Mackerel Hunter #1

Joined my new group of kakis from the last Kuching trip to fish at Gelang Patah on board Mackerel Hunter. Target fish is the Kurau aka Threadfin Salmon.

Early morning transport and we were in the boat by 8am.

Fished around some structures for baitfish and some kakis ended up hooking into a few Queenfish.
Boatman caught a small Tenggiri Papan aka Spotted Mackerel on live bait.

After lunch then I finally managed to catch something. The familiar Chao Xi aka Sickle Fish.

Next we anchored near some large tankers and started bottom fishing. Fish took my live prawn and sped away! Fish ON! Slowly reeled the fella back and it turned out to be another familiar fish, Kaci aka Painted Sweetlips.

We moved to another anchored vessel and dropped our baits. Boatman managed to hook up a pretty good sized Kurau. Then another 2 kakis hooked up too! Pretty good fight from the looks of it!

The Kurau didn't managed to find my hooks so it was not to be. Will be back for another shot!

Raffles Marina Trip #1 - Lucky fish

Joined a boat trip operating out from Raffles Marina. This trip was with David Ho, the creator of the Kurau jigs. I guess I'm also looking to learn some tricks from the guru.

Set off in the morning and jigged all the way. Somehow the fishes were not cooperating. Nobody was getting any action. Later on in the morning, I managed to hook up a small Grouper, too small to keep so it was released. I was happy to hear that David is quite a conservationist so he was glad the fish was released.

I then hooked up another fish. But this one turned out uglier! Haha! It was a Toadfish, also released.

Boat captain said better change to tenya style fishing as jigging wasn't working today. So he lent me his 80g tenya and I hooked a live prawn on it. As we were bouncing around the bottom, I felt a giant take and rod bent over! Fish ON!

As I was only using a lighter setup, the fish was giving a good fight. Slowly reeled it up and it was a pretty good sized Grouper.

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Some pictures before David iki jime and bled the fish accordingly. Very professional!

Another kaki managed to catch one giant Eng Ko aka Blackspot Tuskfish!

Changi Ah Fong #9 - Slow day

Went on board Ah Fong boat again.

Pretty slow day. Morning catches were few and far between.

First fish to get hooked up was this Ah Seng! Not a good sign!

Next on the hook was a small Arumugam aka Chocolate Hind.

When I finally hooked a decent fish, it turned out to be too small. This Grouper was duly released to grow bigger......

After lunch, decided to start jigging. Tied a 30g Kurau jig and began jigging.

This tiny Gelama aka Croaker decided to hop onto the jig. Fish released.

Continued jigging and hooked up an unusual catch. Felt some weight on the line but it turned out to be a Belt Fish.

Just not my luck today on the big fish. Better luck next time.

Sports Fishing Explorer Trip #13 - Super lucky catch!

Almost a full year since I was last on Sports Fishing Explorer. This time I managed to join Frankie's group again.

The weather these week was rather windy and rainy. We got the call from the boat captain that we could board the boat at 630am. So we headed to the marina and as soon as we reached, it started to rain! I think it rained all the way to the Indonesian immigration point at Bintan. I just slept all the way till we reached the fishing spots.

As we were on a 4D3N trip, the captain brought us further out east of Hosburgh to find fish. By the time we stopped at our first spot, it was already around 3pm. And then the heaven's opened! We changed a few spots during the heavy rain but didn't catch much fish, only a few odd fishes here and there. The rain continued till after dinner and then we stopped halfway to load up on squids for bait. We tried using our squid jigs but the big ones weren't around. So the crew started to operate the squid catcher to fill up the bait wells with squid.

Once we had enough squids, we headed off to other fishing grounds. But the weather turned bad and began to pour again. The rain lasted quite a few hours. I tried fishing but the fish weren't biting so I went to sleep.

Woke up in the morning to a nice sunrise. Rain stopped and decided to start jigging. Rigged up with a 30g Halco Twisty Chrome and began jigging. As luck would have it, the fish were around. Managed to hook up a small-ish Queenfish.

Next drop after a few jigs, I could feel a fish hitting the Twisty but no hookup. So I free-spooled and started again. Bang! Missed again. Free-spooled and this time I worked the jig in short, quick bursts and the line became tight! Fish ON! Another Queenfish hit the deck!

I'm SOLD on the Halco Twisty's!

                                                   Perfect size squids for bait

As we continued to fish, we were getting a few fish here and there. Till Sean hooked up with something big. Pretty good fight and when it finally surfaced, it was a BIG Ebek! Topped the scales at around 8 kg.

The skies began to darken in the afternoon and the heavens opened up again! Wind was blowing pretty hard and the fishing became difficult again.

Rain stopped after about 2 hrs and we began fishing again. Boat captain said this spot is to target Ang Chor so we all put out our ranggongs baited up with squid. While waiting for the bites, the captain said can try jigging by using luminous jigs. The only one I had was a Berkley Slow jig lumo. As I was working the jig up and down the water column, I became tight with a fish. This fish was giving quite a fight on my light gear setup. Finally slowly brought the fish up and it was a Longrakered Trevally. Pretty good size too!

