Back on the Hobie i9s

It's been a long time since I brought out my own kayak to fish in Singapore due to work and family commitments.

Finally managed to squeeze in a day and decided to launch from Pasir Ris Park.

A quick setup and I'm off to the blue buoys. Seems the barrels have been cleaned off any mussels. There goes my berley!

Headed towards the western side and was greeted by a family of sea otters. Cute little creatures and they were hunting a school of mullet.

Tossed a few plastic lures around the structures but nothing was interested. Tried with some frozen prawns also no takers. So I headed back out to the blue barrels.

Had my telescopic rod in the rod holder baited with frozen prawn. Was luring with my soft plastic when the telescopic had a take. Quickly switched rods and the fish was still hooked. Played the fish slowly and brought it up.

Saw a familiar flat, shimmering shape appear and it was a Chao Xi aka Sickle Fish. Decent size for a meal but this was a Catch n Release trip for me. After a few pictures, fella was released.

I moved along the blue barrels, fishing each spot for about 30mins before moving on. Had a few other bites, mostly mini catfish which were duly released.

I had managed to find some remaining mussels attached on some chains and harvested them to use as bait. I was tied up loosely on one chain and was chilling on the kayak when suddenly the rod in the rod holder bent down hard into the water! I quickly grabbed the rod and line was peeling out under the barrels into open sea. I realized I had to release the kayak from the chain and try to get the fish under control. I managed to get away from the barrels but I could feel the fish making short bursts. And then the inevitable happened as I began to reel back some line. Line had become stuck. Tried to angle the kayak and line in order to get free from the snag. Then I felt another short bursts and line went slack.......... Busted off at the main braided line. Sheesh! 

Adrenaline still pumping through my body as I re-tied my rig.

Continued to fish at the same spot but the only thing that was interested was this ugly eel. Quickly released before it got tangled further on my line.

 Winds were picking up so I called it a day. Dark clouds were also forming on the horizon. 

Pretty slow day, punctured by a brief adrenaline rush! That's what fishing is all about!

Gear used:

Rod - Shimano Telescopic 6' PE0.8

Reel - Shimano Saros 1000

Line - Spiderwire Fluoro Braid 10lb

Rig - Frozen prawn on size 1 J-hook

Fish ID - Sickle Fish aka Chao XI (Drepane punctata)

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.

Back to reality

Woke up this morning and it was still raining! It has been raining non-stop for the last 2 days! And apparently, it hardly rains in Exmouth.

Packed up all my lures and fishing gear into the suitcase and got ready for check-out. Since Joel was so kind to give me a lift to the airport, I offered to buy him breakfast. So we went back into town for breakfast and I had to get some glue because the sole on my Keen sandals came off. We also popped into the tackle shop (all anglers can't resists!) and Steve was there. I was looking at the Halco Twisty lures and Steve advised me to get those in the 20-30g range, which would be perfect when targeting Spanish Mackerel. Bought 2 and hopefully they will work when I get the chance to try them out at Desaru or Rompin.

Checked out of the hotel and Joel dropped me off at the airport. Can't believe it's still raining!

Checked-in for the flight back to Perth. Adios Exmouth! Will I come back here again? Hmmmm.......

Wilderness Island Day 7

Woke up in the morning to the sound of rain spattering on the roof. Looks like the rain didn't stop at all since last night. Packed up all my gear into my suitcase and brought it to the House. Used a large trash bag to wrap the suitcase as well as my camera bag as I'm expecting it to be a rough ride back to Exmouth! Since it was already raining and we were already wet, there was no point in wearing any raincoats.

Once everything was loaded onto the ATV, we began walking to the boat mooring. At the boat mooring, we began loading the kayaks onto the boat. Somehow, we managed to load 4 Pro Anglers on Jim's boat, and 6 kayaks (2 Revo13, 1 Outback, 3 PA's) on Steve's boat. Good thing was that most of the food and beer was gone! With everything secured, we pulled out of the boat mooring and began making our way back to Exmouth.

The rain became heavier during the loading and I opted to go in Steve's boat. We had the wind behind us but we were still getting wet from the rain, nonetheless! The journey took about 90mins because once we got away from the shelter of the Island, the swells just became bigger and winds stronger. It was a wet, bumpy ride back!

Once we got into Exmouth marina, the boats were put on a trailer and brought back to the yard. We began unloading the kayaks and all the fishing gears. The kayaks were then loaded either back on top of 4WD or trailers of the respective anglers.

We then proceeded for lunch before checking in into the Novotel Ningaloo Resort again. Bunked in with Joel again and had a nice, long, hot freshwater shower! Aaaaahhhhh.............that feels so gooood!!!!!

