NeCRoPLaSTiC

Sibu Special Guest Part 1

2010-07-17T23:54:00.003+08:00

Off to another round of Sibu we go… and this time with a few special guests in the list. Since my last trip to Mersing with my aunts and uncles was a completely utter flop, I’ve decided to give them my personal shot of poison at Hot Boys Kelong in Sibu… guaranteed to make you smile.

This time around, we managed to gather close to a dozen people for the trip… although not all of them were taking the “main transport” up… we still managed to keep the overall price down to the bare minimum. Main organizer for the trip… was in my part, quite amusing… Nigel. Cindy passed down the thinking cap to him for this trip… preferring to keep herself low-profiled… which is actually not bad from time to time.

Our usual transport… along with our very familiar van driver set off for its 2nd destination at around 0545am. We reached Malaysia at a comfortably early time… aside from having to get down and do the usual passport checks and whatnot. One thing to take note of though… those who are travelling by van are not permitted to pass through the Malaysian customs area in that said van after having your passport chopped… get this… without a guide… a tour guide! They've stepped up their laws to clamp down on illegal transport companies that have been feeding off the customers of bigger, legal and obviously more pricey transport companies… interesting. Now the thing is, ours isn’t illegal… and from what I can deduce, is not like the said others… but in order to keep the price low, they've preferred not to engage a tour guide. So… we in turn had to walk to the nearest mall about 15mins away just to save us a wad of cash.

Luckily the walk down to the mall wasn’t that bad… it pays to travel light… so we soon set off to our 1st stopover less than 30mins away. By this time, my aunt and uncle had already reached Tanjong Leman Jetty… but who can blame them… not when they set off at 0400am in the morning in my Uncle’s car.

Prata OHM NOM NOM

The boat was surprisingly early for this trip… and aside from our group, there were only about a handful of others on the boat. Nigel and Cindy later confirmed that we were going to be the only few groups on the Kelong… much to our delight.

Slow ride to the Kelong

My uncle revving up his excitement

My cousin... managed to poison nearly his whole family

The captain and Co-captain

Iceboxes up… tackles up… nice shady weather… nice sleeping area with extra space for our iceboxes and items… it was time to unpack our gears for some pre-lunch action. Judging from the looks of things, the poison is slowly seeping into their veins… I’m hopeful that I should be able to poison them halfway through before nightfall.

Since my mom and sister were in the fray, I decided to bring up the Scimitar, Crosstage, Black Hole and Rapier along… hopefully, I’ll be able to give my newly bought Crosstage a good workout with the bunch of jigs that I’ve brought up with me.

The early afternoon action was pretty decent… much better than I had expected it would be as my mom and aunt kept bringing up loads of Selar Kunings… both great to eat and as bait. We “stole” quite a few of the Selar Kunings to float out… and the results were pretty interesting. My uncle got so caught up that he too decided to give it a shot come rain or shine… he was pretty adamant about it I think… a “do or die must die die get me something” kind of attitude. Be it the scorching hot sun or the freezing rain… its pretty amazing what we can do in dire times.

It pays to go around and grab people's rods when they're not looking

Nothing a 5'0" rod and a plastic reel can't handle... needs extra line though

Black Hole 6'6" 4-8lbs... shiok

The 1st day went by pretty fast… much faster than usual. All day long, schools of Selar Kunings and Leng Chiams kept my mom and aunt busy running around the place while Todaks kept our spirits up and our reels noisy all throughout the day. One thing to take note of though… Sibu Kelongs are usually very packed on the weekends… so due to that fact, they’re usually running on the bare minimum on weekdays. This means, of course, that ice is pretty scarce… we managed to secure only 1 bag of ice… for 4 iceboxes… which is quite pathetic even for a small group on a weekday. Not to worry though, cos a drink stall at Tanjong Leman Jetty stocks up on tons of bags of ice cubes… and unlike the ice shavings that they supply us on the Kelong… ice cubes tend to last way longer in the long run… and for RM$3.50 for a big bag, its not a bad deal.

Ang Chor Kees were everywhere!!

You'll have to excuse them for their size though

We landed more than what we usually could in 3 days in the 1st day alone

As the day grew darker and night skies loomed over… we switched over to our squid jigs… lumo 1oz jigs and flies. It had started raining earlier in the afternoon… it got so bad that we actually had to take out our Gore-tex jackets… something we only do during heavy downpours. 30mins passed by… nothing. 1hr passed by… nothing. Earlier on, we had our usual wide grin when it started pouring down… suspecting the “eging festival” to knock on our doors pretty soon… but hours later, still not much action. We only hit a few sporadic groups of Che Baks… and at most of the times, only singular takes after hours of eging. Both Nigel and me kept scratching our heads in confusion.

Where the heck are those sotongs?!

To Be Continued

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Suddenly Remembered Something...

2010-06-30T12:18:00.000+08:00

I would be away this weekend with Nigel and Cindy to Sibu again... woot woot!! Will be bringing up some extra stuff and maybe a new setup for testing... til then. And I suddenly remembered, I still had a few more aftermath pictures that I took just before we start packing for home the other time. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a nice spot to take the shots... but fortunately, it really didn't matter... enjoy.

Attack of the spaceships

Amateur Sotong mongers

"You want Sotong?", asked the Sotong King

"Is this enough?"

I will be bringing up my camera again... this time with an additional lens. Hopefully, I would be able to utilize it more often this time.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Fly Surprise

2010-06-22T13:05:00.001+08:00

"I'll give you a wake-up call at around 5am..."... was a phrase all too familiar to me. "We go in before 1st light... bash through to Ang Moh spot for Toman..."... was what we usually had intended to do... as long as we could hold off the Z monster that is. Unfortunately for me though... the Z monster was far too strong... far stronger than my desperate need to scratch the itch. "I think you gone liao...".

As usual... I overshot and slept through the whole night... all 2hrs of it... as my alarm clock woke up the whole house. Fortunately for me, I had quickly and instinctively put the alarm on snooze before it actually woke the whole house... but unfortunately for me though, my hands tend to have a life of their own at times and will often put it on snooze before it even had a chance to wake me up.

And my hectic shift schedule... only made it worse. Since the World Cup is in town, I've more or less been pegged for night shift duties. The thought of watching 2 dozen grown men chasing after a ball and a few million others watching them chasing after a ball didn't really come across as interesting to me... irregardless of what the player's salaries may be. Personally, I think they're overpaid... back to the story...

We finally met up just outside Ang Moh territories... Nigel, having reached there about 45mins earlier had already gone in and missed a number of takes from his Chugbug. "Chugbug? Interesting...", I thought... since the place is notoriously known to be lure shy... getting a few misses on Chugbug is a miraculous change for the better.

I brought along some newly tied flies made of bright green Rabbit Fur. No... the Rabbits weren't green in the 1st place... but the material is so damn soft, it just flutters and weaves around in the water. I intended to call them "Crazy Harrys" but Nigel just gave me a blank look... seems that I'm not that creative enough when it comes to naming my own designs... Hahahahaha. But as lame as they sound, they were quite interestingly effective.

Temensis? Large Mouth? Or some weird clone...

It didn't take him long to get a hit from the schools of what seemed to be Temensis fries just meters away from him. They charged at the fly in big groups at lightning speed... we probably landed more than a dozen or so at the 1st spot... we could have probably landed more if the hooks used were just a tad bit smaller... and fortunately we didn't cos the surprise died down soon after as we grew tired from unhooking fish after fish. If that wasn't surprising enough, Nigel hooked up a surprise visitor after only a few casts.

Too slow? Or maybe just plain unlucky...

As expected... we soon managed to get our flies stuck to some overhanging foliage... namely, a tree branch. Both Crazy Harrys... and both on the same branch... at the same time. I swear, that place just creeps me out some times cos every time I brought along a new design, it'll get stuck somewhere or lost somehow within minutes of using it. Luckily for me, I managed to retrieve back my jig... unluckily for me, those were the only 2 Crazy Harrys that I made for the trip. We switched to some newly designed Buck Tail flys soon after... which ironically, lasted for the whole trip.

I finally managed to land a decent one towards the end of the trip

Same fly... same method... same rig... same spot... but look at what that lucky bastard Nigel got... AND HIS FLY WAS SPINNING NEXT TO MINE!! It was just pure luck I tell you! But still... not bad for my Buck Tail fly... which I named... Buck Tail fly... Hahahahaha.

A mid sized Orh Peh

Ohm nom nom nom *strike* OH SHIT!!

Towards the end... we kept ourselves busy, moving around the usual areas to test out the flies. Oddly enough... the usual horde of Peacock Bass have moved out of the area and now only fries remained... with an exception or two towards the end.

"Taufik!!"

"Ya what?"

"Taufikk!!"

"Ok ok I'm coming!"

"Taufikkk!!!"

"Ya ya I'm coming!!"

"Taufikkkk!!!!"

"Wait la!! I'm coming already!!"

I couldn't believe it... 2mins of rushing through the undergrowth later I made out what seem to look like a Mama Toman on a patch of dried leaves just meters away from shore. What looked like a Mama Toman was actually a sizeable Temensis.

Freshwater Ang Cho

Retarded peace sign

Of course I couldn't just let him hog all the photo shots

"I better stop fishing for now and store all my luck for Sibu", he said... hopefully, his Sibu's luck will shine through... more Sotong for me!! Hahahahaha...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Sibu... Sibu... Sibu!! KELOOONG!! Part 2

2010-06-13T09:58:00.000+08:00

Day 1

Only 4 bloody passengers on the boat... 4!!

After the agonizingly slow ride up to the Kelong... we finally reached!! Even before the boat docked by the side, we had already scanned through the outer platforms of the Kelong... laughing gleefully at the outcome. Everybody's faces lit up... cos not only did it looked deserted, there were NO rods parked outside!! It was a very good sign for things to come.

An empty Kelong means a quiet one... no kids running around... no anglers cluttering around in clusters... and finally... FREEDOM!! We strolled through the Kelong and scanned through the vast empty beds... NO ICE!! There were barely any ice left in the iceboxes... a mere 5kg or so chucked nicely in a lonely corner. We were a bit disappointed but it was kind of expected... since the iceboxes only slows down the melting rate of the ice, it was kinda redundant to stock up on ice for an empty Kelong. Even as we dragged back our ice filled iceboxes back to HQ, we were very hopeful that they will top it up again by tomorrow once the weekend crowds start flooding in.

For this trip, I brought along my Black Hole 2-8lbs 6'6" paired with a Daiwa Emerladas 2506W for eging, my Xtreme Rapier 10-17lbs 6'0" paired with a Shakespere Intrepid for baiting and my Shimano Scimitar 6-12lbs 6'6" paired with a Daiwa Caldia KIX 1500 for general purpose... some basic Kelong equipments, lines, leaders, hooks, sinkers and my trusty squid gaff. Its been a while, but I'm quite confident that somewhere out there is Mother Ship or two just waiting to be teased.

The usual horde of Leng Chiams were nowhere to be seen... Mary Janes... even the irritating Sergeants were all MIA. Aside from the usual suspects of coral fishes... my usual hunts, the Leng Chiams were very very few... luckily though, although their numbers were few, they were of considerable sizes as compared to the usual horde's. Boredom soon settled in and I left our HQ for some cheap clean fun... Todak hunting.

Todak Hunter lvl 1

The Scimitar worked pretty well for Todak hunting... the extra 6" gave me more room to work with whenever I needed to move around the Kelong stilts jutting out the sides. Landing them was pretty easy even without a proper landing net... all you need is a tough leader and some long hands. After a few takes and misses, Nigel kept his vigil right behind me... laughing all the way. "Shiok right? Poisoned right?", he said... smiling from ear to ear. But after a few hits, I made the biggest rookie mistake of all... I left the rod parked in the holder with a loose drag.

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!!!!* "IT STRIPPED ME!! DAMNIT THERE GOES MY LINE!!" It only took 3 secs... 3 secs later, my whole spool was stripped bare of its line. It was a mistake, on my part... to have left the rod unattended as I stood proudly by its side waiting for a take. Sadly enough that "take" did happened and I was to slow to react. I huffed off after that and went back to HQ with my rod and an empty spool... regretfully, my gut has been telling me to stock up on extra lines but I decided against it for budget reasons. No matter though... luckily I brought a spare.

15mins later, I emerged out with the Black Hole and a DIY float since I already lost the last one to the monster. Another 15mins later, another monster came knocking at my door... it took the bait with so much ferocity that it ripped apart the DIY float on its 1st run. It took longer than usual to land the Todak... and when it finally came close to the Kelong I realized why.

Tired

Its full length in all its glory

Not bad... not bad... even though it did take a little longer, the Black Hole handled it really well. I'm surprised myself... the backbone was pretty tough for a 2-8lbs rod. Needless to say, I spent the whole day Todak hunting... being surprised by schools of Halfbeaks half of the time... the Halfbeaks were HUGE!!

Busy busy day

The Todaks were in hyper drive... averaging around 15mins per landing

I made it a point to move the Todaks back to the HQ once they expired... it makes my job of cleaning, cutting and gutting them much easier. A knife is a very useful tool there... not only can you gut and cut your catches on the spot, you'll need it to cut your baits, lines and the odd rope or two.

Dwarfed

Needless to say... Nigel finally succumbed to the Todak poison and joined me halfway. But oddly enough, the Todaks much preferred my rig than his... I could still hear him cursing and swearing at me after every landing... "TYCO!!"

As the currents shifted, so did our targets. The Todak fever didn't last as long as it did so we changed tactics and targets every now and then just to keep ourselves busy. From surface to bottom to surface and to bottom again... our reels sung loud under the sun.

Nigel managed his 1st Spaceship

Although not a bad size... we were still hoping to knock into the Mother Ship

The weather held up throughout the day all through the night as we scampered around the Kelong with every current change. As suspected, the Leng Chiam hordes were nowhere to be seen... at least for the little ones. The larger ones however, although not that many were fairly sizeable and can only be found a fair bit a distance away. Day turned to night... we stopped baiting and concentrated on eging.

Sibu's evening sky

Nigel with his trusty Bassterra

To cut things short... I fell soundly asleep throughout the night... despite Nigel's very very hard-selling Sotong wake up calls. And as I slept... so did I missed the Sotong festival that kept Nigel awake all throughout the night... regretfully.

Day 2

Its not surprising to see guests lingering around on day 2... the weekend crowds started trickling in slowly but surely filling up the beds on the Kelong. By this time, it was pretty hard to hunt for Todaks, as clusters of anglers started filling up the already limited rod stands around the Kelong. Drifting aside... we made do with what we could while sharing our spots with Macho Men and Snorkelers.

Cindy's Space Ship from the night before

The sudden cold breeze and gusts of wind started picking up later in the day... we smiled from ear to ear... for we have been waiting for this for quite some time. The sudden drop of temperature, cold gusts of wind and the impending rain were all but signs... that the Sotong festival will be rolling into town.

Dark clouds loom by... sending shivers down my spine

Cos this was the perfect time and situation for a Sotong festival

The local coral fishes run under the Kelong for cover

The mish mash of dark clouds... a sudden spark of lightning... then it started pouring... just perfect. As the others ran in for cover, we took out our secret weapons and continued on outside under our own portable covers.

Suffice to say... we managed to knock into quite a large number of Sotongs within that few moments. Much to the amazement of the Macho Men and Snorkelers who preferred to hide under the shelter of the Kelong. "Sotong experts" were our given name that day... but come to think of it, it was all pure luck and hard work. We managed a few more Space Ships before the Sotong festival died down... still no Mother Ship. As the rain died down... so did we... our efforts turned up only sporadic clusters of Sotongs here and there... hoping it would pick up later in the night.

Lo and behold... it really did

Day 3

The third day went by pretty fast... maybe cos its the last day. But truth be told... its always the last day thats the most interesting. All throughout the night we had our eyes on a 20 pounder Barracuda that has been lurking around under the Kelong. My estimates were around 20lbs max... til we saw it again in the morning. "What the hell... that one confirm more than 20lbs!"... its pretty shocking to see a Barracuda that big just 5m underneath your feet. Majestic, awe inspiring, incredible and so god damn tempting. It was so tempting that Nigel went after it with a dead Halfbeak as bait.

*Chomp!!!* "Set la set la!!" *PUI!!!* "What the hell?!!"... were words that transpired 10mins into the hunt... to the best of my memory to say the least. The Barracuda took interest in Nigel's bait but preferred not to take it... maybe sensing it as a trap. "Eh Taufik... you think your gaff strong enough or not?", he smirked... "Why the hell would it be?!", I thought. My gaff had a tendency to be just a tad bit annoying after landing a Mother Ship or two... it was... fashionably irritating.

So as Nigel spent the next hour or so luring the giant, I took the liberty to hunt the Halfbeaks that were in the vicinity... it was like striking gold!! But like all good things, it has come to an end... we packed our stuff as slowly as we could while enjoying the cool breeze blown of from the "coffeeshop" fan. Macho Men and Snorkelers aside... we had a pretty good trip. Til our next trip... coming soon...

Ramli tastes good... eat it like you should... OHM NOM NOM NOM

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Sibu... Sibu... Sibu!! KELOOONG!! Part 1

2010-05-26T12:19:00.004+08:00

Never has a trip been so last minute, ill timed and desperate... from major transport problems to the sudden rush to fill the empty seats to minute shift changes... I'm quite amazed we were able to pull this off and survive in one piece.

Like many... we tire of fishing in SG. What with all the new policies and rules... closing off sections of reservoirs for kayakers, canoeist and the lot. Look... seriously... I don't have any objections about sharing my fishing space with them but every single time I head down to my yesteryear's favorite spots, the canoeist especially seemed to like proving to themselves that there is always another new level of stupidity. I dread the day when one of us would actually cast out a 100g sinker haphazardly at them just to prove a point. But back to the story...

Just how desperate were we? Well desperate enough to plan, confirm and execute everything just 2 days before the trip. How hectic was it? Hectic enough for me to have actually changed my schedule a multitude of times... til I was forced to swap shifts with my Supervisor just so I can go. How big were the major problems? Big enough to ground us... it was a do or rot at home kinda thing. Just one of the many reasons why you should always plan your trips waaay before the actual date... but then... last minute unplanned trips tend to yield the most interesting surprises.

Smooth sailing all the way

Comfortable fast ride

One major problem that we had was the ride up to Tanjong Leman. We usually go up in groups of 10 or below... since we don't have enough cars to carpool all the way up. The minivan we usually charter up can accommodate up to 11 pax including stores like iceboxes etc. Having 10 pax sharing 1 van lowers the transport costs quite considerably... if putting in mind the petrol costs, food, fatigue... it saves us tons of time and energy. But since we only managed to get only 4 pax... we had to settle for the car which came at a premium since we only have a small handful of people.

The drive up was enjoyable... they had to send their KL driver all the way down to fetch us cos their other drivers were all taken up for the day. One thing that surprised me though was the boot space... it was pretty big... enough for 2x 50qrts iceboxes including stores... and sadly for me, I didn't bring down my 50qrts... something which I regretted later on in the trip.

Tanjong Leman jetty

Out with the old in with the new... coming your way soon

We stocked up on drinks as soon as we reached Tanjong Leman... bypassing the short covered walkway we were greeted with an amazing sight. The areas around the jetty have been given a face lift... what used to be barren soil now stood a nearly completed building. My guess is, its going to be their new port office... a fairly big upgrade from the old one. Something else to take note of, is the price increase for their ferry tickets by RM$1... which isn't much but its better to know now then later... cos I'm not sure if they'd accept SGD.

