26-28 September Pulau Jarak - GT Chaser

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.

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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.

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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.

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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 !

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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