I was a Lone Ranger on Tanjung Beach early on Saturday morning. Once more, faced with a choice of left or right. On the left is Pulau Tekukor (Turtle Dove Island) - one of the Southern Islands of Singapore. The island was also known as Pulau Penyabong and is also the site of a former ammunition dump. Beyond that is St. John’s Island where I know the currents are too fierce for kayaking. Conscious of being on my own, I opted for the safer journey to the right, past the Southernmost Point of Singapore and the wooden huts of “The Songs of the Sea” show.
Southernmost Point of Singapore
“The Songs of the Sea”
Once I arrived at the huts, I thought I’d drop a line down for some bait fish. The rod tip danced as the bait hit and then bent over as something bigger took hold. As the line shot off to one direction, the load felt lighter and lighter and then to the surface came one small Queen fish on the last remaining hook! I guess there must have been a few of them waiting down there!
I put her back in, but the next drop was the same, so I cast out a rubber lure which was instantly taken by a flying Queenie, but spat out again as she danced. The next 4 casts were the same, but without a solid hook-up. After this, I couldn’t get a take on other lures, so moved over to the small island in front of the showground. Here I hooked up a beautiful reef fish, which could not get the whole hook in its greedy mouth.
Time was now running out, so I had to get back and look forward to tomorrow’s trip.
Sunday was an early 6am meeting with Mervin at the tackle shop in Yishun to buy some live prawn. Once our temptations were in the back, we headed back to the car and were surprised to see Boon driving up. He was heading out on a solo mission to try out his new fishfinder, so asked if he could join us. Introduced him to Merv and away we went, just as it started to rain!!
Luckily, the rain was only a brief passing shower and the sky soon cleared. As we reached the first spot, nothing was showing on the finders, but we stopped for a while to see if any fish were passing by. I had a take and up shot a Giant Herring – Phtooi – spat the hook! DANG!!!
Merv & I anchored in the same spot, but Boon was drifting about 30 meters away. Boon said he was showing fish, so we tightened our grip on the rods and waited for some fishy action to come our way. Next time I looked over, Boon’s rod was bent over….FISH ON!! Out leapt a Herring! Lucky bugger! We’ve had several takes of Herring at this spot, but always thrown the hook as they leap up out of the water. But Boon’s fish was on tight and would surely come to the yak. As I paddled over, Boon brought up the fish and for the first time, we could see one of them up close.
This was Boon’s 3rd trip on the yak and 2nd good fish!
Next to bend was my rod and up shot another Herring. Phtooi – spat the hook again!! The next 3 takes were the same! I changed to some smaller hooks and put them as a double hook rig on a long hook length – both hooks into one prawn. I guess the prawn didn’t like this much, so my apologies to the prawn. My rod tip took a big dive and a strong pull was taking line under my yak. I tightened the drag and pulled back. If this was a herring, it was a bloody big one! As I retrieved line, the swivel showed, but I still couldn’t see the fish! The water was quite dark, but I was half expecting to see the silver of a Barramundi. What then showed its face was a big smiling Catfish! This was a big fish which swirled around and took another dive, followed by another and another. Slowly I lifted it’s head out of the water and brought it closer to get the lip-grip on. 7lbs on the Boga – GOTCHA!!
After a few photo’s, released the pussy, changed the rig (the other was covered in slime) and dropped back down for some more fishy action. Once again, fish showed on the finder and my rod tip took a dive, but this didn’t feel like a Catfish or Herring. This one was tugging and I at first thought it was a snapper, but as the fish came up, it was a small Orange Spotted Grouper – a surprise visitor to this spot! He almost looked as surprised as I was!
He went back in and said thank you with a splash of his tail. Next up was Mervin with a nice Ang Cho.
Another bend on my rod and a few good strikes from me to set the hook. The Herring shot out and…..stayed on! Yaaahoooo!!!! Finally!!
These are a beautiful fish, but are supposed to have a lot of bones, so people don’t like them much. Unfortunately, you have to put them back quickly too, or they quickly die from stress. This one was bleeding from the gills, so went into the bag. I guess I’ll find out how many bones they have!
A little while later and my rod dipped again, line peeling off to one side. Set the hook again and out jumps another Herring. The line went slack as it fell back to the water, but then tightened again – still on! Out she came for a photo shoot, but this was bleeding more than the first, so I now have 2 Herring in the bag. OK, enough of Herring already, but they are good fun to catch!
Cheers,
Ian
Great report, great pics. Fair play for taking the time, always an interesting read.
