My fishy tales

THE RETURN OF THE JEDI !!

2010-06-15T17:23:00.006+08:00

Line Wt : 10lbs

Leader : 15lbs

Lure : Megabass FlapSlap Diving

Expedition Spratlys 2009

2009-03-27T03:26:00.006+08:00

At 3.20AM, I've just finished packing for the Spratlys trip tomorrow. I am so going to pay for excess baggage. The culprit, clothings as this is a 9 days trip, and since we'll be out at sea for almost 8 days, I dare not imagine what if ALL my jigs are all sunk to the seabed. Bringing less jigs is a risky move. So all in all, I have 27kgs worth of check in luggages ! Hopefully MAS will be able to grant me 25kg allowance.

Will be back on 4th April and stay tune for the trip report !

Rod tube, Shout Expedition box, Baju bag and backpack ...HERE I COME SPRATLYS !

My Fishy Tales is on MalayMail 24 March 2009

2009-03-27T00:33:00.003+08:00

Received this message on my Facebook a few days before My Fishy Tales was published in Malay Mail on 24th March 2009, featured under their Cyberspot section.

"dude, can we feature your blog in Malay Mail? my colleague Gabey will send over some questions.ok ok ok?can i have your blog add and also email? i'll pass it to her.thanks!"

And the outcome ? ...

As I couldn't get a clearer scan of the papers, the article is readable here. Thanks to Gabey and Angie for your effort :)

Garyukobo - Black Force

2009-03-20T00:06:00.016+08:00

Finally, I've some new toys to be posted in here. This is one of the latest lure to hit the market, and according to its manufacturer, its supposed to be a Tuna killer ! More information could be found here if you could read Japanese and also here, for the translated version via Google.

~~~

Some facts n figures of the lures

Black Force 195

Length: 195 mm

Weight: 85 gm

Recommended hook sizes: 3/0 - 4/0

---

Black Force 160

Length: 160mm

Weight: 45 gm

Recommended hook size: 2/0

~~~

These babes are handcrafted and the finishings are so cool, you dont feel like putting them into the air and water at all! Bought them at my regular tackle haunt, and since it is soo limited, i bought myself TWO of them. A Black Force 190 and a Black Force 160 !! Right now, I am still contemplating to bring one of them to Spratly to see some action as these little babes are extremely the pricey.

Top to bottom: BlackForce 195, BlackForce160

Serial number of Black Force 195 - #0152 Black Force head in detail Black Force 195 standing by
Black Force 160 - reporting for duty
Front perspective
Black Force 160 #0169

Pulau Jarak February 2009

2009-03-15T22:54:00.004+08:00

Okay peeps, IM BACK !! Its been quite some time since I've logged into blogger hahaha. Apologize for missing from the scene. Been busy with changes in the office and whatmore, with the worsening economy situation, I was not at my 100% during this trip.

Anyways, there will not be any report for this trip on my blog as I seriously couldn't find time to publish a longer post. However, Daniel of Team Rapala Singapore had posted an awesome write up of the trip on his blog. It was a fun fishing with the folks from Team Rapala and they're a bunch of nice fellas. The trip report is seperated into Part 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Hope to fish again with you guys again.

Pulau Jarak Grouper Galore

2009-01-14T19:49:00.012+08:00

On the first day out towards Pulau Jarak, the boatman will usually stop by at one of the sea mount or pinnacles en route to Pulau Jarak to anchor down for the night or some late evening popping.

As I've mentioned in the earlier posting, the wind and waves were pretty strong, pushed back everybody's confidence a little for the day. Little that everyone know, we were in for some awesome time for the trip ! The boatman have indicated that the Golden Snappers are really biting at this spot but our expectations was overthrown with a big surprise.

Boon Cheng started the day off with a young fella looking for lunch on IMA RO

Trophy catch of the trip, Khoon hit a 11kg scaled on Boga grip using Duel Tamentai jig
Mister Beginner's luck only manage to land an `Arumugam` after losing 2 battles with the groupersGT King first good table sized grouper on Sevenseas HookerWeighing in at 6.5kg on Boga, My grouper taken on Bassday Quicker 250gm, Tenryu Jigzam and Stella 8000FA setupKevin's first grouper on his maiden jigging trip !! A 4kg`ish specimen. Good jobDecomposed fish which came out from Kevin's groupers guts ..big eater !!Another 6.5kg grumpy grouper specimen hauled up by Jason using Duel Ailemetal TBBoon Cheng had his fair share of the grouper fiesta by landing a 2kg`ish grumpy grouperGT King's second grouper, a good table sized grouper landed with an Inchiku jig

Pulau Jarak January 10th-12th 2009

2009-01-13T22:47:00.038+08:00

Yes, the first offshore trip for the year of 2009! I've been laying low since the Makassar trip in end October and I think any other hardcore fisherman would understand how the itch level is like being grounded for 2 months.

Lets cut the pathetic story short and get to the point. Although my previous catch results at Pulau Jarak was average most of the time, but I couldn't think of a place to fish while waiting for east coast season to start. When I was on the trip in September to Pulau Jarak, I've managed to secure a booking in January, 2 weeks before Chinese New Year to try to buy my luck at hitting a good catch for Chinese New year dinner.

4 hardcore jiggernauts and 3 newbie jiggers was on this trip. Darren, Marcus, Jason, Khoon, Kevin, Boon Cheng and myself were enduring a rough sea on the first day, a calmy current on the second day and a crazy strong current on the last day. We were very skeptical whether we were able to reach Pulau Jarak on the morning we board as the wind was blowing strong and chilly but our captain said its harmless and it would die down by noon. Let the pictures roll.

