Getting ready for toothy Tenggiris

Going to Kuching soon for Tenggiri.

So I started tying some rigs to be used when fishing for Tenggiris.

Wire or no wire?
I guess in fishing, there is no hard and fast rule. You do what you need to entice the fish to take the bait. If the fish are hungry, they might not care about the wire. But if they are finicky and shy, invisible fluorocarbon leader might do the trick.

So I'm preparing both.

After reading some fishing articles on rigs for Tenggiri, I'm trying this one.

My  Tenggiri rig setup

Hooks - 2 pc Octopus type size 2/0

Wire - About 50cm of 30-50lb rated nylon coated wire

1inch rubber sleeve

Some old braid line

Slip the rubber sleeve through the eye of 1 hook and thread the wire through it.

Tie off the other hook at the end of the wire.

Take the old braid line and coil around the shank and the rubber sleeve of the top hook. Finish with a few half hitches.

The idea is to make the coils snug but not tight so that the hook can slide up and down the steel wire.

This way you can adjust the top hook according to the size of the bait you are using.

At the other end of the steel wire, slip in a copper crimping sleeve.

Make a loop and tie an Albright knot to your FC leader.

FC leader length around 1.5m

Finished Albright knot.

Cut off FC tag end.

Bring the copper crimping sleeve up near the knot of the wire tag end.

Crimp the sleeve down for extra protection against knot slipping.










I made about 10 of these rigs without tying the FC leader end. It's easier to store with just the wire rig. I can tie the FC leader part on the boat

For the non-steel wire version, I'm choosing to use ganged hooks which I got from Australia. Just going to tie the FC leader straight to the hook.












Ok all set! Let see how these rigs work out over in Kuching!

Bintulu Marine Harvest Trip #1 - New species

Signed up for a new experience fishing at Bintulu. This trip is a mix of deep water jigging, oilrig jigging and deep water bottom bashing!

Let's just say I was NOT very well prepared for this trip!

+++++TIPS+++++
Tackle recommended
PE6-10 rod, big reels with 300-500m line capacity, 300-600g jigs, >100lb leaders, size 10/0 - 13/0 assist hooks, gloves, gimbal belt and a whole lot of energy!
+++++TIPS+++++

Flight landed in Miri and took a 3hr land transport to Bintulu. Backbreaking to say the least!

Boarded Marine Harvest after dinner and set off.

First stop was an oil rig at around 4am. Everyone started jigging at depth of around 150m. Used my Stella 20000 reel with 100lb braid and 400g jig. First time trying jigging at these weights and depths. Was the first to hook up and fought the fish to the surface. It was a Big Eye Trevally around 4kg. Just as the deckie tried to gaff the fish, it splashed around and the hook came off. Oh well.....

Other anglers were getting hookups as well on the Big Eye Trevally, all in the 4-8kg range. Then just before sunrise, someone hooked up and landed a Amberjack. Soon, most of us were hooking up on Amberjacks in the 5-10kg range.

I also had a hit and the Amberjack was rather feisty. Took out some line before I managed to control it and landed.

Next fish was another Big Eye Trevally.

After the morning action, we left the oil rig to another deep water spot. Some of the anglers continued jigging but I started bottom fishing using Apollo rig. Target was the Gold Band Snapper aka Angkoli. Fishing at depths of +150m requires heavy sinkers (size 20) to get the bait down to those depths. Soon enough, we started bringing up the fish. Nice 2-4kg range.

Apollo rig - 100lb mono with 3 dropper branches, using 6/0 VMC Circle hooks.


Fishing was sporadic throughout the whole day as the boat captain wanted to wait around the area so that we could head to one of the oil rigs for jigging again at night. Unfortunately, the oil rig patrol boats were still in the area at night so we abandoned the idea and headed towards Lucornia Shoals.

Near Lucornia Shoals, we started jigging again. One angler tussled with one helluva monster and when it was subdued, it was truly the biggest fish of our trip. A 30kg + Amberjack!

Other smaller Amberjacks were also caught. Beautiful fishes!

When the jigging quieten down, I reverted back to bottom bashing and duly rewarded with more Angkoli.

Night jigging spot.

Tried jigging again at night. Seems the same type of fish were hanging around these oil rigs. Managed to hook up another Big Eye Trevally.

After a few more drops at depths over 150m, decided to take a breather and just left my jig on the sea floor. 10mins later, picked up my rod and started 1 lift up and BAM! Fish nailed the jig and the fight was on. Fish didn't give much fight but it was a long......way up. When it finally surfaced, saw that it was a Grouper. But one that I've never seen before. 

After some research, it's turns out to be a Striped Grouper (Epinephelus latifasciatus). New species to the list!

