But before we get to the Aramugums, as any good story should be, it needs to start off with the build up! For those who are thinking, "What the hell is an Aramugum", all the more you should read on!
For starters, my Birthday was on the 11th of Nov, and it was one of my best Bdays ever! Awesome dinner with loved ones and friends, new beautiful watch, new wallet, new BlackBerry Storm, and best of all.... A job offer from the company that I was reaaaally hoping to get into! Looks like this fisherman is ready to take on the world today ya?! After such an awesome bday this week, I was keeping my fingers crossed that end-week would still reap good luck. If you've noticed, I have this realllly weird trend of, being the first to get a decent hook-up, getting the 2nd decent hook-up not long after, then BAM no more fishy till the end. Every trip is the same and always just two fishes. I wanted to break this curse!
And waddaya know...
I was kinda late today, train stopped halfway for no reason, and I had a taxi driver from hell. He was so damn dumb and his taxi was FULL of artificial flowers, really weird asshole. It usually costs me $5+ from Pasir Ris MRT station and this guy's bill came to friggin' $8. He had no change too, I had to wait for him to buy a coffee to get change. And instead of just taking my $10 bill to pay for his coffee, he took his whole change bucket along, I really don't understand. Bucket is kinda an understatement, more like a friggin' PAIL. At least he offered to buy me some watermelon. BUT DOOD, I'M LATE LETS GO!
After meeting some Kaki's for breakfast, we gathered at the pier (some people were actually later than me!). Today's boatman is Ah Fong again. I like this guy, very funny, talks alot of crap.
Then, as usual we proceeded to purchase some cute lil prawns to torture for the day.
Everyone worked at lightning speed while the boat was moving towards the first fishing spot.
Those who finished setting up too early just sat and stoned, too early in the morning :(
It has been raining all week as the monsoon period is arriving here in Singapore. I prayed and prayed for good weather today. And this morning, it was scorching hawt! Although I really detest the heat here in Singapore, I'd very much rather big heat and many fishes than sitting cold and miserable under cover while fishing.
Soon after reaching our first spot, I stared at the prawnies trying to search for the lucky one calling out to me, then I picked a nice spot and let my line down. "Ahhhh, nice weather, abit too hot but it's okie. Wonder if I'll get the first hook up again today?"
Guess what?
BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FISH ON!!!!!
Having some experience now, I KNEW it was a Grouper! No nibble, no warning, just... BOOMZ! This time, I also knew it was a big one! I was sure this was bigger than any other I had ever gotten before. The initial pull was huge and my rod's tip touched the water's surface. Woahhhh... Dammit.... Although it stopped fighting me after like 10 secs, it was heavy and I had alot of line out. It felt like forever reeling it in and it was tiring........ But that 10 secs is all it takes to send your adrenaline pumping. Actually, it sets everyone's adrenaline pumping too! The first catch always makes everyone wake up and start getting that hopeful glimmer in their eyes lol!
Mr Grouper!
This nasty little bugger weighed in at 1.1kg which is the biggest and heaviest for me!
After some quick photo taking sessions with that hottie, i quickly set my line back down. Remember that hopeful glimmer in their eyes I was talking about? Eric, who was sitting beside me wasn't shy to show me that glow in his eyes haha. Thirsty, turned around to get a drink...
Suddenly... I heard the sound of a plastic chair being pushed and scraping against the wooden boat's floor! I turned and saw Eric having the fight of his life! Check out these cool pics!
Steady... Steady...
Wah! Rod starting to bend aloooooot! Time to get serious Eric!
Everyone was getting excited and started to crowd around Eric. But Apollo and I had special passes cos we're from the Photography cum Super-Kaypo-Club. That being said, Apollo and I still had to squeeze our way to the front with cameras on standby. Wow, this was taking way longer than I expected! I could see the fish had stopped fighting. But... It was really, really, really heavy! I was thinking HUGE GROUPER! After a 5min tug of war plus another 7-8mins of pumping and reeling, this HUUUUUGE fella emerged!
OMG....
Oh... My... Gawd... Although it was an Ah Seng (Catfish) that most of us hate and treat as pests, ARE YOU SEEING THE SIZE OF THIS?! This is/was and most probably will be the biggest Catfish I have ever seen! We Chinese may not really like to eat Catfish, but the fight and photoworthiness is more than enough!!
Check out this HUGE ASS Mama that weighed in at 5.5kg!!
Can you imagine the adrenaline Eric had? Hahaha. Good stuff bro!