GT Chaser logo infront of the cabin

First blood of the trip, 4kg`ish Spanish Mackerel

Rod: Tenryu Jigzam PE3-5

Reel: Shimano Stella 8000FA

Jig: Bassday Quicker 250gm

Darren hits a 2kg`ish Sagai

Rod: Evergreen Poseidon Slow Jerker Pe3

Reel: Shimano Ocea Jigger 1500NR

Jig; Bassday Quicker 180gm

Marcus getting the 1st big hookup in his jigging careerUp comes a 8kg Spanish Mackerel weighed on Boga

Rod: Evergreen Poseidon Slow Jerker PE3

Reel: Shimano Ocea Jigger 1500P

Jig: Evergreen Javeline JetJigging at sunset time, the biting hourGT by Darren

Rod: Evergreen Poseidon Slow Jerker Pe3
Reel: Shimano Ocea Jigger 1500NR
Jig; Sevenseas Hooker 160gm Boon Cheng's share of Giant Trevally

Marcus holding on dearly to his rod for his first GT on jig A very happy owner of a good size GT Last call of the day from the bottom, Golden Snapper landed by Jason on IMA RO 120gm People say `The early bird catches the worm`. It sure did for being the first person to pop in the morning to land a 10kg Giant Trevally Later in the morning, another sizeable GTRod: Poseidon Spin Jerker PE4

Reel: Shimano Stella 08 SW8000PG

Jig: Fisherman Andaman

GT King's 80% taxed Golden SnapperKevin also with his first Trevally on jig, IMA RO 120gmDarren a.k.a GT King hits another GT

Rod: Poseidon Spin Jerker PE4
Reel: Shimano Stella 08 SW8000PG
Jig: Evergreen Caprice

Kevin hitting his 2nd trevally an hour afterA Golden Snapper landed by ME !

Rod: Tenryu Jigzam PE3-5
Reel: Shimano Stella 8000FA
Jig: Sevenseas Revolver 200gm Double hookup of Golden Snapper with Boon Cheng 8kg`ish Blacktip shark taken my jig on the sea bed meant for the Golden Snappers :( Landed with Sevenseas Revolver 200gm. Noticing a school of boiling skipjacks just meters beside the boat, Darren casted a small jig and landed one of them Marcus with his 3rd Giant Trevally ..this guy really have all the beginners luck he needs Baby grouper on Evergreen Spin Jerker Pe2.5, Shimano Stella 5000FA and Sevenseas Revolver 150gm I caught a ribbonfish in Malaysian waters !!! on Sevenseas Revolver 150gm All hell breaks loose when 7 anglers get too bored. 2 angchors on bait :P

On the last day, we woke up beside White Rock Island, one of the islands of Pulau Sembilan archipelago. Sadly the current for the day was too strong for us to do anything be it jigging, casting or bottom. Letting 100gram jigs down into 90 feet of waters resulted flying the jig like a kite, watching them drift far far ahead.

Darren's cencaru landed on his Sabel Dance Pe1 and customed Abu reel

Boon Cheng landed a baby QueenfishLast fish landed on the trip using Inchiku jigs

Shopping list 2009 - Lures

2009-01-02T00:07:00.011+08:00

FIRST POST FOR 2009 ! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY

During the long holidays, I made a visit to my local haunt place and the place was stocked in with some new stuff. Some interesting lures came in from Mangrove Studios and Megabass. Hopefully I'll be getting the Megabass Or Poi in time for my Pulau Jarak trip next coming weekend !

There were also new weights in for Fisherman Andaman as well as Sevenseas Revolver. Will also be stocking up more of 250gram Andaman jigs as I've been waiting for ages for them to arrive. So far I've only got 1 for myself.

As for Mangrove studios, I was looking forward for the new colours of their stickbait `Searoom` to add into my Mangrove Studio stickbait collection. I have tested out the `Flying fish` model of `Searoom` on the Luconia trip and had a good time learning to work the lure . The owner only brought in the 2 lighter colours though I would love to own the one with the darkest colour. To cure my dissapointment, the boss introduced me to Awaumi chuggers also from Mangrove Studio. It would be good to add this model into my collection of popping lures. But for now, I would be looking for stickbaits/chuggers in the range of 70-100gms to go with my new Gipang :P

Mangrove Studio Searoom

Length:190mm

Weight: 115gm +-5gm

Mangrove Studio Awaumi

Length: 200mm

Weight: 130gm +-5gmMegabass Or Poi

Length: 148.5mm

Weight: 56gramSevenseas Revolver, can some one please prove they're useless so i can save money :PFisherman Andaman

Fumio Suzuki's face telling you it works :D

Christmas & New year shopping 2008

2008-12-31T02:44:00.014+08:00

As the year comes to an end, I've topped up my jig and lure armory and also bought a new popping rod to replace my broken Shimano Caranx Kaibutsu which broke as a result of striking too hard on a sailfish.

I've decided to stock in more of the Sevenseas Revolver as this jig was a proven performer on the Makassar trip. Personally, I did not hit any fishes as I only have a 300gram version of it as part of my heavy jigging setup which earned me a off hooked hit. This jig will also put up to the test on next coming weekend's trip to Pulau Jarak. I hope it'll do what it did back in Makassar 2 months ago ! The Revolver flutters very naturally on the drop and if you like fluttering action jigs, this is the thing you should be looking at.

Also new in addition are Fisherman Longpen 100 which I bought it for the sake of getting an accompanying lure to match and try it out with my new popping rod :) On top of that, I've also bought a Fisherman Andaman 250gm jig. Been waiting for quite sometime for this weight to come in. I think it wouldn't be too much to stock 2 or 3 more pieces of this weight as its the ideal weight to use for jigging waters of 100-160meters :)

HOTS Gipang Tide Lez.78 MH - Kei Hiramatsu

Very plainly designed rod, but who cares when its a performer :P

Stands at 7 Feet 8 inches, Max Lure weight 120gm, PE 4-6

My new rod's partner in crime, which i did not blogged about it when it was bought, Shimano Stella SW10000XG

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New jigs in da house, Sevenseas Revolver 160gm and 200gm, checkout the sleeky profile and the beautiful hologram effect

More awesome holographic effect.

