Today in history

Went to mile 10 hunting for snakehead with Donny at 4.00pm. Donny used the mixture of 'belacan + kunyit + tepung' as bait. As for me, I used only my red and white spinner bait. There were a lot of small fishes in the pond but unluckily we forgot to bring along small hooks. Anyway, I had successfully landed a snakehead with the spinner bait. It was my first time hooking a fish with an artificial lure. The feeling was so good that I even smiled all the way home. Will try to use it for snakehead hunting more often.

The pond in mile 10. Suitable to fish for snakehead and small fishes.

My first artificial lure which had successfully landed a snakehead.

The snakehead was about two palm size.

"Not-So-Deep" sea fishing

For the first time in my life, I went to area around Pulau Bai, Batu Sapi and also Pulau Nangka for fishing yesterday ( 29 November 2008 ). Departed from the jetty in Pasir Putih at 700am and went back at around 430pm. Went there on a 170hp speed boat with Jus, Painus, Azrim and the boatman himself. The speedboat was equipped with a fish finder. We used prawn, squid and basung as baits. Painus got the first catch of the day with an otik, followed by Azrim with a 200g or 300g red snapper. Those were the only catches we got in Pulau Nangka. Then, we moved to another spot, this time, I caught an otik. As the water was so muddy, we went to Pulau Bai. The excitement started when Jus caught a grouper weighing about 250g. Azrim, Jus and Painus caught a lot of gelama. Azrim also landed a 800g fish which I don't know what its name and accordin to the boatman, it was an expensive fish. As for me, with the title Raja Otik a few months ago, like usual, I caught a lot of otiks. The size of each otik got bigger each time I caught them. I also landed a very big manyung. It was more than 1kg. It was heavy and the catfish had no fighting spirit at all. With my 40lbs braided line and cheap seahawk reel, the feeling of fighting was not there. I should have brought along my 20lbs line. Besides otik and manyung, I also successfully landed a grouper which was about 500 to 600g. Didn't take a lot of photo as everyone was so busy with their spools and their rods.

Painus preparing his spool. Azrim was busy with the baits. Jus was busy with his Dunhill Menthol Light.

My manyung and grouper.

It was fun fishing with them. I'm looking foward for another 'not-so-deep' sea fishing trip with them. We planned to have a monthly trip fishing in those area. Hope this will come true and hopefully we'll get better catches.

Sandakan wet market again?

Wong fished in Sandakan wet market again last night from 130am to 600am with Chu. Used tamban as bait and successfully landed a 1.5kg red snapper. As for Chu, he was there from 730pm to 600am. It was nearly 12 hours. He caught a 1.3kg sweet lips ( the local here called it ikan kaci ). According to Wong, the fish is priced at RM60/kg.

The 1.5kg red snapper caught by Wong.

Chu's 1.3kg sweet lips.

7/8kg sea snake

Chu caught this sea snake last night. Felt like pulling up a big rock. It was about 7 or 8kg according to the people there.

The sea snake caught by Chu.

The spool used by Chu to land this sea snake. The sea snake was even fatter than his arm.

In the quest to search for Sungai Korek

Went to search for the 'much-talked' Sugai Korek in mile 7. People had talked much about their experiences fishing for groupers, selongsong and even mangrove jack there. So, I went to mile 7 alone yesterday afternoon. Asked some of the villagers there. Managed to find the place in less than 30 minutes. It was a nice place to fish and it was actually not a river. As what I saw, I would rather say that it's a pond. Will surely go there again.

Went to Sandakan wet market last night with Donny. With prawn as bait, I managed to catch an otik. As for Donny, he caught an otik and a kerisi.

The small and sexy kerisi caught by Donny.

babies groupers & red snapper

Planned to go fishing with Donny at 830pm. I was quite tired so have to cancelled it. He went to 'tembok' alone last night. He got only stone fish. Anyway, I've got a message from Wong that he caught a baby snapper and another 2 babies groupers at about 9 something. He was with Ah Wah. Fished in his favourite spot ( Sandakan wet market ) using handline with squid as bait.

All the babies caught by Wong.

crab...

Fishing alone in Sandakan Navy Base from 345pm to 600pm. Not much expectation. Felt so boring at home. So, I decided to fish there no matter how the tide or weather would be. Got an otik ( like usual ), a big crab and a palm size silver bream.

My bait for today. RM7 prawns bought in Fresh Market, Mile 4.

My first catch. A big crab. It was quite heavy as I reeled in. I thought that I caught a plastic bag again.

My third catch. A small and cute silver bream.

My second catch was an otik. Released it back to the sea.

The big crab was ready to be eaten.

pollution

Went to Sandakan Navy Base yesterday at 330pm to 600pm and also this morning at 530am to 1000am. Did some popping and casting with Donny. We claimed ourselves to be good citizen of Sandakan. We helped the MPS ( Majlis Perbandaran Sandakan ) to collect rubbish from the sea. I even got a baby's pampers and a lot of plastic bags while doing my popping. No sign of 'predator' at all. People who fished there got some GTs but maybe we were a little bit late. No more GT for us. Only rubbish, rubbish and rubbish.

