Friday, October 27, 2006

Stock Check

During the long holidays last weekend, I decided to organize my tackle. I did a stock check on all the rods, reels and lures that I have in my collection.

The result....????

Rods : 11 Rods Total
Reels : 7 reels Total
Lures : 45 Lures total

:::... Close up of the rods I own ...:::

:::... All stacked and ready for battle ...:::
:::... Reels of various size and capacity ...:::

:::... See any lures that you fancy ...:::

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 ...:::

Friday, October 13, 2006

Kembali Ke Kampung Stoh

***** This is a report by MangrooveDan from Kuching, Sarawak *****

Dari hari Isnin hinggalah ke Jumaat, saya akan mengalami masalah untul bangun awal, 6.30 pagi, untuk menyiapkan diri untuk ke pejabat untuk bekerja. Tetapi bila tiba hujung minggu, lebih-lebih lagi bila hujung minggu itu telah diputuskan akan ke padang pancing, bangun seawal 5.00 pagi pun tak bermasalah. Itulah yang terjadi 1 October 2006 yang baru lalu. Awal minggu lagi, pelan telah ditetapkan yang saya akan turun ke padang pancing dengan seorang kawan yang juga kaki pancing, Chen, namanya. Pelannya adalah untuk memancing di Jeti Kampung Rambungan, yang terletaknya kira-kira 45 minit dengan kereta dari pusat bandar Kuching. Jadual air ditilik dan ia menandakan yang air pasang-surut pada hari tersebut sememangnya sesuai untuk memancing di jeti tersebut. Lagi-lagi, cuaca yang cukup panas dan tiada hujan akan mencantikkan kualiti air. Menurut Chen yang pernah memancing di jeti tersebut, antara ikan yang dapat di pancing di situ adalah anak gerepoh.

Pagi minggu itu, saya telah pun bersiap sedia dengan "senjata" saya seawal 6.00 pagi. Chen tiba di pintu rumah saya 10 minit kemudian. Setelah memunggah barang ke dalam kereta Chen, kami pun bergegas ke Kampung Rambungan. Cuaca pada hari tu cukup berjerebu. Index Kualiti Udara mungkin mencecah angka 200, memandangkan jarak penglihatan kami adalah dalam lingkungan 1km sahaja. Untuk ke jeti, kami terpaksa melintasi Batang Rambungan dengan feri dengan kadar tambang hanya RM1.00 untuk jalan sehala. Setiba di jeti, kelihatan permandangan yang indah dan yang paling penting, tiada pemancing lain yang sedang memancing di situ. Sememangnya, quality air pada hari tersebut sememangnya sangat cantik. Beribu-ribu ikan bilis sedang mengerumuni jeti, mencari tempat berteduh dari serangan-serangan ikan besar seperti gerepoh, talang, todak dan alu-alu. Sekali-sekala akan kelihatan ikan-ikan bilis melompat bertempiaran kerana ikan pemangsa sedang menyerang mereka. Apa nak ditunggu lagi, kami berdua pun bergegas memasang matakail apollo untuk cuba menawan ikan-ikan pemangsa tersebut.

Lontaran demi lontaran dibuat, tetapi ikan pemangsa tidak mengendahkan persembahan kami. Kami juga memasang joran untuk pancingan dasar dengan umpan hirisan sotong, hirisan ikan kembung dan juga udang pasar, tetapi tiada sambaran berlaku, kecuali umpan kami dikutis habis oleh anak-anak ikan. Ketika saya sedang menunggu sambaran ikan, tiba-tiba kelihatan seekor ikan siakap, angaran seberat 3kg berenang di permukaan air, kira-kira 2m dari tempat saya sedang berdiri. Dapat dilihat kilauan sisik siakap tersebut and juga kelihatan seolah-olad siakap tersebut sedang memerhatikan saya sebelum berenang ke bawah jeti. Saya dapati saya hanya dapat memerhati gelagat siakap tersebut dan tak sempat pun pergi mengambil joran saya. Setelah insiden, selang beberapa minit kemudian, kelihatan siakap yang sama meronda-ronda di salah satu tiang jeti tersebut sebelum menghilangkan diri. Chen dan saya menghabiskan kira-kira 3 jam di jeti tersebut, tanpa sebarang keputusan. Kami pun membuat keputusan untuk ke Kpg Stoh yang terletak kira-kira 15 minit dari jeti. Di sana terdapat sebuah kolam siakap. Semua orang dibenarkan memancing disana, janji yang mereka akan membawa sekurang-kurangnya seekor ikan balik dengan harga RM12 sekilo.