Fisherman Andaman 250gm

Fisherman Long Pen 100

Till then, Happy New Year 2009, May more trophy catches come your way !

Makassar, South Sulawesi Indonesia - Part 3 Jailamu Islands

2008-11-13T00:12:00.022+08:00

After a dissapointing 1.5 day at Takarewataya reef, we moved to another spot further down south where Jailamu Islands are.

A view of Jailamu Island

Everyone tried popping at the calm surrounding but with strong winds, i had trouble standing to cast

The deckie taking a break

Jason landed a handsome Coral trout on Sevenseas Hooker

Followed by Darren with a GT on Sevenseas Revolver jig

Darren Yuen hits another GT .... this is a good GT spot

Jason also hit another one at the same spot on hooker

Dogtooth by DarrenC

Coral trout on Revolver...this is hell of a jig

Emperor..I wonder why the fish sizes here are so standardized

Coronation trout on Hooker

Some weird fish, unidentified species

Coral trout on Sevenseas hooker by DarrenC

Kelvin's Jobfish on Shout Stay

Little doggie brought up ..felt so heavy suddenly it came up so light...tail was bitten and broke

Kerisi on Hooker - 1

Approx 8kg Kerisi on Hooker -2

Darren-C amberjack-1 10kg on Fisherman Andaman

Darren-C amberjack no 2 10kg also on Andaman

All in all, this trip came up with quantity but not size. Also the boatride was kinda long. It took us 7 hours from Makassar jetty to Tarakewataya and from Takarewataya to Jailamu Islands another 4 hours. The major pain in the ass was the journey from Jailamuk back to Makassar which took us a whopping 13 hours !! With the rough sea conditions and strong winds, it made matters worse when the deck's ceiling was leaking from the rainwater from the top deck.

It was quite an experience for me, but sad to see that most of the fishing grounds reef has been ripped apart by commercial fisherman by bombing the reefs :(. Hopefully one day, there will be better charter boats operating in Makassar as most fishing boats in Makassar are converts from diving boats.

Makassar, South Sulawesi Indonesia - Part 2 Takarewataya

2008-11-11T22:49:00.014+08:00

Waking up from the nap was kinda dreadful as we only have less than 3 hours for it. Thinking I was late, I ran helter skelter enroute to the reception only to find out the rest are still in dreamland ! After waking up everybody, we proceed to the reception to wait for Wiwied's arrival. We were ready to board Theodoras after 1/2 an hour's wait at the jetty as they'd to pickup another 2 participants on this trip at the docks where she is berthed.

Length: 47 feet x 12 feet

Engine: Single Yanmar Marine 120HP Turbo max @ 8 knots

Electronics : GPS & Echo sounder

Cabin : 4 x aircond, 4 x open air The sleeping space on the deck

The boat also lacks of rod holders which the sleeping space was turned into rod table !

Our first destination was to head to the reef called Takarewataya about 70 miles away from Makkasar which took us nearly 8 hours to reach. One significant landmark on this reef is the lighthouse that caught my attention. Its design explains that its a very old light house and we were told that it was built by the Dutch during the Dutch occupation days in Sulawesi. Surprisingly, its still functioning today and its smacked right in the middle of the reef.

The lighthouse from far

First blood of the day, Bluefin Trevally

Rod: Seed Custom

Reel: Ryobi Safari

Jig: HOTS Kten

Coronation Trout

Reel: Evergreen Poseidon Slowjerker PE3

Reel: Shimano OceaJigger 1500P

Jig: Sevenseas Revolver

Dogtooth Tuna

Rod: Evergreen Poseidon Spinjerker PE 3

Reel: Shimano Stella 6000FA

Jig: IMA RODogtooth Tuna

Rod: Evergreen Poseidon Spinjerker Pe2.5

Reel: Shimano Stella 5000FA

Jig: Sevenseas HookerGrouper from 160meters

Rod: Tenryu Jigzam PE 3-5

Reel: Shimano Stella 8000FA

Jig: Sevenseas Hooker

As little as the picture shows of the catches, the spot was indeed very unproductive on the first 2 days there. From our observation, it seems that there are alot of small boats out there anchored on the shallower portion of the reef. According to our guide, the locals bomb the reefs for fishes for a living due to price of fuel is expensive in this part of the world, it would be more worthwhile to bomb the reefs than netting. Quite a sad sight infact. After spending the 2nd morning without much bites, we've decided to move on to the next spot which is 5 hrs away further south of Takarewataya.

Makassar, South Sulawesi Indonesia 22-27 October 2008 - Part 1

2008-11-10T00:22:00.022+08:00

This trip was initiated from Jason who had kept in contact with the organizer who organized his trip to Padang earlier this year. We were told that this trip, we'll be heading to Takarewataya Reef and Jailamu island at the southern waters of Makassar onboard a dive boat converted to fishing boat, Theodoras on a 4 days 3 nights expedition.

As the date for the trip was getting nearer, I was informed by Jason that there were more slots available for this trip. So, after thinking for some time, I hurried to get the necessary bank procedures done and rushed home to book my airtickets. In the lapse of 5 hours, I was a confirmed angler for this trip together with Jason, Kelvin, Darren-Y and Darren-C.

Kelvin and Darren-Y monkeying at the gate anxious to get there

Daniel from Ipoh, good to go with Darren-C

AK 1026 to Ujung Pandang, Makassar. Yup thats our flight. Air Asia, Now everyone can fish !

On the evening of arrival, we were greeted at the airport by our organizer's friend who transported our equipments and luggages to the hotel while their owners were escorted away to do some groceries shopping for the next 4 day's supplies of our kretek cigarretes, Coke, Pocari, rootbeer and junk food.

