Pulau 9 - Revisit - 17th &18th May 08

This report is written by CK from MFN. For more details, please got to the link below.

Pulau 9 - Revisit - 17th &18th May 08

Thank you CK for allowing me to post your report here.

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The past 17th and 18th of May mark some very important dates for me (No, it got nothing to do with pre-planning for Wesak celebration). I have been constantly checking my electronic calendars (both laptop outlook and on my PDA – when I’m away from my PC) counting down to the much anticipated trip planned.

The desire to ‘catch something’ has been driven more so by the recent P.Jarak trip which was a ZERO TAKE HOME trip, not by choice.

My wishes for this trip (of which I think, have been fulfilled): -
- Catch my first ever fish on jig
- Pop the cherry of my new jigging set.
- Getting myself jigging-fit for the upcoming Karang Luas trip.

While browsing through the forum admiring some of the successful trips, I quickly notice a topic: Pulau 9 1st Mei 2008. A very well written article which what I would categorize as a successful fishing trip to P9. So without further a due, a request for the boatman number was made on the 5th May 2007 to akashah_6lb , the original poster of the above-mentioned topic. Akashah_6lb replied almost immediately (a Big Thank you here!) and calls were made for the necessary arrangement.

Now that I have the boatman, what about the participants? After shooting out a few SMS’es, 2 more participants confirmed (my brother - CS and his friend – Ah Wah). The next 2 weeks prior to the trip, we ensure that all “necessary” preparations were made which includes multiple trips to tackle shop, countless number of jigs, poppers, kevlar, jigs again, jigging hooks, jigs again (the Sykt.Kepong sales girl upon seeing me after x number of earlier trip said: “Wah, you lagi kah? Mahu beli berapa jig oh???”)… purchased not to mentioned another new set of rod and reel. (Hmm..).

We left Subang at around 11pm or so and reached Lumut at around 2.00am (with a short stop over at Sekinchan for supper). We were quickly greeted with a friendly smile and a salam handshake from the cabin-keeper, Pak Adi (I think, couldn’t really recall, we are already groggy and tired). We asked Pak Adi: “Pak, esok pukul berapa keluar?”. He replied with a smile “Ohh.. korang bangun la pukul 6, pegi kat gerai sana tu, makan bekfest dulu, tapau nasi tengah hari, pastu boatman datang 6.30”.




We quickly unpack and prepare our arsenals while the clock is ticking away. Double, triple check on the inventories again, making sure we bring enough hooks, poppers and jigs to last us a whole year on board..

Even the rods and reels have a comfortable good-night rest on the upper double decker-bed!





“Damn, its almost 3.30am.. hmm.. 2 ½ hours of sleep, where got enough lor….”. We quickly settle in and dozed-off, in the comfortable super cold air-conditioned cabin. What felt like a mere 5 minutes eye-shut was abruptly disrupted with a loud bang on the door. Half asleep, I woke up and look at my phone.. “Huh.. only 5am, who is outside at this hour??”. Dragging myself to the door, I open and saw the boatman; Mr.Rosli already fully dressed and has started the boat engine waiting for us. “Aiks, belum bangun? cepat oh.. air mahu turun dah…5-10 minit kita kena keluar!”.. I press the panic button (a loud shout waking up the rest, including myself =) ) dashing to the toilet and emptying last night supper.. ahem.. I swear some of us even forgot to brush their teeth that morning.

The first popper was chug to a suspected-hideout of GTs and was quickly rewarded with a fiercely taken bite! Hook-on! The fight however was short and intense as Ah Wah’s popping set I suspect was meant for a much much larger specimen. The 2-3kg’ish (sorry, we didn’t bring any weighing EQs) was quickly tamed and brought on-board.

The all time favorite ‘Hung Tau Peng’ translates to ‘Red Head Army’. A must have for all jiggers and poppers.

Being curious of how a GT taste like, we vowed only to keep 1 and C&R the rest. We kept to our word and somehow regretted. We should have C&R even the first fish because it tasted funny – even on TIGA RASA.

What we kept for Day 1 of our trip. Since we are short of sleep the day before, the first day was very much spent resting on beach-island and sleeping in-between spots changing by the rest of the fishos. I was the only one going strong though I can feel the effect late in the afternoon.




The second day was more productive as we were ‘rested’ and much more prepared both mentally and physically. The second day was spent mostly on jigging as we were not really a fan of sea-popping.

A few of those spots we visited for the entire day, some of those were very very productive with constant strikes, albeit not always a solid hook-up.

This pink White Rabbit is their favorite. A back-to-back 3 hook-ups on the same spot.

One of the many Talang. This one strikes the green version of White Rabbit!

Here are the catch results of Day 2. We could have added another few more if not for some silly mistake and one cut-off Kevlar (by a tenggiri / barracuda).







Look at the size of the biggest Talang we tapau. It sure put up a good fight but was no match for a PE3 rod. =) And those mini-groupers – mostly caught on apollo. It tasted superb, however you cook it. =)

The boat we use. Good for 4-5 pax max.





Pardon me for the randomly snapped blurred picture and sub-standard analysis as this is
my first ever fishing report. Keeping a steady hand on a rocking boat while emphasizing on the quality of shots taken (angle, lighting, clarity…etc) takes more than a ‘man with a camera’ to do it. Bravos to KK, Krazie Fishie and the likes for the often entertaining and professionally-captured shots.


Verdict: -

1. Get enough of rest prior to boarding. Else, you will end up falling asleep (or worst still, sea-sick = vomiting) on the boat. That defeats the purpose of going fishing in the first place.
2. Hardwork pays! Jig jig and jig. (Ok, for those jiggers only) Don’t stop even if your arms felt like dropping-off and your scalp start scalding under the sun.
3. Keep changing the color of jig and rhythm of jigging. I notice that takes are more frequent on fast-pace jigging @ P9.
4. Boatman – This boatman of ours is super-hardworking. Changing spots every 5 minutes or so if no-take. A hardworking boatman and a hardworking jigger is the recipe for a successful trip; catch-wise.
5. Grouper. This very much sought after price-catch demand a special attention in this post. When the boatman said “Ok, turun.. sini ada kerapu, drag kasi ketat sikit, kalau kena, kasi pump kuat-kuat naik sebelum dia masuk dalam lobang”, take his word for it. We anticipated at least 2 groupers was lost because we let it race back to the hideout.
6. Ok, confession. ALL our (3 of us) takes (talang, GT, groupers, barracuda/tenggiri) are on White Rabbit jigs – pink, purple and green. CapriceKids, IMA, Jazz of various colours doesn’t seem to entice any strikes. Seems like they prefer “mamak food” than Ah Yat Abalone!
   

- CK NG -