Chen dan saya pun mengeluarkan gewang dan memulakan acara mengilat, masing-masing bersungguh-sungguh hendak mendapatkan ikan pertama untuk hari tersebut. Saya mengunakan gewang Halco Sorceror R11 (52mm) berwarna emas. Joran saya pula Lemax Platinum 4-8lb dengan tali tangsi kekuatan 12lb. Lebih kurang setengah jam membuat lontaran, siakap-siakap di kolam masih mendiamkan diri. Kelihatan yang kami akan pulang dengan tangan kosong pada hari tersebut. Saya pun berjalan mengelilingi kolam yang sebesar dua arena bola keranjang tersebut. Saya mencuba membuat balingan berdekatan kekipas air. Balingan pertama, terasa ada getuan bila gewang berenang selari dengan kekipas tersebut. Balingan kedua, kejadian yang sama berlaku dan sekarang boleh dilihat ekor ikan yang membuat pusingan U. Lontaran ketiga, bila gewang masuk sahaja zon kekipas, gewang dilarikan ikan. Joran ultra ringan, sebenarnya untuk udang, melentur macam huruf "n". Tali 12lb meluncur keluar dari kekili Speed, walaupun tekanan "drag" dipasang agak ketat. Saya cuba dengan sedaya-upaya menghalakan ikan untuk keluar dari "sarang"nya yang berkayu. Akhirnya, saya berjaya berbuat demikian, tetapi alangkah terkejutnya bila ikan tersebut timbul keletihan. Ia bukannya siakap, tetapi bukan species BARRAMUNDI tetapi SIAKAP MERAH, atau lebih dikenali sebagai MANGROVEJACK. Ia berjaya didaratkan dan apabila ditimbang, skala menunjukkan 1.0kg!!!

Selepas keputusan tersebut, semangat kami berdua berkobar-kobar lagi untuk terus acara casting. Balingan serta balingan dibuat ke tempat-tempat yang nampaknya berpotensi. Saya berjaya memperdaya seekor ikan lagi lebih kurang 15 minit kemudian, dan adegan tarik-menarik berlaku, tetapi kali ini kemenangan berpihak kepada ikan yang berjaya memutuskan tali serta melarikan gewang halco saya.

Yunus, pemilik kolam terkejut apabila saya hendak membayar untuk siakap merah tadi. Beliau bertanya dimana saya mendapatkan siakap merah tersebut, kerana terdapat 2 buah kolam milik keluarga beliau. Kami pun memberitahu yang ia dari kolam yang lebih besar. Beliau kemudian menceritakan yang siakap merah itu adalah siakap merah liar yang beliau tangkap apabila memancing di sungai berdekatan. Oleh kerana masih kecil, beliau melepaskan ia ke dalam kolam.

Siakap merah..............RM15 sekilo
Gewang Halco Sorceror...............RM28
Kepuasan memancing seharian.............................tiada harga bandingan.

:::... MangrooveDan with Mangroove Jack ...:::

Monday, October 02, 2006

One Fathom Bank : 30 Sept - 1 Oct - Catch Report

Location : One Fathom Bank, Straits of Melaka
Date : 30 September 2006 - 1 October 2006
Time : 10.00 am (30/09/06) - 10.30 am (01/10/06)
Anglers involved : Team Crazyfishermen and Team Maniam (Total 8 anglers)
Boatman (tekong) : Encik Nazami (019-3477766)

After many moons of without a proper fishing, Team Crazyfishermen (plus a few extras) made a trip to One Fathom Bank (OFB). For this trip, we had 2 newbies with us; my cousin Kesvin @ Rajiv and my brother, Sharveen.

:::... OFB Veterans - Navin and Sharma ...:::

:::... OFB Newbies - Kesvin and Sharveen ...:::

The plan was to rendevous with Team Maniam in Klang at 8.00 am. Being Team Crazyfishermen, our timing never goes according to plan. We only met up with them at 9.00 am. After a quick breakfast, we all made our way to the jetty.

The ride to OFB was quite bumpy. The waves were quite strong. Dark cloud followed us all the way to OFB. Lucky for us it didn't pour. Just a slight drizzle. As we got closer to OFB, the was still gloomy, but no rain. This is a good thing for us, as we would not be burnt while fishing.

Once we got onto OFB, we were suprised that there were no one on the lighthouse. Not a single soul were fishing up there. This is quite unusual as from our previous trip to OFB, the lighthouse is always occupied with people fishing. This was good for us as we could fish from where ever we wanted without worrying about getting our line tangled with other fishos.

:::... L-R : Kesvin, Sharveen and Navin ....:::

:::... Krazie Fishie aka Sharma ...:::

After sitting up our base camp, we proceeded to set up our live bait tank. Our live bait well was quite a good idea I would say. We would later realize that we had made a big error in planning.

:::... Baby pool filled with baitfish ...:::

We had place live selar kuning in the kiddie pool to be used as our live bait. However, we didn't realize that they were fast swimmers and it was quite difficult to catch them with our bare hands. We had neglected to bring along a net to catch the fish. The sight of 4 clowns trying to catch those fishes we a sight to behold. (Note to self : Next time bring net).