Touchdown at Makassar !!

Our little pickup truck. Trust me this old junk aint a junk ! Anyway, its our luggage and equipment's ride :)

Right after that, we were chauffered to the Hotel Pantai Gapura to meet up with Wiwied, our organizer and guide for this trip and check into our rooms. Once everyone was done with their luggage, we were brought to this BBQ seafood restaurant Apong, supposingly to be one of the best in Makassar town.

The reception areaMeeting up with Wiwied Apong BBQ Restaurant !!..Finally some REAL food.Kelvin and Darren-Y monkeying with Fanta botol infront of the lense Thats what i call SOLID seafood !Another view of everybody at the restaurant

After a hearty meal of Makassar local seafood dinner and a good chat, we adjourned back to our hotel rooms to cat nap and wash up ourselves. What impress us the most was this hotel have their own jetty and we'll be boarding the boat at the hotel's jetty itself at 2.am ! This could buy us more time to cat nap as by the time we reached the hotel, it was already 11pm !

The walkway leading to our rooms...Good night for now...to be continued in Part 2

To be continued ....

26-28 September Pulau Jarak - GT Chaser

2008-11-07T02:49:00.029+08:00

This was a long planned trip since the first trip on GT Chaser earlier of the year. Exactly one month after Lucornia, my hands got a lil itchy and I went on to this trip to expect some fun from the GTs of Pulau Jarak off the coast of Perak with a totally new group of anglers. As this was Joseph's first live-on-board trip and also first Pulau Jarak trip, a Golden Snapper and 2 groupers was the jackpot first timer prize on this trip followed by Jason with 1 Grouper and a Golden snapper.

~~~

Although no monster GTs were landed this trip, the juvenile GTs certainly did provide us with some fun on light popping setups. I've personally hooked up an unstoppable train when I was jigging with Evergreen Poseidon Spinjerker PE 2.5 and Shimano Stella 5000FA setup with Shout! Stay jig when the fish decided to give it a run to the other side of the boat, causing my line to graze the body of the boat while sticking my rod down into the water. When I've managed to shift the rod to the other side of the boat, the fish continued with its run. As I continued to crank back some lines, I've noticed there were frays on the mainline which I'd suspect it resulted from the line grazing on the boat's body earlier.

~~~

Looking at it, I've tried an managed to retrieve back more line to get the frayed portion back into the spool. Unfortunately after what seems to be a lifetime tug of war, the fish decided to give me some good headshakes like as if its telling me `bye bye`and it gave its best burst of its last bits of energy resulting in the horniest scream my Shimano Stella 5000 can ever give followed by a loud *piak*. It was like waking up from a sensational wet dream which I knew it was not a dream, I looked at my Evergreen Poseidon Spinjerker PE 2.5 dissapointed, without the sexy bend it has produced 2 minutes ago.

~~~

What an`orgasm` I had went through. If only it could reach the `climax`. This is the 3rd time this year at Pulau Jarak on GT Chaser I've got bullied by these unstoppable train. Hopefully on January next year, I'll have all the fate to bump into them again and try my very best again to fight them. 0-3 but the game is not over yet. I shall prevail !

~~~

Below are some pictures from Jason's camera as I've yet to receive photos from the other camera.

Jason's opening account in first day's jigging

1-2kg speciment on Tenryu Jigzam PE 3-5, Shimano Stella 8000FA, Fisherman Marado jig

Jason's first hit on Popper

Albert's GT on Halco popper

Lucky first timer on GT Chaser with his 2kg-something-3kg angchor

Followed by a good sized grouper

Khoon wresling his first catchAnother baby GT!

Loading the rod

Juvenile specimen on Shimano Caranx Kaibutsu Light Pleasure, Shimano Stella SW10000XG, Jai popper

Khoon hits another

Big eye trevally in broad daylight ??

Jason's barracuda taken on jig during the hot boring afternoon

Double hookup at sunset
Another hit before the sky gets dark

Also on the same popping setup

Edmund's hookup Happy angler with his first GT on his first l.o.b trip

Before we anchored for the night, I've managed to land another GT

Khoon's GT on the final day that made us thought it was a giant grouper Birds following behind the boat as there were plenty of baitfishes swimming behind and beside the boat

Luconia - Conclusion

2008-11-07T02:27:00.002+08:00

This is my first trip jigging in deep waters from 100 - 140 meters consistantly. Stamina plays a major role on long range trips like this, especially when you're fishing during the day and night with only 4-5 hours of sleeping a day. From the beginning, I've jigged from the morning until the following night which result in puncturing myself, which in turn also affected my jig presentation hence the bad catch rate.

My main target on this trip was to land an Amberjack regardless of any size. Albeit I did not hookup any, I was quite dissapointed with my other catches as none of my fish landed weighted more than 7kgs. On a better note, I've landed my first dogtooth tuna, ruby snapper, yellowfin tuna which adds up to my species tally. On top of that, it was a pleasure fishing with new faces and making new fishing friends to talk cock with.

Lessons learned from my first long range deep trip are never overstress yourself, take plenty of rest whenever your hands n fingers feel tired, have enough sleep and do not OVER EAT ! It tends to make you feel more tired and wear out faster, to me at least. Hopefully next year I'll be back to Luconia again to continue my hunt for Amberjack.

Luconia Part 3 - Amazing hookups

2008-11-07T01:37:00.013+08:00

Popping on this trip did not yield much positive results. There were 2 occasions on this trip where popping, somehow produced 2 `amazing hookups`. The first one being Danny casting at the hull of the boat, somehow, a Marlin estimated to weigh in the region of 50kg jumped out of the waters and dived back into it carrying the popper along with it. The fight lasted for a good 20 minutes until the leader gave way.

