Biggest Grouper So Far

Caught this by walking my last prawn. Groupers love to hide in corners to wait for their prey and simply couldn't resist a swimming target! Armed with this knowledge and technique, I'm looking forward to bigger targets...

Biggest snapper so far

This is my third try here at 6-pipe for sea bass after the last defeat - due to inexperience fighting drain wars... Though I did not catch one yet, I have a feeling my sea bass is closing in...
Last round, I caught a hotlips. Today a snapper! What would be next...?! I certainly hope a seabass - of any size will do!
Jeremy cycled by to visit me. Had a good chat and he helped me modelled the snapper. :)

Still waiting for my sea bass...

Spent a few hours today at six-pipe waiting for my ellusive sea bass.

Because of the construction at the sea side, I believe the fishes are spooked. So I went further up towards the highway to fish. This is not the best spot but at least, I reckon the fishes here will bite.

I suspended a line from over the highway and cast another line from the side of the drain.Within minutes of casting the side line, a hotlips shown here bit! But after that, it was quietness all through.Well, i'm consolated with at least this catch.

Mr Sea bass, till the next time. Wo zhong you yi tian deng dao ni.

War Declared with Sea Bass of 6-Pipe

Went fishing at 6-pipe with a bag of live prawns.
Originally intended to cast out into the sea. But because the jetty was crowded, I fished at the long-kang side instead.
The time was 1pm and it was at its highest tide of 3m.
I lowered an apollo rig with size 1 hook and live prawn into the opening of the 3rd drain with my 10ft rod. I used a super heavy weight so that it would not drift into the drain. The water flow is super fast.
Within minutes, the bell rang. Upon retrieving I saw the prawn 3/4 eaten.
I changed in a new live prawn and re-lowered. Within minutes, bell rang again! I retrieved line and found the hook missing!
I retied a new hook and re-lowered the 3rd prawn. Within minutes bell rang again!!! This time, it was hooked on. A big fish! It fought hard. After a short fight it dash right into the covered drain. Must be a sea-bass!
Now the tragedy... because I was ill-prepared to fight a sea bass and was using only thin 30 pound line, it snapped on abrasion with the cement drain edge.

This is my first close combat with a huge sea bass. It is indeed a formidable enemy. Cannot be subdued easily. Not even the 3kg stingray I just caught comes close in terms of its fighting strategy and spirit. Basically, sea bass won resoundingly today!

It simply means I must grow stronger. I'll return with a stiffer rod and way thicker line and better fighting strategy. May the best man / beast win the next round. May God set the stage for the next big match. For now, I must indeed admit defeat.

New spot big hopes

Decided to try a new spot today. Somewhere relaxing - able to read and fish at the same time. So I came to this water breaker outside the prawn fishing place. It has a tree near by where I could take shelter and and still close enough to the rods.

It was high tide (2.8m) at around 9am. I fished with kelong sotongs and dead prawns. At around 11am, my 12 feet rod with a sotong bait rocked violently. I rushed up to retrieve it but there was already nothing on the line. It must be a big fish that got away. I was disappointed and changed to a better hook. But now I also know this is a good spot and sotong is a good bait!

At around 12 plus, my 5 feet rod rang slightly - like a small fish bit. But as I jerked back the line, the weight was tremendous! Then the fight of my life began. This thing on the other end was really strong and though my drag was very high, it still managed to pull some line away. But after a tedious fight, I finally managed to see this stingray and then land it on the rocks. Then carefully I brought it onto the land.

This guy must be aroung 3kg. Biggest for me so far. I know the bigger ones can go beyond 10kg. But I believe this is a good orientation for me!

This is really a good trip. Learned many things. Also observed a man who caught sand worms skilfully. Must try one day.

I'm also very pleased with my 5 ft rod, braided line and daichi hooks. They are truly trustworthy. I feel like switching to daichi hooks for good!

Anyway, looking forward to my next trip to this spot!

Final photo ready!!!

Yeh! Caught a sicklefish today at jetty outside road safety park. I always thought this is "barren land". But today it proved me wrong. Decided to try this place out again because there are simply too many nets set by fishermen around Carl's Jr jetty.

The fishing trip started off not looking well. Besides catching one whiting, I was retrieving empty lines all the way from the time I started at 7plus.

But I kept in mind what a Malay man told me recently - there'll be a 2 hours stretch where no fishes will bite, but after... they'll start biting! So I persevered... up till the last sand worm!

So this one was caught with the last sand worm at 11am (1 hour away from low tide at 1.6m today at 12pm)

Any way, I'm still trying to find "Ah Lim" - the illusive guy who sells sand worm at East Coast park. Can someone tell me how to find him!!! Now that Mark's shop is closed, I need new supplier!!!

OK, with this fish caught, I'm now finally able to print out the last few photos for putting into my photo frame... My office will look so much nicer :)

Grouper the classical way

Remember in my previous post, I shared about seeing a guy catching a grouper in a particular way? Well I tested the method out on Monday (23/11). The only difference is that I used kelong sotong instead of live prawn. And it worked! I caught this small grouper at the same spot where the other guy caught his grouper. It bit when I was pulling the bait up. So now I know groupers attack moving targets! (As well as where they like to be hiding...)

Also had great fellowship with David Moser - fishing and eating pigs trotter together. And not forgetting to pray for each other... :)