Thousands of miles away - Sailfishing!!

Hi guys! Long time no post - sorry!!

Still working over in Singapore. The surfcasting is pretty lousy, but the boat fishing is ok.

After jumping on this trip a while ago, I’ve been looking forward to it every day. Finally, after several more trips to the tackle shops, the day arrived for the drive up to Rompin in Malaysia from Singapore.



Found the accommodation OK, had a bite to eat and started to get the gear ready. After busy preparations of gear in anticipation of the battles to commence, we managed to get a little sleep and headed off to the jetty for breakfast. Saw a couple of Fishing Kaki guys there, ready for the off.

The morning was just waking up and the sea looked calm.




Out to sea we went and managed to catch enough Selar to tempt the Sails.



Master Popper Mervyn was at the bow, popping away merrily and had a couple of Sails chase, one made contact, but didn’t bite. Meanwhile, we had 3 rods out with balloons at the stern. We saw a Sail jump and the music started. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!! FISH ON!!!!! FISH ON MY ROD!!!!!!! WOOOOOOHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!






My first Sail – quite a shock to the system as it fought like hell!! After what seemed like an eternity, it came in close enough for our captain to grab hold- what a relief!!



So with a BIG smile, my first Sail was lying on my lap.



Next up was Mok – on his first fishing trip – Lucky man!!! With a little help from our organizer, Andy, his Sail was in and looking pretty for the foto-shoot.






Mervyn was next on the list with the rod bent over and reel singing – on his first big offshore trip! This sail was going nuts and jumping all over the place.



Quite a spectacle, but damn hard to take a photo in time to catch the action. This one decided to hide under the boat, so Mervyn had to dig the rod deep into the water to clear the propeller.



Finally, the Sail gave up and came in for its turn on the deck.





Next up was for our patient organizer. Once again, the acrobatic Sail put on a good show and then gracefully came in for the shoot.






Success! 4 Kakis, 4 Sails – great result!

As if on queue, the next sail hit my line again. Well, I did say it was my turn!



We managed a double hook up a while later with two Sails hitting within seconds of each other.



Andy and Mok battled at the stern, but Mok’s Sail spat the hook and sailed away. Andy’s fish came in and posed for the four of us.



Total for the day:
Andy – landed 2, lost 3
Mok – landed 2, lost 0
Mervyn (Popperman) – landed 2, lost 3 (not on poppers tho!)
Me – landed 3, lost 3



After a sumptuous meal of sotong (squid) and selar – the left over bait, we headed off to catch some sleep.

Day two arrived and once again, the weather looked kind.



Sunday was a bottom bashing day, but it was tough going. After a few Cuttlefish, Selar, Tamban and Kuning, we set off for the fishing grounds, but the fish just weren’t switched on and the action was darn slow! We managed a few table sized Grouper in the morning and then decided to put some balloon rigs out for Tinggiri (Spanish Mackerel).



After a short while, the music came – ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ and the ballon shooting across the water. FISH ON – FISH ON MY LINE!!!! YAAAAAHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Had to play this one carefully as the line was only 30lb and this fish was big! As it came to the boat, it started to go round, under, round, under, round, under and I had to dig the rod down deep. All lines were up, and the propeller raised. “WAH LAU – BIG ONE, BIG ONE” was the call from our captain Ah Liang as the fish showed itself. After a few more runs, it was on the gaff and up into the boat. Weighing in at exactly 10KG, it’s my second Tinggiri and my biggest to date.




A couple of slices of this fish went into our evening meal, accompanied by the bait (prawns), the Grouper, Cuttlefish and veggie. Yum yum!!!



All told, a fantastic trip was had by all. A memorable experience, great fishing, great food and great kakis!!



Thanks to my new friend Andy for the organization and to all the fishos for the fun trip.

Here's a couple of superb foto's by one of the other gang..






Cheers,

Ian

1 word... Outstanding.....

wish my dogfish jumped like that

2 words truly outstanding.

fantastic stuff

great to see such fish getting a sporting chance with the light gear and fixed spools.

well done

I'm Jealous.

Great report, great pictures and and great fishing That's the stuff dreams are made of pure class

thats top class fishing,and top class eating that photo brings me back to when i had a meal in boatquay,fish lobster noodles andrice all washed down with pint bottles of tiger beer.

You should have tasted the fish-head curry my wife made out of that mack's head! Yum yum!!!

Excellent report

Fantastic. Looked like really light gear too - must've been manic fishing!

that is one fish i love to get on a fly rod great report again.
and using pretty light gear great sport

ID!
I remember you when you were a small boy

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Fantastic fishing, fantastic report and fantastic pics.......what more can I sat, FANTASTIC

Hi Donal!

I remember that too! Still miss de wall and trying to get that big cod!!! Given the choice though, sailfishing wins over cod fishing!

Hope you're well and happy? That beard of yours must be like something from ZZ Top by now!!!

Seriously nice fishing there well done. One day....

great stuff Ian!!!

great report and fishing IDpearl...brings back memories...its been 6 years miss fishing out there

Cracking Report Ian. Super fishing as well. You guys hook up a lot of sails... Would this be a normal number of hookups?

Kev

There are some days, they talk of sails everywhere, with multiple hookups at the same time. My first sail was within 5 minutes of my first cast! On average, it sounds like we had a pretty good catch rate from other reports I've read and heard.

It is a fantastic feeling though! Can't wait until next year when I go again - booked already!!!!

There were a couple of Japanese guys on another boat with some serious fly fishing tackle. Don't know if they connected with the sails though - my Japanese is non-existant!

Gonna try more popping next year with my Abu Revo Inshore. Left it on the table on this trip! DOH!!!

The rod I was using was a PE2-4 jigging rod (20-40lb class) with 50lb braid and 60lb leader. To be honest, you don't want to fish too light as the fish would be exhausted and may not be released successfully. Better to have a good fight, bring the fish in, quick photo and back in before 2 minutes on the boat. Trail it alongside until it recovers and let her go.


Cheers,

Ian