I continued jigging and had another hit. Fish ON! Played with the fish for a short while then felt the fish come off... Checked the jig and the hooks had pulled out of the jig. Darn it!

Just as I was changing to a Twisty jig, the clicker on the other rod began to sound slowly. Held the rod and clicked into free spool. Could feel the fish biting the squid. Anticipation is killing me...

The the line began to peel out. Counted to 5, engaged the drag and lifted the rod. Bang! Fish ON! Quickly reeled the fish in and was quite heavy; partly due to a size 16 sinker! Fish surfaced and it was a nice-sized Ang Chor. Just as the fish was being netted, another 2 rods buckled down! Fish ON!

As you can see from the picture below, the VMC Circle hook 4/0 is nicely pinned on the corner of the mouth. Best use of Circle hooks!

The next 30 mins was quite exciting as we landed a total of 9 more Ang Chor. After that, the fishing went quiet. No more bites for a few hours!

Next morning we moved to a few spots and anchored up. I switched to my Apollo rig and baited the 2 hooks with live prawn.

Dropped it down and could feel the small fish attacking the prawns. Decided to leave it a while longer. All of a sudden, I felt a very strong pull. As I wasn't using circle hooks on the Apollo rig, I quickly set the hook and it was FISH ON! Started reeling in and this fish had quite a fight in her. As it approached the surface, it stopped fighting so I thought it was a large Grouper. When it surfaced and I saw RED, I was ecstatic! It was a HUGE Coral Trout!

Awesome colors!

This is the biggest Coral Trout I've ever caught. We weighed it and it was 3kgs! So happy!

A celebratory champagne for a great catch!

After lunch, it started to rain again. Bites were slowing down and we just had a few other catches. Nothing notable.

Rained on and off the whole day through the night. I didn't catch any big ones after that.

As we were quite far out, we finished fishing around 4am for the journey back home.

Our catch wasn't that great for the trip but the Coral Trout was an exceptional catch for me.

Total catch

Gear used:
Rod - BlackMarket Slow Jig PE 3-5
Reel - Shimano Talica 8 II
Line - YGK Jigman X8
Bait - Live prawn, live squid
Rig - Apollo, ranggong

Fish ID - Coral Trout aka Ang Gao (Plectropomus leopardus)

Rompin #4 - Day 2 - Mixed bag day

Ordered 50 pcs of live prawn for bottom fishing.

Our first stop was an unjam to the north-west of Tioman. Bottom wasn't producing any significant sized fish. We also put out our Tenggiri rigs on balloons.

Deckie Din was tossing out Pintails most of the morning and we managed to score 2 Tenggiris.

I had a go with my lures, a pink metal vibe which I bought from Japan. Made a cast out and reeled it back erratically. Hookup! The fish took off with the lure towards an unjam and before I could steer it clear, the fish dropped off. Checked on the lure and true enough, the trademark teeth marks of Tenggiri!

Kept persisting with the lure and once again hookup! Quickly reeled and the fish was swimming towards the boat, next thing I felt was the fish dropped again! Darn it! Picked up the slack line and suddenly there was a quick pull and nothing........ Main braided line cut clean through!

Man that worked up the heartbeat!

As I was tying on a new leader and lure, my Blackmarket rod with the balloon live bait started to scream and serious rod bending action! I quickly pulled it out of the holder and set the hook. Fish gave a big jump and it was a nice looking Dolphin Fish aka Mahi Mahi. It was a fighter and took me round the boat. Missed 1 gaff shot before nailing it on the subsequent one. Very nice looking fish!

We managed to hook up another 2 tenggiris from the spot. I then lost 2 fish from a failed hookset.

We ended the day with a few more Squids in the ice box and the rest of the baitfish.

Both of us were pretty happy with this trip and the ice box was nicely filled with the fish that we wanted!

Rompin #4 - Day 1 - Back to battle the Sailfish

Booked a trip to Rompin to tackle the Sailfish on kayak again.

I didn't realize that the date given by the boat captain Mat Rompin was a day after the annual Billfish competition in Rompin. Sigh......

And even a few days before, he texted me saying that his boat sprang a leak and was not sea-worthy till repairs are done.

But since everything was already set, we managed to get a replacement boat and captain for the trip.

It was only me and Sang for this trip, together with captain Saad & deckie Din.

First stop for baitfish was at a nearby unjam. Caught enough bait for the day and off we went in search of the Sailfish fishing grounds.

The morning was rather uneventful as the seas were a bit choppy and Sailfish weren't interested. After lunch, then we moved to another location near an island outcrop. That's when Sang's rod got a bite and he hooked up a Sail! Fish was giving a good fight on his light gear setup. After 15mins, we managed to bring it alongside for a photo and duly released unharmed.

