A prayer of submission

Always in fond memory: died 1 Aug 09 , 10am, Carl's Jr Jetty

Cause of death: violent abduction by unknown fish

Dear God,
My 7ft rod (literally) flew away today.
A big hungry fish must have taken my very small bait.
Anyway, the fish is gone with the rod.
This incident revealed my attitude towards fishing... I'm simply not expecting the best from you. I was only expecting a small fish and that was why I did not secure my rod. Now I know big fish will take small hooks (and small bait)!
God, none of these are beyond you. You knew even before I set off for fishing today that I'll lose this rod. Yet you allowed it. The Bible tells me you have my best interest in your heart.
By faith, I know what just happened is good for me. Your discipline always bears fruits.
Therefore I give thanks for your goodness. For all that you have given me. I give thanks for the lost rod and lost fish. I give thanks for the joy of hoping for a fish. I give thanks for the sun and the sea. I give thanks for stories like this to tell. I give thanks for allowing me to lose and not win. I give thanks for this lesson about disappointment. I give thanks for this lesson about preparation. I give thanks for this lesson on submitting to your will.
God, you are good because you are good. Your will is the best.
And I am glad to be found in your Son Jesus Christ.
All praise and glory be to the creator of this beautiful and mysterious world!
Amen

Some fishing related pics

Now, before I post my next picture of any God-given catches, here are a few pics which I took with my mobilephone cam.

The first picture is that of my de-commissioned 8-ft rod. It was being converted to a flag pole used as deco in my office. :) It is there to remind me of my 2 passions (which needs no reminder actually) in life - first Jesus Christ and a far second, fishing.

Took this photo on Monday morning at the outdoor table of Hans restaurant. It was raining and I was forced to take refuge here. Otherwise I will be fishing.

Took this photo before the previous. The water (and therefore the rod) is so still that even a dragonfly decided to take a rest on my rod tip. Obviously no fish.

Grunter landed with first cast!

Felt like a short fishing trip this morning. So I took my frozen left-over sand worms from the previous trip along with me to the jetty at Carl's Junior.
When I reached the jetty, I noticed that the tide was really low (about 0 meter) and all the rocks were showing along the 2 sides of the jetty.
I took a fat sand worm, defrosted by now, hooked it up and casted out on my 8-ft rod. The cast was not so powerful and the weight landed not too far off. But I let it be anyway.
Then I went about getting busy setting up my other rods.
Suddenly the bells rang, and I quickly retrieved my line. I felt something strong on the other end - stronger than usual!
Nonetheless, it was not able to counter the drag and was slowly being reeled back.
When the fish came near, it put up a bigger fight (and the line was pulled away a few times) and finally I saw a big grunter on the other end of the line. I was elated!
Determined not to lose it while lifting it out of the water, I fought it awhile longer to tire it out. Then I dragged it towards the shallow rocks, and lifted it out from there - in case the line broke, the fish would still be on the rocks.
When I finally landed the fish, I discovered that the clip has already openned up! Must have been forced open during the fight. Thank God I did not lose the fish! (From now on, I'll make sure I use stronger clips.)
I'm now more convinced about using worms. The last time I used sarong, I caught a sizable stingray. This time I used sand worm, I caught a sizable grunter.
Thank you God, tonight's dinner will be delicious steam fish :)

Pokemon fishing

Justin joined me for fishing on Monday morning. He brought his pokemon toy and camera along. Go to his blog (http://guardiangel-thewhiteknight.blogspot.com/2009/07/fishing.html) to see full story.

Anyway, we each caught a threadfin bream. His is of a good size. So I asked him to bring both home for his mum to cook. Looks good in the frying pan. :)

Met an angel

Yeh yeh... After a long reprieve of not catching anything significant, I made a come back last night at the Pasir Ris beach with this bluespotted stingray using sarong as bait.

The night started very interestingly with this other guy at the beach beside us (Josh, me and Chris!) getting 3 bites consequtively while we just sat and watched with our jaws dropping (and almost cursing)! And one getting bigger than the other! He started by catching a "large-enough" grunter. Then he went on to catching a large milk fish. Finally, he got a fish so big the reel just kept pulling out into the sea. Finally, he lost it.

After that we waited a long time without any catch (not counting catfishes!).

Finally, that man left. So I took over his spot. I was using live prawns but decided to switch to sarong instead. Because in my opinion, sarong is just more "fragrant" in the water. And I was rewarded with this stingray!

Thank you God.

Maurine?

Caught this new sign board at bedok jetty on Wed morning. The lady right in front looks just too much like Maurine! And she said she loved to fish for taman....

New to replace lost

Lost 2 of my rods and reels yesterday.
Was packing things into my boot when I left out my very first old and rusty kiddy 6-ft rod and another old but trusty 6-ft rod which I purchased from Changi Village. They were attached with reels too. When I remembered I left them out, I was already home. And when I return to fetch them from the beach, they had disappeared - of course - given those greedy people! It was about $50 worth of equipment there (if brand new).
So I went back to Henry's with a vengence. Bought a 8-ft rod ($18) and a daiwa 3500 reel ($22). The rod was stiff and the reel really smooth. Tried it just now at Carl's Jr jetty. Can cast really further than all my previous rods. But due to the hard cast, the prawn meat tend to fly out too. So must hook properly and observe as you cast.
Nonetheless, no catch (except 3 sea snakes! Argh!).
But thank God for the sea and the opportunity to fish!