Pasted on the window of the ticketing office

Surprisingly, the jetty wasn't crowded that day... unlike our previous experiences when throngs of people would seamlessly go through the jetty gates by the droves. Nigel of course was more than happy... he was simply shocked in happiness really... as you can already see from his face.

Nigel's shockingly happy look

But that was before we got to know that the Kelong operator actually forgot about us... and so the boat that was supposed to fetch us to the Kelong was nowhere to be seen... the laughter and happiness died away.

Nigel's shockingly "HUH" look

But oddly enough... a good 5mins later, it suddenly showed up! He must have been harbored off somewhere close cos the Kelong is a good 15mins boat ride... just sitting around and eating snake maybe... Hahahahaha. We filled up Nigel's 50qrts with Soya Bean Milk, Milo, Winter Melon Tea and a few other extras to keep us juiced up through the long weekend.

Commando boat... fully equipped with camouflage nets

We were the only ones of the boat

Knocked out after night shift

Anxiously waiting... to fish

Lying down helps to reduce the seasickness... oddly enough I didn't know that!

The boat ride took around 20mins... The sea breeze was just nice, not too strong with a pinch of salt in the air as we slowly cruised at walking pace through the calm waters. Still unknown to us were the many surprises that were waiting for us on the Kelong.

Still a looong way from the Kelong

Can you guess what this look is?

To Be Continued

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Daiwa Emeraldas 2506W

2010-05-19T12:00:00.139+08:00

Introducing, Daiwa's eging specific reel... the Daiwa Emeraldas 2506W. Daiwa has been known to further evolve their basic lineup of reels into more "specifically designed for" classes... the niche models. Niche models are often evolutions of higher end models, designed for the specific angler... unique... one of a kind... setting new standards for enthusiasts alike.

Emeraldas 2506W double handle model

In this case... Daiwa again has further evolved the recently launched Luvias into its flagship eging reel, the Emeraldas 2506... incorporating Luvias's Zaion body construction with a 2506 spool, a direct drive handle and the Hyper Digigear engine.

Taken apart into its basic sub assemblies

But why all the fuss about the additional additives to the normal Luvias? Isn't the normal Luvias more than enough? True... true. Logically speaking... any normal ol' spinning reel can double up as an eging reel anytime. So long as its working fine and dandy... thats basically it. But as you know... these niche models aren't designed and marketed as "normal". Out of every 10 fishermen who are satisfied with their general tackles there will always be that odd few that always "requires" something better... better technology... better ergonomics... etc. And out of these few anglers there are always the 1 enthusiast that always "wants" something unique... something specific. The Daiwa Emeraldas is designed wholly to answer to that call.

Using the Luvias's body as its base design keeps the weight fairly light and compact. Its small edgy exterior is just a notch below its other sub model, the Daiwa Ignis. Daiwa's answer to the Luvias's ever eroding paintwork... an alluring thick pearly white coat that's far more durable... and washable too. Coupled with a noisy "plastic" 2506 spool... a mixture of metal innards covered with a hard plastic shell. Having a "barely there but just enough" line cap for eging specific lines... ensuring a lighter than feather casting feel. Paired with an EVA padded tricked out direct drive handle... for a more connected feel with every crank. You can also choose for either their single handle or double handle models which keeps the wobbling to a minimum and makes a great reel side stand.

Not forgetting the Hyper Digigear under its hood... tougher... lasts longer and more durable than your standard Duralumin gears. The only downside was the audible noise coming from the Hyper gears. Having such a compact and small carbon body further resonated the noise from the gears far louder than usual. The hardness of the Hyper gears too meant that it generated much more noise than Duralumin gears would. Other than that... its a fine reel all by itself.

Currently serving me well with my Peacock Bass hunts paired with a Black Hole 2-8lbs 6'6" rod. I've yet settled for a proper eging rod though... although Graphite Leader, Smith and Majorcraft has been circling around in my head for quite some time.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

The Lazy Fly

2010-05-18T12:00:00.065+08:00

Roosters... Old Men... and this time... Lazies. Proper Roosters and Old Men requires quite a bit of work... especially so for its layers of protective coatings to keep the barbell eyes and threads intact.

Your ordinary fly would normally last for 2-3 trips... depending on your catch and target species. If its Peacock Bass that you're after, it should last you longer... depending on how productive the spot can be. Much like rubber grubs and crawlers... they'll loose a percentage of their lifespan with every bite, tug and snag. The bigger the prey, the harder the take, the better the fight... the shorter they'll last.

It usually takes me around 15mins to complete an Old Man or Rooster... the more layers of protective coating I put, the longer it'll take. On average... my best is around 6 pieces an hour. So what do you do when you need a quick fix in such a short span of time? Just use Lazies...

Shiny

I've been fishing the whole morning with only 1 Old Man... and ironically... with Roger who is in actual fact... an old man. Hahahahahaha. It lasted quite long... actually longer than I had expected it to be... at least til we met with a group of Tomans and their Mama. Their sharp teeth made quick work with the threads... I soon had to retire the Old Man when its barbell eyes started to dangle on 1 thread. Sadly... I managed only 1 Peacock Bass on Lazy fly... the Mama and her broods had promptly spooked off the Peacocks in the area when she came near the end of the field tests.

Day in day out... I can fairly say that Gamakatsus are really worthy of their status.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Another Year... Another Birthday

2010-05-17T23:41:00.000+08:00

Birthdays... are an annual affair. Some people like it... some people don't... but everybody loves to throw one every now and then. 30yrs of celebrating later though... after all the sugar rushes and tons of unloaded presents, the cake won't matter... and neither will the presents anymore... and who said that you can't celebrate your birthday at your favorite watering hole... which in this case, was the Mother Mother Gun.

Birthday boy Alan Chan with one of his (future?) presents

Attendance for the day's informal "party" were...

The Mom - Cindy

The Hong Kong movie star - Roger

And the group Clown - Nigel

Luckily for me, my photos were too horrendous to be shown... even in my own blog... so yeah. Hahahahaha... Anyways... back to the story. Cindy came down to Mother Mother Gun bearing gifts... and a little something for Alan from TCC.

Mouth watering

It didn't last long though... Hahahaha

As small as it was... every bite was a spoonful of heaven... as you can already see from Alan's facial expressions.

Hahahahaha... just pure ecstasy. We spent the next few hours later guzzling down drinks... a plate of Char Kuay... and talking about Nigel's latest buy... an Accurate 197. Also not forgetting... one last nostalgic "Happy Birthday" song to Alan... before we split our ways.

Happy Birthday Alan... wishing you another fruitful year ahead.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Itchy Itchy Scratchy Scratchy

2010-05-14T12:00:00.003+08:00

A quickie trip down to our usual watering hole. The Gamakatsu hooks proved to be quite a powerful weapon... as someone told me before, 'If its in, its in for good...". Quite quite true indeed... cos we both lost quite a number of them the past few trips and this trip was no different. But this time... instead of the usual size 1... I brought it down to size 4.

Lo and behold... no more gill hookups... no more cheek hookups... and more importantly, no more swallow hooks... which was quite weird since its much easier to swallow down a smaller hook than a larger one... oh well.

There are still quite a few more tests to be done... but at least I'm now quite sure of the hook sizes. Hopefully, the Peacock Bass in our small little waterhole doesn't get too bored of whacking the same patterns...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

And So The Landsickness Ends Part 3

2010-05-12T16:09:00.000+08:00

Its always a good time to be awake during dusk and dawn... when the sun and the moon shifts their position slowly overlapping in the horizon. This is also one of the best moments for a good haul... given the correct tide and current... those precious minutes can be put to good use.

But knowing my luck... we caught nothing extraordinary if any

The water conditions were really against us for those few days... although there were a few nice catches now and then but the usual suspects were nowhere to be seen. Every dawn or dusk we would be standing by our rods patiently for that miraculous tug of war... and every dawn and dusk I spent my time taking more pictures and more pictures.

The 2nd and 3rd day were spent navigating through choppy waters... til it was time to head back to base camp... Elly's Kelong. Below are the rest of the pictures that were taken, including Nigel's.

Nigel's

We are already planning our revenge though... we should be up and running in a few months time so til then I guess I'll just have to make do with my field tests, kelong and local offshore and what not...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

He Who Guides My Itchy Butt

2010-05-12T12:00:00.000+08:00

Introducing... Sticko. It was he who guided my itchy butt out of so many itchy butt moments and rush buys. And unfortunately... it was also he who guided my wayward itchy butt into deeper itchy butt territories. From luring, to jigging, to eging and now... fly tying. Ever since my 1st introduction to the evil fly tying vice... I've most probably spent a butt load of time and cash into hooks, barbell eyes and materials. The good guys at Coho were all too helpful for my own good as well... but luckily for me, I don't know any fly fishing locations here in Singapore... cos it damn well saved my butt.

My 1st trickle of poison came during one of our Peacock Bass hunting sessions. The very helpful Stiko handed me one of his flies to "test". "Aiyah... looks like they're not taking any hard lures today... *rummages through his tackles* Here... my "Old Man" fly...", was what got me poisoned into fly tying. Having used his "organic" fly... it still creeps me out til today.

Sticko's loaned fuzzy fly

Its always good to have a telescopic rod strapped to you at all times

"Its not the rod... its the bend that kills...", his whippy telescopic paired with a Daiwa Ignis made quick work of the Peacock Bass. All you need is a good productive day, a nice whippy rod, a good high end plastic reel and 2 very easily excited companions to complete your day.

And a good ol grass patch just meters away to pose with your catch

There is a saying... "Joy is when you see your friend twitching in itch... obviously envious of your catch but stubbornly chose to stick to his ways. Every single itch, eyes glistening and mouth watering moment is a drop of delectable nectar... entrusted to us for our enjoyment".

There is also another saying... "Priceless is when that friend of yours finally gave into his temptations and comes up to you and asks for your secret weapon". If this happens, its time to end his misery... lend him your fly and see him squirm in excitement!! Hahahahaha... If only you could see yourself that day Nigel.

Fly frenzy

Landed on "Old Man" and fuzzy flies

Fuzzy fly

"Old Man" *pukes* fly

Since then I've been coming up with my own flies... and it looks like once I've upgraded my vice, I can rest assured that my old vice won't end up in the dumpster cos... I too have managed to poison Nigel into fly tying!

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Wishful Thinking

2010-05-10T10:23:00.000+08:00

Its been more than a year I think... ever since we "closed shop" and decided unanimously that it was time we left Changi to venture ahead to newer pastures. Newer pastures... meaning... Tanjong Pinang. And ever since then, seldom did we brought up the issue along with Ah Chong and Ah Long and our adventures with them. From what I can recall... Ah Chong is still hard at work plying his trade at Changi no less. Ah Long on the other hand, has stopped chartering his boat for offshore trips... he now spends his days ferrying people through Changi waters.

The good old days... no need for 50qrts iceboxes with wheels... no need to travel hours on land and sea... no need to grease the open palms of foreign Portmasters... just rod, reel and 1 live prawn hooked at the end of the line.

I miss those days

My 1st ever local Ang Kuey on a 6-12lbs Scimitar.

Those were the days... when fishing was just a bonus... with Ah Chong readily sitting at the front joking around with all of us and Ah Long making us hot cups of coffee or tea... literally scalding hot... Hahahahaha. A reunion trip has already been organised by Cindy on Ah Chong's boat... its time to get sunburnt again... Hahahahaha.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Trying Out New Haunts

2010-05-10T01:19:00.001+08:00

Slowly picked up the courage... along with my cousin's "fresh perspective"... we finally decided to give Farmway 3 a rest and headed down to Guillemard Village for a change. And I think its time we gave Melvin, Dullah and Vincent a break... I've nearly finished up my page what with all the top-ups and what not. I figured, its time we tried some place else... at least for the moment.

The Guillemard prawning ponds are located just beside the Guillemard Village... which used to be a badminton stadium of sorts. The place finally shut its doors and the badminton association shifted to its new premises. That being done, the new owners took advantage of the empty building, spruced things up a bit and built 6 concrete elevated ponds on top of what used to be a badminton court. Its podiums were then "renovated" to hold their keep "basins"... where they store their prawns. Half of it now are occupied by prawn basins while the other half are laden with chairs and tables, for those who are interested in ordering from the Restaurant & Beer Garden. Shelter... check.

Their counters are fairly stocked up with rods, baits and terminal tackles. Other than the usual canned drinks, mineral water bottles and beers, you can also order your usual assortment of homemade drinks such as Milo, Horlicks etc... since the Restaurant & Beer Garden and the prawning ponds are one of the same, they also have quite a selection of food on their menu. When at the pond... you can either choose to prawn on top of the elevated walkways or at the bottom. Aside from the "bird's eye view" from the walkway, its much easier to strike... and "fighting" is much easier too due to the elevation. Plastic chairs, keep nets, baits and house rods too are provided. Food and drinks... check. Baits... check. Terminal tackles etc... check. Comfort... check. Prawning luck... I think I left it at home that day... unfortunately.

Here Prawny Prawny Prawny...

I had just knocked off from work... spent 1hr to get back home... 5mins to pack and get ready and off I went to Guillemard Village. Stoned tired were the least of my problems as I also had trouble keeping my eyes awake throughout the whole session. $30/3hrs... I chugged down cans of drinks and Green Tea... none of them were of any help cos my eyes... its like somebody glued them together for that whole night. Hahahaha

Mini "table" to park your baits... pretty useful as a cutting counter

Stoned while prawning... stoned while in the car... and stoned while driving back... I had to pinch myself awake each time my eyes start to lower. But its not all bad though... landed 16 pieces not including the ones that were given by another fellow avid Prawner. It was rather gentlemen of him to release the prawns to another person rather than releasing it back into the pond... a very good logical choice. Hahahahaha

Maybe when the itch comes again, I might just head down to Guillemard instead... just maybe. Cos aside from the 4 prawning ponds inside, they still have a crabbing pond, and a pro fishing pond... only polerods are allowed though. But still, a crabbing pond is an interesting thought.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

And So The Landsickness Ends Part 2

2010-05-06T12:31:00.001+08:00

Night soon came... astoundingly fast I must add. The blur of fingers and shadows of people rushing in and out of the sleeping quarters with handfuls of leaders... rigs... in preparation for the night festivals. But luckily for me, I've already brought out my 2 bag loads of rigs, leaders, sinkers... my whole terminal tackles including pliers and cutters were already stationed nearby for quick access.

Spare time wasting my camera batteries

Its always good to have your bags of terminal tackles nearby... compact, organized and ready to roll anytime saves you tons of precious time and you'll be able to take note of your current stocks of leaders and the likes with a short glance. Do take note, not to take up too much seating area... wouldn't want size 7/0 Gamakatsu hooks poking up your butt anytime soon.

The "brothers" keep the mood alive with their antics

The windy breeze died down... a calm moment of peace before the sun died down

We of course didn't pass up the moment of splendor

The Captain too took a short break... and just sat there on his chair. The whole afternoon was a "rojak" of events... but even then the Captain never took his eyes off his monitors.

Nighttime crept by slowly... the currents picked up pretty quickly that night... all the way up to size 24 sinkers yet still the rigs kept drifting away further from the bottom. Bored? Even a pack of smokes and a few cans of Winter Melon Tea did little to lift our spirits.

Berley Master

All smiles despite the long night ahead

Even the ever so excited angler can hit a blank wall

Cam whore fail

Chow tar but not beaten yet

Of all my trips before... never were the nights this boring. The moonlight offered very little help as squids kept themselves busy somewhere else... very far away from our location. But then... there were a few exceptions every now and then...

Surprise catch

So bored... started clipping his toe nails. Hell... why not.

I stayed awake for as long as I could... finally giving up at around 4am. I crept down into the sleeping quarters for some shut eye... the rough seas were slowly getting to me. Unknown to some of us, we were about to head to the open seas... seasickness aside, it all came down purely to luck for the next couple of days. I did manage however unlucky as I was in fishing... ensnare a few memories in forms of photographs. Taken before night fall...

Sunset in the open sea

You don't even need to stretch your necks... gaze left, gaze right, its everywhere

Deckie handline trolling while we shifted locations

I sneaked a few shots before he noticed and turned away

Went around taking sunset shots while traveling to location

Lower down the flash and lo and behold... the Chow Tar Queen

The "brothers" relatively took charge at the front of the boat... Weiyee and Sim hung around the center... Berley Master went all over the place... and Nigel, Cindy and me and my cousin laid back at the back of the boat with a view as far as the eye can see.

Splendid view

Weiyee and Sim

Berley Master basically went all out during the trip

I'm a sucker for silhouette shots

Stayed awake for the wrong reasons... and fell asleep on the wrong time... I missed the morning rojak festival with Sagais and the likes. Nothing new actually... cos I know my luck wasn't as astronomic as Sim's. Hahahahaha... even in his sleep, I still think he could catch more fishes that the rest of us combined!

The days and nights after... well... I'll leave it all for the next continuation... To Be Continued

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Cheaper By The Dozens

2010-04-30T11:06:00.098+08:00

Over a dozen flies in my fly box... all nicely packed... there are some with glitters... some without... red eyes... yellow eyes... red skirts... white skirts... each one of them hiding a deep dark secret somewhere within the folds of those skirts. Over a dozen flies and no time or place to test them... with more than a dozen more... pretied and ready.

Lower Seletar? Bedok Reservoir? Now... experience has taught me not to fish in an empty pond... even if its just for "testing" purposes. So off to my usual mosquitoe infested pond... aaah don't forget your insect repellant.

That long stetch... so illegally tempting

I had probably brought along more than a dozen different designs with me that day... yeap... over a dozen (again...). And of that odd dozen... only 2 were tested... the "Old man" and the "Fighting Fish"... I know... I know... lame. Hahahahaha... its not that easy to name your designs when you, yourself aren't really that knowledgable about the different designs and names. But back to the story...

For the past few weeks... for every day... every afternoon... it rained. Which wasn't really a problem... except for the fact that I knock off at around 9am most of the time... and I never really liked the thought of slushy wet slippers wading around in the mud. But fortunately enough for me, I gathered enough strength to force myself off the living room floor and onto the 1st bus to Woodlands. The results were... pretty acceptable.

And instant taker for my "Old Man"

Landed close to a dozen or more... but only bothered to take one photo

The "Old Man" fly did surprisingly well that day... the extra long skirts didn't really matter that much since they eagerly swallowed up the fly whole. Weird thing was, that the hook kept lodging itself either by the side of the cheeks or the top of its cavities... which made unhooking and releasing a chore. Other than that, everything went quite well throughout the whole session... aside from the freak mosquito blood donation drive forced on me towards the end. Geez... next time I'll bring 2 cans of insect repellent!

I've finally found a good light setup combination... except for the reel though. Cos I don't think I should be using an Emeraldas for these kinda situations.

Daiwa Emeraldas 2506 & Black Hole 2-8lbs combo

A dozen or so catches... a dozen or so flies... and a heap load of mosquito bites to prove it. I'm just lucky that I could sleep well afterward... aside from all the monkey scratching moments.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

And So The Landsickness Ends Part 1

2010-04-28T16:59:00.242+08:00

The HISTORY
Ever since our 1st trip together with Xris... we made it a point to head down to Tanjong Pinang at least once a year to test our tackles. Maggie Goreng... Chendol... Otak-otak... Cereal Calamari... just to name a few. Since then, regulars like Sim & Dad... my cousin... Wei Yee... started to join our yearly trips.

