Rompin #3 - Sailfish Madness again! - Day 2

Day 2 didn't start off too well. As soon as we were out of the river mouth, the waters became choppy. It was choppy all the way to the fishing grounds and the winds were quite strong as well.

After collecting our baitfish, we went to the Sailfish grounds.

Looking at the sea conditions, I told the guys I'll be more than happy to stay and fish on the boat today!

So all 3 kayaks launched and drifted out. I put out 2 baits again on the boat. 45 mins later, my Talica 8II clicker went off! Grabbed the rod and counted to 10. Engaged the drag and rod loaded up.

FISH ON!

Sailfish tail-walked across the back of the boat and I was frantically reeling to regain line and tension. Finally the rod bent and I gave it a good pull to ensure the hook set properly.

As I was now fishing from the boat, I had to ease off the drag a bit so that the fish stays connected. Slowly but surely, I kept reeling the Sailfish in. The fish even had me go one round in the boat!

Right side front

Right side back 

Left side back

Left side front 

Front left

Finally the fish came close to the boat and the deckie grabbed the leader. Success!!

Circle hook at the corner of the mouth

After some photos, the fish was released in good health.

The guys on the kayak weren't having much luck on the Sailfish. By this time, they had drifted quite far due to the strong wind and we moved the boat closer to them.

Just before lunch, there was still no action so the guys decided to get on the boat. Loaded the kayaks and we decided to go catch some squids. Mat Rompin obliged and off we went to an unjam.

Brought out the squid jigs and soon we had some takes. Some decent sized squids was caught. Mat Rompin recommended jigs in orange and true enough, the squids were liking that colour that day.

After we had caught about 10 medium/large pieces, we decided to try for Sailfish again. Headed to the Sailfish grounds and launched the kayaks.

Out went my 2 baits on various depths. Sea continued to be choppy and we had a few misses on the boat where the bait was either sliced or completely severed, leaving only the head!

While drifting, I tried bottom fishing with sabiki and we managed to catch some decent bottom fish. Good fun on light tackle. Deckie even managed to catch 2 Coral Trouts!

Ian managed to catch a small Sailfish and that was the only other action for the afternoon.

Fished till 5pm with no other action and the kayaks were then loaded back onto the boat. Still a choppy 1 hour ride back to the jetty.

My trusty Blackmarket Slow jig rod proved the winner this trip, with 3 Sailfish caught and released! Even after one of the rod guides broke, it still withstood the punishment from the Sailfish.

An awesome 1st day on kayak followed by a not so great 2nd day. But all in all, we all had good fun fishing for the fastest fish in the sea!


+++++++TIPS+++++++

Have a minimum of 4m length of leader. First, it's a form of protection when the fish jumps/tailwalks all over the place and second, it'll help when you/deckie needs to bring the fish closer to the boat/kayak.

Remember not to strike the rod when using circle hooks.

Wear full gloves when handling the Sailfish bill as they are very rough!

Try setting your baits at various water depths to see where the Sailfish are holding on that day.

+++++++TIPS++++++++

Gear used:
Rod - Blackmarket Slow Jig PE3-5
Reel - Shimano Talica 8 II
Line - Sufix 832 50lb
Bait - live kembong bridled with rubber band
Rig - 40lb FC leader to 6/0 VMC ringed circle hook

Fish ID - Sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus)
             - Yellow Tail Fusilier (Caesio teres)

Rompin #3 - Sailfish Madness again! - Day 1

After missing out on last year's Sailfish Madness in Rompin, I finally managed to arrange to be off for this year's trip. And it was only 4 anglers this time; Merv, Ian, Paul and me.

So we were going to drive from Singapore to Rompin with 2 kayaks on top of the car. We met up with Ian at Rompin and was all set for the next day's fishing.

The next morning, we loaded up 3 kayaks onto Mat Rompin's boat and set off. The weather looked good with a light breeze. After about 1 hour ride, we reached our first spot to catch our baitfish for the day's fishing. Out came the sabikis and within 20mins, we had enough bait for the day.

Reached the Sailfish grounds a short while later. Launched all 3 kayaks and off the guys went. I was happy to stay on the boat to fish. I set up 2 rods, both with 6/0 ringed circle hooks. My heavy jigging rod with Shimano Slade 4000 reel was rigged up with a balloon and live bait. Other rod was Blackmarket jigging rod with Shimano Talica 8II reel rigged with a small weight to put the bait in mid-water.