The condition was perfect for fishing. Navin and myself had 2 lines each in the water. Navin went for the baloon rig for both his lines and I went for 1 ballooon rig and 1 bottom rig.

:::... Empty OFB. Waiting for a strike ...:::

The 2 newbies were enjoying themselves with the apollo rig. There were busy catching bait fish for Navin and myself to used. They were really ejoing themselves. They were getting familiarized with the proper technique of casting and removing the fishes from the hook without murdering the fish.

:::... Sharveen jigging for selar kuning ...:::

:::... See the smile on his face ...:::

:::... Slow and steady ...:::

:::... Kesvin doing his stuff ...:::

:::... All smiles from the newbie ...:::

:::... Slowly does it ...:::

Navin and myself were busy keeping an eye on our rods when we heard a commotion behind us. Seems like a member from Team Maniam has landed a todak. Earlier he lost a todak because the line snapped under preassure. This time, he skillfully played the fish till it was tired before bring it up.

:::... Todak by a member from Team Maniam ...:::

We were both pumped up after seeing the catch. We now know that there are biggies in the vicinity. It was a matter of time before it was our turn to land a fish. Shortly after successfully landing the todak, Maniam from Team Maniam's reel gave a scream. It was a shill scream... It was the scream of a reel in distress. With lightning quick speed, Maniam ran towards his reel and gave his rod a whip. FISH ONNNN...!!!!!!!!!! After a brief fight, the fish was landed. It was a queenfish (ikan talang). There was joy painted on Maniam's face.

:::... Maniam with his queenfish (talang) ...:::

Soon after Maniam had landed his queenie, there was further exictment. Our boatman's assistant, who was busy apollo jigging for selar kuning had a hit. A queenfish had taken the selar kuning that had been hooked on the apollo rig. What a sight that was.... The boatman's assistant was trying his mighty best to control the fish and prevent the apollo rig from giving way. The fight lasted for more than 10 minutes before the fish was subdued. Wha a catch that was..!!!!

:::... Queenie on apollo by the boatman's assistant ..:::

Maniam had another two more hits, but didn't manage to land the fish due to terminal tackle failure. One fish was lost when the hook straightened, and another fish was lost when the clips gave way. Must have been one hell of a fish for it to that to happen.

When nighfall came, we all proceeded to change our bait to fresh squids. I was busy preparing the rigs for my brother and cousin when Navin had a hit on his line. He was using fresh squid as bait. After a brief fight the fish was landed. According the lighthouse keepers, the fish caught is know as tebal pipi or pipi tebal. Something like that. I am not to sure myself. I can't seem to find the fish on fishbase.org. If anyone one of you know the name of this fish, please enlighten me.

:::... Anyone care to identify this fish ...:::

The two newbies were excited after upon seeing Navin's catch. They waited patiently while I rigged their rods for thm. One I was done, I showed them the proper way to place the bait on the hook and the proper way of casting. They did as instructed to them and very soon they were rewarded. They both managed to get double hook ups. Hehehe.... I have probems identifying this fish as well. Any help for you guys out there.

:::... Sharveen with his double hook up ...:::

:::... Kesvin with his double hook up ...:::

Everything went down hill from then on. There were no more hits by the biggies. Only small fishes were caught. The two newbies decided to retire for the night at around 11.30pm and Navin and myself stayed up till about 2.30am before retiring for the night.

The next day, we were up by 7.30am and didn't waste any time. We immediately proceed to get some live bait and drifted out our baits. The two newbies prepared breakfast and we were soon enjoying lebanese bread with canned chicken curry. We washed it all down with strong black coffee.

:::... Newbies enjoying their breakfast ...:::

While drifting our baits using balloon rig, we saw a commotion. The queenies were on a frenzy. The were hitting the baitfishes like crazy. There were splashes all over the place. The queenies started their feeding frenzied about 50 meters away from where our baits were. They were slowing working their way towards our bait. Then everything stopped. The frenzy came to a halt about 5 meters away from our bait. Everyone was cursing by then. Why did it had to stop...!!!!! 5 more meters and the queenies would have reached our bait. I did try casting my lures towards where the frenzy was, sadly no takers.

Soon it was time for us to pack up and leave. We didn't get what we came for. With heavy hearts, we pack up our bags and proceeded to board the boat.

:::... They had a good time ...:::

The boat ride back was suprisingly smooth. No bumps along the way. By the time we got back home all of us were tired, stinking, hungry but HAPPY.

:::... Our total catch ...:::

CONCLUSION : I would say that this trip was a little dissapointing. Although we had the whole loghthouse for ourselves, and we could see the fish were in a frezy, we didn't manage to land and biggies. Even the small baitfishes were hard to come by. The ones that we caught were quite small. Hopefully, our next trip would be a much better trip.