The STORY
Tanjong Pinang opened its doors quite early this year... open season started around mid March slowly building up to its peak come April. As April came near, CRs started flooding the web... reported schools of Red Snappers, Cobias, Grunters, Trevallies etc became a usual sight in the forums.

Unfortunately for us though, news about the ferry operators and their new rule only came to our distracted ears just a tad too late. We only caught wind of it when we tried to purchase our ferry tickets through our usual channels. Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal's ferry operators had silently made a pack and refused iceboxes on their ferries... leaving our iceboxes stranded in a loop of "Yeses" and "Nos". Our usual contacts were rendered helpless... even though we were more than a month away from our actual date... they just refused to allow us space for our iceboxes.

And when push came to shove... the ever so resourceful Cindy searched around and managed to find a more "decent" operator that was more than willing to have us and our iceboxes on their ferries...

The RIDE
The extra premium that we paid to have our iceboxes tagging along with us wasn't that much... we welcomed the extra comfort, smoke-free aircon and touristy feel with opened arms.

The 1st time I ever saw an M&M dispenser on board a ship

Beats watching the small 15" TV like we always do

Knocked out cold by the comfortable seats

Now... it wasn't like it was smooth sailing or anything... they had trouble with one of their engines halfway... sending the ship into a spiral turn every time the engine died. Looks can be quite deceiving...

Packing in for a long ride

The new route meant that we had an extra 20km to cover... going through sparse country side also meant that we had very few shops along the way.

Shopping pit stop along the way

A few cartons of drinks later... we headed down to Oceanbay for lunch before our last stop... Elly Kelong.

The scenic route in

Can be quite long

Welcome to Elly Kelong

Unloading our unused iceboxes

The TRIP
Luck was on our side... we managed to load up all our provisions, stores and people up onto Seastar 2 before the tide could ground the boat. Any more delays, and we would have to wait for the next high tide... 4hrs... 6hrs the most.

Just a tad close to 2hrs... that was how long it took for us to arrive at our 1st spot. Just a tad close to 15mins... that was how long it took us to prepare our stores and prep the rods... nothing like the usual adrenaline rush to help us speed things up.

Nigel's Magic Spin test rod

Catches were coming up fast and furious that afternoon... the usual mix of coral species like Miss Wong and the likes kept us busy throughout the day. Nigel's test rod did quite well too... nothing a size 4 sinker and Tamban jigs can't conquer. A few burst offs by unknown and fairly toothy fishes kept the excitement piled on as we had an unexpected visit by a few Parrot fishes. Unfortunately enough for me, I brought along my Rapier X only to forget about my Caldia KIX... *sigh*

Hiding from the sun

Our Berley Master taking a break

Afternoon passed by surprisingly quiet... nothing significant was landed other than the odd few Parrots and Sweet Lips. That aside... we left everything else to luck... as already mentioned by our Captain, he expected a multitude of mixed catches for our trip.

Night soon came... To Be Continued

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Cookie Pics

2010-04-26T13:55:00.000+08:00

OHMMM-NOM-NOM-NOM-NOM!!!!

My lighting equipment should arrive in about a months time... nothing big or professional though... just something small enough to bring around yet big enough to light up the place.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Some Shots Before The Rain

2010-04-26T11:37:00.013+08:00

Took a quick trip down to the tracks with my 500D... avoiding the ever increasing crowds of baiters just "hanging" around the place. I managed to take a couple of shots before the rain clouds started creeping in on me again.

Rain clouds brewing

Maybe one day we'll manage to make contacts with other aliens

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Prawning Prawn Prawn

2010-04-25T11:14:00.000+08:00

I seriously think that I'm getting the hang of this. What used to be 3 hours of boredom that usually ends up with zero or very little catch now has turned into 3 hours of bait testing... rod bending... hand shaking fun! Thanks to the fact that I've successfully poisoned my cousin into this madness... hahahahahaha.

Just another successful trip down to Farmway 3.

My cousin with his catch

Counting and bagging

Averaged size

Most of the time, we'd be able to get a good haul... never exceeding 30 pieces for 3 hours. But sometime... we do get the exceptional opposite... and the rare super haul...

80+ pieces in 3 hours

From using the house rod to owning my own personal rod... from normal house baits to my own super baits... I've managed to self poison myself into a very expensive side hobby.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

The Night Scenes Down East

2010-04-25T10:09:00.001+08:00

A Nice Little Getaway For 2

2010-04-23T10:16:00.000+08:00

KTM Resort is one of my favorite getaway places. Less than an hour away from Singapore... its pretty stocked up... a nice little instant getaway from work. Good food... affordable stay... decently themed accommodations... and not forgetting the in-house spa just minutes away from your doorstep.

Cereal Calamari

Kung Pao Chicken

The restaurant is located at the bottom of the slope... its fairly large and serves up quite a big assortment of dishes including many of our local dishes too. The Cereal Calamari... Kung Pao Chicken... Asparagus Soup... are a must try... just to name a few.

Stairs leading to our front door

The sheltered front door

Accommodations by far were perfect for me. The rooms gave out a nice "resort" feel to it... with its rustic wooden panel walls... an outdoor veranda... to name a few.

Outdoor veranda

Just a stone throw away from everything else

The resort is littered with beautiful outdoor decorations... an outdoor pond... fountains...

The path around the pond

The spa... just minutes from your doorstep has a wide range of treatments from pedicures to traditional massages... they even have packages up to 5hrs per session.

Just follow the bricked road to the spa

Not forgetting... their saltwater pool at the bottom of the resort. The best time for a plunge... high tide. Thats when they start pumping in the water...

Emerald green waters

Aside from all these... there are still tons of other things that I've yet have time to photograph.

My favorite... Sunset

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Fly Testing

2010-04-23T08:00:00.076+08:00

A fly tying vice is an evil thing... a very evil thing. A few months ago, a demon by the name of Alan Chan brought forward to me, a dark metaled vice... crawling with much hidden evil... "Use lah", he said to me... "I already got myself another one". Resisting its temptations, I chucked it deep into my tackle box and shut my ears tight... for every single night it calls to me.

Just weeks ago... another demon came to me... "Eh, I thought Alan Chan already gave you his vice?", he said. For days I had tried to resist... but I finally broke and the demon known as Roger Sticko brought me to his lair... filled to the brim with all sorts of dark magical treats... I didn't looked back ever since...

As if! If only it were that intricate and complex... so dark and mysterious... if only. The truth though... Alan gave me his old vice a few months ago. He just invested in a newer, better one so instead of throwing away his old one, he gave it to me instead. I was quite interested in fly tying... its just that I didn't have any materials... and I didn't have the heart to bother anybody else since we were all very busy with our jobs, family etc.

But lo and behold, Roger finally managed to bring me into one of his favorite haunt, Coho and made some purchases for me... I came out $70 poorer... and ever since then, I kept myself busy tying flies... at times, 8 flies in one night. I'm still neither here nor there though...

Nigel with one of my long Clousers

Finally having some time to myself, I met up Nigel at Lower Seletar Reservoir to test out my flies. We caught only one Peacock Bass that day... but considering the location and time, just one is good enough. We had to retreat to Yishun for Ice Milo, Tom Yam noodles and Fried Kway Teo soon after landing this.... the rain clouds were gathering quietly nearby... slowly building up its size and strenght.

Lower Seletar Reservoir has really gone to the dumps... what used to be a very nice place to fish turned into a "anything goes" place. There were people baiting in the open... a family of six including the maid were stationed near the entrance of the jetty... armed with rafia strings and plastic bottles filled with... guess what? Dried preserved fruits!! They filled the bottles with the "bait" and then dunked it into the waters hoping that a fish might just come near and get trapped inside.

-_-" something very unexpected from an "educated" family... oh well. "Preserving our waterways" they said... what "preservation"?

NeCRoPLaSTiC

The Long Wait

2010-04-21T11:34:00.000+08:00

Its been quite a while since I got back from Tanjong Pinang. I've finally finished editing the photos... made a few adjustments here and there... sorting through the big bunch of amateur shots. So here's the outcome...

The long wait again...

Its been delayed for a little more... I'm still suffering from "landsickness" so my head is still not there yet... as you can already see from my previous postings.

Sorry for the wait!!

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Our Last Trip To Farmway 3

2010-04-21T09:59:00.000+08:00

Months have passed since my last visit to Farmway 3 catch and release pond... and after the major changes to the fishing timings, I can safely say that it would be many more months til our next. My last trip was with Nigel... who was keen on testing out his newly acquired test rod, the Protech Magic Spin.

Paired with a Daiwa Caldia Kix 1500... with its stickers still intact

It didn't take long for Nigel to get his 1st bite... a short lob to the side produced almost instant results. I was shocked and clueless at that time... didn't know it was that easy or fast... but yea... Nigel has been known to be a Kelong-kia most of the time.

Side casting

Red Tailed Catfish

15mins later...

There he goes again

Another handsome Red Tailed Catfish

The same spot... the same bait... the same species... but different sizes... we spent the next few hours after that waiting for another miracle...

Just waiting to scream

Our secret bait... not so friendly on the nose...

Night swung by and still no bites... even the usual Tilapias were not biting as much that day... which was quite weird for the both of us. Cindy too arrived not long after... and fell asleep at the table from boredom.

We left early the next morning... Cindy still sleepy from the empty night... me having lost quite a bit of line to the watermill and Nigel... very satisfied... smiling from ear to ear.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

When Light Meets Darkness...

2010-04-21T08:23:00.000+08:00

"When light meets darkness... the flicker from a single lit match can light up even the darkest path".

A quick trip to Marina Barrage with my 500D... tripod... and two old friends.

The 1st thing you'll see just around the bend

The lit runway

Fine weather... cool breeze... and nothing but the city lights.

Its still quiet and peaceful now... I'm just hopeful that it won't be flooded with too many people once the attractions and resorts are up.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

At Final Last... The Rain Has Stopped

2010-04-05T12:04:00.000+08:00

Weather in little old Singapore can be quite unpredictable at times... at times. Other than the usual sun... wind... and the odd cloud cover or two... one can only hope that it doesn't rain... and most of these times, mother nature tends to think otherwise. Most rainy fishing days are best spent under the sheets in the comfort of your own home... while the other days are best spent at your favorite spots.

Rubber yum

The old time favorites there were the Still Hunts rubber swim baits. Work it fast... work it slow... work it mid water or just bottom bounce it... it'll work... no problem.

More rubber yum

Mostly taken on mid water

And when all else fails... there's still a glimmer of hope. Spin fly is always a clear winner anytime of the day.

Fly yum

Nigel with his test rod... and my fly

Nigel too got some of the action... albeit he landed virtually nothing on hard lures that day. They were especially aggressive against flies and rubbers throughout the day... preferring only minnows and other hard lures earlier in the morning.

"Finally!!", he said

Hard to resist taking this shot...

Rain rain go away... let these anglers come out to play...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Cuties Ika Assassins

2010-03-27T23:53:00.000+08:00

I managed to grab a couple of these before they were gone. From the built quality and looks alone, I'm quite confident that I can upgrade these 2 eye candies into Ika Assassins.

Similarly designed and contoured

Striking stripes along the spine

It only took me less than 15mins to decide on them. "Just grab and go... don't look back", I said to myself. Hence now I'm a proud owner of 2 very tempting eye candies. How tempting can they be? The moment I got the pictures out, Nigel was busy dishing out the usual on his messenger... aaaaah... sweet sweet music to my ears.

Nicely packaged

There were only a few of these left on the shelf... and lucky for me they're not the colors that I had wanted to get. Can't wait for their next stock up.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Forever Deep In Slumber

2010-03-27T23:37:00.000+08:00

My brother just called... apparently, he went over to one of our resident Cats that was lying under some plastic chairs often used by the elderly under my block... unknowingly... he stroked the familiar black Cat and realized that he had already been dead. The body was cold and rigid... he had probably breathed his last quite some time ago. Lying motionless under the chair, he looked as though he was asleep... lest somebody went over to have a closer look, nobody would have known.

Its sad really... although I'm not that close to the resident Cats that roams around my neighborhood, a lost is still a lost to say the least. For those who've yet owned one... for those who've disliked them, or even fear them... just seeing him lay still as if in a deep sleep... not many will understand this feeling.

At least I'm hopeful that he died in his sleep... forever deep in slumber never to be awaken... leaving behind all the pain and suffering... his future now forever cast in stone.

Goodbye black Cat. Its time for a well deserved rest...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

When The Prawning Itch Bites

2010-03-27T22:15:00.000+08:00

My 1st ever prawning trip for 2010... and at that point of time... I never would have thought that it would be my 1st of many. I've more or less... probably managed to poison and convert about a dozen or so weekend anglers into weekly prawners. And of this dirty dozen or so... 2 of them have already bought themselves their own personal rods... and another 2 more are still in the process of being "coaxed" into buying theirs. And as the numbers grow... so do the number of times I've had to top up my prawning hours.

Fenced up with an overhanging netting for shade

Shade... check. Fence... check. Table... check. Chairs... check. Sink... check. Toilet... check. And like all the other places that I've been to... a serving of Chicken heart... a keep net and if need be, a loaner house rod all prepped up and ready to go.

Foldable plastic tables readily available...

Their workers will tend to the place every now and then... sweeping up the broken pincers... throwing away the leftover trash and baits... quickly and stealthily. They'll periodically release fresh batches of prawns into the pond depending on the number of prawners and situation.

The usual Chicken heart for bait

One thing to note though... nights may be quite humid and warm... depending on the wind conditions. Since the pond is surrounded by other low lying buildings with trees around their perimeters... it'll get pretty warm at night some times... but so long as the prawns are biting, who really cares?

Sink for washing and prepping the prawns for transport

An icebox full of freshly caught prawns

Catches aren't bad... if you're proficient enough at prawning... and talk with their workers every now and then. The friendly chaps aren't always what they looked to be... cos most of the times, they'll either have this zombie mode face or an overly "hyped up with caffeine" attitude. Eager to help if need be... so all thats left is the proper baits, the correct timing and lots of luck. It only takes 1hr of practice to be proficient... but hours of practice to be perfect... but even then, there is still no guarantee that you'll be the champion of the night.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Still Hunt Hunting

2010-03-27T21:26:00.004+08:00

Still Hunts by far... are my most favorite and often used rubber swim-baits. A tad light for some, while others may find it not "action" enough... a weighted jig head or weighted worm hooks like the ones I'm using will solve that problem just nicely.

A common favorite for bottom dwelling Tomans

Cast it... let it sink to the bottom... and bottom bounce it all the way back. Cast it... let it sink halfway... and twitch it all the way back. Or my all time favorite... cast it... and start twitching it all the way back once it hits the surface.

Mid water hunters

Too soft and the rubber will not last that long... too stiff and its action will be limited quite considerably. Much like the Keitechs... its soft chewy characteristics readily brings out its action... but chances are, it'll tear apart after just a hit or two. And unfortunately... its not that easy to get the best of both worlds...

Works even in shallow drains

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Punggol Marina

2010-03-24T18:33:00.000+08:00

And I thought that I was the ONLY one who was poisoned into prawning... it seems like I wasn't after all!! Other than the fact that one of my cousins got featured in a prawning article the other day... even my fiance's friends were into it. Punggol Marina... its time for a change I think... cos I've been to Farmway 3 far too many times to even remember!

The hosts

A couple of friends invited us to Punggol Marina for prawning... on one of their "tag nights". Basically, they'll release a few tagged prawns... stapled with colored tags underneath their tails. Certain colors will get you certain "gifts" like $5 off... extra prawning hours... etc.

The prawns there were fairly plenty

The pond was pretty standard sized... a fairly big pond divided into 3 smaller ponds. Its been a long time since I've been "tub" prawning so I was pretty surprised by the erected concrete pond design. It wasn't as deep as I expected it to be but the water was so clear that you could individually target the prawns from where you're sitting/standing. The unfortunate part was, the main sitting/standing area was a few feet above ground... the walkway was pretty narrow and there weren't any fencing. And going by my very sloppy "safety records" I was pretty sure that I'll slip off the walkway... one way or another.

Always ready BBQ stove

One thing good though... they have a pretty spacious "holding" area just behind the pond. Wooden benches, umbrellas... they've even readied BBQ stoves for customers who'd want to BBQ their catch on the spot. Charcoal and fire starters are also available there... although I'm not too sure if its free or chargeable.

BBQ fun

The place was clean... simple and thorough. A small counter at the side keeps check on the customers... ice-cream... canned and bottled drinks... you could even order fries and a little something extra from the counter although I'm not too sure if its Halal though.

Freshly caught BBQ prawns

A pinch of salt makes everything taste good

We spent around 3hrs... didn't really count the catches but they were plenty and easy too. Just aim... drop... and strike... thats all there is to it. Unfortunately for me, we didn't caught any tagged prawns... but fortunately for our friends, they managed around 3 pieces of tagged prawns... free ice-cream and some cash payout from the counter. Lucky bastards... Hahahaha...

Too tempting to even think about her allergy to prawns

The prawn is alright... but given a choice, I'd still head down to Farmway 3... much closer to home and a tad more safer for a clutz like me.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

New Jigs And Lures To Test

2010-03-24T10:19:00.001+08:00

Every single time I go down to Jimmy's I'll tend to walk out of his shop with something in my hands... be it lures, jigs, prawning stuff etc. Its really very convenient to have a tackle shop just minutes away from you... and very dangerous as well. I've been eying the Certate Hyper and Emeraldas in his glass cabinet ever since I 1st stepped into his shop... dangerous.

Mahi Mahi jig

One of the 1st items that caught my eye were the Mahi Mahi jigs right at the entrance of his shop. Putting aside the standard sizes and weights for normal jigging conditions... 40g... 60g... etc... I grabbed the smaller ones instead. 3g... 5g... should be more than enough for Peacock Bass frenzies.

Side view

Head shot

Another interesting thing about his shop are the "other than normal" choices for River2Sea lures. River2Sea!! Ever since Seahawk and Bakau started to flood the market with their cheap copies of River2Sea's Humbugs, many shops stopped stocking River2Sea items for a long time. Whats left were either the sucky colors or the ones that people don't generally feel interested in buying... the Mid-Joints.

I've overheard him saying that he's been looking around for River2Sea suppliers for quite some time... I'm quite hopeful that he gets to find them cos I'm a big fan of River2Sea... they make some of the most affordable and lasting items that I've used.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Uncharted Waters

2010-03-24T00:56:00.003+08:00

I brought out my GL2 which I just recently bought from Beach Road with Alan's advice to explore some uncharted waters to the west of me. Having slightly the same action as my favored Rapiers... I took it to the test with Sammys, Chug Bugs and the likes.

Emerald green blank topped off with Stainless Steel Fuji guides

Being a tad bit more heavier than my Rapier... I soon found out that the action was far more different that I had foreseen it to be.

The Chug Bug blaster

Although it lacks in the "striking strength" department, the GL2 has quite a bit of power reserved in the back end... as tested earlier in the day with different weighted lures. Its sweet spot is from 5g til up to 16g... after which any lighter would fail to load the blank and any heavier would tend to put too much pressure on it. Pair it with a good finesses reel and a 4lbs line and you've got yourself a keeper.

Our guide

Our guide for today was Nigel... the gung-ho yet far too adventurous and optimistic guide. We made quite a few wrong turns here and there... at times getting stuck and having to backtrack ourselves every now and then... but really... without adventuring, we would have never found out the sweet spots which mother earth has given us.