The 2nd occasion happend when Patrick was popping alone on the top deck in the early hours of the morning. Out of a sudden, the jiggers on the deck heard his yell for help to get his rod down to the back as he had hooked up a big one. After a 10 minute tussle, the 45kg dogtooth tuna was finally landed, with a yellowfn stucked in its throat which took the popper ! Checkout the series of pictures below for better elaboration.

WARNING !! DISGUSTING IMAGE BELOW

Patrick with his 42kg Dogtooth Tuna(45kg combined weight with the Yellowfin Tuna)

Notice something in the mouth? Thats the yellowfin's tail
CSI crew of Crystal Coral begins autopsy on the 45kg Dogtooth
Alien object detected in the belly, see if you can notice the treble hook penetrated the belly wall
Source of death confirmed, choking of Yellowfin and popper :P
Yellowfin still attached to popper's treble hooks
A clearer picture of the hook penetrated the tummy

Luconia Part 2 - Catch report

2008-11-06T23:29:00.026+08:00

As we started the journey out almost midnight of 26th August, fishing started on the 27th morning, not much action except for some baitfish taking the jigs. Fishing improved later in the morning till the night. Without much elaborations, below are some highlight catches from the trip :)

Houston, we have company...enemy sighted. Jiggernauts, to your battlestation! Let the party begin !

First sizeable fish of the morning which contributed to our lunch ! `Desert Storm` grouper.
Rod: JM400
Reel: Accurate 665N
Jig: Fisherman Crazy Long

Trophy catch of the trip landed on the first night, 49kg Dogtooth Tuna by Jason Wong from Singapore
Rod: Genesis Jigshaft PE4
Reel: Shimano Twinpower 8000
Jig: Crippled Herring look alike

Second morning's catch, sub 10kg Dogtooth tuna
Rod: Seed Custom
Reel: Ryobi Safari
Jig: Fisherman Andaman

Doctor Tan's prized catch on jig, Amberjack

Kok Sang's 10kg Dogtooth Tuna on jig

My miserable, barely 5kg dogtooth

Rod: Evergreen Poseidon SpinJerker Pe 2.5

Reel: Shimano Stella 5000FA

Jig: Sevenseas Hooker Sham with his 30kg Dogtooth Tuna on Pe3 setup

Rod: EA Custom Pe3

Reel: Tica Taurus 4000

Jig: IMA RO 120Only escolar landed for this trip approx 20kg

Kerisi Double Hookup on Sevenseas Hooker with Darren

Rod: Evergreen Poseidon SpinJerker PE 2.5

Reel: Shimano Stella 5000FA

Jig: Sevenseas Hooker

Morning Amberjack approx 10kg

Rod: JM400
Reel: Accurate 665N
Jig: Shout! Stay

Another 30kg Doggie landed on PE3 setup

Rod: Evergreen Poseidon SpinJerker PE3

Reel: Shimano Stella 6000FA

Jig: Sevenseas HookerDanny's reliefed with his first fish on jig, mama kerisi

Rod: EA Custom PE4

Reel: Shimano Ocea Jigger 2000P

Jig: Evergreen Caprice Kid My first ever Ruby snapper !

Rod: Valley Hill Exploder Y.Mogi Special II

Reel: Shimano Stella 20000FA

Jig: Mangrove Studio WipeOut LongDanny who woke me up from my sleep in the middle of the frenzy with his Ruby

In the middle of the Ruby frenzy, Brian hauled up a nice amberjack instead of a ruby :)

Rod: Daiwa Saltiga PE 4

Reel: Daiwa Saltiga 4500

My first Yellowfin tuna !

Rod: Valley Hill Exploder Y.Mogi Special II

Reel: Shimano Stella 20000FA

Jig: Mangrove Studio WipeOut Long

Lawrence's Japanese red on the first nightPart of the total catch on parade

Some unwanted guest visited us early in the morning. Nice meeting Mr Hammerhead thou

Lucornia Part 1 - The MV Crystal Coral

2008-11-06T23:04:00.007+08:00

One of the reasons that made me to go for this trip is knowing that we'll be fishing on MV Crystal Coral, which IMHO, the best long liner fishing boat in Malaysia and certainly one of the best in the region. This vessel have enough sleeping bunks to accomodate 13 anglers comfortably and also its crew complete with a full fledged kitchen and 2 bathrooms !

Ah Wei, our logistics guy greeting us at Miri Airport eager to send us to the docks

MV Crystal Coral docked at the jetty

Spacious dining area at deck

Big enough to have almost everyone lazy around the afternoon after a good lunch

Lucornia preparation - Part 3

2008-08-12T01:15:00.003+08:00

After sorting out the jigs n lures, next thing to prepare for my trip would be of course the rod n reel . Below are what I'm having in mind to bring and match.

Jigging

1. Valley Hill Exploder Y.Mogi Special II + Shimano Stella 20000FA spooled with 80lbs braid
2. Tenryu Jigzam PE 3-5 + Shimano Stella 8000FA spooled with 65lbs braid
3. Evergreen Poseidon PE2.5 + Shimano Stella 5000FA spooled with 40lbs braid

Popping/Casting
1. Daiwa Saltiga MuraMura PE8 + Daiwa Saltiga 6000GT spooled with 80lbs braid
2. Shimano Caranx Kaibutsu Light Pleasure PE4+ Shimano Stella 08 SW10000XG spooled with 65lbs braid

Lucornia preparation - Part 2

2008-08-12T00:54:00.006+08:00

Since i've landed n lost a few fishes on popping technique, the poison has started to seep into my blood somehow. Below are some of the poppers, stickbaits n lures I have in my collection, still a little uncertain on which to bring as I've been informed Crystal Coral's dinghy might not be in an operational state :( Pics below are some of my little investments into casting lures/poppers. Action matters the most especially when it comes to lures. Been using quite a few lures i.e. Jackson's Mr Dekai and Mangrove Studio Volador. Am quite impressed with them and still learning how to work em to the perfect action :)

Jai Popppers, From top: 1 x 70gm, 2 x 80gm, 2 x 130gm

From top:Fisherman Big mouth 170, Big mouth 160hp Tail, S-pop 150BH Short, Long Penn 170

From top: Jackson Mr Dekai, Mangrove Studio Volador, Mangrove Studio Searoom, Craftbait GT Riarubeito Wahoo, Craftbait GT Riarubeito Sardine.

