Joining another trip to Batu Pahat. This time with different anglers.
Learning from the last trip, now I've brought my proper jigging setup, Storm Kodachi PE4 paired with Shimano Biomaster 4000 reel.
We reached the jetty a bit late after the drive from S'pore. But we still managed to get out to the fishing spot pretty quickly.
First Kurau spot, I used a 40g Kurau jig Rainbow and began jigging. There wasn't much current so a light jig was sufficient. Twitched the jig up/down, making it work within 1m from the seabed. Then a small fish took. Up came a small Gelama or Croaker. Unhooked and released to grow bigger.
Soon, Capt Tony was hooked up. He managed to land a nice sized Kurau. Another angler also hooked up a Kurau. From the picture, the top one is a Black Kurau, bottom is a White Kurau.
I tried the whole morning but nothing was taking my jig. Think its going to be one of those days.....
Lunch time, we moved to the lighthouse and began jigging for Tenggiri. I switched to a 60g Kurau jig as the current was picking up.
One angler had a bottom rig set up with a dead prawn. Suddenly, his rod bent over and the fish was taking line. Fish was unstoppable and finally snapped the rig. What a waste!
Another angler was using a sabiki rig when his rig was smashed by a large fish. After some scurrying around the boat, he managed to land a decent Queenfish.
I was still not getting hits on the jig. Unfortunately, I had lost quite a few jigs due to snags.
Come late afternoon, we headed back closer to shore, I decided to change my jig to a blade jig. This blade has an enticing wiggle when reeled back. While working the blade just off the seabed, I had a grab and up came a small Ang Chor aka John's Snapper. Fish was duly released.
That was the last action of the day.
Next day, the plan was to head out a bit further to try to get some action. But Capt Tony wanted to try a closer spot first.
Tied on a 30g Kurau BlackTop jig and started. Not 5 twitches when a fish slammed the jig! Fish ON!
Played the fish to the surface when another angler was hooked up as well. Just as the fish was close to being netted, it shot out again! Finally managed to "swim" the fish close and into the net. YES!!
Finally caught my target fish. Other anglers managed to hook 2 more smaller fishes before it went quiet.
So we moved to the spot further away. Place had nice soundings on the fish finder but nothing was biting.
Moved to another spot and I was running low on assist hooks and jigs. I had to watch the fish finder very closely whenever we drifted over the snags, so as to lift the jigs higher to avoid being tangled.
As the spot had a lighter current, I switched my jig to a Shimano Coltsniper 35g jig. I was rewarded with a small Kurau which was hooked unexpectedly on the nose!
Subsequently lost the jig due to snags..... sigh!
Things went quiet again and we moved spot.
This next spot had a large, rocky area which could deplete my jigs if I'm not careful!
Capt Tony did 4 drifts over this spot and each drift, anglers were getting hits but failed to hookup. I had tied on a 30g Kurau SilverTop jig and it was on the drop when a fish slammed on the jig!
Fish ON!
Fish was close to the snags so I had to high stick a bit to get the fish away from the bottom. Finally, got it clear and then it was a clean fight. Fish was giving a good account for itself and when it finally surfaced, I was elated! It was a large Ang Chor! Fish topped 2kg!
The weather warmed up quite a bit in the afternoon and we headed to the lighthouse, hoping for some Tenggiri action.
We jigged, baited, used pintails and everything but the kitchen sink and we didn't hook any Tenggiri. Seems the Tenggiri weren't around or not interested.
I did get a hookup on a small Queenfish though. Something to break the poor fishing in the afternoon.
The last few hours only yielded a few small Croakers again and we called it a day.
Fishing in Batu Pahat is definitely different from the East Coast. Here you'll get your much sought-after Kurau and Ang Chor but if the conditions aren't right, there's no other fish to "play" with, unlike the East Coast where bait fish like Selar, Kembung, Cencaru are still available.