Wear and tear

Having used his favorite bashing pants one time too many... it finally tore away from the seams after an exciting battle with a surprise prey. We had to backtrack our way back to the HQ as some of the paths had already closed off by itself. The trees and vines grew quite fast... what was not there a couple of months ago, has already been infested by thorny bushes and hanging trees.

"Very airy"

The further we went, the bigger it got... til it reached halfway up his butt seams. He was lucky there weren't that many "curious" insects or animals around or we'd be in trouble.

The heat had started to get to us

Once you start walking, its best not to stop

As the sun start glaring above us, the heat slowly crept up from behind. Over or under it doesn't really matter... whats important is that we get back to civilization.

We didn't land anything substantial that day... except for this...

Temensis on minnow

Surprise catch

We didn't really expect to bump into a Temensis that day... especially at that location. Although it has been known to many that Temensis have already been quite prolific in that area for quite some time, we just didn't expect to bump into one right in the middle of it all.

Not bad I'd say... not bad at all...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

A Good Tool To Have

2010-03-24T00:26:00.002+08:00

Looky looky what I found in Jimmy's... an interestingly designed and quite affordable tool for egi-ing enthusiasts. Its an egi "hook" tool... used to bend back the barbs that have opened due to snags and prolonged use.

Bottom view

Its textured plastic handle is small and compact... giving you adequate grip yet small and light enough to be carried in your front pocket. You can attach it to a lanyard and store it in your tackle bag for on-the-go use.

Top view

Unlike the ones I've seen... its bent in such a way that you'll be able to bend in the barbs deeper in and keep your fingers out of harm's way. I've yet tested mine so I can't really tell its durability yet... although it might look "softer" than the egi tool that I'm using, I'm quite confident that it'll last just as long... the best thing I can say is its retail price and availability.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Prawning... Again?

2010-03-24T00:12:00.003+08:00

Went prawning at Farmway 3 again... this time I brought along with me my close Primary School friend. Even after 20 over yrs, we'd still keep in touch every now and then... but it isn't that hard really... not when we're just a few blocks away. From young, til old... married... with kids... if you're still tight with them, then they deserved the title of "best friend".

Each of us brought back a small little "souvenir"

By then, my cousin and I have already gotten ourselves our own personal rods... although I do prefer his than mine. Its pretty stiff and sensitive for $18... a good buy.

A net worth of prawns...

The action picked up pretty late in the game... once the people start streaming out and going home, we went over to our favored spots at the side of the pond. 1 thing I seem to recall is that, the lesser the people, the more prawns there are to catch... which was quite logical in a sense since we in turn would have lesser competition.

Dress up for prawning?! Nah...

Sometimes I begin to wonder... if prawning was really an old man's game... cos who says that you'll need to dress up to prawn? You can put all those fancy equipments and clothes aside, cos all you need to prawn is a rod, some baits and good company.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Need My Own Ride

2010-03-23T22:21:00.003+08:00

My cousin just got married over the weekend... had a nice little reception at the Community Center close to her home. It was pretty nice... their wedding car... was something else though.

A sweet sweet ride... but sadly... just not my kind of car

Closeup head shot from the side

I spent a small fraction of my time taking pictures here and there... the Mc Donalds underneath the Community Center was a nice touch too... should you ever get tired of the buffet table. I'm pretty much starting to develop my own photo style... although I'd still prefer not to call myself a "photographer"... yet. I'm just an avid fan of the lens.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Poisoned Poison

2010-03-23T21:28:00.002+08:00

Prawning... prawning... and more prawning. Up to date... I've effectively poisoned quite a number of my good friends including my cousins... and found many new prawning companions. I've topped up my prawning hours at Farmway 3 far too many times to even remember... plus that additional personal prawning rod which I bought myself from Jimmy's.

The prawns there are pretty standard sized...

But sometimes... I do miss the bigger ones that they had before

What does one do when one is bored? Especially so when one had just collected his car from the dealer just a few days prior? PRAWNING!! With just a few hours left to spare in my prawning account... hell... I think they'd need to upgrade the 28hrs to 40hrs cos my time keeps running out FAST!!

Thats 1 more down... lets see just how many more I can poison

3hrs later... POISONED!!

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Product Shoot

2010-03-22T15:22:00.000+08:00

I hate to have to wait til night time before I can start a product shoot... unfortunately, it can't be help cos I don't have the proper lighting equipment and workable space to do it. Besides the fact that I'm particularly disturbed at my predicament... I have to rely on my living room lights when its pitch dark outside just so I can get a clear picture. But anyways, it has to be done...

The Caldia KIX 1500...

I've never been a fan of Shimano... or Daiwa for that matter. Back then... to me... a reel is essentially just a reel. So long as it serves me the way I wanted it, branding doesn't really matter at all... back then. After a few years down the road... right now... once you've fallen into the hole of which we called "angling"... the phrase "so long as it serves its purpose" does not exist anymore. At least not for the more experienced and pampered ones.

Right now, as it is... everywhere you look, its either Shimano or Daiwa... Shimano or Daiwa. They have, quite basically... soaked up and conquered the reel department. Offshore... Inshore... Luring... Baiting... its basically everywhere... much like the colossal Canon and Nikon with their own photography empire. After so many years, it only took one simple advice and one simple rule to make me flip... for I've never been a fan for either Shimano or Daiwa... at least til somebody opened my eyes... or rather... poisoned me. Hahahahaha...

So here I am... as a Daiwa supporter... doing a small write-up on one of its popular spinning reels... the Daiwa Caldia KIX 1500.

Main body

The Caldia KIX shares basically the same design and profile as its cousin, the Fream KIX. Although, it does have some additional parts inside... it is not any heavier... but rather... just a tad lighter than Freams KIX mainly due to its Duralumin gears.

Rotor arm and shaft

Durability wise, the Caldia KIX will retain its smoothness and quiet oscillation much longer than Fream KIX, also mainly because of its Duralumin gears. The Fream KIX on the other hand, will start to get heavy... its gears will start to get coarse and noisy due to its gears which are of higher density and harder nature.

Handle assembly

The handle is more or less the same machined handle as the others... something which is a god given for most of us... even though its not the direct screw-in type, its still much more solid and durable than folding handles. A good upgrade would be the RCS Eva or Wooden knob...

Spool

One of the important factors that makes Daiwa my choice is of course, its spool... cos no matter how refined and smooth your reel can be, if the spool starts degrading faster than your other parts... then you have a problem.

So here ends the small write-up... and product shoot. Hopefully, I'll have more time and opportunity to do more product shoots of tackles and the likes... til then...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

If This Was Only Singapore

2010-02-19T09:32:00.005+08:00

Do you think its possible to be romantic AND fish at the same time?

NeCRoPLaSTiC

One More Time... With Feeling

2010-02-18T18:02:00.001+08:00

My last eging trip with Alan didn't go so well for me... strong winds... unfamiliar terrain... seaweed... etc. Its a pity though... cos judging from the location, terrain, rocky formations and shallow waters, its was eging heaven. There were 2 other similar locations nearby... accessible by foot and just minutes away... but we left after around 2 hours or so. It was an empty night for me and Mondo with only 1 landed by Alan.

I've been hearing reports of squids being spotted around the northern and eastern areas... from reliable sources. And since I had tons of time to spare at night... after much "encouragement" from Nigel... we finally made plans to invade our old eging spot.

Some encouraging marks left at the scene

As per usual... I got a little along the way... much to the concerned calls and SMS from Nigel and Cindy. I think its a chronic disease or something... cos its so bad, I'm actually reknowned for it. I could already imagine them saying, "I think he got lost again..." when what would normally take someone 15mins, took me 30mins to achieve. So back to the story...

Hard at work with his test rod

By the time I reached... Nigel had already landed 2 pieces... quickly storing them in his keepnet which he had brought earlier on. Keepnet... now why didn't I think of that? Cindy had brought along Ah Boy for the trip and was busy teaching him how to squid at the side. Not bad, I'd say... she managed to land a Bak Tao, keep her cool and not kill Nigel throughout the whole trip... we should have Ah Boy follow her from time to time... Hahahahaha!

You can somewhat see how messy eging can be

There was another group of anglers there... busy eging at the center. Other than what looked like the Ah Lau of the group, all the others were using 6' rods like Bass One and the like. They were pretty fussy about the size and type of catches there... often releasing back the unwanted Bak Taos and smaller Che Baks... which was good... but I don't really like the way they were releasing them back. Tugging and snapping the jigs while the squids are still in the water until eventually breaking off parts of their tentacles isn't really what I call "releasing" them. If you're that lazy to release them back properly without harming them, then why bother to release them in the 1st place? Injuring and tearing off their tentacles will ultimately affect their hunting capabilities.

Packing up

We kept to ourselves most of the time... sticking close to the water's edge. One thing I do recall about the place was... normal upward jigging techniques aren't really that effective... the squids there aren't as aggresive as I thought them to be... they are pretty shy and the takes are often very slow.

Whats that?!!

Another odd rarity... was the arrival of bait fishes in the vacinity. Nigel said that there's probably a Barracuda lurking around in the deeper parts... but I didn't spot any disturbances other than the odd baitfishes dashing here and there... he was so sure there was. It was quite entertaining to see him turn his head every now and then trying to spot the mysterious Barracuda.

Tonight's catch

The catch rate tonight was quite surprising... for a troublesome place. Its not one of my favourite eging locations but it's pretty close to my area. Most of the catch were landed during upgoing tide... it pretty much died down during downgoing... not surprising.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Closet Cleanup

2010-02-12T03:10:00.001+08:00

I have a ton of stuff stashed around the house. Rods, reels, lines, sinkers... you name it... there's a high chance that I have it stashed somewhere. And since Chinese New Year is swinging by... and me being partly Chinese myself... I spent the last few days "spring cleaning" my stash a bit. So here I have... the 1st item up for grab...

Black synthetic Jigging Master cap

I've got a rarely used black Jigging Master cap made out of synthetic materials. It dries pretty fast due to its fully meshed design and doesn't retain the sweat smell like other caps would.

Its sleek, dries fast and is pretty light and comfortable

I'll be releasing more items gradually... as soon as I sort them out.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Something New

2010-02-10T17:03:00.012+08:00

Apart from my recent buying spree for a new travel rod... a tripod etc... I took Alan's advice and bought a few packets of Keitech Swing Impact. I would have also bought some worm jigs and Still Hunts from AO, but they were closed for stock taking... until when, I'm not exactly sure. Til then, I think I'll have to make do with the old worm hooks for now... at least til AO opens its shutters again.

Keitech Swing Impact 4"

LH just recently stocked up their Keitech rubbers only a few days ago and a whole big bunch of em are already gone... at $11.90 a pop, these things better be good. Alan and his crew grabbed quite a lot the last few days... leaving behind only 2 3.8" Swing Impact Fat... which have now become mine.

Keitech Swing Impact 3.8"

Other than the sheer size... the Swing Impact and Swing Impact Fat feels just a tad different. The Swing Impact is much more mushy and irresistible to bite... while the Fat version is made from tougher materials... for bigger preys. I guess, when you're going for toothy preys like Groupers and the lot, its better to have a tougher rubber to handle the whole lot.

For those who've been to LH and found the whole row of white 4" Swing Impacts gone from the rack, I'm sorry... cos unless they have hidden any additional stocks somewhere in the shop, I guess I've probably bought off the whole lot. 1st customer always gets the 1st pick.

I finished off 2/3 of the rack... the balance was kept aside for another customer

NeCRoPLaSTiC

The Green One

2010-02-09T22:21:00.003+08:00

I had a dream a few nights ago... I think it had to do with Karma and stuff. I've since forgotten the most part of it but I do remember telling myself the minute I woke up... "Next time wash your hands before you touch your food". Cos what I can clearly recall was, waking up just before dawn with a very bad case of diarrhea. True enough, I was late again for my 1st light...

Staking out the shallow banks for clues

The water level has receded quite a bit since our last visit... the shallow banks made it much easier for us to trudge through. Deeper and deeper through soft leaves and overhanging roots. The air was fresh, the sun was glaring... the forest feels as if it was alive somehow.

Close to 45mins into the morning, we came upon an Ang Moh fishing by the side of the bank with what seemed like an Ultegra C3000 and a 7'... 7'6" rod... blasting out big top-water swim-baits close to the other side of the bank. We had a short chat afterward and shared some interesting luring tips... although admittedly, we were far more interested in his full camouflaged outfit and vest.

BAM!! My patience finally paid off!!

I've never been a fan of minnows... ever... or vibes for that matter either. The only few choices that I brought along with me every time were the Humbugs, Mid Dives and the Pin Tail... which was... never meant for freshwater in the 1st place. My usual arsenal of Sammy, Chug Bug, Mudsucker, Bowstick and Still Hunts haven't been that effective on fast bottom dwellers. So basically... the Still Hunts really made my day.

Emerald green backed, purple brooder on Still Hunt

Nigel and I have been concentrating on a small enclave, with its deep emerald green waters lined with fallen branches on both sides. So perfectly... picture perfect. As Nigel kept himself busy with his jointed minnow, I decided to give the Still Hunt a try... casting out towards the far bank and slowly bottom bouncing it back. I flicked it across the sides, towards the bank, into some fallen branches... nothing. The whole stretch looked pretty dead... not even a sign of life even... at least til something wierd happened.

As I was reeling back my twitching rubber from the deep, a large brown mass... with its upper fins flared up, opened its mouth wide and swallowed the rubber whole. "Oh my GOD, a grouper just ate my rubber"... or so I thought. A sharp tug on the rod sunk my hook deep into the side of its lips... GAME ON! "Nigel!! Toman... Toman!!". The Snakehead was subdued in haste and brought out of the water for a short photoshoot. "I told you, this kind of water sure to have green backs...", he said to me proudly.

Last shot before release

We spent the next few hours chasing after a Temensis that was spotted nearby... much to our disappointment... and slowly made our way out of the shrubs and back to civilization. We're heading back to the enclave in a week's time... meanwhile... Nigel remains hopeful...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Kraji Photos

2010-01-27T14:54:00.005+08:00

We started frequenting Kranji for Peacock Bass... not to mention the jackpot air breathers just outside our casting reach. Didn't caught much on this trip... I spent most of the time there taking photos of the place. Here are some area shots of the place... the sun was pretty bright during that time but the clouds nulled pretty much everything.

Side veiw from the entrance...

The abandoned jetty

Deeper in...

Right at the end of the trail

Below are some of my favourite shots...

Nigel wasn't as co-operative as I thought he'd be... most of the times he's just busy trying to get me to fish...

Blind faith finally worked out for Nigel...

He managed to land 2 Peacock Bass that day... I used "managed" because there weren't that much bites to begin with. These days, its either hit or miss... its been getting really hard to land anything decent these days.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

From Kranji To Nowhere...

2010-01-26T16:15:00.003+08:00

Kranji kRanji krAnji... Nigel and I bashed up and down Kranji til late afternoon the other day. I brought along my newly acquired GL2 4-8lbs with me... along with a bunch of small minnows and rubbers to test out. The rod was pretty good... it casts my 9g spinner quite well... but the rating... seriously... 4-8lbs?! The word "underrated" is an understatement.

The calm morning waters

Although not as terrific as some places, Kranji is a pretty good place to train. There's ample casting space and shade plus plenty of benches along sides. Just remember to bring your insect repellent though... its a very important "tool" there.

Old man method

Although not the smartest of choices... you'll be surprised to see the things we'd do just to get our weekly high. A good advice would be... never to jig with a pole rod... no matter how tempting it may look.

Spotting for freshwater Yabbies

An odd stare or two from passersby... very limited casting distance... very limited lures choices and weights... plus... you might just end up snagging your line in between clusters of rocks in the water.

We got pretty bored afterwards... Nigel missed a big take on his polerod cum sabiki jigging cum prawn rod... so we left around 10pm. Nigel wanted to get a quick change of tackles and a quick bite so we left for his house and I chomped down a couple of Pie-Kia's pies while waiting for him.

Hours passed...

Tired...

Lost...

The uphill task afterwards...

Note to self: Signs are just guidelines... it does not necessarily mean that there is something at the bottom of a steep hill. We learned it the hard way.

We basically spend the whole day getting lost... walking and walking and walking... I've never been so tired of walking so much... Hahahahaha.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

HotBoys It Is

2009-12-30T11:59:00.004+08:00

December 19th 2009... lets see. December 19th 2009... by far... should be my most suay trip ever to Sibu Kelong, Malaysia. The weather was very unpredictable... it would be sunny one minute, and drizzling non stop for another, sunny again... then rained again... its as if its confused somehow. Monsoon winds had already begun to pick up just days prior... bringing along with it, endless clouds of rain.

It rained so much, so unpredictably that I got tired of putting on my GoreTex everytime it started to drizzle... to hell with it... I wore my GoreTex 80% of the time there, be it rain or shine. The heat won't kill me... and neither will the rain... but the cold monsoon winds felt like ice shards clawing through my skin.

Spacious... 10 pax and still enough room for iceboxes and extra luggage...

I met up with Sim, his Dad and Chan at Bedok Reservoir... our 1st pickup point. And as expected, my forgetfulness got the better of me... we had to detour back to my house to pickup my prepacked baits. Luckily for me, Sim and I were having a very heated discussion on the best bait for Selars just minutes after setting off to the 2nd pickup point... Yio Chu Kang.

Everything went well... we reached Yio Chu Kang just a tad late... considering the little detour and our very professionally slow driver. Iceboxes, rods, bags, humans... all nicely packed and ready. Onwards to Bukit Panjang!! To our last pickup point!!... or so we thought. We spent the next 30 odd minutes stranded at Yio Chu Kang... with an empty tank deprived of any diesel... just one of the many "minor" hiccups that could have very well killed the whole trip.

By the time we reached Bukit Panjang, Cindy was clearly very pissed off... but no matter... small crisis averted. We safely made it through to Malaysia and changed drivers (oddly enough... we were supposed to change vehicles).

The engine died on us even before we reached the petrol station

Wait... wait... wait...

Too soon to be cheering I suppose... the van died on us even before we could reach the nearest petrol station. I could still remember what the previous driver said to us,"Engine oil finished...". Yea right... tell that to a HQ3SIB driver... I nearly laughed my socks off.

Finally the driver came back with a bottle of petrol

We couldn't start the van... even after refilling the tank with some much needed diesel. "Air lock... confirm.", I said to myself... it just gets better and better. We had to push the van to the nearest petrol station... around 30m up slope... and while the driver was busy filling up the tank, we took a short ice cream break away from the hot sun.

Hours passed and still no word from the spare drivers...

Full tank... check. Ice cream... check. Patience level decreasing... check. Excitement level increasing... check. Van... lets see. By this time, small pockets of air had already entered the fuel system... which in any case... has safely made the van unusable. Add to the fact that the driver tried non stop to start the engine... even cranking the ignition for extra long periods... til finally... burning the ignition. Oh well...

What looked to be an N2O tank turned out to be an LPG tank... damn!

A few calls... and nearly an hour stranded in the petrol station later... 2 backup drivers with MPVs arrived... fashionably late. By the looks of it... I sure wished that it was N2O stored inside that big tank... hopefully rocket fuel or something cos we were supposed to reach Tanjong Leman jetty before 10am... and its already 930am.

The boats have left... and we're left in the cold...