Lucornia preparation - Part 1

2008-08-11T23:41:00.011+08:00

Since that there'll be no fishing for me until my Lucornia trip from 26th August - 31st August 2008, I shall blog a little bout my preparation for the trip which is exactly 2 weeks from now.

As for now, I've only finished packing on my jigs and will be preparing my poppers, stickbaits n so on for this weekend. For now, these are the shots for some of best weapon in my jigging armory :P

The long jigs( Clockwise from top: Fisherman Crazylong 150, Mangrove Studio Wipe Out Long 200, Bassday 160, Shout Stay 200, Duel Tamentai 250 & 300, Jigging Master 160, Evergreen Javelin 140)

Hooker`mania ! Top left cluster:Sevenseas Hooker-1 Mariana 220gm, Top right cluster: Sevenseas Hooker-1 Super Hologram 160gm, Bottom Fan: Sevenseas Hooker Anatahan 170gm

The big fat boys, Bassday Quicker wide 250gm and Evergreen Caprice 180gm

Shout Stay 160gm

Fisherman Marado 185gm

Patriot Design's Blast Edge 235gm(top) and Blast Edge 175gm(bottom)

Pekan 12-13 July 2008

2008-07-16T01:44:00.008+08:00

Been on hiatus on my blog for quite sometime. Reason being, the catches for the past 3 trips were not as productive as the earlier trips. That would mean there are less interesting photos to be posted :(. Last week we've headed to Pekan again ith Ck, Jason and Thum. It would be CK's first ever trip to Pekan.

First timer luck was on his side as he hit the first fish in the morning and was rewarded with a 3kg`ish Coral Trout. Not bad for a first timer! The day has been quite slow with only baby table sized groupers landed. At about 3pm in the evening, while everyone's morale was low, 2 cuttlefish came up and tried hard to attack the jigs that was left on the water surface !

Without waiting any further, boatman and Thum rigged on their eging lures and hit cuttlefish after cuttlefish. At the end of the day, we had a total of 23 cuttlefishes! On the 2nd day, action was still pretty much slow after Thum landed his rainbow runner. Was quite bored for a moment until CK yelling he got a hook up. 20 minutes fight and he landed a cobia. At the end of the day, as we were happily teasing Ck that he got all the first timer luck and everybody was getting 0 catches, I managed to get a hookup which i thought it was hooked on to some coral but it turns out to be a green eyed grouper. Apologize if my writing is abit long as i've not written in a long long time :P

Ahh ...good morning Pekan !Lucky CK with his first fish in Pekan, his first Coral Trout
Jason's first fish for the day, a nice dorado
Thum's rainbowrunner on the morning of the 2nd day
CK having fun with the monster with his PE1.8 and Branzino setup

The first timer luck strucks on the 2nd day, a hefty 15kg`ish Cobia

My one and only sizeable fish for the trip, a green eye grouper

Pekan 31st May - Jun 1 Catch Report

2008-06-18T14:28:00.022+08:00

Wee Lee with his baby veloo, Darren with his barracuda 29 Pounder cobia
Another shot

Taken on IMA Gunpeki 30
My 2nd ebek on jig Hooked on IMA Gunpeki 40gm

Boatman's Ebek

Darren's Golden Trevally

The long missing jig in action, Evergreen Javelin Jet

Stefan hit his first cobia

Stella SW5000XG cherry popped with a 2kg dorado

Champion hits an Ebek

My first Golden Trevally, fights like a fish double its size

Stefan's 2nd cobia taken on Madai jig

Triple + 1 hookup Golden Trevally party.

The yellow royal carpet

Total catch for the trip

The groupers n coral trouts

Fishes on Shout! Lighten 50gm from previous trip

2008-06-13T10:36:00.007+08:00

Darren's Golden close up Darren's Golden Mac on Lighten Close up of Mac

Labour Day - Tiger Attack Day

2008-06-11T13:12:00.011+08:00

This trip was 2 days before the previously posted trip, the gang had decided to go for a day's fishing on a boring Public holiday which fell on a Thursday,

Stefan's Golden Trevally

On IMA Gunpeki Darren fighting a what seens to be a monster tongkol on 4lb outfit phweeeweet ! A 2kg`ish tongkol Mac man is back On Caprice Kid 50gm Boatman Jr with his fair share of the Golden Trevally Also on IMA Gunpeki Darren's Tiger De jig, Caprice Kid 50gm !

Pekan 3rd - 4th May 2008

2008-06-09T10:51:00.020+08:00

Ahh ...morning has never been so beautiful...

First catch of the day, Coral Trout

The lucky boatman...with a Selar Papan

Cobia from Boatman.....this is really testing our patience

Darren breaking boatman's luck run.

Gets his luck run back back on track with a Sagai on IMA Gunpeki

And another coral trout on IMA Gunpeki 40g

Darren's Ebek

A double hookup, right after the boatman started the engine to leave the scene

Ebek by Daren, Cobia by me...weird fishes to be in the same school.

1st Fish of 2nd day Boatman Jr with Darren's EBEK

Herring by Darren

Yours truly, 18kg Cobia on Mangrove Studio Volador

Boatman Jr with his Ebek

Total catch

April Pekan updates

2008-04-30T10:36:00.016+08:00

Rainbowrunner on the new Shout! Lighten 50gm

Rainbowrunner again

Perfect hookup on Craftbait ...beautiful creature Sailfish on popper !