10 mins later, the balloon was moving erratically and Mat Rompin picked up the rod. Reel was free-spooled and after 10secs, he engaged the drag and the fish was ON! Fish jumped up and skipped on the surface across the back of the boat! He handed me the rod and I just held on. Line was still peeling off so I just waited. The fish slowed down and I began to slowly reel in. A few cranks and the fish went on another blistering run and then "PING!!!" The fish was off.........I thought the line/leader broke but when I reel back, everything was still intact. Looks like the circle hook didn't set properly. What a bummer!!

Soon, Ian had a hookup. He managed to catch a Tenggiri on a lure. Looks like we have our dinner settled!

Then Merv hooked up on a Sailfish. We moved near to take some pictures and it was a beauty! Ian also hooked up and we moved to him as well. Just after lunchtime, we had already 3 catch & released Sailfish. So Merv offered to let me use his kayak for my turn at catching the Sailfish.

Decided to put 2 rods out with baits in mid-water. After about 20 mins, my Talica 8II clicker went off. Counted to 10 before engaging the drag and rod loaded up. FISH ON! Fish did some acrobatics and swam around the kayak. The line became crossed with my other line but I managed to untangle the lines before any damage was done. The Sailfish then settled in deep water, dragging the kayak.

After about 10 mins, I finally had the fish close to the kayak.

Grabbed the leader and pulled the Sailfish alongside.

 Quickly grabbed the beak to control the fish.

Woo hoo!!! Finally caught a Sailfish on a kayak!

The circle hook was nicely pinned at the corner of the mouth.

Removed the hook and hoisted it up for some pictures. YES!!!!!!

After the pictures, put the fish back into the water to swim it for healthy release.

After about 5 mins, the fella was 'kicking' and was released safely!

Having experienced the crossing of fishing lines, I decided to let out a shorter line on the rod behind me while the other would have a longer line out.

Put the bridled baits out again and waited. Suddenly I felt a sharp jolt from the rod behind. Turned behind to see the line on the Slade reel peeling out and then another jolt caused the bail arm to close. Then the hook pulled....... Damn! Lost the fish.

Re-baited and tried again. Then the clicker on my Talica 8II went off! Reeled in the other rod and waited. Engaged the drag, rod loaded up and the Sailfish went airborne! Tail-walked 3 times and on the 4th time, it threw the hook out. Didn't even have the chance to gain line or tension. Damn! 2 missed hookup in a row!

Re-baited and put the baits back in the water. 20 mins passed by and my Talica 8II clicker started to click slowly. Reeled in the 2nd rod and waited for the continuous run. Sure enough, the fish took the bait and sped off! Counted to 10 and engaged the drag. Rod loaded up and FISH ON! The Sailfish jumped up about 20m in front of the kayak and began tail-walking towards me! Oh crap! Luckily the fish tail-walked till about 3m in front of the kayak and splashed down and went under the kayak! Reeled like mad to regain tension and the fish was still speeding off behind me now. Turned the kayak around and gave chase.

Finally was fighting the fish in front and slowly regaining line. I realised that I was quite a distance away from the motherboat and radioed in that I'm hooked up. But apparently, Paul has also hooked up and the motherboat was supporting him. So I decided to keep the fish hooked at a manageable distance of 20-30m away and wait for the motherboat to come over.

20 mins later then the motherboat came over and I began reeling the fish closer to the kayak. Tried as I might, every time I got close to the leader, the fish would power off again.

After about another 10 mins, I finally grabbed the leader and tried to pull the fish closer.

The fish was still strong and was only 2m more from my hands when the inevitable happened....... SNAP!!!!!

The FC leader gave way and I could see the Sailfish slowly swimming away......... It was a good fight.

That was my last catch of the day but totally satisfying! In total, we had 16 Sailfish hookups and 6 landed.

This was a souvenir from the Sailfish from today. Heavy abrasion on the fingers from holding the Sailfish's sandpaper-like bill.

Preserving fish teeth and skulls - #10

Putting back a fish skull seems to be harder than expected! I must admit that my first attempt at putting back the skull was rather slow. I couldn't figure out which part goes where, even with the pictures that I took.

So I had to resort to intense research on the Internet for information on each part of the skull.

Finally had the necessary information and tried to piece them back together.

Finally completed!

The tough part was figuring out how the individual bones most likely fit as the skull is actually held together by flesh, skin and membranes.

I also omitted some parts that I think would have not contributed to a nicer skull structure.

From this:

to this:

There you have it! A close resemblance to an actual skull of a Coral Trout (Plectropomus leopardus)


Feel free to leave any comments on this whole process!