Oh no... no... it doesn't stop there either. Cos after our morning breakfast nearby (the drivers were fined for parking without valid parking coupons... karma)... we kinda got lost. I was asleep most of the time but I do recall overhearing something about having to go down Kota Tinggi then go up again a number of times cos we always ended up going through stretches of ulu uninhabited land... with villagers giving us a odd stare or two. I guess... they were just as lost as we were... "What the hell are we doing here?? This is not the way!!"... "Why the hell are they here? Are they lost?"...

We finally reached Tanjong Leman... wet... drenched... around 1pm. Even though our contact has been waiting patiently at the jetty from 930am... we spent the next 30mins or so waiting for the boat to arrive. "I don't know la... I called them already but don't know what they are doing. I also having a big headache... all my chickens are getting wet!!"... was what were we told... after waiting for so long for the boat to arrive. We managed to hitch a ride on another boat however... Ah Yew's. I wonder how long it took for the fella to bring over his chckens from the jetty...

Guess what that means? Thats a HUGE torchlight!

Once we reached the kelong... we kept ourselves busy with fishing... the winds were very strong and it rained 80% of the time... these shots were taken when the winds were just a little bit more forgiving.

The kelong on quieter moments...

Not really that crowded... from the outside... cos most of them are all inside sheltering from the monsoon.

The old hardworking uncle...

Pretty relaxing there... there are seats and everything... even though its pretty small compared to Ah Ngan.

The walkway at the sides are pretty wide...

Although I'd prefer the fencing to be just a tad taller...

Trusty bait bucket to keep your live baits or catch...

Jigging... Float... Bottom... we tried pretty much everything there

Eerie waters at night... makes a beautiful night scene...

The night scene isn't that bad either... besides the fact that the monsoon winds were pretty much blowing hard most of the times. But we did managed to catch a few surprises...

Bak Taos passing the 1kg mark are a usual occurrence there...

Our group landed a total of 4 big bak taos... 2 were sacrificed for lunch the following day and the other 2 were kept for storage.

We landed a total of 4 for this trip... not counting the ones we missed

The wintermelon soup was quite nice in cold weather... very very refreshing

Mahjong tables... tv... karaoke...

Although not that plenty, the Bak Taos kept us most happy...

We managed close to 30 pieces of green eye... which was quite surprising... cold weather, rain and fast currents didn't really affected our fishing spirits.

Bad weather... transport problems... hell... but there is a saying... "In every cloud is a silver lining...". And for this trip, I managed to finally land my 1st big bak tao... and finally be able to test out my squid gaff... damn it was fun.

Guess how much this costs? Damn cheap!!

Hopefully... we'll be able to head up to Sibu again once the monsoon season is over... I'm pretty itchy for offshore eging... my small cache of weapons have been waiting eagerly for its next squid.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Time pass us by

2009-12-03T16:03:00.000+08:00

I haven't been fishing lately... so instead I've been going around with my LX-3 in tow taking various pictures here and there.

Alan and his crew has been complaining about the bad catches here and there... well they can't really do anything but hope that their next outing will be much more bountiful.

There's a problem with Photobucket right now so I guess I'll only be able to load up my sightseeing pictures once its fine again.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Hassle Free

2009-11-12T14:19:00.003+08:00

For those really nit pickers of the lot... when no microfiber cloths are good enough or even safe enough for your lenses. I finally bought my bottle of Eclipse and packet of Pec Pads from Photographic Solutions.

A bit costly for me... but better than scratched lenses

Quite popular and widely used by many... the Pec Pads are disposable, so no more hand washing... saves the worry of having small particles in between your cleaning cloths just waiting to scratch your lenses.

$20/- for a bottle of Eclipse and $16/- for a pack of 100 disposable Pec Pads. 16 cents a piece is pretty reasonable, I'd say. Saves worrying about your lenses...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Evening Skies

2009-11-06T17:37:00.004+08:00

Another evening shot taken on LX-3

I've always preferred evening shots...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Walkabout

2009-10-30T21:39:00.003+08:00

I spent the last few days bringing my camera along my walkabouts... slowly adjusting my settings, proper lighting, composure etc. Damn I need a tripod...

Not bad actually... the deco that night was superb...

Still getting a hang of the camera... still sucks at still images

I especially liked this deco... any angler would I guess...

Taken from inside of Fish & Co at Dhoby Ghaut. It was my 1st time there, so I was quite amused by the deco inside. Heard from the staff that they're going to have a Halloween special on the 31st... and the place has been decked out from top to toe with decorations. The food was ok... I had the teriyaki salmon with rice. My bad... don't ever expect good Japanese food in a non-Japanese restaurant hahahaha. It was ok... just a tad bit bland. The salmon was served crispy hot... perfect.

Especially for Chong...

Damn I love this camera

Not much difference I think... but I do so like the reflection from the road. Captivating shot... Hahahahaha. Poisoned yet?

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Chinatown Closed Down

2009-10-27T18:21:00.002+08:00

Went to Chinatown recently with Alan... few months without Peacock Bass can really drive someone mad... Hahahaha.

Anyways... we went down to Chinatown to ease the itch just a little bit. I brought along a small L Minnow with me... along with a nice cute little spinner to test out. I don't know... ever since my last few trips, I've been rather reluctant to use anything thats bigger than 6cm or heavier than 7grams.

That long line is actually a drift net

The 1st thing that I had noticed once we reached the place was that... a long floating line in the water. For those who're not yet acquainted to it... let me introduce to you... the killer of spots... the Leng. Those who're still not sure what that is, do a small Google search on "drag nets"... lengs are basically smaller versions of dragnets that are usually placed along key openings or waterways. Being smart is one thing, being greedy and destructive is another. I've experienced a lot of times, when lengs were left abandoned around the waterways... often trapping the fishes and left there to die. More than often, these lengs are left abandoned due to snags or breakages... next time, I do hope that those anglers, be it local or foreign, to please think about the ecosystem once in a while cos the fishes do not magically appear out of thin air.

When we reached there, there were already 2 Myanmar/Thailand/Vietnam guys sitting by the side of the bank enjoying the view. Initially, we didn't really think it was them at 1st but... after spotting one of them only in his wet briefs that little voice in my head went," Yeap... they're the assholes that put that leng all right".

An Orh Peh got caught in the drift net...

Just one of the few Orh Pehs that were caught in their net.

And Alan is still busy waiting for his to bite...

And while they were sitting at the banks drying their butts off... we're standing/sitting just beside them... waiting... and waiting... and waiting...

Like a hunter waiting for its prey...

And waiting... and waiting...

We finally got bored... nothing was landed except for one very small Peacock Bass... around 6cm long... a tad longer than my L Minnow.

Bah... we drove off to meet up with Nigel and Cindy later that night for some Big Macs and Ice Cream Sundaes...

A last minute dinner at Bukit Panjang...

And guess what? Alan won a Big Mac in Mc Donald's monopoly card games... and since he was the very few winners in that location, the staff was more than happy to take his picture to post on their bulletin board. Sadly... my luck wasn't there but who cares... we all had our fill of Big Macs and fries that night.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

The Lights Around Me

2009-10-27T14:28:00.002+08:00

How I'd love to get myself a DSLR

No doubt it looks better after it rained...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Pasir Ris Farmway 3

2009-10-24T14:37:00.048+08:00

Its been a while since my last trip to Farmway 3. I don't know... maybe around 6 months since my last visit. Its a pretty nice and relaxing place... aside from the very hot afternoon sun. As long as you're a sun loving person, it won't really matter actually. Cos you'll be under the shade most of the time, and the bloody cooling breeze... damn... all you need is a hammock, and a cold one within arms length and you're all set.

To those who've still not been to the pond yet... here are some scenic shots that I took while waiting for the fishes to bite.

Side shot... the pond is pretty big in a sense

Side shot. The pond is moderately sized. But don't let its "limited" size fool you... there's quite a number of species lurking below the calm waters.

The waterwheel

The "hut" used to be the main office... til they shifted it under the shaded prawning pond area. I think they couldn't take the heat as well... damn hot. The big water wheel was installed quite some time ago... disturbed the holding areas for certain species. Last time, you'll know where to cast for what species, now they're all over the place.

Shaded area

A good place to be... after 12. Cos the morning sun will shine right through you in the early morning. Too bad there are hardly any rod holders.

Benches like these are place all along the circumference of the pond. Just make sure to wash em clean after use.

A perfect hiding hole under the scorching sun. Try not to get too comfy though... might be contagious.

Well back to the story. This time, I went down to Farmway 3 again... with my regular Farmway 3 retard... I mean friend... Halley a.k.a Firecomet. Rods used for were both Rapier X, 4th version, 2nd rating... or in short. 10-17lbs, Rapier X paired with a Daiwa Alpha R Edition and a Shimano Twinpower 2000 05' reels.

1st on the menu was an arm's length freshwater Catfish by Halley. Caught and released without any photos... it seems that they've accidentally dropped their precious boga into the pond so now their spare boga is somewhat "hidden" and kept somewhere... had to make do with a cheap Seahawk/Surecatch one.

Cheap thrill

I managed a fairly large Tilapia next. Just looking at the size of that thing really makes me wonder, just what the hell do they feed the fishes?

A Pacu and another Tilapia later... everything went downhill from there. Nothing much was landed from 10pm til about 4pm... their "resting" time. The thing about Farmway 3 is, its pretty productive in the early mornings and evenings... but once the sun starts glaring, the bites will start dropping drastically.

"Huh... Whats that?!"

Its already passed noon and nothing has been landed since. Even our neighbors hadn't hit anything yet ever since they came. By then a new group of anglers put down their tackles just opposite of us. The sun was hot and glaring, the winds were cool and soothing... all we needed was a hammock and we're all set.

Rapier X Vr 2

Oddly enough... we managed to get a big Patin. Judging from the size, it should be the very few pioneer batches of Patins which were released into the pond around 1 year back or so. Sadly, we didn't take a picture of it cos they didn't have their landing net with them so instead of risking bodily harm on the heavy creature, we told the worker to release it without any pictures.

Just a few hours later... just when we were in the mood for a little afternoon nap... something swam by and have my line an incredible tug. Our next door neighbor, seeing the rod fiercely jerking back and forth shot up from his seat and gave the rod a short yank.

"Eh your rod... your rod...", he said... as he ran towards it. "Go ahead... strike! Strike!", I answered. By that time, we were all so down in moral that it didn't even mattered if he made it in time... from the look of the jerks, it would either be another Pacu or maybe another Patin.

He passed me the rod after the initial strike. "Eh I think no more", was what he said before handing over the rod to me. By that time, the line had already slacked and I sensed that the fish had already eluded my bait and hook. But a few turns of the handle later soon made me realize that the fish was actually swimming towards us!

Slow tug back home

3 people... Halley, the helpful neighbor and me took turns in the tug of war. Each managing 15 odd mins on every interval before scampering back into the shade. Our initial thoughts were that it might be a Pacu... and from the way it running and dashes all over the pond, a big really big one. The sun was really getting to us... Halley had already turn red like a lobster and my shoulders were starting to feel the pinch... having a really stubborn fish playing tug of war with you doesn't really help too.

5 turns later... we Halley managed to bring it to the side for some photos.

There we go!

CPC ranging around 20-40kg caught on Extreme Angler's Rapier Carbon-X (Version 4) 10-17lbs paired with Daiwa Alpha R 103L spooled with PE1.5 and 16lbs fluorocarbon leader.

Now... who said I was always the only lucky one? Next time, I won't even let you touch my rod... just letting your watch me from the sides is good enough for you. Hahahahaha...

Many thanks to the neighbor that helped me strike... and good luck to your sales.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Daiwa Alpha R Edition 103L - The Naked Truth

2009-10-20T22:42:00.001+08:00

Hmmmmm... lets see. For the many years of fishing, I've already owned quite a small collection of baitcasting reels. And as it goes, I've only trusted Daiwa... for its durability, design and ease of cleaning.

Alpha 103L, Zillion 100SHL, Pixy 103L... and now, an Alpha R Edition 103L.

Most of the time, comfort is my top most priority... drag, line per turn, weight and casting distance especially, will take 2nd priority... which is why I would highly prefer and recommend low profile baitcasters over the round baitcasters. The reason is quite simple really... its all about the feel. The lower your reel is, the more sensitive your setup becomes. Another good reason to use a low profile reel is its "palming" capability. A round baitcasting reel might be too big or bulky for smaller Asian hands, plus a smaller reel is far more comfortable and easier to use in the long run... its reduced weight also makes you less fatigued.

Side view

The Daiwa Alpha R Edition 103L. 103, for shallow v-spools. L, for left handers.

A very handsome looking reel. One of the few super light, lowest sitting low profile baitcasting reels in the market. The Alpha R, is the 5th generation from the long line of Alphas. 1st to debut was the Alpha 103, the purple irridecent tiny terror... known mostly for its light duralumin spool. Followed by Alpha F 103, a gunmetal freshwater version... made even lighter with duralumin gears. The Alpha Ito A.I came next... a limited edition Ito tuned version. And not too long ago, the Alpha 150... bigger and rougher with more line capacity.

Magnesium main body for weight reductions while maintaining structural strenght. Duralumin R tuned spool, its weight further reduced and designed to cast further, easier. Duralumin gears and plastic sideplates for further weight reductions. A short 80mm swept carbon handles and an additional ball bearing under each cork knobs... a sweet upgrade for a tiny monster.

The Alpha R Edition, pimped up, souped up, upgraded and good to go.

The insides of the magnesium main body

Of course, made in Japan

Side view of the golden duralumin spool

Back view. There is just enough space for a thumb and nothing more. Its very accessible from the top, while keeping everything within a compact little package... a boon for small Asian hands.

The handle and drag star assembly. Complete with carbon fiber swept handle and cork knobs. Aesthetically appealing, nothing pimps up a reel as nice as carbon fiber handles and cork knobs... for me at least.

One thing I'd prefer to change though, is having a smoother bored pinion gear... or at least for its sides for that matter. My spool shaft end got scratched up pretty bad, not sure whether it was cos of the softer metal or the sharp edges. Might just polish up the shaft ends and maybe file down the sides of the brass pinion gear while I'm at it...

Another look at the duralumin spool

The heart of it all. Daiwa's Magforce V system. A narrower inductor, coupled with weaker magnets makes this baby a smooth caster down til a mere 5g. I've used 3g minnows before, but the Magforce V system didn't kick in due to its low revolution.

Gear ratio: 5.8:1. Weight: 170g. Ball bearings: 8+1 roller. Max drag: 4.0kg.

The Daiwa Alpha R Edition... a monster in my pocket.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Finally something with a bit more UMPH

2009-10-01T14:47:00.001+08:00

I've been meaning to get myself a new camera... something with more UMPH to take over my Samsung point-and-shoot. Although, its only been less than a year... I've seemed to hit a small hiccup... a dead end, so to speak... which is why I bought this new one to compensate it.

Here are some closeup pics which I had taken prior using the Samsung camera.

I LOVE taking closeup shots of everything... telephotos, scenic etc are just not my thing... cos you can't really make out the interesting curves, shapes and angles when the subject is too big or far away... it just takes away the UMPH... so to speak.

Here are some shots taken using my new camera.

Very well done... if I do say so myself. I'm still in my learning phase... so there are probably tons of things that I could still improve on... but til then, I'm quite frankly, pleased with my new purchase.

Anybody needs a cameraman for their next trip?

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Latest news

2009-09-30T10:12:00.000+08:00

Ris Low resigned from Miss World Singapore. Seems that karma has finally caught up to her.

1) English... fail

2) Looks... fail

3) Vocal... fail

4) Character... fail

I wonder just how desperate they've already become... as I could recall, I've seen tons of other girls that are much more deserving for the tittle of Miss World Singapore. If it was purely for looks, I've personally seen more than a fair share of it... just take a stroll around town and you'll get my drift. Oh well... but no fiasco will be left forgotten, nor without its teachings.

1) Be humble... those attention whores, you'll soon get a taste of unwanted attention...

2) Be humble... again... work is work, don't be a thief when you still have hands and legs...

3) Be honest... admit to your mistake and bite down on the humble sandwich...

4) Be truthful... don't lie and cover it up with another lie... cos you're going to get screwed up 1 big time and everything will be matte out in the open...

5) If you're fugly, and want attention... don't. Cos unless you're prepared to whore yourself, you won't get any...

This whole fiasco has also opened up some things to me... that if you've screwed and found out, its most likely that your upper management will skewer you alive and feed you to the fire when all hell breaks loose. I mean who'd want to take the blame for your mistakes? Shit, I'm going to douse petrol on you and cook your sorry ass for linking me to your shit mistakes. I'm not surprised that Straits Times would gently lick the flame (but douse it) time and time again... I mean... you guys at Straits Times are really desperate to sell some issues huh? Just plain hypocrites... To those who are sorry for the girl... please... she stole, broke the law more than 60 times over and isn't even remorseful after we all found out about it... you're a damn joke.

Karma... has finally made its scene...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Another trip to the pond

2009-09-29T21:39:00.002+08:00

Another trip to the pond

After our last trip, I left the pond feeling agitated, vengeful but very curious and rather doubtful about the pond… amongst other things. Unfortunately after this trip, gone were my vengeance, agitation, curiosity and quite sadly, my trust.

Alan made another weekend booking for an afternoon slot…sometime after the hot day’s sun til dusk. He’s been told… or rather, recommended that the Tomans were more active on sunny days as compared to cold rainy ones… something that was quite true at times. More so, when its around dusk… when the Tomans start hunting before retreating back to their harboring areas. So off we went, our gears prepped and ready, our minds absolute and our hands itching for some action… obviously underestimating the supposedly “untrained” Tomans in Bottle Tree Park.

Today’s anglers were, Alan, SH, Hammy, Jarret, Tommy, Cindy, Nigel and me. After our last trip there, we’ve all learnt that minnows works best for this pond… although top water were more interesting to watch, it wasn’t as effective on them than the ones in the wild.

Tommy managed to spot this wandering Terrapin and scooped it out of the pond for a short photosession.

The Terrapin was released back into the pond unharmed… which made me wonder, just how that that little critter managed to elude the Tomans for such a long time? I managed to spot a bigger Terrapin waddling in the pond, which was slightly bigger than my hand with my fingers opened wide.

One of the hotspots in the pond… Nigel sacrificed his Scum Frog while testing out the lily pads.

The catches were not bad… but in general, far below our expectations… mine too. Most of the Tomans were taken on minnows with the odd 1 or 2 from rubbers. The most hardworking angler today was Jarret, who managed to land quite a handful of Tomans with his modest setup.

Alan managed to hookup a runaway when it broke off during a split second commotion with Jarret and me. Spitting out 2 lures before finally getting hooked on Alan’s… just mind boggling.

Not forgetting Cindy… who stuck to her corner of the pond most of the time. Her reel sung the most loudest of all.

Tommy too had a bite of the action… but unfortunately didn’t managed to land it. His catches often had the luck of spitting out his lures just when the landing net was rushed over. Karma I think.

From bright and sunny til dusk, we left the pond at around 7pm… mostly tired from twitching and cranking. Those that caught something smiled, those that didn’t smiled as well… after so much picture perfect moments and gut wrenching bloopers.

I too, after non-stop twitching and cranking up and down the pond, finally sat down and took a few pictures before our time was up.

Alan didn’t really make a good model for me… Hahahahaha… I had a hard time taking a good picture with “robo head” Alan. But all fun and laugther will finally come to and end... and sadly I think, I'd rather not visit this pond again after this one. There are still quite a lot of questions and doubts in my head that are still left unanswered... and I for one am sure that the Tomans caught, were never sold off in the 1st place... much to what the Management has told us on several occasions.

