Hound Needlefish

Went to Bedok Jetty this morning. It was drizzling so less people... good! So set up shop with 2 rods and 2 hand lines. 4 chances!

Soon 1 unknown fish bit but got away. Then, 2 todak bit when I was away at the toilet. Thank God for Ah Boon who helped me retrieve the lines. One escaped and the other is this one in the photo.

Later, when I was pulling in my hand line to call it a day, another todak bit the tamban on the line. I quickly let it loose so that the tamban can run and swallow the fish. But the todak escaped too.

I thank God that this is an eventful day.

PS: 1 lesson learned today... Always use new hooks. They are sharper and increase your chance of a hook-up.

A catch is a catch

Has some left over live prawns from last night fruitless trip at Kelong Walk, so went to exhaust the ammunition this morning at 7am at mini jetty outside Carl's Jr. The live prawns lured nothing but the dead prawn meat landed this one.
This guy may be small but very strong. Once hooked, it buried itself sturdily under the sea-bed such that it created a "sunkut" feeling for me. But I was not about to be tricked. I left the line alone and once in a while pump it in. Finally, I pulled directly on the line and it gave way. Happy to land my first stingray. Small, yes, but it will be an experience for me to deal with it's bigger cousins next time.
Finished the morning at 9am with a delivious breakfast at Old Town Cafe. :)

Todak caught

This (bigger) 2kg "todak" (or hound needlefish) was NOT landed by me... unfortunately. But by Ah boon. Spent $5 to buy from him to show my sign of a good supportive customer. The other smaller one is caught by me though.

I have another bite by a queenfish. But it escaped because I did not tie my knots properly. From today onwards, I am going to use good lines and tie my knots so dead that even godzilla cannot escape!

Bedok Jetty is CLOSED!!! =(

Went early in the morning (around 6am) to secure a place at the jetty. By around 10am, a group of workers came to announce that the jetty is closed for renovation! (What is there to renovate? If they add a toilet, I'll be grateful!)
So, for the next few months, will have to say goodbye to queenfishes....
Hopefully, other places will not become too crowded as a result.
Anyway, packed up and went to the "jetty" besides Carl's Jr. Caught a palm-sized flounder. Otherwise, very quiet....

How to catch a queenfish

Twin catch, again!

This is the 3rd twin catch this week! (See previous posts for 1st two)
But of course, this time, it is the most precious catch so far - queenfish!

Actually, there was an earlier bite this morning which got away because my hook came loose. After that, I retrieved all my hooks and re-tied them.

The second bite (which is first fish I caught) was nabbed with live prawn on a drift line. Live prawns are like "magic bullets"! :)

The next fish was caught after I changed the rod to the opposite side as the fishes seemed to be coming up from there all the time. True enough, the switch paid off.

PS: Gave left fish to Karyn and right one to Josh...

Catch report: Date - 17/11/08; Time - 1200; Venue - Bedok Jetty; Low - 0740, 1.6; High - 1340, 3.2

Catfish attack!

Actually quite disappointed to catch these "low class" guys. Reason: they are not like the gramourous "up class" deep sea fishes that travel the oceans which we usually see in pictures. Furthermore, though edible, the fact that their meat needs some processing with asam and lemon juice to remove the "ba-wu" (smell) gives me the creeps.
Nonetheless, here are the few consolations: (1) They gave a good fight on the line - helps train my skill, (2) They are big enough to make a meal, (3) I saw them swimming around in a fish tank at a Chinese restaurant - hey, no bad!

Troubles come in twos

Caught these 2 cat sharks (just look at the cat eyes!) at the mini-jetty mentioned in the previous post with live prawns. It's also interesting in that it's got leathery skin. After bringing them home to show (off) to my kids, I returned them to the sea. These guys are strong and never said die.

Barren day

Had a really barren day yesterday at Bedok Jetty from morning till night. Nobody here caught anything. How dismaying.
But there are lot's of tamban, which I'm getting bored of. Caught a bag of them (1kg plus?) and gave it to Josh for dinner.
By noon time, Josh and the girls from office came to the beach hawker centre for pig's trotter. Gave them a treat. Other then their famous trotter, still have bak-kut-teh, taupok and pig's liver. Most of it are high-cholestrol stuff.
I'm going to try out the new spot. Water not so deep. But better environment. And less competition.
Bedok Jetty, I may not see you again for a long time....

New Spot

Found this beautiful spot along East Coast that is ideal for family time and still fish!
It has a small jetty, nice beach, lot's of shade, good food (Carls' Jr and Old Town), and toilet!
Next visit with my family, I'll be here.
(will include picture later)

Lessons from my fishing trips

Picked up fishing a few months ago. The experience brought me through a roller-coaster-like discovery of myself. Here are just some lessons that I’ve learned.

