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.
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!
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)
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