Just look at the picture, the rubbish were a thousand times more early this morning.

Donny and I went fishing again just now at 830pm to 1230pm. We went to the spot behind Gentingmas Mall. It was our first time fishing there. Casted my line and in less than a minute, I caught an otik. We used prawn and tamban as baits. The sea was full of rubbish. A lot of wood, plastics and even logs. Caught 3 otiks and a manyung. As for Donny, he caught an otik and a small gelama. It's a day full of disappointment for me. Elysius was with us a little bit late. Like usual, he's the king of spreeding. He proved himself to be the king of spreeding with the result of in less than a minute, he caught 5 spreedings for Donny to use as live bait. As for Wong, like usual, he's in Sandakan wet market using handline. He caught a grouper there.

A 600 grams grouper caught by Wong.

Our favourite fish

Planned to go fishing early this morning but I was unable to wake up. It was raining. Wong SMSed and phoned me several times and yet, I was still unable to wake up. At 700am something he SMSed and informed me that he caught a GT. It has almost been 3 weeks since he last caught a fish. The GT was about 600 grams. He was there in Sandakan wet market from 500am to 800am. He used tamban as bait. Although the GT was only 600 grams but the feel was like fighting with a 2kg ikan merah according to Wong.

The 600 grams GT caught by Wong at Sandakan wet market.

night full of plastic bags

Went to Sandakan wet market at about 900pm fishing with Donny. Many people were fishing there at that time. There was not much room for us. So, we went to 'tembok'. We used not-so-fresh sotong as bait. I casted my 10 feet long and my other 6 feet long fishing rods. In less than 5 minutes, I felt strong nibbles with my 6 feet fishing rod. Caught a gelama..... I thought it was an ikan merah at first. We were there until 230am. Sadly, I've lost my size 7 and size 5 sinkers tonight. I've also caught a lot of plastic bags. It happened to Donny too. We spent our last 30 minutes popping but like usual, we didn't catch anything.

The one and only gelama I caught in 5 and a half hours fishing.

My new popper was stucked between the rocks there.

fishing today?

It's very hot today. Elysius SMSed me and asked me if I want to go to Bukit Garam fishing in Kinabatangan River. As it was quite hot this morning, I was lazy. Then at about 10 something, Donny MMSed me this picture and said 'tidak kau geram tengok air begini'.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the picture taken in Hai Heng's scow.

To my surprise, Wong SMSed me this afternoon at about 100pm and asked me to go to his favourite spot fishing with Ah Wah and him. It's hot and once again, I rejected the second offer of the day. I guess I'm not in the mood of fishing today.

don't plan your fishing trip

Felt boring last night. Suddenly thinking of going fishing. SMSed Donny and Elysius to ask them out fishing in Sandakan Wet Market. It was an unplanned fishing trip. Didn't expect too much as the fishing trip we planned last Sunday, no one turned up. I was there fishing alone in Sandakan Navy Base. It's quite a taboo for us to plan our fishing trip. Anyway, didn't get any reply for about 5 minutes. Nearly gave up again but all of a sudden, I heard the beeping sound from my HP. Donny replied, "OK bah. Ada umpan ka"..... and so, there we were, Donny and I, at Sandakan Wet Market at about 930pm. We have never catch any fish there. We used our light fishing rods. Donny used prawn as bait and I used sotong. The nibbles were so strong. We felt so excited. I've got a double hook on my 20lbs line and super small hooks. Successfully landed a small tiny crab and a bedukang. Fishing until 200am and I've got only a crab and two bedukang. Released them all. As for Donny, He caught an octopus, three bedukang and two kerapu. He brought back the octopus and the kerapu in the picture shown below. Did the baits we use make the difference in our catch?

The octopus caught by Donny. We thought that it was a plastic bag.

The biggest kerapu ever caught by Donny so far. Not big but it was enough for the enjoyment of fishing.

no fishing for so long

After resting for so long, we went fishing again yesterday. Fishing under the hot sun from 100pm to 430pm with Elysius and Donny. We used sotong as bait. I noticed that the sotong is more expensive now compared to few weeks ago. The price for petrol and diesel dropped starting yesterday but..... anyway, I caught a baby kerapu, two pisang pisang and two ketam batu yesterday. Elysius caught a sea snake and a ketam batu. As for Donny, he caught an otik.

Our catch for yesterday. Elysius took them back. He wanted to rear them all.

The first catch of the day...my baby kerapu

Just last week, we went to Sungai Kayu to 'merambat' prawn. Me, Wong, Elysius and Wong's school's gardener. Trapped a lot of prawns, tiger prawns, belanak and even a selongsong. Although I didn't work as hard as them but it was so tiring.

Boat for rent. RM150 per trip. Maximum load, 15 people. How about that for a fishing trip?

White sandy beach in Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu. Elysius took this photo. Planned to fish there during the year end holiday.