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?
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....
