fishing at 3am?????

Didn't go fishing for the past few days due to the bad weather. It rained almost everyday here in Sandakan. Don't even have the mood to go fishing. I would rather sleep at home. Anyway, Once an angler, always an angler. Wong went fishing at 3am just now. He invited me to join him but it was too early for me. Actually I had just arrived home from having a drink with Steve. These are what he got fishing at 3.00 early in the morning.

Fendy finally.....

Planned to go to Berhala Island this morning but...... anyway, we went to Sandakan's Navy Base this afternoon from 330pm to 630pm. Fishing for 3 hours with Donny, Fendy and Elysius. Used belanak as bait.

6 Fishing rods lined up together, excluding Fendy's. He went back early today.

It was a very lucky day for Fendy as he finally landed a small kerapu. He sent me a SMS just now saying that he felt great and he won't be able to sleep tonight.

As for Donny, he caught a manyung. He planned to rear it.

I nearly gave up fishing.....

Haven't catch any 'good' fish for almost 2 months. I nearly gave up fishing. Luckily I had luck this evening joining Wong and Ah Wah in their favourite spot. I went there at about 430pm -600pm. When I reached there, Wong had already caught an ikan merah which was about 400-450g. At about 500pm, it was Ah Wah's turn to get a small kerapu. Wong took it. He wanted to keep it in his aquarium. I planned to go back at 600pm. I nearly gave up when all of a sudden I felt nibbles on my thumb. Using only a RM3.50 Bird Ship Brand's 35lbs line, a small sinker and a medium size hook with tamban as bait, I managed to catch a kerapu which was about 300-350g. It was small but..... It was enough to satisfy myself as I haven't get any good catch for a long time. The excitement of fishing has come. Will surely join Wong again tomorrow. This is my third kerapu. I'm now eying on ikan merah and GT.

The baby kerapu with RM3.50 Bird Ship Brand's 35lbs line, small sinker and a medium size hook.

This is Wong's ikan merah which was about 400-450g.

fishing during the full moon

Some people might say that fishing during the full moon is not recommended. But Fendy didn't care much about that. He went to the jetty in Kampung Air just now. Hope to hear some good news from him.

As for Wong ..... he went to his favourite spot this evening and caught 2 kerapus - a baby and a grandbaby kerapus. The grandbaby kerapu was trapped in his crab's trap.

Guess what? Wong planned to keep both these kerapus in his aquarium. He planned to fish for smaller saltwater fish so that he can put them in his aquarium with these kerapus.

We are anglers, not fishermen. Good fishing and good food bring good people together.

crabs

Wong and his friends went fishing at the jetty in Sandakan wet market. Didn't catch any fish but instead, he caught these mama and baby crabs. This was his first experience in crab hunting. I've bought the crab's trap too and surely I'll try to hunt for crab in my next trip.

No Fish at all.....giving up? Not now

Fishing in a restricted or protected area was 'cool'. It's a restricted area and yet the security guards allowed us to fish there. The SEO factory was once my favourite fishing spot. Went there few days ago and I was not able to catch any fish at all. Everything went wrong that day. Fishing marathon and yet, there was no fish at all. Was it the baits? the weather? the tide? I was confused.

The entrance of the SEO factory.

This was the place where I caught my second kerapu.
Some people said that there is a keratang somewhere below this bridge.
My new popper. Haven't catch any fish yet with any of my hard baits.
Donny was playing with his new sinking lure at the Navy Base. It was 'released' to the ocean this evening.

Donny's polarized sunglass which costs RM130. Very useful for surf casters.

Ikan tali pinggang? Nangkin?

I went to the wet market with Donny just now. Saw Ah Wah there. We joined him at the back of a boat. He caught two nangkins or ikan tali pinggang ( I'm not really sure the name of the fish, but Ah Wah said those are the names given to them ). He offered me the fish. He told me that I only need to deep fry the fish and it tastes good. So, I took the fish home and I'll fry it tomorrow. Will inform you all about the taste of the fish.

Ikan tali pinggang / Nangkin.

Look at the razor sharp teeth. It can easily cut off your line.

live baits

Wong had entered a new dimension in fishing - the use of live bait. He went to Sungai Kayu ( wooder river????? ) at about 3.30pm yesterday afternoon. He went with his school's gardener to get some prawns. Wanted to use the prawns as live bait for fishing last night. They caught quite a lot of prawns.

Wong's school's gardener in action.

This was the result.

With the prawns, he only caught these two gelamas? For me, I would rather 'use' the prawns for dinner. Hahahahhaaaaa......

Anyway, it's quite interesting to try and experience new techniques in fishing. I'm still looking forward to catch fish with my popper. The day will come.....

freshwater & saltwater

Went to the 'tembok' near Dewan Masyarakat at 700am. Donny was already there since 450am. Used tamban and sotong as bait. Fendy arrived at about 715am and Elysius at 730am.

Donny and Fendy concentrating fishing.

