Observation Epsilon - Pekan

The main agenda of going to Pekan this time is to take aerial footage for my video. The video title is 'The Meaning of Fishing'.

I can still remember when I first started fishing about 20 years ago, it was for the food. As I was only relying on my meagre pocket money and income from odd part time jobs, I would try to make every fishing trip worthwhile. I bought a set of fishing setup off the shelf of a supermarket and was thinking to myself, how many fish could I catch in order to write-off this 'startup costs'. The value of the fish caught was always weight against the money I spent on buying bait. At first I would keep a mental count of my expenditure but as time went by, I realised that it didn't matter to me whether the fish I caught could worth more than my bait anymore.

It was only after sometime that I decided to buy a proper fishing setup. Of course not to mention that I broke my first fishing rod when my line got stucked in some tree branches during casting. As usual, with a budget constraint, I chose a very cheap reel and rod. But at least this setup was much better than the one off a supermarket shelf. I had a small tackle box the size of my palm with six compartments, it was the one that came with the supermaket setup. It held all the fishing tackle I had at that time. For bulky items like a styrofoam float or sinkers, I would just put them in some recycled plastic bags together with my fishing reel when I travelled around to look for fishing spots. It was not surprising that I didn't make much progress in my fishing 'career' with these kind of tackle and limited knowledge.

The break through came when I was enlisted into National Service and maybe because of fate, I was posted to Brani Naval Base. If you asked anyone who had fished in BNB before, he will tell you that it is a fishing paradise. The fishing was simply fantastic! We did not require expensive baits like live prawns, and by the way, live prawns were a luxury to me during those days. I always envy those anglers I saw at the jetties using live prawns as bait while I was using some soft and squishy prawns that I dug out of my mom's freezer. In the base, I didn't even need to steal my mom's dinner ingredients anymore, there were plenty of chicken and night snacks in the cookhouse kitchen, and they worked like a charm. I would bring back enough fish for my family to cook for a whole week after every duty. There was one extraordinary night that 47 sea bass were landed! It was something that I would always remember. With conditions like these, duty nights were easy to pass and my army days ended in a blink of an eye.

Though with quite an experience in fishing paradise, my fishing knowledge was still limited. My knots were still not properly tied and many fish were lost due to this incompetency. After I came out of the navy, I went home empty handed for almost all my fishing trips. Even if there was something, it was catfish or some juvenile fish that was so small which couldn't even fill a cat's stomach. I could not get used to the pathetic catch I used to catch before I was enlisted in the navy anymore. It was really really demoralising and I was on the verge of giving it all up. But then I still could see other anglers catching fish. I kept questioning myself, why they were able to do it and I couldn't. During that period, it was also about the time when the internet became more widely available to people. I tried to search for all the information I could find on the internet, and I bought knot tying books too. It was then I realised that contrary to the common perspective that fishing is just about a rod and line, there was so much more into it.

The flood gates were open. The more I know about fishing, the more interested I was to test the newly learnt skills and techniques out. I also explored deeper into more remote potential fishing spots and discovered another side of this city country that I had not seen before. Though my catch did not improve instantly, in fact it remained sucked still most of the time, I was somehow happier and did not feel that demoralised anymore. Perhaps it was because I know that eventually one day I would be able to unlock the secret to fishing if I kept on persisting.

Along my fishing journey, I met a lot of friends and gurus, and I benefitted greatly from them. They had accumulated decades of fishing knowledge in their specialised field and were kind enough to impart their knowledge to me. My perception of fishing had totally changed too. Fish is not viewed as food anymore. They are my companion now. Though some of them may still sacrifice themselves as food for me and my family, I am and will always be grateful to what they have taught and given me.

The video will tell the rest of my story.

Land Log VIII - Bintan

Nirwana Resort at Bintan is one of the first few locations that I recce to conduct the Novice Angler Course. The selected location must have the following criteria:

1) Bait fish can be caught there.
2) Squid can be caught there.
3) There are some chances of catching a fish of reasonable size (>1kg).
4) Accommodation is available and comfortable.
5) Fishing area is well lit and safe.

Now let's see how many of the above does Nirwana Resort fulfill.

Early morning we took a long stroll from the resort to a jetty that is extended about 400m out into the sea.

The water condition looked good. As we approached the end of the jetty, we could see a huge mass of shadow underneath. At first I thought it was the clouds casting their shadows on the water surface but on closer look, they were bait fish! Millions of them!
(Item 1: Bait fish can be caught there. CHECKED)

The above is a specimen of the bait fish. However we did not know whether this is a good sign because if there were millions of them, does it mean it will take one millionth of a chance for a predator to take our baits?

Anyway we tried using them but there were no takes for the whole afternoon. So we called it a day and went back to the comfort of our room. The room was clean, air conditioning was cold, there was a mini fridge and the bed was simply... I felt like sleeping already even as I flashed back.
(Item 4: Accommodation is available and comfortable. CHECKED)

When night came, we went back to the jetty again to try our luck on squids. The jetty was guarded by a super huge K9. I think it was about the same height as me when it attempted to stand up and launched itself at me. Anyway I'm still alive now writing this blog, all thanks to the security guard that was trying very hard to calm the K9 down which by the way the dog's name is Maradona.
(Item 5: Fishing area is well lit and safe.)

We caught 3 and used 1 as bait. The squid bait was basically untouched throughout the whole night and we felt the bed calling for us again...
(Item 2: Squid can be caught there. CHECKED)

Next morning we went back very early even before the K9 ended his shift. This time it became much friendlier and that's when we knew that he was named after a great soccer player. We changed our fishing strategy. We brought the bait fish to where we felt the predators would be. After we caught our bait, we walked a distance away from the densely populated bait fish area and drop our lines down into the clear water. As I was just going to get some tackle from my bag, I heard the screaming sound from my reel! I turned my head and I could see that my rod was rocking violently and then pivoting on the handrail it was resting on. The next thing I know, it splashed into the water!

I was rooted to the ground when all these happened as they all happened too fast within a few seconds and my rod was gone. I rushed to the side of the handrail and watched my setup sank into the depths. The fish pulled the rod a couple of meters and it stopped. My setup had hit bottom and got stuck! I could still see a faded yellowish silhouette of my rod. Thinking that I may still have a chance to retrieve it back, I jumped into the sea, dived down towards the silhouette and yeah! I got back my setup back! The fish was gone though. Lesson learn, get a bright colour fishing rod so that you may still have the chance to see where it landed even if it sank into the sea. *just kidding
(Item 3: There are some chances of catching a fish of reasonable size (>1kg). CHECKED)

So it looks like this place fulfill all the aspects of a suitable fishing ground to conduct the Novice Angler's Course, BUT... everything here in this resort is so so expensive! I do not think this is sustainable. So let us look elsewhere...