All night long; All day long

(teenage grunter caught at first cast; gave to malay friends)

(a beautiful sicklefish caught by my 12 feet; returned to sea)

(Riana and her beautiful emperor fish - she caught a few other!)


(Ma Qian and her whiting; became bait later...)

The trip started last night with a stop at Mark's to pick up worms and live prawns. Then I proceeded straight to 6-pipe as there are often sightings of sea-bass there (they eat live prawns!)

The campaign started promisingly with a strong tug on my 10-feet 5 minutes into the first cast. A teenage grunter (photo) came up. It definitely gave a good fight. I thought the night was going to be good. But it turned out to be a really quiet night. Not even catfishes - only one came up. Of course I thank God that there are no catfishes. They are a nuisance.

I packed up at about 1230am and went to Macs to freshen up, have a double cheese burger with hot milo, and watch soccer on their big screen. Felt tired and retired in the back seat of the car.

The alarm woke me up at 630am. After freshing up, off I went to Carl's Jr for part two of my campaign.

When I reach there, I discovered that all my live prawns except one died. The pump must have died in the middle of the night.

After fishing a while alone, Joshua and his kids joined in, and then Riana and Maqian! Riana and Maqian were such good fisherwomen that they each caught a few fishes and our little "fish tank" was filled with fishes!

The trip ended with a good KFC meal with the Doulos girls.

Thank God for everything.

Marvelous Catch

Couldn't believe I caught 3 good sized fishes in 2 hours!

Left home early at 6am. Had a leisurely ride to Carl's Junior jetty. The ride was especially pleasant as the roads were quiet and cool.

When I reached the jetty, I saw a big group of Malay boys there. They must have fished overnight. As I set up my 2 rods, they were singing to the accompaniment of guitar. Their singing was melancholic and beautiful!

I used the frozen worms I prepared and also prawn meat.

After sunrise, Winston joined in.

Then the fishes started coming.

First was a good sized biddy. It took the worm.

Then a grunter bit too! It took the worm too. The rod, though secured with the reel to the fencing, must have rocked so violently that it tipped over, falling into the water! The Malay boy who was next to the rod quickly grabbed it for me. Thank God for him! Otherwise I would have to say sayonara to one more rod!!!!

Then my kids came and I started packing up. But as I retrieve my line, I found a scat attached to it! It made no noise though the bell was attached.

All in all, scored 3 in 2 hours. My best result in my fishing career.

Thank you God for an exciting morning.

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 :)

Awesome. 7 whitings 1 silver biddy 1 grunter with 7 prawns!

Started at 9am at Carl's Junior jetty. At the lowest tide for today - 0.4m.

Using 2 telescopic - 1 of which is operating on a faulty tip.

1 self-tied "taman"-rig with 4 size-4 hooks; 1 appollo rig with 2 hooks.

All the above were caught with the taman rig!

Also caught 2 of the above tripod fish (both together), 3 small snappers and 1 small grunter. Some returned to sea and some used as bait. Btw snapper meat is bad bait. No fish wants to bite. Finally, even hooked up a crab! (see video) This one was returned to sea too.

PS: Consistently, javelin grunters are caught at low tide at Carl's Junior jetty during day time (morning segment) with either dead or live prawns.

A Bigger Javelin Grunter!

The journey started last night.

After sending the family home from Sentosa, i took off alone with all my fishing and camping stuffs for 24 hours (actually less) of personal retreat.

First stop was Mark's. Picked up 200gm of live prawns. I asked for large ones, which he did give. (Mark was really committed to serve his customers. Open till 11pm!) After that I went straight for 6-pipes. The place was dead silent when I reached at about 10pm. I was the only soul there. I quickly set up 2 reels at the river side with live prawns. Hoping to hit seabass!

Then I proceeded to the sea to do my fishing. And coming back now and then to check my lines. I stayed here till about 3am. Caught like 8 catfish! (What for? I subsequently threw them all away) It'll be some time before I return here for night fishing again. No fun catching catfishes.

As for the seabass... no luck.

Then went to East Coast Macs to wash up before retiring in the backseat of my car. Slept till about 8am when my day started again.

With the left over live prawns from Mark's shop and a small size 6 hook (daiwa), I caught this good sized grunter at the mini jetty just outside Carl's Jr at about 12nn (lowest tide @ 1.1m)! Seems like Javelin Grunters feed at low tide. This is my first delicacy-category fish of this size. I am thrilled. I am keeping it alive with an air-pump. Hopefully, I can bring it home alive.

(Oh, now blogging at East Coase Macs.)

Sharp hooks work!

Went night fishing yesterday (between 8 - 12 midnight; from low - 0.6m - to high tide) at longer jetty near Carl's junior. And tried out the new sharpen hooks I got from Mark's shop.
By 8.10pm, it hooked up a good-sized javelin grunter!
This guy flipped and flapped the whole while I was trying to reel it in. And it stayed alive all the while that I kept it in the submerged basket. What a fighter.
After this, caught a catfish. Then silence all the way till I went home.
So lesson is, some times low tide then got fish.