My Seventeenth Fishing Trip - 28 Nov - Changi Waters

Hmmmm... It seems that my beginners luck has run out. The last two trips I made, I went home empty. And for this trip, I went home empty again. While I did get two small orange spotted groupers, I released them to get bigger. They were only about 500-700g. Most people still take this size home, but I decided to let mine go. Anyways, third trip in a row I had to go home empty.

Also, today will be the last trip I will be making for awhile. I start my full-time job on the 7th of Dec and during my 3 month probation, I really wanna do as well as I can. Not to mention monsoon season. So I'd probably only resume early next year, 2-3 months from now.

Lastly, I am planning on selling off my current set-up.

Shimano Charter Special and Penn Power Stick. Both for $140. But if you're interested in purchasing them individually just let me know. Just leave a msg in my shoutbox if anyone is interested yea?





So anyway here are pics from this trip :)

All anglers have alot of stories to tell. From fighting the biggest most fearsome fish in the most exotic spots, to what they had for dinner last night! I'm sure everyone at one time or another has heard these fascinating stories, and whilst telling the stories, the storyteller always has many actions! Here they are!



My fish hor... So long lei!!!


And then I strikeeeeee!!!


Today, we were on Ah Fong's boat once again. Anglers were GM Apollo, Ah Huat, Roland, Jack, Ah Bao, a nice couple, and myself. Besides getting prawns today, Ah Huat and Jack used the Kelong net to bring up some Orh-He (Mullets) as well.

Mullets swimming with our prawns.


Action was low today, only a few lucky anglers managed decent catches and here are their pics.












This is the small grouper I brought up. It was quite fascinating actually, cos while I was trying to unhook him, he spat out loads and loads of He-bi (small shrimp). I was kinda amused for awhile heh.





Here's a cute Cuttlefish that was attached to our baits!






Ah Fong was quite sporting. I saw him looking ridiculous in his straw hat and asked him to pose for me to post online. He took like 5mins taking the hat off and putting it back on to look "nicer" lol.



In some areas today, the water was b-l-a-c-k. Looked like coffee! Quite eerie but they say it's good for catching snappers. Apollo caught his here :)





Here are the total catches for the day!



Yea I know this post is kinda less enthusiastic from my previous ones, but as you can guess, I'm kinda demoralized lol. Main reason is cos as I said, it was my last trip for the year :(

Anyways, I will never give up fishing and will be back soon!

Just in case I have no more posts till next year, Merry Xmas and Happy New Year everyone :)

My Sixteenth Fishing Trip - 24 Nov - Changi Waters

Today be a HORRRRR - REEEEE - GEEEE - BLEEEEE day!!!!

Today's trip was planned mainly for my personal friends, Melvin and Ethan. This is Melvin's first offshore trip and Ethan's second. As I start full time work soon, we reckoned that this trip was a must. Which is why although I'm still new to all this, I still tried my best to organize it.

Two more kaki's joined us, Roy and Bruce.

Boatman for today was Uncle Soh.

Today's trip wasn't good at all. The wind was ridiculously strong, that it made the usually docile Changi Waters seem like the South China Sea. No, I'm not exaggerating, ask anyone who went out today! We had no bites at all today, and caught only one fish. But please do continue to read on as it was still a fun and interesting trip due to the company.

In the morning, Melvin, Ethan, Bruce and I met up and made our way down to Bedok. Since we were late, we took a cab from Kallang. We had to go to Sheng Shiong at Bedok to buy prawns. Unfortunately, the live prawns hadn't arrived yet and we were kinda lagging behind in time. When they finally came, I picked up 2kg.

I have to say this about Sheng Shiong. The service really sucked and they were really rude. Also, being inexperienced, I didn't know they had no air pump to balloon up the prawns, so they were all squashed with very little water into a small plastic bag. By the time we arrived, more than half were dead. This really sucked. Also, Sheng Shiong prawns while dirt cheap, are mixed with some chemicals and freshwater. This makes the prawns die in natural saltwater!!! WORST STILL, god damn Singapore fishes can smell the chemicals and WON'T BITE.

Soon we gathered at SAF Yacht Club.

Note: Guys, please stop saying Y-a-u-t-c-h, it's Yacht, pronounced Y-a-u-g-h-t. No "ch" sound okie? lol.





Wow, to me, this place was beautiful. Looks alot more "up class" than the norm I was used to! Uncle Soh's boat was really cosy and looked great. I couldn't resist but to snap a few more shots before leaving.





Roy looking pissed off again at my clicking... Why do you always look so pissed Roy!?! No curry puff today?! Hahahahaha.



After a few changing of spots, here was our problem. In some areas, the current was ridiculously strong, size 10 sinker flew like a butterfly. In some areas, the wind was crazy strong, creating very very choppy waters, but no current at all below. This was terrible. And due to this, we had no bites at all.

All this time, Melvin's face was green, and eventually white. He didn't know he had sea sickness as it's his first trip, plus the water was very unforgiving today. Poor Melvin, even with his very very fierce eagle tattoos had to cower into a corner with his head pinned to the railing. I knew he was feeling terrible but he didn't want us to turn back for him. I didn't wanna take a candid shot of him in case it made him feel worse. Luckily Bruce passed him a few pills to pop.

