Kuching Sea Wonder Trip #1 - Tenggiri Jackpot!

This is a rather delayed post due to work commitments.

Back in Kuching again after missing out on the Tenggiri the last trip. Seems that we were too early in the Tenggiri season.

This time we were taking Sea Wonder, sister boat to Ocean Shadow. Sea Wonder is a smaller boat, max 10 anglers.

As luck would have it, when we arrived at the jetty, it was super low tide and the boat could not berth at the jetty. So we had to take a smaller sampan to get onto the boat.











After that, it was a 6hr journey to the fishing grounds. Everybody was excited because we heard from previous trip that the Tenggiris were being caught in large numbers.


Reached the spot around 1am and began fishing. We were using ranggong rig as the previous fishing reports were that the Tenggiris were feeding close to the bottom. Every angler deployed their rigs with frozen sardine as bait.

Waited and waited............... the only fish that were caught were Ah Sengs! Not a good beginning to the trip!

Some other creatures came for a visit!

A few more hours passed by with no signs of the Tenggiri so went to sleep.

Woke up in the morning and we set off to another spot for bottom drift fishing. Changed to my trusty 2-circle hook Apollo rig. Reached the spot and I saw on the fish finder very nice arches. Quickly dropped my rig baited with frozen squid down and as soon as it hit bottom, BAM! FISH ON! Nice fight and up came a big Ang Kuey.

Re-baited and dropped the rig over. Reached bottom, did one crank up and BAM! Fish ON again! Another nice Ang Kuey!

Other anglers were also getting Ang Kuey and a few Groupers as well.

Circle hook at the corner of the fish's mouth, every time!

+++++TIPS+++++

I'm quite happy to use circle hooks now for bottom fishing. One has to resist the temptation to strike when you feel the fish taking the bait. Free-spool and let the fish take out some line without tension. Count to 5, engage the drag and sweep the rod up. Once the rod loads up, reel up as per normal.

+++++TIPS+++++









We moved a few spots during the day and continued catching various types of fish, including this prized catch!! Emperor Snapper aka Ang Sai.

Another species, Red Spot Emperor aka Leng Chiam

Larger version!

After sunset, we moved to the next Tenggiri spot for the night. I was still doing bottom fishing with my Apollo rig and caught this juvenile version of Leng Chiam. Fish released to grow bigger.

Re-baited and dropped the rig over again. Put the rod in the rod holder and waited. Suddenly my rod bent over hard and sprang back up! Grabbed the rod but nothing there any more. Put on another squid bait and down it went. This time I was holding the rod. 2 cranks up from the bottom and a fish took the bait hard! Fish was taking out line on my Talica 8 II. Slowly reeled the fish up and I could tell it was no bottom-dwelling fish. It's the fish we've been waiting for! Fish surfaced and it was a whopper Tenggiri! Fish gaffed and boated. Awesome!!

With that first fish on deck, all anglers began switching out to ranggong rigs with wire traces. I was rather surprised that my circle hook held on to the fish nicely. On closer inspection, the circle hook was nicely pinned at the corner of the mouth, therefore sparing the FC leader from the nasty fangs! A bit lucky I guess!

So the first bite that I missed was most likely a Tenggiri too, just that the hook failed to set.

Soon we were getting hit left, right, centre with multiple hookups all around the boat. Sometimes with a bit of manoeuvring, we could avoid the crossed lines but sometimes the fish plays dirty and gets a few anglers lines all tangled up.

The best move I find is that whenever an angler near me hooks up, I'll watch how the fish is swimming. If the fish is strong and zig-zagging all over the place, I'll quickly reel up my line and wait till the fish is on deck or find another spot on the boat that is free. Tangled braid is a bitch to unravel!

My next hit was rather different. The fish took the bait and ran, peeling line out. Managed to turn it and began reeling back. Then suddenly the fish stopped fighting! I just reeled back without any fuss and this is what greeted me.....

Half a Mackerel Tuna! Obviously the Tenggiri had the other half!

Another angler also had his prize stolen!

As the night wore on, Tenggiri after Tenggiri hit the deck and into the icebox. Quite a few times, while I was in the middle of tying new wire rigs, the fish took the bait. Had to throw down the wire rigs, grabbed the rod and strike and pumped the fish up. Talk about bad timing!!

The hot action started from about 9pm till about 1am. The bite slowed down after that with some occasional hookups. Total Tenggiri I caught for the night was 14! Majority of the Tenggiris were in the 5-8kg range with a few in the 10kg range.

Morning drifting started pretty slowly as we headed out to a wreck. A few 1kg Groupers were landed and I caught this pretty fish. Looks like a Spanish Flag but it's a Five-Lined Snapper (Lutjanus quinquelineatus).

And then another colourful fish was hooked. When I saw the blue spots, I had high hopes it was the infamous Coral Trout (Plectopomus leopardus) but it turned out to be a Coral Hind (Cephalopholis miniata)

We drifted and changed a few spots during the day, catching bottom dwellers in the range of 1-2kg.
I took the time to tie about 10 sets of wire rigs for the Tenggiri tonight.