I'm not trying to pull a "Vin Yeo" here... but seriously... why should I pay them to fish for them? This is just one of the gimmicks that really ruffled me. After all the hype and sensational reports, I left quite disappointed and cheated...

More info and details in aC FiSHiNG

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Toman pond last month

2009-09-25T14:48:00.004+08:00

I went to the infamous Bottle Tree Park, Toman Pond last month... a somewhat well known but "always visited in silence" C&R pond, a walking distance from Khatib MRT.

There are only a handful of known and legal C&R ponds in Singapore. For myself, other than Iwarna at Farmway 3, Pasir Ris... there is this one, which proudly made itself known through Fishingkaki.com.

The "gang"... mainly consists of Alan and his crew... made some arrangements with the management at Bottle Tree Park one weekend and reserved a weekend morning slot for about 6 people for 3 hours.

Each session, which was to be arranged only through the management, meant that there were no walk-in last minute sessions available during any time of the day. Other than being fully booked most of the time, nobody else, other than paying customers are allowed into the fishing grounds... a chain across the entrance of the bridge, and a sign stating "For paying customers only" made sure of that.

At $40/session, its pretty pricey for me, since of course, this being my 1st time... I can't really rely on my on and off (but usually off) luck. Most of the times, I'd get away with a couple of takes or if I'm lucky, a big one... on my good days. On my bad days though... I'd rather not even begin to describe my bad days... its just... BAD.

So... off we went to Khatib in Mondo's car. Location: Kallang. Participants: Alan, Mondo, Roger and I. All together, 2 spinning and 3 baitcasting setups... one of em, a Techna AV which managed to poison my heart black from its solid crispy sensitive blank.

Unfortunately, the weather in Singapore... being as temperamental and unpredictable as it is, wasn't that good. We saw, to our horror, huge gray clouds forming up northwards... and no matter how much we had prayed and hoped, we drove into a few downpours along the way. We soon reached the place, which was already dark and gloomy and went for cover... counting the seconds til the 1st rain drop hits the plastic roof.

It got pretty bad for about 2-3 hours... the clouds were starting to clear up one time, and they came back again 30 minutes later... squeezed a few hundred or so gallons of rain. On and off... on and off... the thought of giving up the session for another day came and went through our minds just as fast and frequent as the rain clouds zipping by. Me and Jarret took turns testing out the Techna AV and Conquest 201 combo. That rod has poisoned me to the very core.

Lo and behold!! After close to 6 hours of trashing from the rain clouds, it finally started to drizzle down so we took our chances and walked right in.

A hut was situated just meters away from the pond, which we used to put our bags... tackles etc. We made some last minutes adjustments under the hut... packed up our lures and walked off towards the pond with eyes gleaming of excitement like a child who just got a new toy... no amount of rain can dampen our spirits.

Catches by Mondo

Landed towards the end of the session... and if I'm not mistaken, taken on a minnow.

Catches by Jarret

Jarret brought up 3 Tomans in quick successions... all landed by his lucky Okuma minnow. By the 2nd Toman, most of us were already cursing ourselves for not bringing our Okuma minnows... not bad for a souvenir huh?

Catches by Me

All were caught on topwater lures... mainly Sammy, Bowstick and a Sammy lookalike. I lost one while landing it... was a foul hook to the tail but hey, its still hooked! "See la, see la... play cheat some more...". Hahahahaha... I was the 1st one in the group to actually manage to hook one up while the others were busy striking non-stop.

We tried TONS of stuff there, from rubbers, to minnows, to topwaters, to poppers, to frogs even. All I can say is, that the Tomans there are pretty smart little buggers. Often letting go of its prey as soon as it feels plastic in their mouths... running across structures.... and even dashing towards you... all I can say is, that they're pretty smart little buggers.

We've landed a few, lost many, and missed TONS too many. But reasonably enough, the fight was good, the catches were nice, and the company couldn't be any better. I'll reserve this pond a thumbs up for its management, crew and environment.

Not forgetting our special guest of the day... our in-disposable tackles engineer from across the seas, Mr Roger Thuyen Sangree Wang.

Handsome right?

Not forgetting... Many thanks to Mr Roger Thuyen Sangree Wang and Miss Cindy Tan for being our photographers for that day.

More info and details in aC FiSHiNG

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Bottle Tree Park visit

2009-09-24T16:49:00.002+08:00

Here are some miscellaneous pics that I took while waiting for the rain to stop at Bottle Tree Park the other time... I've been meaning to do a write-up but something always kept on stopping me.

The pics were taken just before it started pouring down on us. During that time, most of us were straying around the place... just minding the surroundings. I really need to get myself a better camera.

The retro looking, algae infested, scratched up old school golf cart. One of the most prominent "landmark" there. Unfortunately, it was abandoned there to rot... fortunately for me, it makes a nice picture subject.

Some top cover shots of the golf cart.

The algae really "enhances" it somehow.

Taken from the back seat... pretty retro looking.

My newly acquired Jigging Master cap which I took over from *ahem *ahem Roger. Its cosmetically appealing, drys quick enough and yet, doesn't smell like most caps would... all thanks to its synthetic materials and meshed design.

By this time, we're already under the hut just beside the ponds.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

For SavageHollowist

2009-09-24T13:27:00.002+08:00

I managed to take some cat photos while I was in Malaysia... If only your estate had cats this cute.

I'm getting pretty good at taking closeup shots... time to get myself a better camera.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

ROADTRIP!!

2009-09-24T13:05:00.004+08:00

2nd day of Hari Raya... the "Old Ones", mainly my Uncles and Aunties suggested a trip up into Malaysia to visit our relatives there. Its been donkey years since I traveled up to see my relatives... and since I was the only sibling "available" during that time, I said, "Might as well... maybe I'll be able to spot a few nice fishing holes for myself while I'm up there".

We shoved off from home at around 0645am... I brought my camera along with me just in case.

We 1st grouped up and met at the 1st stopover after Tuas. Nothing interesting... other than the good o' natural coconut husk ash trays.

A total of 4 cars went up today... a Honda Fit, a Toyota Wish, a Kia Rio and a Mitsubishi Lancer. It wasn't really as much as the last few trips, when a total of 7 cars traveled up and down the expressways in convoys.

The 1st house... and initially... supposedly the only house for the trip is a distant cousin of the family. He shifted house sometime ago and my Grandmother was quite interested in finding its new location.

After hours of driving, we finally reached the place, somewhere in Cha'ah. A Proton Persona was parked at the entrance.

The house was pretty nice and comfy. Its spacious, very modern and has a front yard big enough for 8 cars.

I took a few pictures of the flowers growing in the front yard. It rained in between, so we had to spend around 1 hour extra there waiting for the rain to stop.

The 2nd house was around 3 hours drive from there, northwards. By this time, it had been raining periodically... the place was muddy and wet, but no less comfortable and hospitable as the one at Cha'ah.

Beauty after the storm.

We reached the 3rd house pretty late. We made a few stopovers for food and toilet along the way... the long traffic jam southwards didn't help either. By the time we reached the place, it was already dark and quiet... the neighbors were probably already asleep by then.

Luckily it was around 20km away from Tuas Checkpoint, so we reached home pretty quickly afterward. Sadly, I didn't managed to spot any nice fishing holes there... the usual ones by the roadsides were all brown and muddy due to the rain although some of them had really good potential. Maybe next time, I'll get to travel up some more, and maybe... just maybe... get to go to the fishing spot at Cha'ah... around 2 hours travel on motorbike through dense vegetation.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

1st day of Hari Raya

2009-09-24T12:19:00.003+08:00

1st and foremost, "Selamat Hari Raya" to all my Muslim and non-Muslim friends alike. It doesn't really matter if you're a Muslim or not, cos its still a Public Holiday in Singapore and we're all "celebrating" it as one!

Its already been close to 1 week I guess, and I believe that there are still TONS of other houses that hasn't been visited yet... unless of course you're like my family, who often goes out in the carloads to visit our relatives on the 1st day.

For those who still haven't spruced up their houses, now is the time to do it. For those who have already spruced up their houses, you still have about 4 more weeks to maintain it before going back to the norm. But for those of you who's houses are already spruced up spick and span as if it was the norm, CONGRATULATIONS to you!! You're one fussy housekeeper that is for sure. My house is same o' same o'... no fancy decorations here or there but I did managed to spruce up my "storage area" where I chucked all my rods and rod tube etc...

One of my cats did this while we were spring cleaning. Fifi got freaked out when I carried him down the ladder... maybe cos the vacuum cleaner was still roaring just meters away from him. No matter... I've got bitten and scratched far more worse than this.

To all my friends, Selamat Hari Raya (again)... Forgive me for any wrongdoings or sins, should I have "stolen" your prized catches, should I have "sucked" your luck dry at times, should I have "lost" your prized catch while bringing it up, should I have "ate" or "drank" too much of your food or drinks, should I have "asked" for too many free cigarettes, should I have "spoken" out of line, should I have "done" things I shouldn't have done... etc... etc... my sins and wrongdoings are far too many to remember or speak of in such a short time...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Finally up and running!!

2009-09-16T05:35:00.001+08:00

Angler's Outfitter has finally finished the recontruction of their new website, at Angler's Outfitter.

Congratulations to Alvin and Benji on the new reconstructed website!!

Located on their main page, are the latest hot tackles and accessories updates... not to mention links to their blogs, where you can find their latest trip updates as well as incoming stocks that have just landed right at their doorstep.

My advise to you though, that even though they might have it stocked in their list, you might want to give them a call to check if there are still any physical stock left in their shop. As the saying goes, "They're selling like hot pancakes!!".

Be sure to check the space every now and then, cos currently from what I see, its still not 100% done yet... cos there are still TONS of stuff that they have not put up on their site.

But yea, you know how it is. Its best to go down there yourself and have a look see cos some of their stocks can move pretty fast. Blink... and you'll miss it.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Feed that hunger and late night cravings

2009-09-16T05:19:00.001+08:00

I just had Nasi Goreng Pattaya and Chicken & Cheese Murtabak... washed down so nicely with Ice Chocolate. Its so sinful, that I won't have the balls to order it again anytime soon. The portions they gave me was... ridiculously huge!

Specially for those late night eaters... for that sudden itch for some late night munchies.

When 7-11 or Maggi Mee just won't do, there is still Spize! Feed your hunger!!

+65 6734 9194 (Central Area)
Delivery Time: 630pm - 400am

+65 6445 3211 (East Area)
Delivery Time: 530pm - 300am

Be it Central, or East side... you can get your food delivered right to your doorstep pippin' hot. $5 delivery charge and a minimum order of $20 applies.

Just so you guys know... should you feel the itch to crave.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Graveyard visit

2009-09-07T08:05:00.004+08:00

I went to visit some graveyards at Lim Chu Kang yesterday morning. But unlike the recent fiasco in the papers... I wasn't there for any noob photo sessions... stepping on top of tombstones... flipping the bird here and there... and especially not with my tongue flapping out as if I'm some rockstar in a concert.

I went to visit my Grandfather's and my Father's graves... along with a few others for a little bit of spring cleaning... so to speak. Trim some bushes here, pull out some weeds there... we left... having said our prayers... after a silent nod or two... and not without resting our hands for the last time on their headstone... saying our,"Hello and goodbye for now. We will be back again next year".

Fresh flowers scattered above... The peaceful feeling of content and happiness after a good 30 mins work... its just unforgettable.

"Hi Dad... and bye Dad. Hope you can see how much we've progressed. Rest assured, we've all grown up now...", not forgetting that last touch... a final reassuring touch on the headstone... my only physical connection left in this world... trancending through time... through both worlds.

And so... after all is done, we soon left the place for home. That day, I found peace through the drizzling rain. No thorn, dirt or weed could dampen my spirits... my only wish was that my sons and daughters would do the same to me.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Where got ghost?

2009-09-04T08:02:00.002+08:00

I just had the most weird ass morning in my life... its so weird, that I'm still contemplating what I heard, saw and experienced just half an hour ago.

I think most of you have already experienced or at least heard of instances whereby somebody suddenly wakes up and found themselves "pressed down" by something unseen for a few seconds to a few minutes. This "phenomenon" can sometimes be explained logically... sometimes. And at other times its just so down right weird and spooky.

I traveled down to my fiance's house last night to do some touch ups and finish up the last wall in her room. I used up the last few liters of paint left over from a couple of nights ago and managed to complete my work around 4 hours later... just after midnight. Dragged back all her furniture back into place, did a couple more touch ups bla bla bla... the room was finally finished around 1 hour later. Sensing an opportunity, she, as usual... made me lie down for a while, to rest so to speak. And as usual, I dozed off and woke up the next morning for "sahur"... the last meal before we start fasting.

Around 730 am though, I suddenly woke up. My mind was still a daze but I could make out this faint whisper in my ear. "Doe, doe... Doe, doe...". My 1st reaction was, "Huh? What the shit? Damn... I think my mind must still be asleep". 2 seconds later, the whisper in my ear started to get slower... the fast "doe doe" became "Doe... Doe... Doe...". "Shit", I thought. "Its the real thing". My eyes opened wide for that split second, scanning through the empty room. My fiance was already asleep, quietly by my side. Instinctively, maybe by chance... or just maybe, something deep down inside me said, "The fucking this is hiding beneath the sheets, close to my feet!!"

"Fucking piece of shit", I thought... as I pulled back my right knee just a little bit closer to my chest... like pulling back the striking hammer of a gun. "Get out from under there!!!", my head screamed. I pulled the trigger... and my right leg came swiftly down... and that's when shit happened. Cos at the very same moment the ball of my foot met its target, my whole body froze up. My hands and legs were "bounded" and I could only move my eyes as far as my eye sockets allowed me... scanning the room for the damn thing.

"Fight... fight!!", I thought... and fought hard I did. But the only thing that I could muster was not even a scream. My whole body was frozen shut and my best effort to mumble out words from my mouth came to nothing. Just 1 damn exhale... that was the only thing I could muster after so much effort and concentration. Not a scream, not even a whisper... just a "Pfffffffffhhhh...". Its so muffled and soft that it sounded like a sigh.

"Damn!!! I guess that leaves out waking my fiance up", I thought. But then, I got a twinkle of an idea... so instead of saying out HIS name, I thought of it instead. And true enough... the chains that were released, the gag was taken off and my body was able to move again. "God is great", I whispered to myself... seconds later, my fiance woke up and rushed to the toilet screaming out, "Shit I'm late!!!".

So there I was again, still on the bed, thinking just what the shit just happened as my eyes scanned through the room again and again for the next 10 minutes.

Doe doe kakak kau punye laki lah!!

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Ughhh

2009-08-29T01:14:00.002+08:00

Rain rain rain... and more rain. Its either I'm freezing my butt off on my living room floor in the afternoon or shivering the night away as the lightning flashes and rumbling thunders keep me company at night.

Technically, I'm really not a cold weather kind of guy... its safe to say that I... like most cold blooded animals... prefer the warmth of the sun rather than the freezing rain. It rained so much and so often that I'm too afraid to go fishing without any dissapointments.

Rain rain rain...

Oh... and guess what? My new rod and reel have already arrived... will do a write-up once I've done some field tests.

Thanks ar Shifu!! Hehehehe...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Alone also can

2009-08-14T20:16:00.002+08:00

Today was supposed to be my rest day... for me, at least. But the damn itch got so bad so I went poking around for any last minute trips... be it freshwater or saltwater, it doesn't really matter... so long as I get to scratch that itch, it'll be fine.

Today I was supposed to go somewhere with Alan... to the best of my memory. Somewhere to scratch that damn itch. The plan was, that after I sent the car for its 25K servicing, I'll give Alan a call and we'll go straight to the fishing hole without delay. Well... that was the initial plan but well... knowing me... sometimes or rather most of the time, something will happen along the way... ironically... something didn't happen... so I was forced to scratch that itch myself... all alone.

The weather has been acting up ever since I reached home... sometimes sunny, sometimes not... but most of the time, its all moody and dark. The thought of the pending rain looming above me... wasn't good. Venturing out too far might just lead to disappointment... so its off to my old playground.

Nothing much has changed really... other than the "upgraded" cement floor and fence. But that walk down slope... man... all the past memories kept flooding in. "Nostalgic...", I thought.

The water was cold... tainted green and choppy. The winds had already picked up by the time I got there and the heaps of garbage being swept onshore was amazing... amazingly shocking. I could see debris floating about as I casted my jig out. The current wasn't that fast, but the amount of debris in the sea from the washout was really disappointing to watch. Cold water... debris... choppy... and chalky... the ultimate ingredients for a bad day.

"Oh well", I said to myself. I gave up after running the 2 hours long blood donation drive to the bunch of mosquitoes hovering stealthily at my feet. I packed up in haste and went to pick my mom up from her workplace nearby... I took another nostalgic shot just in case... at least until my next visit to the place. Man... it sure brings back memories.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Reservist is over!!

2009-08-08T12:42:00.000+08:00

At least for this year I hope. The latest update was, that our next call up might be around September next year.

Stung by Miss Stingray

2009-07-26T14:57:00.001+08:00

At least now, I won't feel left out whenever... should ever... someone bring up the topic on Stingrays. "I heard its damn painful to be stung by one". And my obvious answer to him/her would be, "Yeah... But its not really that painful... It feels, just a tad irritatingly painful to say the least". Am I bragging? Hell no. Not after what I've been through in Ubin. July 6th 2009... and a bloody Monday too.

A good thing to note when handling a Stingray, no matter how big or small it may be... is to NEVER... EVER... handle them with your bare hands. Was I being stupid? Not really. Careless... thats the word. Careless, carefree and to overexcited by the catch. A small little error and underestimation on my part.

On the day we went Durian hunting in Ubin, I brought along with me my tackles... a pack of rubbers and my box of lures just in case I found a nice fishing hole along the way. So... after spending the whole morning gathering Durians, Rambutans and the likes, we decided to cycle up to the northern parts for some rest and hopefully, be able to gorge on our bountiful "catch".

The weather was acting up and we could see dark clouds gathering up inland so I slowly geared up... and started baiting along the shoreline nearby. My 500g of prawns went to waste cos the morning weather was so hot and humid that it turned all red even before I could use it. An important note: Sarong worms works best. So luckily my friend brought along 2 packets of Sarong worms just in case... and even though its a bit dried up and stuff, its still quite effective. For that 1 hour alone, we landed about 3 Tripods, 1 Swa Jiam, 1 Crab and 2 Stingrays.

The 1st Stingray was quite small, just slightly bigger than my palm so I quickly unhooked it, took it through a very brief photo shoot and released it back into the waters unharmed. During that time, I only used my pliers to unhook it... preferring to carry it by the tip of its head with my fingers rather than the tail. I figured, I'd rather not risk any injury to its tail since they need those barbs intact for self defence so I try with much effort not to injure it any further.

The 2nd Stingray however was bigger... just a tad bigger than "plate sized"... caught on Sarong worms... I immediately striked my rod upwards when I felt this odd tugging and floating feeling at the end of my line. It occasionally tried to dig itself into the sand but I managed to outcrank it faster than it could dig in.

I didn't have much trouble unhooking it but since its slightly bigger than the previous one, I had some trouble gripping its head so I inched my fingers inwards for a better grip. All went as planned and I was about to release it back into the water when I saw its tail going curling under its belly... and that was when it hit me.