With that action, I pumped up my kayak and launched. Seas were still choppy and I had for some reason began to feel seasick. Just then another rod on the boat had a bite and the captain passed me Sang's fishing rod. I quickly took the rod and began chasing the fish. Fish ON! As I wasn't used to the baitcaster setup, it took me some time to get the Sailfish under control. Then the fish went on another speed sprint and took out more line. Then it dawned on me; I could actually pedal the kayak to catch up with the fish! Duh!!

Finally brought the fish alongside the kayak and managed to handle it safely. Brought it up for some pictures and released after swimming it for a few minutes. YES!!

After that fish, we moved back to the Sailfish grounds hoping for more hookups.

Meanwhile when I was out on the kayak, Sang managed to score a pretty good sized Cobia!

But as the day progressed, the Sails were still a bit shy and I was really feeling the seasickness getting worse. Quickly hopped back onto the boat and ate my seasick medications.

Decided to stop catching the Sailfish and went to try for Squids. We managed to hook up about 10 pcs of Green Eye Squid, ranging from small to XL! Yummy!

Sang managed to use his Kurau jig to hook up this beautiful red specimen.

Finished the day with the squids and headed back. Tomorrow we will be targeting bottom fish and Tenggiris!

Kuching Sea Wonder Trip #2 -

Managed to get on Sea Wonder with another group of fishing kakis.

As usual, our target will be the toothy tenggiris!

Had a scare when we reached Kuching airport. My rod tube clip lock was broken. Luckily I had another combination lock on it and all my fishing rods were still inside. Luckily got insurance to claim!

Reached our fishing spot just after midnight. I started tossing out my Spanyid metal lures, hoping to tempt a tenggiri but it seems they were more interested in the dead sardines that the other anglers were putting out.

After a few tenggiris were caught, I decided to join in with the baiting.

Usual setup with wire and 2-hook rig. Soon we were having quite a few bites, with fish ranging from 2-4kg.

One angler got a big bite and nearly spooled his reel. After about 20mins, he managed to reel the fish in, which turned out to be a monster Barracuda!

Just after 4am, the wind started to pick up and boat started to rock n roll! It was becoming so unbearable that I decided to head in to sleep it off. The sea was so rough for the next 12hrs, all of us stopped fishing and just waited it out.

Next evening, the seas were calmer we started bottom fishing. As we were anchored for the night, I tied my trusty Shimano Flat Fall Butterfly jig 80g and dropped it over. Jigged for about 5mins when I had a hard hit! Fish ON! Feisty fish which took out some line on my 3000 Stradic reel. Finally brought it to the surface and it was a Ang Kuey (Lutjanus malabaricus)

After another 30mins of jigging with no hits, I started bottom fishing with squid as bait. Bite was pretty slow so headed in for a quick nap before the change of tide at midnight.

Woke up on time and began putting out the dead sardine for the tenggiris. Managed to land 2 tenggiris with another 2 that missed the hookup. After rebaiting, I dropped the rig and set it just off the sea floor. Low and behold, an angry fish took my bait and put some serious bend on my fishing rod! Slowly reeled it up and I was surprised to see an unusual fish in these open waters. A huge Mangrove Jack!

Awesome! I'm gonna have some nice skulls to process!

Another angler was having some luck on the jigs, so I started jigging again. Jig, jig, jig....Fish ON!

Got a hookup and I could see the tenggiri coming to the surface. Just as it was getting closer to the boat, one quick jump and the fish came off.... Checked the jig and one of the assist hooks had been cut off! Darn it!

Continued jigging again and scored another hookup. This fish was more powerful and stripping line! After getting it under control, managed to bring it alongside the boat and saw that it was a Mackerel Tuna. Not big but damn powerful swimmer! Yes, another victim to the Shimano Butterfly jig!

Next morning, we drifted around looking for fishing spots. We scored a few groupers but nothing big. Then in the afternoon, we began to catch some more Ang Kuey. Actually, it was a mixed bag of 2 similar looking Ang Kuey; Lutjanus malabaricus and lutjanus erythropterus.

Can see the difference in the 2 photos below?

                                                                  Lutjanus erythropterus

                                                            Lutjanus malabaricus


The afternoon fishing proved productive for us, catching some needed fish to fill the ice boxes.

Night fishing for tenggiri also brought us some Belt fish aka Hairtail. These fish took the baits meant for Tenggiris and they don't put up much of a fight. But those teeth are mighty impressive!

More Ang Kuey for the ice box!

Surprising visit by a turtle who was harassed by a group of sucker fish near the boat.

Our surprising catch of the trip was this 4 foot Hammerhead shark. After taking the bait, it somehow got hooked in the nose thus making a rather long battle for the angler. Finally when we got it on the boat, I quickly turned it upside down and took out the hook. After a quick picture, we released it unharmed back into the sea.

Other crustaceans came visiting to our boat too! Nice trio of crabs that we scooped up with the net and became part of our dinner back in Kuching town!

Finally at the fish sorting area:

                                                                  Giant Barracuda!

Our final catch.

Not as good a trip as we had hoped for. But for me personally, I'm pretty satisfied....