Mac King is back in action

Joseph the Coral Trout kingJoseph's 2nd Coral trout
Number 3Number 4 !

Pekan 22-23 March - Episode 2

2008-03-29T14:59:00.007+08:00

Eugene hitting the first GT of the tripOne of the double hookups during the tripOur skipper's son with a giganto tongkol weighted at abt 5kg

5 kg GT on Light tackle

2 `Last calls` for the day

The total bounty for this trip - Two 10kg GT, 2 5-6kg GT, 3 coral trouts from 3.4-5kg, 4 ebeks from 5-8kg, 6 jemuduk 1kg size and baby coral trouts ranging from 300-500gm

Pekan 22-23 March - Episode 1

2008-03-28T00:07:00.024+08:00

It was another Pekan weekend. We were greeted with very good weather and calm shiny sea this time around. It was such a big difference of the waves at the rivermouth compared to the previous 2 trips. This is the most productive and also with the most bust off for me(time to practice more knots instead of bed time surfing).

Day 1

As crazy as it gets, we started journey at 3am from KL which kinda got me seasick on the first day. Not as productive as the 2nd day, Darren and I experienced lotsa bust offs and not so solid hookups for the first day. However it was Eugene's lucky day as he hit the most hookups for the first day.

I personally lost a suspected Ebek while bringing the fish up halfway while Darren's rod suddenly lost all the tension on the line while fighting a Spanish Mackerel.

Day 2

It was definitely better than the day before. Everyone had a fair share of Ebek's infamous battle on light tackle. It was also the most pissed off day for me when i've lost a big shark and a GT due to poor knot strength and silly mistakes. Not to mention, i've broked a rod on this trip while striking my rod on an unknown specifmen. But it was this trip i've hit my 1st coral trout and also my first Ebek on jig ;)

The beautiful sky and calm seas

5kg Ebek landed Shikari Custom & Daiwa Caldia Kix 4000

Eugene's Ebek caught on Evergreen Caprice Kid 50gmCoral Trout by EugeneJemuduk and Golden Trevally

Darren fighting the Ebek(Diamond Trevally)

"How many kilo did you say again ?" 8kg Ebek landed with Evergreen Poseidon Spin Jerker PE2 matched with Daiwa Certate Custom 2500R

Darren's sexy yellow lipped Ebek also on 50gm Evergreen Caprice Kid My 1st Coral trout on Evergreen Caprice kid 50gm Caught on IMA RO 60gm 6kg Diamond Trevally on Evergreen Poseidon SpinJerker PE2, Daiwa Morethan BranzinoMy yellow lipped Ebek, landed again, with Star jig of the trip, Caprice Kid 50gmJemuduk on CapriceAnd againComing to you soon...

GT party

2008-03-11T13:48:00.007+08:00

As we were fishing in Pekan on the east coast, my another group of fisho kakis Bruce and Alan from the Sunvista trip was up north on the west coast waters. They had a jolly good time with the Giant Trevallys. Congratulations to Alan and Bruce on their big mama GTs.

Bruce's fight with the mama GT

Almost got stripped clear

Bruce doing the macho pose with the 26kg`er caught on Tenryu Oceania PE 1-4, Powepro braided 40lbs with 80lbs shock leader

Bruce and Alan with their 20kg GTs

Pekan, March 8-9 2008

2008-03-11T01:43:00.018+08:00

Dissapointed with the previous trip, we managed to book the boat again for the following weekend. Hopes were not too high after how the weather decided to take a hit on us the week before. We loaded up the gears n launched off just before sunrise while the weather is still kind.

The condition of the sea was good in the morning making it pleasureable to fish throughout the morning. As for the afternoon towards the evening, the waves and wind did pick up a little making it harder to stand steadily to fish.

However, the weather did manage to set us back again on the second day. As we were driving towards Pekan town, we were hit by small bursts of rain and the condition did not further improve while we were having our breakfast. As the rain started to cleared up abit, we made our way to the jetty and try to hope for the best of the weather. Upon our arrival at the jetty, we could see from our boatman's face that something is not good. True enough, the winds were strong.

We waited for an hour or so, hoping the winds would die down but it picked up strength instead. We were forced to throw in the towel for the day and we headed to the nearest coffeeshop for a round two breakfast instead :) Below are some of the pictures of our first day out.

Its gonna be a bright morning on our way outFirst hit of the morning, baby mac Darren's opening account with a 7kg mac The king of macs strikes his jackpot, 25 pounder this time

Giant Trevally on a smaller scale compared to the macs The popper chasing blacktip was finally landed in the morning Another trevally by DarrenOur total catch for the first and last day of fishing of what supposed to be a 2 day trip

Pekan, 2nd March 2008

2008-03-11T00:25:00.011+08:00

I've got a call from a friend of mine one fine day, "Yo, manage to get a boat for Pekan on the 2nd March, you keen ?". I agreed since its fishing on a Sunday.

Anyway, bad news came in the day before our trip. I've been getting smses from Sharma and Tang in the morning before our trip that they were forced to wait at the jetty for the rain to stop. Then by noon, got another message from Sharma saying that the waves at the rivermouth are at the height of about 4 meters.

True enough, the following day, it was worse when we reached Pekan, the boatman has informed us that the waves were at 5 meters with strong winds. Once we've reached the rivermouth, we could see the white top waves dancing their way into the river mouth. We could see from the boatman's face, its gonna be a big challenge to get out there. As he was about to make a turning back, he noticed a gap in between the waves and sped all the way to it. After about 15 minutes, we managed to break through the waves, and made it out there. However, we only managed a few bites and no solid hookups with Joseph bagging only 2 fishes for the entire trip.

