Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Navin Hits The Jackpot

Location : Pulau Angsa / Sasaran Area, Off the waters of Kuala Selangor
Date : 14 October 2006
Time : 8.00 am - 5.00 pm
Anglers involved : Sharma, Devagi, Jeishen, May and Navin

:::... Sharma and Devagi, prior departing from the jetty ...:::


::: May and Jeishen,posing for a photo before departing ...:::


:::... Krazie Fishie and Navin on the boat ...:::

Last weekend was an eventful weekend. Jeishen and May had made arrangements with a boatman in Sasaran for fishing. This would be my second trip to this fishing spot. From my previous trip, this place holds great potential. Although the fishes here aren't that big, there are quite plentiful. Even the sizes are quite big compraed to other places. Our target fish for this trip would be gelama (bronze croaker), bulus (whitings), and pari (stingray). According to our contact at one of the tackle shop in Rawang, stingray is quite abundent at this time around. A few weeks ago, an angler managed to land a 15kg stingray. Hopefully luck would be on our side this time around.

The day began early for all of us. We were all up at around 5.00 am to make the make the journey to Sasaran. The jurney there would take us roughly 1 hour. We were supposed to be at the jetty at around 7.30am. Suprising this time, we all made it there on time. No delays which was usually associaed with our trip. Even Navin, who has this habit of waking up late, woke up early this time. Maybe it was a sign of something great to come?

After a quick breakfast, we arrived at the jetty at around 7.30am. After purchasing our ice, we proceeded to load our gears into the boat.

:::... The boat that will be taking us fishing ...:::

The weather on that day was fine. Although bit hazy, the sun was not too hot and there was breeze blowing. Even the sea was not rough. It was a perfect fishing condition. We travelled for 30 minutes before arriving at our first spot.

Upon arriving at our first spot, I rigged my girlfriend's rod and taught her how to fish. Since we would be doing bottom fishing, there is no need to cast. Just release the bail arm and let the weight take the bait down. She was a quick learner. After giving her a quick lesson, I left her alone to fish while I rigged my own rod. We were using market prawns as bait. We also had live prawns and dead kembong a our disposal.

The fishes there were not fussy eaters. Moments after dropping our baits, we would be getting nibbles. All you need is a perfectly timed strike, and the fish is yours. Our first spot yeilded quite a catch. Below are some pictures of the catch in our first spot.

:::... Devagi with her Gelama ...:::


:::... Jeishen with his stingray ...:::


:::... What a dissapointing catch by Sharma ...:::

We spent about 2 hour in our first spot. The bites were getting slower. We told the boatman to take us t o a different spot. The boatman obliged with saying much.

Our second spot was much closer to the islands. We were fishing about 100 meters away from a rocky cliff of an island. I wish I had my lures or poppers with me. Who knows what fish might be lurking underneath the blue waves. We fished at the second spot for about 2 hours as well. Somehow, this trip doesn't seem to bring me muh luck. My catch rate was terrible. Even my girlfriend, who is a newbie, is catch more fish than me. It can't be my rig. Both of us are using the same hook size and same rig. I wonder what could be wrong..... Anyway, enjoy the the pictures taken from the second spot we fished from.

:::... Whiting by Sharma ...:::


:::... Devagi with her catch ...:::


:::... May with her fish ...:::

Once the bites had slowed down, the boatman took us to a different spot. This spot is much closer the the shipping lane. According to the boatman, if we want big fish, this is the place to be. Soon enough we will find truth in his words.....

:::... This was how close we were to the shipping lane ...:::

When we got the last spot, the waves were getting slightly bigger. We all had trouble standing up and we were all swaying from side to side. The funny thing was, as the sea got slightly rougher, the fishes we caught were also increasing in size. Gone are the small gelamas. Instead we were getting bigger gelamas. These fishes are called tiga gigi in malay. Tiga gigi means 3 tooth, because we can see 3 tooth sticking out from the fish mouth. Something lik dracula.

:::... Navin with his double hookup ...:::


:::... 3 gigi caught by Navin ...:::

Navin was on a roll that day. Not only was he getting more fish that the others, he was also getting most of the the biggies. Just look at his smile....

At about 3.30pm, the boatman informed us that we would be leaving the spot at 4.30pm. Everyone tried to catch more fish before departing. Devagi had stopped fishing and she was feeling a bit seasick from the rocking of the boat. Jeishen felt the same. Navin had packed up one of his rod, and had another in the water. As we were all packing and talking, Navin's rod gave a scream. Navin, who was seated quite far from his rod didn't hear his reels screaming, I was the closest to the rod, and I shouted to him that there was something big on his line. He quickly ran to his rods and took it out from the rod holder. He tried to pump in some line, instead, the reel kept screaming. Line was going out...!!! Navin had to sit down and he held on tight to his rod. The boatman said that he had caught a pari (stingray). The stingray made a run under the boat, and Navin held on tightly, unable to do anything. Navin was able to gain some line, but the stingray moved towards the back of the boat and stayed there. It was not budging even an inch. Instead it was taking line from the reel.

:::... Look at the bend on the rod ...:::


:::... Navin had to sit in order to control the fish ...:::

The tug of war between Navin and the stingray lasted for about 35 minutes before the it was finally subdued. What a fight that was...!!! Trully and unforgetable fight and definately will last in Navin's mind for a long time. Bravo Navin on a well earned fight. My hats off to you...!!!!!!!

:::... Moments before the stingray being gaffed ...:::


:::... Yeah...!!! Got it ...:::


:::... Navin holding up his 8 kg stingray ...:::


:::... Heavy ...:::


:::... The rod and reel used to land the stingray ...:::

After landing the stingray, we weighed it on the scale that we had onboard. The stingray weighed a hefty 8.00 kilograms. What a catch... Trully a memorable catch for Navin.

After landing the stingray, we decided to call it a day. Since we had already achieved what we came for, I guess all of us were happy with what we got. You win some, you lose some. Guess Navin must be the lucky guy.

:::... Scenery on the way back. Birds and monkeys on the shore ...:::

When we got, back to the jetty, there was a big weighting scale. This scale is meant to be used when the fisherman bring in their fishes from the sea. We placed Navin's stingray the scale and it confirmed our earlier measurement. The final verdict : 8.00 kg stingray caught by Mr. Navin. Bravo...!!!!! Bravo....!!!!!!

:::... Navin weighing his stingray on the scale ...:::


:::... Conformation of the weight ...:::

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr Sharma,

Whitings and gelama will make excellent live bait. Used to caught pari using whiting. Siakap and mangrove jack love the gelama too.

Anonymous said...

Krazy Fishie
You guys should be wearing a life jacket at all times coz you never know what is going to happen at sea. I could only see Jeishen with a life jacket. It is a life saver. You never know when you need it. Good photos

Anonymous said...

Krazy Fishie
You guys should be wearing a life jacket at all times coz you never know what is going to happen at sea. I could only see Jeishen with a life jacket. It is a life saver. You never know when you need it. Good photos

Sharma D. Pillai said...

hockeey bro...

Thanx for the word of advise.... will keep that in mind the next time we go out to sea...

Glad you enjoyed the photos.

Anonymous said...

Hi, do you have the contact of the boatman?