We concluded that maybe the prawns were fucked, so we decided to get some live bait of our own. And since the normal Changi kelongs were too far away to get to for prawns, we proceeded to some productive buoys to jig for Tamban and friends.

Roy threw his Tamban line down, and immediately hit full house!

Roy trying to juggle Tamban and Kunnings.


After a few casts (everyone had their turn for a cheap thrill) we were overfilled with bait fish.

Live well was full.


So the remainder spilled over here.




Not long into our next spot, Melvin pull this up attached to his prawn.



Uncle Soh looked at it and said, "Oh, snail la!"

Really? I peeked inside and saw a pair of eyes looking back at me. It's head was round. Then it started to crawl out of the shell. WTF!!!! I quickly put it down and guess what crawled out?

AN OCTOPUS!!! Baby Octtie :)

It was sooo cute but before I could whip my camera out, Uncle Soh threw it into the live well. Grrr...

Oh yes, I need to specially dedicate a paragraph to Uncle Soh. So here it goes please read!

Although this was my first trip with Uncle Soh, I've read many kind comments on his companionship and service. Guys, Uncle Soh is the most awesome boatman ever. Why? First, he brought a watermelon along. And in the crazy burning sun today, he fed us with the cool, sweet, mouth watering fruit. Then, he proceeded to make coffee for all of us. And my god, his coffee was REALLY good! Also, everytime a spot was unproductive and I requested to move, he never complained and was very willing to help us get something. Excellent excellent boatman. Which boatman gives you free food and drinks?!?! He even bought kelong sotong for us!! The boatmen that I'm used to, TAKE OUR FRUIT, TAKE OUR DRINKS AND TAKE OUR BAIT.

Melvin, who was feeling better, was getting bored. So he hooked his rod up onto the stand and proclaimed, "Sian, I'm going to watch movie on my pee... esss..." Before he could say "pee" again, ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT~~~~~~~!

His rod flew and smacked against the boat, and the fish was so strong that he couldn't even take the rod out of it's stand!

Here's the man in action!

Melvin Aza Aza Fighting with serious face lol. I'VE NEVER SEEN HIS SERIOUS FACE.

Fighting Man 1


Fighting Man 2



Ask him shoot he say too heavy cannot shoot, this is all he could do lol.

Fighting Man 3



Roy tried to net it but missed a few times, and said, "Wah so clever, see net only shoot straight down". No dude, the fishy didn't run when he saw the net, HE SAW YOU! LOL.

The fish was really heavy and was giving Melvin a run for his money lol. It also entangled all our lines together. This was kinda dangerous cos the fish might escape. But with a Aza Aza Fighting face like Melvin's, no way IN HELL this fish was going to win!

Slowly but surely, Roy netted this big bugger up, and it was a Threadfin!! Wow!! Rare, delicious and expensive, what more can you ask for Melvin?? It weighed in close to 3kg too!

Melvin with his prize.

Taxi fare= $15
Bait cost= $26
Boat cost= $76

Melvin's expression? Take a look!

Just finished fighting, too shocked and dazed to realise what was happening!


It's coming... It's coming....


HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE BIG SMILES ALL AROUND!!!


GOOD JOB MELVIN!

The next few spots Uncle Soh brought us too were too ridiculous to fish. The waves crashed at us, slapped us, and even spat on us. Not a good sign when waves spit on you. Everyone else had no bites at all. We decided to call it a day soon.

Roy said that he and I, have no karma, cannot fish together. Everytime I'm around he ends up with nothing, which never happens apparently. Well Roy, I guess this is our long goodbye. :( Goodbye Roy.

Hahahahhaa!

NO! I will go for all your trips to annoy you!




In the end, it's not about the fish. It's all about the feeling of friendship that is irreplaceable. Just the simple joy of best friends hanging out and doing something we enjoy together. In many years to come, we will all look back on this first trip out at sea together, smile and feel all fuzzy in our hearts :)








While Melvin was the Champion today, we all left as Winners :)


Awwwww, so sweet right? It was a great trip and a moment to remember.




ETHAN WU SHAO WEI TODAY IS THE 24TH, ON THE 30TH, I BETTER SEE SOME NICE DIGITS IN MY BANK ACCOUNT, DON'T THINK NOW I TALK SO SWEET MEANS I WILL FORGET OK? F U!

My Fifteenth Fishing Trip - 21 Nov - Changi Waters

Today be the day I be emo!

Truth be told, I wasn't really planning to go for this trip, mainly due to the fact that I didn't know anyone. But the organizer, Ben, told me that he lived very near to me and would pick me up in the morning and send me back! Wooohoo, good offer! So off I went.

Monsoon, everyday rain rain rain. All I could do was keep my fingers crossed for some decent weather.

Ah... Yes... I was very excited about one thing this trip. I had bought myself a new set-up! It would be my first overhead set-up too. For my reel, I bought a Shimano Charter Special which apparently is an awesome newbie reel. I paid $110 for this reel. It was only used once, warranty just barely expired and the condition was flawless, not to mention the previous owner was a very nice dude, plus he gave me a free power handle. For my rod, I bought a Penn Power Stick 15-30LBs for $30. Little bit of rust here and there but for $30 I wasn't really expecting anything better lol. Here's a quick look at my new set-up!