After the shower, I began cleaning up all my fishing gear. Washed off all the fishing rods and reels with freshwater, Rinsed all the lures, jigs, fish grips and tackle boxes. Good thing the hotel has a washer & dryer so in went all my stinky clothes for the last week.

There was going to be a dinner tonight, courtesy of Western Angler at the restaurant at Novotel. We had a good dinner as well as exchanging contacts for the new friends made on the trip. Scott also gave out some gifts as awards for each angler. I ended up with a brand new Shimano Stradic FJ 2500 reel and a Halco lure! Awesome!!

After dinner, we said our goodbyes as most of the guys would be setting off at 4am for the drive back to Perth. Joel was setting off later so he offered to drop me off at the Learmonth airport on his way back to Perth. 

Wilderness Island Day 6

Today is the last chance for me to catch some decent fish. So I got up early, had breakfast and was ready to head out. Skies were overcasts but there was no wind. Scott, sensing my disappointment yesterday, said I could go off by myself to Burnside if I want to. He gave me some tips to fish the north end of Burnside where there were some bommies in the area that hold some decent Queenfish.

So off I went at 7:30am, pedalling towards Burnside. The calm wind made the pedal to Burnside so much easier and in no time I reached the north end of Burnside.

I began casting a small popper near some bommies and on the 4th casts, the popper was smashed by a fish! Fish ON! Reeled the fish in and it was a nice Queenfish. Not very big but gave a good fight.

Pedalled back to the spot and began casting again. As I was popping the lure back, a big fish jumped at the lure but missed it, instead it caught a bit of the braid line and zoomed past me! I quickly reeled in line and with another leap, it untangled itself. That action got my heart racing! Further casts yielded nothing. I moved to another side of the bommie and began popping again. Again, I saw a few fish follow the popper back to the kayak but were not keen on taking it. So I slowed down my popping sequence. Pop-pop-long pause..... this time, the fish hit the lure when it was stationary! Fish ON! Reeled the fish in and it was another Brassy Trevally. The popper nicely lodged in its mouth!

Things quietened down after that so I proceeded to the south end of Burnside. Again, I cast lures of all types the whole day until after lunch and there were not takers.

Switched back to the baitcaster and rigged up a jighead with a red-tailed paddle tail. Bottom bouncing the jig got me a few bites but whenever I try to set the hook, I'd come up empty. Reeled back to check the soft plastic, and the red tail has been bitten off! Put on another paddle tail and same thing happen. Felt the nibbles and reeled back to find missing section of the tail. I lost about 5 soft plastics due to these nibbles and missing tails. I'm guessing there must be some fish with sharp teeth down there that has a fancy for the red tail section of the soft plastic.

Was on my 2nd last soft plastic when I felt a slight bump on the jighead. Didn't feel like the last few nibbles that I had and the line became slightly slack. I started to reel in a bit when suddenly the rod loaded up and I could feel a fish at the end of the line. Reeled and reeled and finally the fish surfaced. It was another Queenfish! Reeled him to the side of the kayak to take some underwater video. After I finished video-ing the fish, just as I was going to lift him out onto my kayak, the fish flapped around and the hook fell off! Fish swam away....... Luckily I had some video of him!

Some screen captures from the video

In the midst of the unexpected hookup, I apparently forgot to strike to set the hook into the fish. This was the reason the fish could throw the hook at the end of the fight. Oh well, at least he's on video!

Had a few more hits on the soft plastic but didn't get any proper hookups. Switched back to tossing stickbaits, poppers and lures. Cast until arms were aching! Saw a baitfish school just nearby and pedalled there quickly. Tossed poppers and stickbaits at the edge of the school but nothing seems interested. Drifted back to the bommies and cast out my Crystal Minnow once again. 3 reels and a fish jumped on the lure. I was caught unaware and was slow to reel. The fish dashed straight down into some rocks and had me snagged. I free-spooled the reel and waited. A minute later, I gave a yank and felt the fish free! Quickly reeled but the fish had me snagged again on some structure near the surface. I pulled and the braid snapped! Darn it! I could still see my white/red lure just under the surface and I quickly pedalled there only to find the fish swimming down into the depths, with my lure in tow...............

Tied a new Crystal Minnow on and began trolling again. Went up and down the stretch about 5 times again with no hits. The other anglers caught some small Barracuda, Queenfish, Groupers, Longtoms and other fish. Nothing big was biting today.