Joseph with his 1kg+ Coral Trout

The one and only ebek for the entire trip

Mangrove Studio

2008-02-18T02:33:00.011+08:00

Introducing a new lure brand from Japan, Mangrove studios. I love the colours of the jigs they have in the "Wipe-Out" jig range. Also the casting lures series, the Volador, the finishing of the lure is really neat I can say. Do leave me a message or contact me if you are interested ;) There will be more to come.

Mangrove Studio - Wipe Out 160gmMangrove Studio - Wipe Out 130gm

Mangrove Studio - Wipe Out 100gm

Mangrove Studio - Volador

The new Shimano Stella SW 2008 line up

2008-02-04T23:51:00.000+08:00

The answer to all questions of when Shimano is launching the new Stella SW has finally arrived.
Below are some extracted pictures from Shimano Japan website of the launch at the tackle show in Japan. For more information of the new reels, its available here and the translated version here. Shimano also launched for Twinpower, Super Aero Kisu Special Mg, Ultegra Searea, Super Aero and Hyper Aero SpinJoy product line for year 2008. However the newly launched Stella SW's pricetag is still pretty high for the moment.

Hopefully they do launch the FA version of the SW like the previous models so its more affordable.

Pictures extracted from http://fishing.shimano.co.jp

Pulau Jarak with GT Chaser 26-28th Jan 2008 - Day2

2008-01-29T23:02:00.000+08:00

The day started pretty slow ...until something big enough to shut up my non stop cursing mouth up for the day.

Caught on IMA RO 120gm with Poseidon PSPJ502 + Stella 5000FA

Followed by Jimmy

Mister `Dont ya think my GT look more sexy this angle ?`

Can some one define the meaning of lucky ?

Lucky lucky lucky luckyyyyyy chap

Tauke Tang also hit his angchor magic wand spot on ... The bottom bashing session on 2nd night, Jimmy's first angchor Tauke Tang's last angchor magic spell for the trip

The last day was an uneventful one although there were abit of bite here and there. All I can say is its fun fishing with this gang especially with Tauke Tang, Jimmy and WanIzhan as this is my first time fishing with them. Hope there are many more to come.

**All pictures are contributed by Sharma as he was the official cameraman for the trip. I have yet to get other pictures from other cameras, but I will post it here as well once its ready.

Pulau Jarak with GT Chaser 26-28th Jan 2008 - Day1

2008-01-29T14:57:00.000+08:00

On one fine day 3-4 months back at an IT seminar, I was almost dozing off in the comfy couch in one of the hotels in KL. I started fiddling with phone and as I was scrolling through my phonebook, my phone LCD read "Ah Ho GT Chaser". After a dissapointing trip last year on the same boat, I decided to give it another try, but this time, Jigging and Popping is the main dish.

Getting people for this trip was hell of a headache. Out of the first 5 person that agreed to join this trip 3 months ago, only 1 made it. And the rest went yada..yada..yada excuses. And last minute, 1 day before this trip, I was `aeroplaned` again by a "prominent" angler and his camera crew big time resulting in me paying for 2 person's boat fee. However, I'm glad to have a good company this trip with Sharma, WanIzhan, Tang, Mahadzhir and Jimmy.

Bagan Datoh Town, at the end is the jetty where we embarkSpacious boat, complete with kitchen and sitting toilet & shower
The `lounge` area in mid section of the boat
Spacious sleeping area that can fit 8 person comfortably
Part of the armory
First spot, first jig drop, triple hookup ....mine got busted 2 fights remaining :(
Opening show - Starring Yakuza gang, WanIzhan and Mahadzhir with their 6kg Giant Trevallies
Next show: Tauke Tang the Angchor Magician
Tauke Tang: "Seee !! i tell you all angchor you all dont believe"
Mid day matinee Show - SharDaiwa..starring Sharma with the 10kg Giant Trevally
Introducing Mister Jimmy Master, champion of this trip, JM PE4 rawks !
WanIzhan with his second GT
A result of wrong magic spell, GT pun GT lah !
Mr Jimmy getting his record hookup for the trip, dontcha think he looks abit like Johnie Walker if the rod was vertical ?
Captain Ho certified GT's weight at 12kg
Captain Ho performing rescue operations to save the life of the GT
My big eye trevally on poppers

Mahadzhir with his share of big eye trevally

My first day was full of frustration. Our first spot was at Hutan Melintang which was very productive, I had a fair share of the triple hookup with my Poseidon + Stella 5000 combo which not long after, the fish dived swam towards the front of the boat and dived back to the hull resulting my main line to be cut.

As I changed to my Jigzam + Stella 8000 setup, i did a stupid mistake, I did not check the drag setting and straight away i dropped my spanking new Sevenseas hooker jigged it above midwater and i've got a big hit! I jerk the rod hard twice trying to set hook and there it goes, hoping a GT on the other end and expecting a long scream on the reel. But the truth is it did not, it only let out 2 short screams and my Jigzam went into a scary bend.

Before i could even land my fingers on the reel to loosen the drag, my mainline snapped ! Right after that, the mates beside was getting hookup after hookups ! I rushed to the back and try to tie my FG knot on my Stella 5000 as fast as i could, continue to jig for the next 2 spots and got a hookup at the 2nd spot and as I was trying to set hook, the familiar sound of *piak* was heard again. I cursed and cursed non stop and forced to sit down properly to retie 2 knots on both my jigging setup watching the rest of them getting hookup for the rest of the evening. As Captain Ah Ho was raising his anchor at about 7pm, i dropped my jig for a last chance before leaving to Pulau Jarak for the night, I felt a small thug at the other end of the line and I was rewarded with a 1.5kg angchor.

IMAKATSU Crank IK180

2008-01-22T16:09:00.000+08:00

Jackson Qu-On Switch

2008-01-22T00:51:00.000+08:00