I felt its serrated stinger going past my skin and into my flesh in a blink of an eye. Adrenaline kicked in and I instinctively released my grip. And as the Stingray made its way back into the water, I wadded in, knee deep, furiously pressing down on my finger... trying to squeeze out as much blood (and hopefully, poison as well) as I could. By then, my finger had turned purplish blue and as I ran my thumb across it, I could feel something hard in between my flesh... "Shit, the stinger broke off inside", I thought. Within minutes, the pain shot up to my elbow. 30 minutes after, I was still knee deep in the water. My finger had already swelled up by then and the blood didn't seem to stop flowing.

My friend ran down to me from the beach shelter... and tied down my swelling finger, and tying another well above my elbow. Since the stinger was still inside, we tried to cut it out with a penknife. The plan didn't go as planned cos by then, the pain had started to creep up past my elbow. My finger had already gone hard, numb and turned deep blue by then, and the only pain that kept surging through my finger was whenever the penknife went into my flesh. By then, no amount of blood or pain was too much to overcome... cos my only main problem right now was the stinger that was still in me.

1 hour had already passed. We managed to get the inland "taxi" service to pick us up and drop us at the jetty. Hopefully, someone there would have a 1st Aid Box nearby or at least have something to bring down the pain. But unfortunately, the Police were out doing their rounds, the Information Center didn't carry one when they should, the NEA building nearby was closed for the day and nobody on the island seem to have any sort of medication for this... just when you thought you could at least depend on someone.

2 hours have passed, and I'm already back on mainland... on my way to Changi General Hospital. By then, the pain had already subsided on its own and my finger had already swelled up to double its size... all black and blue.

3 hours later... I was given 3 jabs of pain killers... bag loads of Panadol for pain, orange pills for swelling, white pills for gastric and a small tube of antibiotics. During my visit to CGH, I had my finger X-rayed... after which the doctor had to cut it open again just to make sure... cleaned up... swabbed clean and taped up. By the time I walked out of CGH, it was as if they had grafted ET's finger onto mine.

1 small poke... 2 hours of pain... and not even a lollipop.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Reservist duty

2009-07-25T20:45:00.000+08:00

I just love the smell of gun powder... it brings back good memories.

Smith Egi Sharpener

2009-07-10T14:10:00.007+08:00

Finally!! I happened to stumble upon Alan's post on the Smith Egi Sharpener some time back... and after giving it some thought (less than 2 minutes actually), I asked Alvin to add it into my purchase.

Smith Egi Sharpener

Inside the small package is a diamond file, grooved at the tip to sharpen the needle hooks. Along with it is a very important must-have tool, the needle hook bender. Cos every now and then, your jig will brush against rocks or get caught up on snags that would sometimes misalign or straighten out the needle hooks. Bending it back inwards is never a problem, but bending it back outwards without the proper tool can get pretty tricky... not to mention dangerous, should you try to pry it out with your nails.

For those who are crazy enough to get the Ika Grip just for the hook bender tool... well... your prayers have been answered!

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Stocking up

2009-07-10T13:42:00.005+08:00

I went to Angler's Outfitter yesterday to stock up on my Still Hunts and Yamashitas for this coming weekend at KTM... not forgetting, Shiro's shipment of Natural Colors. I've always wanted to try one... it should be quite effective for the shy ones that are easily spooked by brightly colored jigs.

Available colors from Angler's Outfitter

The Natural Color selections available can be quite realistic... for me at least. I've yet to test one out but I have this odd confidence that it would work wonders in certain situations.

My favourite would be the purple back... its pretty realistic... but there are a few problems that might crop up. And one of them is when the colors start to wash out, which happens to every champion jigs... and not to mention, there is a high chance it would be stained by the squid ink and muddle all of its colors.

Hmmm... maybe 1 day I would want to try and give it a go. Maybe...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Lu-lian (Durian) season is here!!

2009-07-08T00:51:00.008+08:00

All of a sudden, my fiance's cousin went nuts just hours after her fishing trip. One of the reasons were... "All the fishes there were taunting me!! Just swam around my bait and refused to take any... Ugh!"... or something to that extent.

I was at my fiance's house the other day when we unexpectedly received a call from her cousin... obviously flustered and angry. She just got back from a fishing trip with her boyfriend... the fishes were abundant, and most of the time, were quite visibly swimming around the area... often uninterested in their baits. During that time, they were using Sabiki hooks which were quite popular with Tamban jiggers... which also had an opposite effect... keeping in mind, that she wasn't fishing for Tambans.

So yea, back to the story... she kept ranting and ranting... and after hearing out her story, she had made it quite clear that she was still itching for revenge and would love our company on her next trip. To make it short... I spent my whole day adventuring, foraging, cycling and fishing on Monday with them; my fiance and I, her cousin and her cousin's boyfriend along with 2 of her younger siblings.

I brought along with me, my field pack as per usual and stuffed in any and all necessary items that we might need... along with my lures, squid jigs, sinkers and baits. I'm pretty much quite dependant on my field pack for these kinds of trips... cos not many bags can be this big and durable, yet light on the pockets. Its even in my favourite color... green!!

We headed down to the nearest bicycle rental shop just minutes from the jetty and rented out 2 double bikes and 2 "Piyo Piyos"... something which I've regretted on doing.

Rambutans were in season... and since the whole country is now in Durian craze so we thought "Why the hell not?". Our 1st destination was a small little hut near the town centre. Their last visit was quite fruitful... most of the takings at the area were smaller than the usual acceptable sizes that others often shun away from... which was in a way, quite good and fortunate for us. The Durians in that area were the smallest... and quite remarkably the sweetest they've ever found on the island.

Besides Durians, there were also lots of Rambutan trees spread all around the island... its fruits were bright red... juicy... scrumptious... just perfect.

We passed by a few bridges along they way... often spending about 30 minutes testing our luck. In total, we managed about close to a dozen Half Beaks, 1 Swa Jiam, 2 Stingrays and 1 Todak all on Empun-empun and Prawn meat. Others were quite lucky... I happened to spot a group with at least 1 Kim tied to a rope at the side of the bridge.

I tried my hand at foraging for Durians... often heading out into the bushes whenever a loud thud can be heard. And often... I get confused halfway and ended up with nothing. There was once, I even thought out a small plan for myself after spending too much time foraging for only 1 Durian. "Durians... often drops near or under a Durian tree... so its far better to forage around the vicinity of one rather than blindly searching through the undergrowth". And when I looked up, guess what I saw?? I realized that I had spent a good part of my time going around underneath tall Rambutan trees in search of Durians instead... Hahahaha! FAIL!!

So out of shame and to my own better judgement, I decided to change targets and started foraging for Rambutans instead... with my trusty rope and tree branch. I soon hit jackpot at one of the Rambutan trees by the road, only to be sternly told off by a passing uncle. "Don't hentam (whack)!! No good! Must climb!!". Much to my confusion, rather than telling me the reason, he just kept on scolding me as he passed by with a big gunny sack full of Durians at the back of his bicycle. "A bloody old hypocrite", I thought. But as time goes by, I began to understand his reactions and his reasons behind it. His approach however... still needs quite a lot of adjustments.

My batteries went dead on me and the rain clouds were starting to form up so we raced up to Nordin's Beach for shelter and some rest. There, Sala and me managed to catch a few Tripods in the rain. We fed a couple of wild dogs, tried and failed to make a campfire and basically panicked when my 2nd and last Common Brown Stingray for the day, managed to curl back its tail just enough and stung me... its stinger, located furthest down the back of its tail pierced into my flesh, just beneath the tip of my finger. What happened later on, on Nordin's beach... lets just say... I wished, that I had worn gauntlets when I tried to release it back into the water.

At least now, I can confidently say, that I've been kissed by Miss Stingray before.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Still Hunt

2009-06-30T15:11:00.006+08:00

About half a year ago... Alan and a few others introduced me to "rubbers"... Rubber lures that can range from between 1" onwards. Very light... stretchy... fragile... but depending on type, brands and especially material, can be twitched, dragged, towed and worked with such finesse... making them so lifelike, just like the real thing.

My 1st few rubbers were the Still Hunt 4"... hooked onto Decoy Hyper KGs. And after a month or so of using it sparingly, I've decided to get a bigger, heavier version... a Still Hunt 5".

Still Hunt 5"

Sadly, the effective colors were all taken quite a long time ago so I'll just have to make do with this instead... a slight variation from the effective colors. Color-wise, its not bad though... but I've yet to test it out further.

So... A bigger rubber, means bigger hooks. And since I'm not really a lover for small light lures that take too much time to sink to the bottom, I took a chance on the Decoy Tuned Plus Size S-Switcher... with a small amount of Lead near the stem for extra action.

S-Switcher at the top with the Hyper KG at the bottom

Not bad... if I do say so myself. Managed to land this beauty on my last trip.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Jigging Master Terminator flourocarbon leader

2009-06-30T13:10:00.008+08:00

Ever since I joined the eging craze... I've always been keeping tabs and experimenting on "suitable" tackles, jigs... especially on lines and leaders and finally settling down with Jigging Master.

Jigging Master Terminator 16lbs Flourocarbon Leader

One of the major problems an egi-er will often face is jig survivability... through snaggy rocks, corals and vegetation infested areas... one of the best places to find good sized Ikas. Jigging in between pillars... doesn't really matter. Jigging in deep waters... doesn't really matter. Jigging just by the sides of the beach... doesn't really matter. But when the Ikas are hiding deep on the rocky bottom... NOW that matters!!

Size 4.0... equavalent to 16lbs. Its pretty clear... just like Galis... much much better than Triumph's. The line is quite limp for flourocarbon even though it does have quite a bit of memory after you've reeled it into the spool but it irons itself out after a while. Its abrasion survivability rate is quite good. I've used it at various dangerous places... just name it. Breakwaters... Seasides... Structures... Pillars... Drop-offs... and most of the time, I'll be able to get back the jig safe and sound... except for some minor abrasions and nicks.

I've yet tried the one from DUEL yet... but I'm still quite happy and satisfied with this. Pretty good leader for a pretty nice price.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

General pliers

2009-06-27T23:34:00.008+08:00

I took a small leap and bought this interestingly useful pair of pliers. Its light, ergonomically designed and basically, won't rust unless you void it of any maintenance after thorough abuse... putting it into permanent service as my general pliers, phasing out my previous, old stainless steel pliers.

Brandless Aluminium Pliers

Its main body, is made out of aluminium... with tungsten jaws and cutters inserts that can be replaced should the need arise. Its pretty light for its size... holding up a pair of aluminium pliers this chunky can sometimes be quite surprising. Even though its aluminium, when its this chunky, the ergonomic handles gives off this solid grip feeling that instantly boosts your confidence.

Close up

Basically, its just a cheaper copy of the more popular and successful designs from Accurate and Fisherman... at a fraction of the price. And given the cost to quality ratio, these pliers are quite worthy for their price.

Tungsten Jaws

Tungsten Braid Cutters

Just one minor setback though. For those who are interested in getting a pair of these... up until now, from what I've gathered, they have yet to come out with the tungsten jaws and cutters replacements so it might still be a while til they do. So until then, minimal maintenance like lubricating and cleaning will be needed to keep the tungsten parts rust free. Do keep in mind though, the tungsten cutters are meant to cut only PE, braided or mono lines... anything else might damage them.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Haruan anyone?

2009-06-22T21:10:00.005+08:00

Nearly 2 weeks into his service... and I've already got a stray SMS from Nigel. "This weekend go Haruan spot... On bo?!"

Other than his usual "I like the food, its pretty nice", "Get for me some squid jigs" and "I think my Sargent is gay"... I think, the itch has finally got to him. Hahahaha... Who can blame him? It only takes me a few days before my hands starts itching to fish... and he's no less any different than the rest of us.

Its not even midweek yet, and he's already making plans for a quick trip to the usual Haruan spot... and after NOT being able to join them on numerous occasions, I made sure I was able to THIS time. Schedule, check. Car, check.

"How about lure?", I asked myself. Other than the usual poppers, minnows... and the occasional rubbers... I pretty much have nothing extra. So I went for a little visit to AO to grab Nigel's squid jigs and a little something for myself.

My last few trips using rubbers weren't exactly good... cos they weren't really the appropriately "weighted" down. A 4" rubber grub can only weight so much. So... I got this instead.

Decoy Tuned Plus Size S-Switcher Hook compared to the Decoy Hyper KG Hook

The Decoy Tuned Plus S-Switcher hook. The lead at the stem adds additional weight just at the stem. 1.5g isn't much but for rubber applications, it helps quite a bit.

So... back to the story. Me, Nigel, Cindy, Alan and Mondo went for a small walkabout around some shrubs and bushes to this familiar watering hole nearby. Our last few trips yielded quite a lot of sizable Haruans so we thought "Why the hell not?".

The bunch of them bashed in and fished around the usual spots overlooking the main entry point, a Delta of sorts while I went through the 1st opening and fished on a small "island" overlooking the side... just around the corner.

Back then, froggies used to work well around these places but it wasn't so for that day. We used to land Haruans well above the 1kg mark on froggies... one of the best "Haruan haunts" that I've ever known... but guess who has invaded the place right now?

600g Peacock Bass landed on Storm ChugBug

1kg Peacock Bass landed on Still Hunt 5" on S-Switcher Hook

It missed the Chug Bug quite a few times before it got bored and just didn't bother to take anymore top water lures. Even my trusty Sammy came back empty handed... so I hooked up my 5" Still Hunt with the S-Switcher and sent it on a suicide mission into its lair. And true enough the Peacock Bass took the rubber on its 3rd pass. Not bad for an untested colour... but unfortunately, the rubber was ripped to shreds... even lost it's tail.

We left at around 0945... took a short coffee session nearby and went our separate ways... Today's bounty? 6 Peacock Bass within 2 hours... And no Haruans for Nigel.

And guess what? After so many tries... I still can't seem to drive to Nigel's place without getting lost along the way. Hahaha...

More info and details in aCFiSHiNG

NeCRoPLaSTiC

What the hell am I doing at home? At this hour?!

2009-06-22T19:34:00.006+08:00

Right now... I'm supposed to be at Changi Board Walk. Right now, I'm supposed to have already set up my rod and reel, clipped on my squid jig and already standing at the side of the wooden railing... eging. But what the hell am I still doing here, behind my laptop screen, furiously writing up this post?!

Just take a look at those and tell me what can you see?? Especially the 2nd picture... just taken about 20 minutes ago.

Well... just so that everyone here can get up to pace with my current anger and frustrations... My bunch of sinkers that I placed just on top of the dishwasher... cat pissed. My horde of squid jigs... Coffitas, Yamashitas and the likes... cat pissed.

Just when I was about to go eging... just when I was packing my stuff... I lifted up my pouch of squid jigs from the small table... and found that it had a pool of piss underneath it. A POOL OF PISS!! Hoping for the best, I transported it to my kitchen sink and proceeded to unzip it... gave my jigs a little whiff and LO AND BEHOLD!! Its soaked in it!! ARGH!!

I think I just lost about a dozen or so Tamban jigs... and hopefully... just hopefully, I'll get rid the awful stench of piss from my squid jigs soon or I'm going to blow my top off.

And yes... my sinkers were covered with piss as well... Argh... I'm so going for freshwater tomorrow.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

ITEM SOLD

2009-06-06T13:37:00.005+08:00

ITEM SOLD

Man's best friend... sort of

2009-06-05T13:57:00.005+08:00

Those who have been, or are planning to go overseas to scratch their fishing itch are always troubled with the amount of sizes, types and lenghts of rod tubes available in the market today. "Should I get a longer rod tube to store a mixture of rods?" "Should I get the ones with inner padding?" "Should I just get a short one for my 2 pieced rods?" "Should I just get a huge ol' tube to stuff everything in?"

Just like every other... we are always troubled with decisions and more decisions. Just when we thought we had already owned a pretty fine rod tube, another one pops into view and it starts all over again. So rather than get multiple tubes for multiple tasks, I ask you this... "Why not just get an extendable rod tube?"

Introducing the Flambeau Bazuka extendable rod tube. 4.25" wide, extendable from 63" short to 87" tall.

Those who frequently go out to Malaysia and Indonesia for their fishing itch will be more than glad to know that this baby is more than enough to protect your rods from any sudden bumps or drops.

The tube is made out of blow moulded PVC. It's not covered by any cloth whatsoever, which means it can't stain or smell after prolonged storage. Its surfaces are very easy to clean, just a dab of cleaning solution and a few wipes will keep it shiny and looking brand new. Instead of straps and sewn in handle, it already has a built in handle along with some very interesting features.

Gone are the days of top loading with zippers. Instead of the usual padded ends with zippers, the Bazuka has a built in clasp that secures the "rod bay". Its solid, and very rugged so you won't have to worry about it snapping off or wearing out because of its design, it flushes off with the whole tube to prevent any unnecessary snagging. And also, located just above it, is the security hole for you to put your padlock, very good theft prevention design.

The hatch opens up, revealing a very nicely designed interior. With its 4.25" width, I was able to personally pack in 5 rods all together... 4x 6'0" 1 pieced rods and 1x 6'0 2 pieced rod.

The ends of the tube are padded on both sides no less... to protect your rod tips and butts. As you can see here, the PVC wall is quite thick but noticeable far less heavier than most PVC rod tubes.

And last but not least, the whole tube can be separated into 3 simple sections... the outer tube, inner tube and the metal catch itself. Easy to clean, easy to store, easy to assemble and most notably, multi functional. It also comes with the larger tube for storing popping rods... and its airliner safe.

The Flambeu Bazuka... is most likely, one of man's best friend.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Time to egi~!!

2009-06-02T23:39:00.005+08:00

Just cos I'm on a short vacation doesn't mean I can't bring my equipment along do you?

I spent most probably around 3 hours, dragging my equipment here and there both in Singapore and in Batam... and all for the sake of eging. Mind you, its never a dull moment whenever I'm dragging my rod tube around. There has been quite a few curious stares and odd questions here and there. "Whats inside the tube?" "You going fishing?" "No... I think its a fairly large penis" etc etc etc... From ICA officers, Immigrations, tourists even... lunging around your rod tube in and out of the country will often reward you with odd stares and a frequent question or two.

Just look at that!!

And that!!

Look at those pictures up there and tell me it doesn't make your blood boil... just being there, standing meters away from can drive me off the wall. But sadly... none of these places are... wait for it... "legal". Hahahaha

Some of the most beautiful spots can be found all around the place... but you can safely say, that 90% of it are ILLEGAL.

From broken poppers, to minnows, to hairy jigs... basically, a mixture of used and still NewInBox lures... all crammed into one small box... ready for anything.

I too brought along a few items of my own... although albeit limited... I know what I'm here for and so, brought along only the best of my poisons for the job.

Extreme Rapier X Vr2
Majorcraft Triplecross
Daiwa Certate Hyper

A mixture of 5 Arrow Heads and 3 Green Eyes were landed on the 1st night. Tragically, the local Ah Laus have already started to crowd around the good spots so we only had a few not so good spots to squid. All 5 Arrow Heads were landed at the not so good spots while the other 3 Green Eyes were landed by Nigel... deciding to join the crowd... hauling up Green Eyes in quick successions.

We went eging again the day after... hoping to catch the afternoon tide before leaving the place for home. Not bad I'd say... Nigel again, managing to land 3 more Green Eyes.

Most of the squids were taken on... or rather... only a small handful of them were taken on our preferred jigs. The squids there, although... a little bit more simple minded than our local species, can be quite fussy when it comes to squid jigs... it seems that our usual methods don't really work there at all... quite interesting.