With that last bit of action and the skies turning grey, I began pedalling back. Light rain began just as I reached the north end of Burnside and the wind picked up. Seas became choppy and swells were forming. Made the channel crossing in real windy conditions and we were supposed to beach the kayaks at the boat mooring beach. Just so happens that when we reached the beach, it was low tide and we had to beach the kayaks and drag it about 30m up to and above the high tide line. This is so that we can put the kayaks back on the boat for transport back to Exmouth tomorrow. I could manage the Outback on my own because I didn't have much gear on it. But those Pro Angler kayaks were really heavy, especially if they were fully kitted with stuff and gear. Takes 2 persons to carry it up to the tide line!

I spotted some mini crabs at the sand flats where we were beaching the kayaks. They looked kinda cute with their purple backs and orange feet/claws.

Once we had all the kayaks beached, Jim arrived on the ATV to bring our fishing gear back to the House while we walked back. It was a tiring walk back, especially after a whole day of pedalling on the kayak.

Had a cold beer once we reached the House and I went for a shower. The rain became heavier just as I started showering. The rain just continued and we had to have our dinner indoors instead. A bloke named Steve, whom I found out later was the owner of the tackle shop I bought my lures from, came over to the Island on his boat to help with loading the kayaks for the trip back to Exmouth tomorrow. While we were at Burnside, he took Brett and his wife fishing at another location and they managed to catch a very big Snapper. John also contributed a few Mangrove Jacks he caught in the mangroves for dinner.

After dinner, it was time to see who won the 'privilege' of wearing the pink dress for topping the 'Wall of Shame'. I managed to gather 7 points (from losing lures) and the majority were in the 10-15 points range for things like breaking someone else's rod (10pts), breaking the MirageDrive (5pts), inflating your own PFD accidently (3pts), losing a fish grip with the fish attached (3pts), crossing someone's fishing line (1pt), breaking House rules (1pt). After tallying up the points, the 'winner' was Scott Coghlan! Lots of banter and the alcohol was flowing very freely! It was a hilarious night to end the fishing trip!

 Lounged around after dinner hoping that the rain would stop but noooo....... it just continued! So had to head back to the cabin in the rain and dry off before sleeping.

The plan for tomorrow was to start early (as the weather forecast was predicting worse weather by afternoon), pack up all our stuff and have it ready for Jim to bring to the boat mooring using the ATV. Then we'll walk to the boat mooring to load the kayaks onto the 2 boats and head back to Exmouth.

Wilderness Island Day 5

Woke up at sunrise, 6:30am, without even needing the alarm. Funny how your body just wakes up when you're back to the bare basics of living...

Some pictures of the House before breakfast

Lounge

 View from the lounge

 Kitchen & indoor dining

 Deck & partial outdoor dining

 Outdoor seating, BBQ pit & oven

This morning, the winds were still there but not as strong as yesterday. I managed to borrow a rod from Andy, which was a Storm Gomoku Erito jigging rod and paired it up with my Shimano Saros 2500. Some guys headed out at their own time and I was getting ready as well.

I launched and began pedalling to Burnside Island again. Conditions were still choppy, especially when passing through the channel. Reached the north end of Burnside and began casting. It was high tide now and I was casting into waters about 2m only. Still using the Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow, I used a reel-stop, reel-stop sequence. At one point, I could see some fish chasing the lure all the way back to the kayak! The fish are there, now have to tempt them to take the lure. Tried casting into the same area again and this time, BAM! A fish took the lure and ran. As I was in shallow water, I raised up my rod tip, trying to keep the fish from diving down to the bottom where it could bust me off. But after a short while, I managed to bring it next to the kayak. It was a nice Brassy Trevally!

Tried a few more cast into the same area but nothing was interested.

Pedalled to the south end of Burnside and began casting again. Changed lures, tried soft plastics, poppers, shallow divers...etc. Nothing seems to be working. What the hell is going on?

Brett was trolling nearby and he hooked up. Fish gave him quite a fight and when he had the fish beside the kayak, the fish decided to jump into the kayak, flapped around and jumped back into the water! In the end, he managed to get it into the kayak and it was a large Queenfish!

Just before lunch time, I decided to use a brown worm-like soft plastic rigged for weedless fishing. Bounced the soft plastic on the bottom and shortly thereafter, I got a hit. Wasn't a big fish and but the colors on the fish were just so striking! I think it's some sort of parrot fish or tuskfish, judging from the front teeth it has! Does look similar in body shape as the Eng Ko back home. (Researched and identified as Bluespotted Tuskfish, Choerodon cauteroma)

After lunch, I began trolling using different types of lures in the channel between Burnside and Simpson Island. I think I went up and down the channel about 5 times and not a single bite! The rest of the anglers were also having the same problem. Only the odd small Spanish Mackerel and Queenfish were caught. Turns out to be a rather poor day of fishing!

Pedalled back to the House feeling disappointed........... I think I must've covered close to 20km of pedalling today, with all that trolling. The knees are beginning to hurt, not to mention my bum!