Shimano Charter Special


Penn Power Stick


Before heading down, we had to make our way to Toa Payoh's tackle shop (Fishing Buddy) to pick up some live prawns, as this boatman doesn't go to the kelong to buy them like Ah Fong. More importantly, I had to buy some line for my new reel. After finishing up here, we made our way down. But Ben made a wrong turn from PIE to ECP and we ended up at Changi Airport. Then he missed another U-Turn and we ended up at the arrival hall lol.

Our boat was leaving at 8. And by the time we got out of Changi Airport, is was 0810 lol.

Roy, a nice gent that I met on my last trip would be joining me today. Just the night before, Ben called me and told me someone pulled out and if I could find a replacement. Called Roy and he was on!

By the time we bought ice, food and drinks from Changi and proceeded to board Ah Chai's boat, it was like 0840.

As the boat moved off, I looked up into the sky and saw this...


Ahhh hopefully a sign of good weather!

As usual, after setting up gear and rigs, everyone took a break to relax or power up on some food as the boat cruised gently to our first location. Here are some pics of the dudes relaxing.





Roy enjoying a well deserved curry puff lol. (He almost looks oblivious to my furious clicking)


After we reached our first spot, lines down quicker than you can say "lines down". And within 3 mins, I heard a HUGE splash in the waters. I looked up and Zac had a fish on! We were all amused and shocked to see this. Just then, no one knew what fish it was as it kept doing acrobatic jumps. It leaped out of the water countless times, swam around the boat 50 times, and was ridiculously strong. Best of all, it was seemingly not ever going to give up! As it swam the near boat, I managed to snap a shot of it.




Boatman Ah Chai was standing by with his net. This fish was huge! And after a huge struggle and tug of war, Zac finally managed to land the fish.




Zac and his prize.


The minute I saw it, I knew what it was! Just the other day in the forums, someone posted a CR (Catch Report) regarding this fish. It was a Giant Herring. I have never seen this fish before and so did some others. It was obviously the season for them now.

The day was very uneventful after that. We changed locations several times with no fish. Ah Chai sat and chatted with me. He told me that due to the rain, the water condition was "yellow", I think he meant murky. He said that when the water is murky, fishes can't see the bait and therefore, no fishes. I don't know if what he says is accurate cos I was under the impression fishes use more of smell rather than sight to look for food. Ah Chai also said we won't be going out far as the waters outside were extremely murky and only the area near the Naval Base was clear as it's blocked.

Short drizzle and lack of bite left everyone in snooze mode. Then Ah Chai decided to take us back nearer to Changi side to try again. I don't know if it's just today, but Ah Chai's spots seem to all be ridiculously shallow. Some areas he brought us were only like 2 meters deep. Oh and his boat, while I must admit is very spacious, comfortable and very steady, is FRIGGIN' SLOW. The ride back to Changi area felt more like a friggin' boat cruise and took FOREVER. So bored I decided to take some photos.



After we arrived back at Changi side, everyone was getting hook up's on the Giant Herring once again. While they say it doesn't taste good, the fight is priceless for Singapore waters. I kept moving around the boat as I didn't get to choose a good spot that I would have liked due to our lateness. Also, I didn't get a single bite. While everyone onboard was having the time of their lives, I was kinda bored.

Edmund with his catch.


So I put my rod on the stand to have a quick bite. Suddenly..... PIAK! I saw my rod bend and snap! I was shocked so I reeled up to take a look. W o W, my whole hook was gone. I reckoned it was that herring.

Ah Chai extended our time by an hour or so. During this time, I actually had 2 hook-ups but I lost both. This was due to my inexperience and unfamiliarity with the reel i was using. Only have myself to blame.

However, I must say, the fight was incredible. I have never ever fought a fish with this power. When they bite, you'd have no clue at all, no feeling. But suddenly, you'd see the fish shoot straight up in the air twisting and turning trying to get the hook out of it's mouth. During the whole fight, your drag must be set less than 1/2 so the fish can pull, otherwise, your line will snap. Both times, I lost the fish when it darted under the boat and I couldn't pull it back out.

On Tuesday, I have a trip with Uncle Soh (first time trying). This trip will be with 2 of my personal friends who are new to boat fishing, Roy, and Bruce. So 5 of us in all. I will take Uncle Soh to this location (saved on my GPS, new phone hehe) to try for my herrings. And this time, I'll work harder and do better! Looking forward to it very much.

In conclusion, I didn't land a single fish this round and missed 3. It was still a very enjoyable trip and the weather was fair. Some of our other catches include, Ang Kuey, Groupers and even a Flounder. Here's a pic of our total catch.

These herrings are really huge. I took two home but I'm not sure how we're gonna cook them as they have loads of bones. My fillipino maid was very happy though, according to her, fillipino's love these fish so I guess we'll just leave it to her :)




That's all for today folks, tomorrow is Tuesday already so look our for my report in the next few days!