Eric's fight was probably very moving. So moving that someone up there decided to shed some tears too.
:(
It's kinda a weird feeling this... One minute the sun is blazing, trying to dehydrate every cell in your skin, the next a blanket suddenly stretching itself across the sky and it was so dark, it was like night time. Errr, maybe it's cos I was wearing sunnies. Whatever...
Drops of rain started to fall, and all of us cuddled under the shelter for about 20-30mins before it stopped. Before the rain came to a complete stop, those of us who had raincoats or ponchos decided to brave the drizzle for some action! I recently bought the BOOMZ shirt at New Urban Male as a birthday present and they gave me a free poncho, so I used it.
Wahhhh, I had so much space. Most were still hiding under the shelter, I had the whole back area to myself! Waiting... Waiting...
Then.... I felt two nibbles. I knew this was something catchable! Because sometimes, we have our baits attacked my small fishes that are too small to get hooked. And in my experience, their bites are like a machine guns. Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat. So if something bites like that, I know it's a small fish and I don't bother striking. But when something takes only 2-3 nibbles moderately at a slower rate than the small fishes, I knew this was something I could get!
Patience.... Wait for it... Wait for it...
BAM!
FISH ON!!
Hmmmmmmm!!! This doesn't feel big at all... It was making some left and rights but it was not much of a fight for my overkill PE2-4 rod... Hmmm.. What is this? Pump reel, pump reel. Shoooot! My line was once again very very far out as the current today was really strong, so I had a TON of line to reel back and my arms were killing me... Argghhhhhh! THE SUSPENSE! GOODNESS!!!
Haha ok I'll stop trying to prolong this shit lol.
oooo what's that emerging?
Why hello Mr My-First-Ang-Zho-ever! (Snapper)
Well I've seen Ang Zhos being upped almost every trip I have been to, but I haven't gotten one before! It's an awesome eating fish I know, and finally my time had come. Yup, it's kinda small so not much fun in the fight for me. Nonetheless, my first Ang Zho ever.
:)
Ah... Eric got an Ang Zho too. But I was walking around the boat so by the time I got there I was only in time to take a pic. I had no idea of what happened for the story build up so I ain't got one to tell. (It's not because I'm totally too lazy to write someone else's build up and just giving an elaborate excuse). lol
Eric's Ang-Zho-that-is-smaller-than-mine-lol
Oh right!!!!!!!
A R A M U G U M S !!!!
Actually, all this while, the people fishing at the front of the boat were getting Aramugums very regularly, much more than they'd like I presume :P Aramugums are a type of Grouper. However, they don't grow very large, definitely not table size. They're like a pesky Grouper and just one of the many pests people get on Singapore offshore trips. Personally though, I've never got one, my beginners luck only brings in the hot mamas lol.
A R A M U G U M Z
They came in hard and were persistent as hell. They also came in all shapes and sizes including one the size of a 50cents coin that was INSIDE and another Aramugum's mouth. What the hell right?
Ah yes, one last thing before I end. I actually did manage to break my cursed 2-fish-per-trip thingy. I had a total of 4 fishes upped today, I also managed to keep my stupid & lame 1 strike 1 fish record (just a personal challenge). I eventually got a small Ah Seng, less than 1kg. Ah Fong took my rod, swung it in a rotating manner, slapping the Ah Seng onto the water's surface with every rotation. I was kinda worried he'd spoil my cheap rod >.<
After that, I had another hook up. This time, it was a Tor Sat (Catfish). Although Tor Sat's fall under the Catfish family, they're different from Ah Seng's and apparently cost $15 a kilo which apparently is quite expensive. So I took it home to try. I didn't take an individual picture of it, but it's in the group photo you will see later. When I brought fish up, Apollo screamed at me to stay FAR away from it. Ah Fong returned with a metal pipe (wtf right) and smashed it 5 times on the head lol. Apparently, Tor Sat's venom is way more potent than Ah Seng's so we all gotta be real careful. OH YA. This stupid Ah Fong kept disturbing me lol. Everytime I got a fish on, he'd stand right beside me and shout, "PUMP AH! PUMP AH!" non-stop into my ear lol.
Apparently, apparently seems to be my favourite word when it comes to Catfishes.
Okok! Too many words! Need to sign off! After a very enjoyable trip here are our total catches! Jesus, Eric's Ah Seng is a F R I G G I N monsta!!!!!!!!
Thanks to Apollo, Sean, Brandy, Eric, Roy and gang for a wonderful trip. See you guys next Saturday for our overnight fishing session!!!
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