Everybody was waiting for sunset, wanting a repeat of the action we had last night. We headed off back to the area last night and waited.

Like a switch, the Tenggiris began feeding. They were feeding pretty close to the bottom, which was rather unusual for the species. Soon, rod bends and screeching drags were heard again! Even a huge Cobia decided to join the party! As always, Cobias tend to tangled up everybody's line but I was lucky to have reeled up before the ultimate braid "char bee hoon"!

 Medium version on top VS XL version at bottom!

Catching the Mackerel Tuna was actually quite fun. They are quite powerful for their size. Their scorching runs actually made me think I had hooked up to a >10kg Tenggiri! But when they come near the boat, you realise that it's only half the size of a Tenggiri! Awesome fun!

The bites were slower tonight but I still managed to land another 7 Tenggiris. Had a few bust-offs where my FC leader was cut. 30 mins before the boat was due to head back, I was getting hit after hit. But each time, the hook failed to set. Either I was too slow or didn't get a clean hookup. Happened 5 times and I failed to add to my Tenggiri tally.

Finally the boat horn sounded and we began the 6hr journey back to the jetty.

Back at the packing facility, we could finally see our trip's haul.

Total Tenggiri count - 105 pcs!  Full ice boxes to bring home! Yeah!!!

All the hardworking anglers that managed to achieve such a great haul!

The jigging anglers on this trip were kind of disappointed as bait outfished the jigs by quite a margin. The jigs that worked were the heavy sinking pencil type. I guess this was because the Tenggiris were feeding rather close to the bottom with a rather strong current. So the usual jigs can't get down fast enough and was night fishing too.

From the solunar chart above, we can see that the Tenggiri feeding started just after the 4th tide (low) and lasted about 2-3hrs on 4th and 5th May. Our first night was a bust because we reached the spot only at around 1am, which was already approaching the top of high tide.

From my observation, it seems like the fish starts to feed for 1-2hrs on both sides of the top or bottom of the tides. Will see how true this theory is on my next fishing trip.

Gear used:
Rod - Blackmarket Slow Jig PE3-5
Reel - Shimano Talica 8 II
Line - Sufix 832 50lb
Bait - Frozen squid, frozen sardines
Rig - Apollo style (day), Ranggong style (night)


Fish ID  - Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)
               - Ang Kuey aka Crimson Snapper (Lutjanus erythropterus)
               - Spanish Mackerel aka Tenggiri (Scomberomorus commerson)
               - Coral Hind (Cephalopholis miniata)

               - Five-Lined Snapper (Lutjanus quinquelineatus)

               - Mackerel Tuna (Euthynnus affinis)
               - Emperor Snapper aka Ang Sai (Lutjanus sebae)
               - Red Spot Emperor aka Leng Chiam (Lethrinus lentjan)

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!

New lines for the new season

The monsoon season is almost upon us and usually around this time, it's not advisable to go deep sea fishing as the waves/winds can make the seas very rough. So I'm taking this opportunity to put in new lines for my heavy gears.

To de-spool a reel, I would just attach a metal rod to a drill. Scrunch up a piece of paper onto the metal rod and tie one end of the unwanted line around the paper. Then turn on the drill and spin away! Guide the unwanted line as it spins on the paper until you reach the end. Then just slip out the paper and line off the metal rod and trash it. Done!

First up is my Accurate DPX500N. Been using Sufix 832 50lb (Green) braid line since I bought the reel in 2013. I had "reversed" the line last year so I thought it's about time for a change. Since the Sufix 832 has not failed me, I decided to stick with it but changed the color to white. Filled up using a 300yd (275m) spool.

Next up is my Shimano Talica 8 II. Again, I stuck with the Fireline Tracer 40lb braid since I had no problem with it so far.  Full 300yd (275m) spool.

Since I had my DIY spooler out, I decided to change the line on my Shimano Saros 1000F reel which had Fireline Fluorobraid. Going lighter so spooled it up with a Sufix Fuse 8lb (blue smoke) for use at ponds or kayaking. As its a small reel, I spooled in only 90m, which is more than sufficient for pond or kayak.

All done!

+++ TIPS +++
How often you change your fishing line will depend on how often you fish. You can 'prolong' the use of your fishing braid by simply "reversing" the line. Normal braid lines come with 125yards or 300yards. I normally use the 300yards spool for my heavy tackle reels. So the first 100yd of braid line is used most often, leaving the remainder 200yd barely used. So what I do is I "reverse" the line so that the unused portion now becomes the front and the used portion goes to the bottom. I do this after 1 year. This gives me a lifespan of about 2 years worth of fishing from one 300yd spool of braid.
+++ TIPS +++

DIY Line Spooling device

After some research and sourcing of materials, I've managed to built my line spooling device.

Got the inspiration from some designs online.

Wood - Went to a furniture factory in an industrial estate and looked for unwanted scraps. Just so happens they had a small laminated piece and got it for free!

Metal threaded rod/springs/L-bracket - scoured the hardware shops in Bendemeer/Kelantan Lane and found the right diameter. Paid $6 for everything.

Taped 2 pieces of laminated wood together with Duct tape to prevent wood splinters. Screwed in the L-bracket.