Other denizens of the deep.

At sunrise, we moved to the next spot near Lucornia Shoals. Had a brief visit by the Royal Malaysian Navy who wanted to make sure we are authorized to be in the area. Continued fishing after that.

Bottom fishing produced more Angkoli with a few other species thrown in.

 TRIPLE HOOK UP! SWEET!!!

Circle hooks at its best!

Unidentified species. Possibly from the Snapper family?

Night fishing was rather quiet but some nice Groupers were landed.

 










Woke up at sunrise and caught this interesting fish. Don't know what it is. Triple-tail?

A short while later, we had an 'invasion' of suspected Barracudas. They sliced through our braid lines like a razor blade. Lost close to 50m of my main line to these buggers. Which means I can't use this rod/reel setup in waters deeper than 130m. What a pain!

As my luck would have it, today's target fish was the Ruby Snappers. These fish are usually found in depths of over 200m. With no reel capable of fishing those depths, I had to sit it out.

The boat moved several spots in the morning till afternoon. Whenever we stopped at a location where the depth was in excess of 200m, I would just go to bed. Not only my reel doesn't have that capacity, I would have to use a 1kg sinker just to get the bait down. Reeling up a 1kg sinker is no joke!!

The fish weren't biting much as well until after lunch when the first Snapper was landed. 

Itching to catch one of these famous fish, I borrowed one of the other anglers setup to fish. Another angler hooked up and began the long reel to the surface. A nice Ruby Snapper surfaced and gaffed. Nice fish!

Used my trusty Apollo circle hook rig, baited up with fish meat and sent it a long way down......

Next I felt a tap and I slowly fed the line out. After a few seconds of feeling the fish take the bait, I engaged the drag and slowly sweep the rod up. Rod loaded up and FISH ON! Started to reel up and the fish was struggling and taking out some line as well! Good fight!

So I continued the slow but tensioned reeling motion until the fish surfaced. Woo hoo! A nice Ruby Snapper! The red is so intense! Beautiful fish.

Masterchef at work, preparing sashimi for tonight.

Fresh sashimi! Mmmmmm......awesome!

At one point, we were getting cut off by marauding Barracoutas.

All the fish we wanted to keep were filleted and frozen. It was a shame to see a lot of fish heads that we had to leave behind as we didn't have a lot of baggage space on the plane. All in all, this was a new experience for me, deep water jigging and fighting different and new species of fish. I thoroughly enjoyed the fishing and the great bunch of fishos!


Gear used:
Rod - Expert Graphite JigForce PE3-6, Expert Graphite Jig Pro II PE4-8
Reel - Accurate DPX500N, Shimano Stella 20,000
Line - Sufix 832 80lb, Kastking 100lb
Bait - Frozen squid, frozen mackerel tuna
Rig - Apollo, Ranggong

Fish ID - Big Eye Trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus)
             - Amberjack (Seriola lalandi)
             - Striped Grouper (Epinephelus latifasciatus)
             - Gold Band Snapper aka Angkoli (Pristipomoides multidens)
             - Ruby Snapper (Etelis carbunculus)

Boat charter/location fishing gear recommendations

I've been on quite a few fishing trips so far and with each trip, it is a new learning experience.

Some trips I've been totally under-geared and some over-geared. Sometimes bringing stuff that was totally not needed and sometimes not bringing essential items. I'm sure most of us fishos would have experienced it one time or another...

So I hope the lists below will help fishos of all experience levels to gauge and decide what sort of gear to bring for the fishing trip. These are my personal views.



SINGAPORE LOCAL

Changi waters

Info - boarding at Changi Point Ferry Terminal onto bumboats. Capacity 6-10pax. Fishing times 8am-5pm.

Type of fishing - bottom fishing. Drifting over fishing spots in the channel from Ubin to eastern tip of Singapore. Water depths from 20-30m. Occasionally will venture into shallower waters of 5-10m.

Fishing gear recommendation - spinning reels 2500-5000 size. Rod PE 0.8-3.0 range.
                                             - overhead reels, ie Ocea jigger 1500, Talica 8/10
                                             - sinker size 2-10

Fishing rigs - Apollo rigs, running sinker rigs, madai, tenya, micro jigs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Info - boarding at Marina Country Club (Punggol Marina). Capacity 3-5pax. Fishing times 8am-5pm.

Type of fishing - customizable according to your style. Fishing areas from Punggol all the way to eastern tip of Singapore. Water depths from 10-30m. Occasionally will venture into shallower waters of 2-10m.