The only catch of the day for salt water fishing was an otik caught by me, myself and I. It was quite big and I refused to take photo with it as it was already too common to land an otik. Furthermore, I don't want the title 'raja otik'. Went back at about 1030am. Could not stand the heat. Planned to go fishing again in Taman Sandakan with Elysius and Fendy at 300pm. It was a nice spot for fishing....but....it was closed when we reached there and there was a NO FISHING sign at the entrance.

So, we went to Seguntor. Reached there at about 315pm.

Fendy, busy preparing his 'weapons'. His 'weapons' are always ready in the car. Anytime, anywhere..... give him a call and he will surely go.

Look at this fishing spot in Seguntor. Wondered why we were not able to catch any fish here.

At about 500pm, we gave up. I was the first person to give up and suggested that we went to Batu Putih. Arrived there at 510pm. Saw some people fishing. Climbed up the tree where Elysius and I caught haruans few weeks ago. We used prawns as bait. Elysius caught a haruan. That was the only catch of the day for our fresh water fishing trip. We were shocked when we saw some people fishing for crocodile.....wahhhhhh! He said that there are 4 crocodiles in the pond. They used chicken as bait for the crocodile. Anyway, all of us went back at 600pm as the mosquitoes were attacking us.

Although the haruan was not as big as Elysius' reel, but..... it was announced as 'THE FRESHWATER CATCH OF THE DAY' for today's fishing trip.

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..... I was wrong to say that I've got the 'salt water catch of the day'. Wong had just SMSed me saying that he caught a 1.9kg ikan merah. This was an email sent from him few minutes ago -> ____________________________________________________________________

Ikan merah pertama. Di pasar td jam 5 mula n jam 5.30 dah dpt. Punya best feel tarik. Lwn btl. Handline dgn 60lbs tangsi. Smlm pancing jg kami. Aku pulang jam 11.30pm tp Chu mereka masih pancing d sana. Brgkl jam 12 bgt, ada 1 melayu sana dpt kerapu dalam 4 – 5kg bgt. Sudah naik d letak nya kerapu d lantai. Then dia pasang umpan n humban blk. Lps humban ikan nya, dia kasi masuk ikan nya dlm kotak. Lps simpan pi lah pegang tangsi nya yg sudah di buang td. Sejurus d pegang nya d tarik lg 1 ekor kerapu dlm 2kg bgt.

Wong with his first 1.9kg ikan merah. Now he has completed the quest to catch Kerapu , merah and GT. Now I wonder, what will be his next target?????

1.9kg ikan merah.....

only ikan batu?????

Planned to go fishing with Donny. SMSed each other since noon. So, there we were at the Sandakan wet market at about 830pm. We used belanak and sotong as baits. Felt some nibbles but we didn't get any catch. At about 930pm, we changed our spot. We joined Wong and his gang at his favourite spot.....of course it's at the jetty in Sandakan wet market. Saw his friends caught 2 kerapus weighed 1.1kg and 1.8kg. They also caught a lot of 'sea snakes'. Wong caught 2 gelamas, 2 otiks and 2 sea snakes with his new 10ft long fishing rod. Like usual, I didn't catch anything there and 'best' of all, I donated some of my sinkers to the corals there. At 1130pm, Donny and I decided to go to Donny's favourite spot - the Sandakan Navy Base. I casted my new 10feet long fishing rod and 40lbs line. Within minutes, I caught ikan batu. It was smaller than my reel. Anyway, that's the only catch I've got tonight. Went home at about 220am. Planned to go fishing again on Sunday at..... according to Donny, 500am. How to wake up aaaaaah. So early la??????

Donny's favourite spot - Sandakan Navy Base.

Look at the size of this ikan batu. My reel is even bigger. Anyway, it's considered as a good catch for me as I haven't catch any fish for so long.

another lucky day for Mr Wong

Wong and his father went fishing at the jetty in Sandakan wet market again tonight. They were there only for several hours. Using only a spool and 80lbs line, Mr Wong managed to catch a 1.1kg ikan merah and a 400g kerapu. He was so lucky. He never misses any catch everytime he goes there. Wong managed to catch a sea snake. He was quite disappointed as he immediately SMSed me the moment he went home. Some of his friends were with him too. Overall, they successfully 'landed' 2 ikan merah, 5 kerapu and 1 ikan pisang pisang. The heaviest catch today was a 1.9 kerapu caught by Chu's father.

not my favourite spot

Went fishing last night with Donny at about 1000pm to 230am. Saw Wong and his gang there at the jetty in Sandakan wet market. They were there since 500pm. Went back at about 1030pm. They caught a lot of big game fishes.

Mr Wong managed to catch a 1.6kg kerapu and Wong, a 400g kerapu. These are their kerapus.

Donny and I used tamban and sotong as baits. Some of our barrel sinkers stayed in the sea to become 'tukun'. Donny caught a palm size gelama and I've got nothing. Another disappointed night for us? Sure, of course laaaaaaaa. But we go out fishing not because of the fish, it's about fishing. We'll be back soon.

The gelama caught by Donny.

With a very happy face, Donny took this photo with his first gelama.