Drilled a hole in the middle of the 2-piece wood to insert the metal rod. Secured in place with 2 bolts.

Glued non-slip mat on the bottom.

I bought the conical spacers and wing-nut clamps online as no shop in Singapore seems to know what I was talking about!

The spooling device is basically to provide tension on the new spool as you wind in the line onto your reels. I would sometimes put some additional tension on the new spool using my feet.

Wave Dancer Auckland Trip #2 - Finally Back!

After a cancelled trip last year, I had an opportunity again to fish on Wave Dancer. The weather the day before was kinda iffy so I wasn't really expecting to go out and fish with them. But the boat captain gave me the good news and I was ready! I brought my trusty Shimano TCurve travel rod paired with Shimano Stradic Ci4 3000 reel.

Set off from Pier 21 with another 5 anglers in the chilly morning. Overcast skies and a light breeze greeted us as we set off to our fishing spots. I overhead the boat captain, Cam, say that we'll be fishing in the waters near Coromandel.

The first 2 spots we stopped on the way to Coromandel showed some signs of fish on the fish finder but we didn't have any takers. So we proceeded straight to Coromandel.

When we arrived, we could see lots of birds circling an area and dive-bombing the waters! It was an awesome sight!! We saw whales and dolphins around and Cam said that they were herding the baitfish and feeding on them.

Cam tied a Catch Beta Bug on my leader and I dropped it over. From what I understand, I'm supposed to make short lifts with the rod to imitate a fish that has nabbed a squid. This in turn, attracts the bigger fish to the inchiku.

A few minutes later, I had a hit. Hooked up and I slowly reeled the fish in. It was a Pink Snapper but below the legal size. So it was released and I continued fishing. The other anglers were beginning to catch snappers and soon enough, my lure was hit again. Reeled it up and this time the fish was a keeper. Everyone was bringing fish up, the smaller ones were released and those of legal size, went into the chilly bin. Just as I was reeling up my lure, something hard hit the lure in mid-water. It was giving quite a fight and began to come up to the surface. It was a Kahawai and did some jumps. This fella was feisty. Finally boated it and Cam said this was one of the bigger ones!

Dropped my inchiku back down and did a few jigs. Then quite suddenly, a fish grabbed the lure and powered off! This guy was tough and fights deep. Every wind I make, it will pull out the same amount of line. Left my drag as it is and continued to fight the fish. I had a feeling it was the fish that I longed to hook up. A few minutes later, the fish surfaced and it was the fish I wanted, the Yellowtail Kingfish! This was a small version but it sure put up an awesome fight! The legal size is 75cm and this guy was only probably 50cm. After some pics, I speared it back into the water to grow bigger!

The birds moved so we began chasing them. When we reached the baitfish, we just drifted next to the diving birds and dropped our lures over. This time, I had changed my lure to the Shimano Lucanus jig Chartreuse Shrimp. The action for this jig is to touch bottom and slowly make gentle lifts while winding. A few times, I could feel the fish nibbling. The trick is to let it nibble and 'chase' the skirts until it grabs the hooks hiding in amongst the skirts. Soon enough I had hooked up a few more keeper Pink Snapper. When the Snappers are hooked, I can feel them doing some 'head-shakes' as I reel them in. At this time, we had hooked up a total of 25 Snappers. Our bag limit was 7 per angler.

We continued to search for the baitfish school by following the birds. Hooked up a few more as the baitfish school dispersed. By lunch time, the action had quietened down. After our lunch, Cam continued to search for the birds and we zoomed to the birds location. Dropped our jigs over and caught a few more Snappers. I was holding my rod and just when I started to reel, I felt a heavy weight on it. I thought I had snagged the bottom but a quick lift of the rod told me I had hooked up! I didn't feel any nibbles so I just continued to reel up. This time, I didn't feel any head-shakes like Snappers do so Cam said maybe I had foul-hooked the fish. I thought that it was possible, as it felt like reeling up dead weight. When the fish surfaced, it was not a Pink Snapper but a John Dory! I've never caught this fish before and just as it reached the surface, it began flapping about. The first net scoop was unsuccessful and just as the net was placed below the fish a second time, the fish flapped hard and threw the jig out! Phew..luckily the net was below to catch the fish!!

It has a humongous mouth!

We moved out from Coromandel and continued to look for the birds. We spotted another baitfish school but the fish below weren't interested in our jigs. So around 3:30pm, we began our journey back to the pier. In total, we caught 31 Pink Snappers, 5 Kahawai and my John Dory. So I took home my John Dory and 5 Pink Snappers. What a great day fishing, even though it was freaking cold!!

Gear used:
Rod - Shimano TCurve Tropical PE1-2
Reel - Shimano Stradic Ci4 3000
Line - YGK G-Soul Super Jigman X8 35lb
Rig - Shimano Lucanus Chartreuse Shrimp 100g
       - Catch Beta bug 80g

Fish ID - Pink Snapper (Pagrus auratus)
             - Kahawai aka Australian Salmon (Arripis trutta)
             - Yellowtail Kingfish (Seriola Ialandi)
             - John Dory (Zeus faber)