Land Log III - Fishing Workshop Part II

The second day of fishing started after our lunch. The current was moderate when we arrived, just the right speed for fishing. My friend was the first one to cast out his line. Within 3 minutes, he landed the first parrot fish.

Soon, I also landed mine. There were many takes and we released all that were too small for a meal like this...

Once our live prawns were depleted, we left to get more baits. These were the total catch in a 2 hour plus session.

After buying baits and settling our dinner at Beach Road army market, we went back for our second half of the "workshop". This time with another friend joining us.

The bite rate was slow but once a while we would be greeted by a sweetlip snapper.

We caught three of this snapper and the last catch of the night was a blue spotted stingray again.

It also gave birth to it's baby but sadly this time around, it didn't manage to survive.

This wrapped up our Fishing Workshop. We had a couple of exciting moments, some long periods of no action and some bite marks left behind by sand flies on my arms and legs which are still irritating me now. With the excellent company, I can say it was a great success!

Land Log III - Fishing Workshop Part I

It has been years since I last visited this fishing spot. As I had some businesses nearby, I decided to drop by to wet my lines. It was near high tide when I reached there. The current was still as strong as what I can remember. I cast out my live prawn and started spinning it while the strong currents swept my line across rapidly in front of me.

There were lots of nibbles and the live prawns were being used up in an alarming rate. The abundant coral reefs in the area also contributed to depleting my bait supply faster, as some were lost when I had to force my line out of the reefs. It was not long when I landed a flathead, a common species that you will find lazing around on the corals.

It was released back after my short disturbance to it's afternoon nap. A few other coral fishes like Spanish flag, etc, were caught and released.

All the live prawns were used up around dinner time and it was the anglers' turn to feed themselves.

The bite rate during the day was encouraging, so we went to get some kelong sotong to continue our fishing in the evening. Night activities were no less than during the day. The small coral fishes were soon feeding fast on our expensive squid bait again! Then a baby shark was caught by my friend without putting on much struggle.

As the tide was reaching its lowest, the current finally started to slow down. This was when there was a sudden strong pull on my rod. The line was dashing towards a nearby column fast and I had to be even faster to retrieve it back against the strength of the fish plus the current. After a short tug-of-war, I was beaten. The prey had managed to seek refuge at the column. Resigning to my fate of adding another lost unknown to my statistics, I decided to free the line by breaking it forcefully.With drag tightened and thumb on the spool, I managed to pull it free with the fish still hooked at the end of the abraded line precariously!

 

I was very lucky to have landed this grouper, and it was joined shortly after by a blue spotted stingray.

 

It gave birth to its baby soon after it's captured. The baby was released unharmed and the mother into the keep net. We decided to call it a day after all the baits had been used up, and looked forward to the second day of our "workshop". Stay tuned!