Fishing gear recommendation - spinning reels 2500-5000 size. Rod PE 0.8-3.0 range.
                                             - overhead reels, ie Ocea jigger 1500, Talica 8/10
                                             - sinker size 2-10

Fishing rigs - Apollo rigs, running sinker rigs, madai, tenya, micro jigs.

Occasionally, the bumboats and Punggol Marina fishing boats will travel to fish in the waters in front of Changi Naval Base. Water depths are 20-40m with much stronger currents. Upgrade sinker size as appropriate.

----------------------------

Southern waters

Info - boarding points RSYC, Penjuru Cl, Pandan Loop depending on boat.

Type of fishing - mostly bottom fishing. Jigging/micro jigging can be done at certain spots. Areas range from Tuas to Southern Islands. Water depths from 15-60m. Strong currents.

Fishing gear recommendation - spinning reels 3000-10000 size. Rod PE 0.8-5.0 range.
                                             - overhead reels, ie Ocea jigger 1500, Talica 8/10
                                             - sinker size 6-16

Fishing rigs - Apollo rigs, running sinker rigs, madai, tenya, micro jigs

Fishing in the Southern waters are quite varied. Depending what fish you're targeting, bring the appropriate gears.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SOUTH CHINA SEA

Info - Sports Fishing Explorer aka Ah Jiang boat. Boarding at Marina Country Club (Punggol Marina). Passports required to clear immigration. Typical trip is 3D2N. Boarding time ard 12pm, return by 11am last day.

Type of fishing - Anchored for bottom fishing. Jigging/micro jigging can be done at certain spots. Areas range from Hosburgh Lighthouse, Eastern Bank to NE of Bintan. Water depths from 15-60m. Strong currents at certain spots/times.

Fishing gear recommendation - spinning reels 3000-10000 size. Rod PE 1-6 range.
                                             - overhead reels with 40-80lb line.
                                             - sinker size 6-20

Fishing rigs - Apollo rigs, running sinker rigs, ranggong rigs, micro jigs

Sports Fishing Explorer runs a very good fishing charter. Good food, accommodation, helpful deckhands and fish cleaning service. Usually takes about 5hrs from boarding point to reach first fishing spot. Baits are usually live prawn, squid (live or frozen) and live fish (tamban, kembung, selar).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MALAYSIA

Desaru

Info - boarding at Tanjung Lompat beach. Capacity 4-7pax depending on boat. Fishing from 8am-5pm. Usually day trip.

Type of fishing - bait drifting for Spanish Mackerel and/or bottom fishing. Jigging/micro jigging can be done at certain spots. Fishing in waters 10-15nm east of Tg Lompat. Water depths from 15-40m.

Fishing gear recommendation - spinning reels 3000-8000 size. Rod PE 0.8-4.0 range.
                                            - overhead reels, ie Ocea jigger 1500, Talica 8/10
                                            - sinker size 4-14

Fishing rigs - Apollo rigs, running sinker rigs, balloon live bait drifting, jigging, lure casting.

Several boat charters operate out of Tg Lompat. Typically takes about 30-45min to reach fishing spots. Collect live fish via sabiki at unjams. Usually anchored at spots for bait drifting with balloons.

-------------------------

Rompin

Info - boarding at Rompin River, Kuala Rompin. Capacity 4-6pax. Fishing from 8am-5pm. Day trip possible but not recommended due to long drive.

Type of fishing - varies from bait drifting for Sailfish, Spanish Mackerel to bottom fishing, jigging/micro jigging and squidding also available at certain times of the year.

Fishing gear recommendation - spinning reels 3000-8000 size. Rod PE 0.8-5.0 range.
                                             - overhead reels, ie Ocea jigger 1500, Talica 8/10
                                             - sinker size 4-14

Fishing rigs - Apollo rigs, running sinker rigs, balloon live bait drifting, jigging, lure casting.

Rompin is the place to catch Sailfish. Many boat charters operate out of Rompin River. Accommodation either at River Chalet or common house (big group). 

-------------------------

Kuching

Info - boarding at a jetty next to a river. Several fishing charter vessels in operation. Typically, 5D4N duration.

Type of fishing - bottom fishing in the day and night. When in season, Spanish Mackerel at night.

Fishing gear recommendation - spinning reels 3000-10000 size. Rod PE 1-6 range.
                                             - overhead reels with 40-80lb line.
                                             - sinker size 6-20

Fishing rigs - Apollo rigs, running sinker rigs, ranggong rigs, micro jigs

Usually takes 5-6hrs to first fishing spot. Bait is usually frozen squids and frozen sardines. Sinkers are provided on a "replace if lost basis". Day fishing style is bottom fishing while drifting. The boat will make several drifts over the mark and you hope that your bait will get nailed when passing over the mark. Night fishing style is the boat will be anchored and it will be bottom fishing and mid-water fishing for Spanish Mackerel.

