Barra Paradise Part 2

Location:Barra Island
Bait:Live Prawns
Date: 03062010

Met my fellow regulars at changi in the morning to stock up on supplies before our trip. Took the usual bumboat ride to Barra Island and off we set to the usual spot. Weather was scorching hot that day. Nevertheless we carried on our pursuit for the prized barramundi. It was around noon and the sun was high up. Terry and Kimberly left the spot for awhile to get some drinks and left me in-charge of all the rods. As I was busy minding my own business trying to get the heat off my mind, I took a peek at my rod. The line was awkwardly tight with a slight bend at the tip as if I had a snag at the end of the line. I made the decision to give a pump and reel in the line. There was a bit of weight to it but no fight. Expecting a branch or a plastic bag to emerge, instead a decent sized mudcrab was actually the culprit. Unhooked the rather agitated fellow and tied it up. Abt half and hour later and my two other kakis were still not back yet. Once again while minding my own business I could hear a screaming reel coming from one of the rods. "ZzZZZzzzzz!!!!" goes Terry rod as it was bending into a U shape. This was my chance and I dashed to the rod and gave a slight pump. Fish ON!! It was also a fighter. The fish kept swimming left and right before breaking the surface of the water. With no one to assist I had to bend down to the edge of the water and pull the fish on land. Mission accomplished. A healthy 1kg plus Barramundi landed. Called the kakis and they hurriedly made their way to my location to see what all the fuss was about. Took a shot with the prize. My first battle with a wild Barra for 2010. Truly epic!

Barra Paradise Part 1

Due to busy schedules in NS finally managed to meet up the pioneer kaki of this blog, Fariz on 29th May 2010. Met at changi at 8am to get live "ammunition" before heading to location via bumboat. Upon landing we each rented a bicycle and headed to a spot we never tried before. The day started very slow with occasional bites from catfishes.Towards the end of the day at abt 5.30pm, the tide was receeding and Fariz decided to cast near some mangrove trees. This time he held on to his rod to sense any form of bite. Instead of getting just a nibble, a predator had taken his bait in a split sec and made a dash for the mangrove. At this point, Fariz was already on hand to guide the fish out of the snag zone. Seconds later the predator emerge from the depths and leaping out of the water flaunting its acrobatic attempts to get loose. Excitement filled our minds as its been awhile since I and Fariz seen a wild Barramundi landed. Pictures snapped and off Fariz go making his 2nd attempt at the same spot. The next thing that happened surprised both of us because as soon as the sinker touched the bottom, Fariz rod made a bend. Fariz who this time was totally caught by surprised rushed to his rod and pulled in a smaller barra than before. It was getting late and we didn't want to miss the boat so we cycled off and leaving a potentially good spot. 2/2 hits for Fariz and zero fighter for me. Congrats to bro Fariz on an epic fishing trip.

CR at Pasir Ris Park near WB 13

This trip was planned days ago as Pasir Ris Park was hit by the marine catfish frenzy/season. It was 31th of March, a day after my birthday. Me, Andre and Faisal met at my v/deck at 2plus am after checking the perfect tide to hunt for these voracious catfishes. Armed with our rods, reel and dead prawns as ammunition we drove off to the battle zone near to WB 13, Pasir Ris Park. On arrival, tide was at 0.1m and going up slowly. We set up and made our first cast. Within 5 mins of wait, I got first blood when my rod made a bend.I reeled in with ease the first marine catfish of the night. Next up was Faisal, receiving the same action on his rod. The activity was non stop for 3hrs straight with fish after fish being hauled up. A total of 13 duri was subdued by two anglers in 3hrs. The only setback was that Andre was the unlucky one as he turned out zero fighter that night.

U will get your chance again Dre..

Its been a hell of a long time since any catch reports was posted on this blog. Well if this was a photo album at home it probably already collected a thick layer of dust. Anyway, let's begin where I left off somewhere in 2010. It was the year i broke my personal record for catching barramundis. Along the way i met new kakis sharing the same addiction as I do. So let's kick off with a CR at Pasir Ris Park.

Lorong Halus

Went fishing with the old kakis Dre and Shai at lor halus yesterday night. Only one fish was landed that night, a 700g orange spotted grouper on dead prawns. Let the pics do the talking.

First shot with grouper
A clearer shot

Boat Fishing: East Coast

Went on a boat trip with my dad and uncles on saturday night, eve of national day. The water wasn't that good but we managed to haul up a couple of decent fish. My dad struck first with a 2kg kaci followed by one of uncle who battled a really big conger eel (malong emas). He got the fish on board but unfortunately it escaped by jumping out right after dehooking. Dad caught a 500g red snapper and a different uncle caught another kaci weighing 500g also. After that we caught a 2kg threadfin and a 2.5kg ladyfish. An average boat trip but still a successful one.

The 2 beauties!

Another picture

Not our luck

Went to east coast last night with my old bud Shang. We planned to catch up and get on for some fishing action. So we proceeded to a random water breaker and started setting up . We were completely oblivious to what to happen next...The tide was rising pretty fast...Hmm..A good sign for fishing. However, as soon as we turned our backs, we realised the water breaker was already surrounded with water. We felt !@#$^&* stranded. Eventually we went down the back of the WB to get to shore. And guess what...The water was at chest level! Upon reaching shore totally drenched, I realised my damn phone got wet and of course gone case. Shang apparently slipped on the rocks and got a deep cut on his foot. Looks really painful. With 300g of live prawns, I left the spot while Shang went back with his buddy to tend to his injuries.

I took taxi home and called my cousin Dre if he wanted to go pond. Better news, my dad was home which meant I get to drive to farmway for more fishing. So i took a quick shower, got the keys, pick up my cousin and drove off to farmway. It was fun first time driving as a license holder. So I parked the car outside, paid the cash and started fishing. It took us 2 long hours of waiting before Dre hauled up 1kg plus MJ. The fight looked pretty good with the fish stripping the line off the spool now and then. After that no more action. We saw a freaking huge grouper right in front of us but it didn't want our bait. Shortly after that, a guy came with a floater hooked with a small japanese fish. 10 secs and barm! The fat grouper was hooked he fought the fish for a solid 5 mins before Dre help scoop it up. The guy was worried it was 5kg but to his relieve it was just 4.2kg which means CnK (Catch and Keep). Here's the pic of the MJ caught. Till next time.

Mangrove Jack!!