Fishing technique matters
To the casual observer, fishing is just a fishing rod, a hook on a line, and a piece of meat on the hook. Try using that method and you should be prepared to wait for eternity without a catch.
There are details to the kind of rod, line, hook and bait to use. Furthermore, your ability to land a fish is greatly affected by the skill of operating all the above.
You want to be a fisher of man? Sharpen your skills.

You thought you’re catching the fish, actually the fish is catching you
Fishing is an addictive activity. For every fish you catch, you want to go back for the next one. Before you know it, the fish has caught you!
Enter the fishing-for-man industry with your eyes wide open. Because you’ll be addicted to changed lives!

God brings the fish
This is the most important lesson for me at fishing.
All the enthusiasm and good techniques would come to naught if there is no fish in the waters! But when God sends the fishes, and your lines and hooks are ready, you’ll get tight lines all the way!
Don’t be discouraged when all your efforts at fishing for man seemed to yield no result. God has his timing. Use your waiting time to pray and hone your skills. The fishes are coming…

Sure Catch

Josh and I each bought a 10ft "sure catch" rod yesterday at the tackle shop at changi village. Only $21. Cheapest in Singapore. We thought this will be our chance to show off our "extra-long" thingi at the beach. So, we took our new gear to Pasir Ris beach to try it out.

To our dismay, the old man at the beach took one look at our "sure catch", lighted his pipe and said, "Sure catch? Sure spoil one." Nevermind, at $21, even spoil won't feel that bad!

That night, my "sure catch" got its first catch at Bedok Jetty. It was an useless sea-snake. It wrapped itself around my bait and suffocated itself. No wonder I felt a few jerks on my line and then... dead silence again. I hope "sure catch" will do better next time...

Lizardfish?

Saw the 2nd fish on the 3 Nov post? I was wondering whether it is a flathead. But later, searches on the web for photos of flathead is far from similar. My next best guess is "lizardfish". Look at the photos above of lizardfish which i download from the net, similar, right? (Of course, Josh disagreed. But he is wrong)

Tamban day

Left office at 4pm yesterday to try my luck at the jetty before going for the "Promise Musical" rehearsal. Turns out to be a tamban harvest! Within an hour, I caught at least 2 kg of this mini-delight - that comes to more then a hundred fish... Tamban is a ikan-kuning-like fish that visits the jetty in swarm once in a while. Most of the time, you'll just get a few at a time... (To prepare a feast with tamban, remove their scales, then cut of head and remove intestines, finally deep fry them and you can eat it whole with the fine bones!)

A gift and a strange fish caught

Ah boon gave me a live teenage Indian Threadfin Trevally aka chermin (see video below) today. He is a nice guy who appeared to be staying on the jetty - because whether it is in the morning or at night, he is there!

It is now in my aquarium waiting for that faithful day again. This guy is really fierce and kept knocking into the glass walls and splashing water out of the aquarium whenever anybody goes near...

As for me, I caught a strange looking fish (see below) unexpectedly as I reel in my main fishing line. The MAJ (man at jetty) said it is edible. So I'm going to down it.

Went online to try to find its name. I think it is "flathead". As I found a picture below and it sure look like this when I fish it out of the water...

Like father like son

I could foresee Sean (Josh's son) becoming a fishing sportsman one day. He is seen here holding the bream which Josh caught on a fishing trip in Sydney. Just look at the pro-way he held the fish.
(PS: They should have fishing as an Olympic sports)

How it all started

My fishing (for men and for fish) buddy - Josh - caught this pomfret-looking fish one day with his "toy fishing set". So I got my own toy set too.
But I got no luck. And so I went fishing only once in a loooong while.
Until one day on a stormy morning on Bedok Jetty, I caught "tons" of tambans.
Since then, there is no more turning back...

Live Yellowtail Fusilier

On the same day, caught a teenage yellowtail fusilier. Managed to keep it in my aquarium for a few days before it became tablefare...

Sorry that all the fish I caught has to become part of me.

Back issue #2

This was the other queen fish...

Caught on 21 Oct 08 morning. This time I was more "pro" already and used a "tamban" as bait. And I faught the fish myself. But still need my Malay brother to help me hoise it out with his strong arms. But guess I'm improving! :)

Now, I'm preparing myself for #3. God be with me.

Catch report: Date - 21/10/08; Time - 1100; Venue - Bedok Jetty; Low - 0920, 1.8; High - 1511, 2.9

Some back issues

Caught 2 queen fishes in the last 2 months. Starting from the first...



This is the first major catch of my life, caught on 22 Sep 08, morning @ Bedok Jetty with an unassuming "kelong" as bait. Certainly beginner's luck!
For this catch, I was caught off guard and shouted loudly for help. So some Malay brothers came to my rescue and helped me fish it out of the water with a net. Thanks bro!
Tide info - 9:10am - 1.7m; 3:20pm - 2.8m

Introductory Post

Finally got down to blogging all my fishing stuff.
These are great memories that should be preserved at least for the span of my life.
I hope to be able to post many pictures of great fishes in the coming days. :)