled a few times and passed the rod back to me. I switched to low gear and began cranking. I could feel this fella was heavy and when he surfaced, he was big! Uncle Lim netted and boated the fish. Woo hooo!!!!! That's a real FATTY!!

The fish weighed in at exactly 6kgs. Uncle Lim saw me panting and said, "This one small fish only, wait till you hook up a 10kg plus fish!". Well, for a 6kg fish, it definitely pulled like a freight train! I thought my drag setting was already too tight but the fish proved me otherwise. I'm stoked at catching my biggest Grouper to date!

The leader near the hook was frayed so I snipped the frayed part and re-tied the hook. As there were no more live bait, I hooked 2 live prawn on the hook and sent it down.

30mins later, I felt some taps on the line. I waited till the rod loaded up before striking. Striked twice and began cranking up. This one didn't feel as heavy and wasn't taking any line. Halfway through the fight, the fish was off! Aaarrggghhh!!! Reeled back to check and saw what happened. The hook tip was bent about 70 degrees! The last fish must've bent it and I hadn't realized it as I was only thinking of the frayed leader. That's why the hook couldn't penetrate. Haizz.......

+++TIPS+++
Always check your terminal rig after fighting a big fish. Make sure leader, knots, hooks are all still in good condition. If any part shows some wear, always re-rig with fresh terminal gear.
+++TIPS+++

After lunch, the fish stopped biting and we set off to another spot to catch some Chermin. I switched over to a running sinker rig and used live prawns. The current was rather strong but a kaki at the back of the boat managed to hook up a nice sized Chermin. I was hoping to catch one as well but my offering wasn't touched. The bites slowed right down and we didn't catch anything after that.

Decided to head back to the jetty and called it a day.

 Our CR

Pretty happy with my biggest Grouper to date and what a fight it was!

Gear used:
Rod - Expert Graphite JigForce PE3-6
Reel - Accurate DPX500N
Line - Sufix 832 50lb
Bait - live bait
Rig - Ranggong style 

Fish ID - Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)