Observation Beta - Pekan

For those anglers who had been to Pekan before, they would know that the river mouth to the sea is unique. It requires certain level of boating skills and knowledge of the place to get out from the river mouth to the open sea safely. When to increase the throttle and which direction to steer is crucial for a safe and fast ride out of the danger zone. So this time round, other than just sitting there trying not to let my butt slammed on the seat too hard, I was also observing carefully how the captain manuveured and controlled the boat.

Other than the skills of the captain, the design of the boat and the power of the engine played an important role in tackling this tricky river mouth situation. The hull has to be able to cut waves, and the bow has to be high enough so that water will not rush in after the boat slams back down into the water after riding a huge wave. The power of the engine is critical to bulldoze the boat against the incoming waves and also to slice through the waves faster, thus reducing the time spent in the risky waters.

From the fact that I was writing this, the captain had managed to bring us back safe and sound from a wonderful trip. First day was fun with lots of squid and small fish actions. I had also learnt how to catch trigger fish which is one of the hardest fish to land. They can grow to quite a reasonable size and strong enough to pull drag out of a light setup. But its mouth is as small as of a selar! This created a challenging task for us for trying to make it our dinner. We only managed to catch two but we were satisfied as the amount was just nice for four hungry stomachs.

We also landed three mackerals which we sashimi half of one of them together with two giant selars for our appetitizer. This dish was prepared in a Chinese style rather than Japanese. Everytime I introduced this to my fellow anglers, they would always enjoy it. Wonder how it tasted like and how it was done? Simply join me on one of my fishing trips and hope that we can catch something that is fit to be eaten raw.

Second day of the trip consisted of mixed feelings. The waves were bloody high at an average of 1.5 metres. Higher ones were easily over 2 metres! This was something not so favourable for such a small boat that we took. It also made casting out of the question, so my popping rod was just out for a ride to catch some sea salt. But the consolation was that we managed to land the biggest Chermin based on my personal record to date. This bugger tipped the scale at a whopping 9kg with the smaller one at 8kg!

As weather was bad, we didn't move around much. We stayed at one spot much longer than usual. Getting around from spot to spot would mean getting ourselves drenched all over again everytime. This was what happened to us when we rode back to the harbour. It was a very wet but yet enjoyable day. Luckily no one got seriously sea sick.