-------------------------

Bintulu

Info - direct flight to Bintulu or via 3hr land transport from Miri. Fishing area is around Lucornia shoal and oil rigs on the way. Prepare for real deep water fishing!

Type of fishing - deep water jigging and bottom fishing

Fishing gear recommendation - spinning reels 5000-20000 size. Rod PE 3-10 range.
                                             - overhead/underhead reels with 50-100lb line.
                                             - sinker size 500g to 1.5kg

Fishing rigs - Apollo rigs, ranggong rigs, heavy 300-600g jigs with 10/0 - 13/0 assist hooks.

Lucornia is in deep waters from 50-250m. Big reels with big line capacity required. Preferably heavy poundage braid with thin diameters thus more line capacity. Bring extra main line in case of line cut. Sinker size dependent on depth and current. Don't be surprise if need to use 1kg sinkers! Good thing when deep water bottom fishing is that once the fish has reached 3/4 way up, the fish cavity will expand and fish will float up. But to reel up from 200m with a 1kg sinker is a bitch! Usual rig is a 3-4 hook Apollo rig.
Oil rig jigging will require heavy jigs in the range of 300-600g with big assist hooks. A gimbal belt is mandatory to aid in the jigging motion. Tighter drag setting required to prevent fish from heading into oil rig structure.

WORLD WIDE

Auckland, New Zealand

Info - bottom fishing in Hauraki Gulf for Pink Snappers, Salmon, Yellowtail Kingfish. Day charters with boarding at Westhaven Marina. Many operators ranging from party boats of 12-20pax to speedboats for 4-6pax.

Type of fishing - bottom lure fishing by looking for "workups". Workups are when small baitfish are corralled by dolphins/whales/big fish towards the surface. Which they then take turns to feed on. Birds will divebomb into these workups for a feed too!

Fishing gear recommendation - spinning reels 2000-5000 size. Rod PE 0.8-4.0 range.
                                             - overhead reels with 20-50lb line
                                             
Fishing rigs - bottom lures, ie inchiku, kabura, madai.

Lure bottom fishing is unique as the trailing hooks are rather small, size 1 or smaller. The trick is not to strike when the fish nibbles. You just need to drop the lure down slightly and let the rod load up when the fish finally takes the whole lure. During the workups, its quite common to get double or triple hookups. Pink Snapper is the primary target but bigger predators like Yellowtail Kingfish are also around.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm sure many of you would have your own preference but I hope this info will help new fishos who are just starting out on this amazing hobby to be suitably geared in order to catch the BIG ONE!

Any feedback/comment is most welcomed!

                                                     I'm still learning..................

Changi Ah Fong Trip #5 - Surprise catch on a slow day

Joined Ah Fong's boat and we had only 7 anglers today. It's been scorching hot these past few days and even the sea water was warmer than normal. Was told to expect a slow day.....

Started off using my previous Squidgy Slick Rig soft plastic. Hoping to get 2nd time lucky?

No luck after 2hrs of trying. So revert back to using live prawn. Rigged up a running sinker rig.

Action was quiet so we headed to the eastern side of Tekong. We were drifting along the breakwall when I hooked up. Up came a nice table sized Ang Chor!

At the end of one drift, I was reeling back as we were changing spot when I felt a tug. Quickly lowered the rod and the fish bit. Fish ON! Reeled back to reveal a small Orange-Spotted Grouper. After the pictures, fella was released to grow bigger.

After lunch, we were back out in the channel drifting. Anglers started to catch some bigger Groupers. Max was about 1.5kg. Then it was my turn. Another Grouper, just nice for the dinner table.

By late afternoon, the winds picked up and current became stronger. Changed to a heavier sinker on the running sinker rig. Was holding my baitcaster in free spool when I felt a jerk. Quickly released some line to let the fish take the bait. After 5secs, engaged the drag and lifted the rod. Fish ON! This fella was big, from the way it was fighting. It was even taking some line out from my reel. It fought in short, intense bursts. I had to play the fish slowly before it came to the surface. It turned out to be a big Longhead Grunt aka Gu Hood. What a cracker! The fella weighed in at 1.8kgs!

Great way to end the trip!

Gear used:

Rod - Eupro Salty Fighter PE0.8-2.0

Reel - Shimano Curado 201HG

Line - generic 20lb braid

Bait - live prawn

Rig - running sinker

Fish ID - Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)

             - Longhead Grunter (Pomadasys auritus)

             - Ang Chor aka John's Snapper (Lutjanus johnii)