I guess... I'll be hoping on board the next ferry if there was ever going to be another one anytime soon...

So guys... ON BO?! Cindy can help us plan and get the best places and stuff... Prices ranges from $105/- onwards...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

The sunny side of Batam

2009-06-02T22:39:00.004+08:00

Its been 2 days I think... And still... I'm pretty much down and out. My morale has been quite low these days and there doesn't seem to be any motivational point in my life currently... and its all cos of 1 singular word. Of all the words that I could muster right now, only one word can describe my feelings as blunt and truthfully.

"DEPRAVED"

I am, with all honesty... depraved of:

1) Eging
2) Cereal calamari
3) Ocean view
4) 10min "stair master" workouts
5) Nice comfortable bed
6) A proper hot shower
7) Quiet walk around the neighbourhood
8) Cereal calamari... Haven't I said this before?
9) etc etc etc etc

And the list goes on... and on... and on... and its all cos of 1 thing... and 1 thing only... or should I say place.

KTM Resort... The singular most poisonous and comfortable resort that I have ever been to. Forget the hot springs at the foot of Mount Fuji. Forget the 5 star hotel treatment at Tokyo's shopping hub. Forget the Holiday Inn, Batam... or Oceanbay even. The KTM resort shall forever be burnt and etched deep into my memories for those looking for a great short getaway... a perfect place for both you and the Mrs.

This giant statue of the Goddess of Mercy sits right in the middle of it all... the center of the resort located at a cliff facing the sea.

The KTM resort, is located just 5 minutes away from the ferry point... a mere 45mins away from the busy life in Singapore. Situated on a cliff overlooking our CBD area from afar, its entrance is quite easy to remember... there was a huge anchor just beside its entrance... sadly, we didn't take any pictures of it. For you see, we were too preoccupied with our "scenic" surroundings.

There was a small problem about lodging. When we got there, we were told that our preferred lodging was already fully booked and that they have instead, put us up in a bigger house... so instead of 2 units, at 2 pax per unit... we got 1 unit, for 4 pax. The walk up to the unit was... torturous. Even though we travelled light, the 2 flights of very tall stairs can be very demanding on empty stomachs.

A BBQ point resides in the middle of the units. The place was well kept, very tidy and clean.

We took a short look-around the place. The beds are comfortable. They have quite a nice bathroom. A very appealing veranda with a very nice view... just enough for your privacy. The wooden floor, walls and panels gave the place a very rustic feel... quite different than the usual concrete resorts we're so used to back in Singapore.

The restaurant, where we all have our meals is located at the bottom of the resort. The food is quite good, especially the cereal prawns.

Technically, the resort is a 3 star resort... so technically... there are some limitations with regards to some stuff... but I can assure you, the food there is nice... if not restaurant quality. The drinks however can be quite limited, so you can either settle for the can drinks like Coke and the likes or just go for juices.

We took a quick walkabout near the restaurant area... just taking our time eyeing the area and the possible places to fish later on. To our amazement, the place is littered with interesting spots all around. Even just beside the reception area, there are tons of interesting spots to try your luck once the tide comes up.

But sadly... after only 1 night... we had to leave the place for Singapore... even bumping into a very amusing drunk tourist in the ferry point.

All in all... I quite enjoyed my weekend here. It was very pleasing as it was shockingly interesting.

More info and details in BaKTao HeaVen

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Back from "holidays"

2009-06-01T08:55:00.004+08:00

Ever since I got back from my short "holiday" with 2 crazy people... a few things have happened.

1) The blog has been unflagged as SPAM... thankfully
2) I'm at the office right now... when I'm supposed to be sleeping on the couch.
3) I'm suffering from Squid Deprivation
4) I'm monetarily broke
5) I'm low on confidence, no motivation... just plain low morale
6) Just realised I should have taken more pictures while I was there

A few of the guys have been asking me... "Why are you selling your reel sia?". Well... I've seriously got no idea I think. I'm just keeping my eye on greener pastures... somewhat.

Currently I've got a wish list of sorts that I'll be pouring some income into. Everybody is welcome to comment on this... but I highly think I'm just having another itchy butt moment.

1) RapierX Vr 1 (BC 8-14)
2) Daiwa Alpha Type R (Lefty)

3) Eging rod (still haven't settle for which one)
4) Caldia Kix 2000

5) RapierX Vr 2 (FS 10-17) -Repair/Replace my old one
6) Daiwa Certate Hyper 2500R -Buy and store in a glass cabinet

These 2 days in Batam really opened up my eyes a little bit... not much though, but just enough... so I'll be writing up the CR in a few days time, once I've had enough sleep. I'm still waiting for answers to something... and its causing me to write funny... Maybe I'm just a little bit too worried at the moment. Will update the blog soon with more write ups and stories.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Spam blog?

2009-05-29T18:33:00.001+08:00

The blog has been flagged as SPAM... interesting.

"Too many links linking to it... Too many nonsensical words... etc"

As with many powerful tools, blogging services can be both used and abused. The ease of creating and updating webpages with Blogger has made it particularly prone to a form of behavior known as link spamming. Blogs engaged in this behavior are called spam blogs, and can be recognized by their irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site.

Hopefully it'll be back up in 2 Business Days... would be around 3 days from today I think... judging the current local date and time.

Hopefully this clears up soon.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

2009-05-29T18:07:00.004+08:00

Get your popcorn and tissue

2009-05-22T20:34:00.003+08:00

Another drama in the making??

Looks like something just struck the hornet's nest and the whole place is going haywire!

For this issue... the word of the moment is... Transparency. Just like the last and final issue of ours. Transparency plays a big part in every organization. Without transparency, people will often think of "why", "who", "when" and etc.

As interesting as the "big head glorified by ball carriers and ex ball carries and old angel aunty fishing" back in our old backyard, an old problem has arisen at another place.

Me, being from the old crew... the phrase always remains... "So long as there is money involved, you're accountable to everything".

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Bahahahahahahaha

2009-05-19T21:32:00.008+08:00

Ball carrier - ???

Big head - ???

Other ball carriers - ???

Old aunty angel fishing - ???

Hahahahahahaha... I just had a brief chat with The Alan Chan on MSN. If my butt can talk, I believe it'll laugh itself unconcious. Hahahahaha...

May 19th 2009 - Just when you thought that that was the lowest one could ever step down to, he happily went lower and created a new low. Tsk tsk tsk...

Your sheeps have left you... trying to scrape up new sheeps? Hahaha... good luck. Those ball carriers can only go so far.

Coming soon...

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Smiley Gang

2009-05-17T14:20:00.007+08:00

Tommy Skull Rider, The Alan Chan, Roger Tackles Unlimited, SH Rubber Master and me... went for a little saltwater adventure yesterday.

All of us gathered at Roger's... and kept ourselves busy changing new shock leaders, priming up our lures, making last minute checks and maintenance plus an odd rod testing or two just before we set off. Tommy met us along the way just outside the main entry point... a good distance away from any dwellings.

After a good 15mins of walking though the dense undergrowth, we soon found ourselves at the infamous deserted spot, vioded of any light but swarming with mosquitoes. Every one was so concerned about it, that we brought along 3 cans of OFF, wore long pants and even brought along rubber bands to tie down the ends of our pants just in case any creepy crawlies decided to crawl up our legs. Me? I just came in my bermudas, slapped a few coats of OFF on my body and I'm all done! Although I do wished that I had popped in a couple of pain killers before leaving the house. Sitting on one side of your butt cheeks can only help so much. Hahahahahaha...

The place was quite... serene. The 1st fish of the night was landed by Roger on his "Mother Of Pearl" rod and Alphas R... a Belt fish. The 2nd Belt fish was landed by SH soon after and another one by SH again. All Belt fishes were on minnows, taken on slow to medium retrieve.

A couple of Kims sneaked into the lime light occasionally... giving SH a run for his money on high drag. His 4" rubber just went and went and went and never came back... his leader finally snapping under stress. Tommy missed another Kim when it decided to give his lure a kiss just meters away from the channel opening. Me? Not even a bump... Hahahaha.

The air started to get damp and cold... the pain killers were starting to wear off... Shit. It feels weird luring while standing up... and even weirder when sitting down... Hahahaha. Something wrong.

Tommy decided to leave early, cos of a prior appointment in the morning... so I decided to tag along... leaving the 3 senior anglers at the slope as I slowly navigated out of the wetlands... with my dying FREE Challenger LED torchlight in my hands.

My butt is still too raw for overnight fishing it seems... Maybe in the next few days.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Just another day at Farmway 3

2009-05-16T00:29:00.005+08:00

Let me see... Its has been around... 1? 3? I can't remember how long it has been but all I know is that it has been months since my last visit to Farmway 3 with Halley a.k.a Firecomet.

The previous few times were always quite boring... and we always ended up envying our neighbours for their wonder catches. One can only envy and curse them under one's breath when you see the other party keep landing fishes after fishes.

But this time, was different. Cos this time, we have Nigel in our group!

Rods used are, Bassterra, Buchinuki and Rapier X. Reels, Caldia Kix, Sienna and Certate Hyper. Baits for the day, Kembong and Cockles.

After picking up Nigel from his home, we went to the nearby wet market of sorts for baits. And me, being an east angler found the wet market abit weird. For once I saw a fruit shop, that actually has a butcher and fish monger under the same roof... or should I say, shop premises. A normal fruit shop, the size of any normal mini mart was actually selling fresh fruits, with fish and red meat all in the same premises. And not only 1 but many!! Its weird cos in my neighbourhood, meat and veggies and fruits especially were only located at one central market whereas over there, individual shops had multiple mini shops in them. And what was even more amazing was, these shops were located along an up going slope!! But no matter...

We picked Halley up and soon arrived at our destination at about 7am... just minutes before the rain started pouring through the area. We only managed to setup our gears and had to wait a good 1 hour or so for the rain to stop before we could comfortably start fishing in the cold.

Our 1st catch of the day... 10lbs Kim on Kembong. During this time, the fishes were starting to feed. But even though, shivering in the cold... this 1st catch really brightened our mood.

Another Kim was landed on Kembong just minutes after. Nice size able and feisty fighter this one.

As the sun crept out from behind the clouds, we managed to land a baby CPC, also on Kembong. The fight was strong, relentless and very satisfying... I'll take on a baby CPC anytime of the day.

Another Kim was landed soon after, but it was released w/o any photos. Its jaw broke into 2 right in the middle. The separated sections were still a little bit red and raw, so I think it might have already been broken just a few days prior. I hope this wasn't due to mishandling... although I'm quite sure it was. Do take note, that some of the Kims can be very very heavy, and its best to support its weight from its belly whenever you're lifting it out of the water to prevent any injury to its jaw. A broken jaw can only mean no photos... and sadly, might even be its life.

13lbs Pacu right out of the water!! A new record for Halley and a surprising one too. It was rather stubborn and it didn't go down without a fight... nearly straightening the hook with its strenght. Caught on Cockles. He had another Pacu take earlier on but it bit right through his bite leader...

The 1st picture was after spending some time bending back the hook into its original shape... the 2nd one however... you can already imaging how powerful a Pacu can be.

Not forgetting Nigel... who got this lone Patin after a long wait. The fight was quite good, and surprised even Halley and me. After all, we didn't expect it to be a Patin since we thought it was already wiped out in the pond. We've not seen a Patin landed for quite some time.

A happy... yet not so happy encounter with a Patin. And now to the main show!!

Goal keeper? Or not a goal keeper? Tyco? Or not tyco? No matter how many times I tried to explain myself... I'm just always in the wrong!! And all for the wrong reasons... Hahahaha

A fully pledged CPC took my bait as soon as it hit the water and ripped though the middle of the pond. We were all wondering... maybe its another baby CPC but every one's faces turned sour (except for mine of course) after seeing it peeling away my line every time it started surfacing. "CPC!!"

We all took our time to fight the fish... Letting them feel the fight as the poison runs deep in their veins. And during that moment, I was happily sitting down on the bench nearby smiling to myself. "Its foul hook la... The fish was probably opening and closing its mouth as it swam past my bait and accidentally sucked it in!!" Hahahaha... but no matter what reason I gave them, Nigel and Halley kept on at it... I had my ears burning red from all the lecture... I even had to peel the rest of the Cockles as punishment later on!!

As tribute to Roger... Just looking at the bend on the Rapier X is far more pleasing... its just orgasmic.

So how Nigel... Halley... Has the poison gotten deep into your blood stream? You can even custom name it... How does "Hor Le Si" sound like? Good right??? Hahahahaha

Even on rainy days... nothing beats good company... Next time I'll bring ear plugs.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Needle up the butt

2009-05-15T23:48:00.002+08:00

The word "karma" is one damn dangerous word to have... even so when you're on the receiving end of it. My only comment on it? Its called "irony".

My legs turned into jelly last night... My head was spinning... It feels as though something hit you on the head straight on and your guts sipped out through a straw all at the same time.

Dear Mr The Alan Chan... this is a rare occasion that I would be able to feel what you have felt and actually relate to it. For that time you had food poisoning... "I feel you..." As I lay in the middle of my kitchen floor, too dazed and tired of depositing my private loads... I suddenly thought of you.

Just so you all can get up to speed with the recent updates... I spent the night on a hospital bed. Quite frankly, I was quite disturbed and very unwilling to, but it seems that I was going through a volatile food poisoning case. Never once, have I puked and did my business at the same time. Seriously, I'm just lucky my mom decided to renovate the kitchen toilet and installed a sitting toilet bowl... cos that was where I spent an hour or so puking and shitting at the same time... something I thought was impossible to do until recently.

Fast forward and 3 hours later... I was "ushered" onto my bed for the night... right next to 5 other guys in an airy and scary "room". "For observation" they said. Right after poking a 2" needle up my butt... which was right after my "cavity search"... something I would not want to experience again any time soon... "There goes my virginity...", I told myself quietly. I think I'm going to be forever scarred and have an odd phobia of rubber hand gloves. And that sound that it makes every time they tug on the rubber gloves... I can foresee a few months of trauma and nightmares for that alone.

To Mr The Alan Chan... I'm sorry I wasn't able to join on your Birthday Offshore trip... My butt just lost its virginity to a rubber glove and was rudely shocked with a 2" needle. Next time, dinner on me.

To Mr Nigel... I'm sorry I didn't notify you earlier cos I didn't bring my phone along for the trip to the A&E. I didn't expect to be warded... and of all things... after shitting and puking my guts out. I only reached home after lunch.

To Ms Cindy... Thanks for the message. Thanks for the call... I'd love flowers, but no thank you. I still find my small overnight trip to the hospital a minor thing. All I need now is a candy bar and sleep off the experience that I had with the doctor. I feel so dirty... Hahahahaha.

To everyone else... I would be out of action for a week, the most... and hopefully a few days, the least.

Just something I've suddenly realised... I tend to write like a totally different person after some agonising time at the hospital... Hahahahahahahahaha... Make fun of my "no-more-virgin-butt" and I'll bite you... Hahahaha. I'm serious.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

1st PB for 2009

2009-05-13T12:52:00.005+08:00

Its pathetic I know... but whats weird was... I wasn't really even trying!! "Sorry Nigel..." Hahahahaha.

After 1 hour of "preparation... discussion and what not"... Nigel finally managed to bug me just enough to make me wake up at 430am the next morning (around 3 hours later). Made me aspire to take the 1st bus out to Woodlands. Made me aspire to wake up at 430am in the morning... which never happened. Hahahahah.

Instead, I woke up at 430am, and even though I was physically awake, my mind kept wandering off somewhere til around 530am. I slowly trudged up and down my hall collecting whatever was left of my scattered tackles and shock leader and stuff and only managed to leave the house around 6am.

We reached the spot after 20mins... all cramped up near the front door of the bus... mostly full of foreign workers all clamoring up to rush to work. The bus driver was... a PRC. He was a safety driver... he even emergency braked at one point, avoiding a near collision with a 10ft pickup that swerved across his lane and stopped abruptedly just meters in front. And as you can imagine, all the expletives came out from the PRC driver.

The driver of the pickup that swerved into his lane and nearly caused a collision was?? An Indian foreign worker... who only gave this blank sotong stare when the bus drove pass.

No... No racism, biased thinking or anything here... Just pure irony I guess.

Back to the main story!!

The waters were pretty calm and soothing to the eyes... and since I haven't really caught or even spooked anything with my Jackall pencil, I quickly changed to the 5" Still Hunt for some bottom trashing. I caught this Toman hiding at the side of the banks... rather than chase the rubber, it would rather wait for it to come closer for a lightning quick ambush under the moss.

The boat passed by and churned up the water... "the dinner bell has sung!!" so I took out my all time favourite freshwater minnow for a game of tag.

My 1st ever Peacock Bass for the year... nearly 6 months down the road!! Weighting in at 2.2lbs... quite a feisty fighter. Sadly my Sotong X was too overpowering... Landed it faster than I expected.

Managed to land a few more smaller Peacock Bass for the morning. The Tomans readily took the 5" Still Hunt while the Peacock Bass were always itching for a game of tag with the Humbug.

1) Landed a 1kg Peacock Bass
2) Landed a few more smaller Peacock Basses
3) Landed a few Tomans on a 5" rubber
4) Managed to SUAN Nigel
5) Found a new nice spot... albeit far, but very cosy and relaxing

Alan... this was why I SMSed you "PB!! HUAT AR!!" Hahahahaha

More info and details in BaKTao HeaVen

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Silent chirping of birds

2009-05-11T11:45:00.003+08:00

Been a while since I updated my blog... no excuse... no reason... its just that "there was nothing good to update on".

I went to Tanjong Pinang a week back. And even after much protest from my friends to put up the Catch Report from my last trip... I'd still rather take my time with it. As I'm still slowly collecting the pictures from everyone, not to mention my SingNet modem went ape on me about a week back. I think its time to send it down to Singtel for a quick look cos I'm not going to pay $50 just so a Technician can come down to my house to tell me that the modem has gone ape on me.

On a side note... I'm pretty much itching to squid again. Nigel and Cindy has been poisoning me ever since we got back from Tanjong Pinang... and oddly enough... its working!! Hahahaha... I've been thinking... Shalom... or Sibu?? Sibu is far cheaper but we'll need the PAX... KTM Resort has been ringing in my head... Hmmmm...

Anyways... I'm pretty pissed off since coming back from Tanjong Pinang... Ask me why... Maybe I'll drown you with my incoherent speech or just maybe... I'll tell you what has really been bothering me ever since I got back.

Note to self: "I don't care however shitting good you think you may be and however experienced you are when it comes to offshore... but if its time to pop that seasick pill then I bloody well advise you to..."

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Bad luck~

2009-04-15T16:59:00.003+08:00

During my last eging trip, Alan and I were swamped by hordes of mosquitoes on our 1st location. Unable to withstand the constant itching and attacks, we moved off to another location just minutes away... managing 3 squids within the 1st 30 minutes alone. "Quite a surprising spot", I said to myself.

My hands and legs, although covered with the numerous mosquitoe bites from my last trip were still itching... an itch that no Mopiko or Tiger Balm can subdue. Immediately I thought of my last trip... and began imagining the prospect of going there hours earlier to catch the rising tide. The thought of it alone, already made me drool.

"Can't take it... Must go eging tonight!!". 5 minutes of planning and 2 minutes of packing later... I set off from home. Hands still itching for squids.

This time, I brought along a little something for testing as well... just to prove a little theory of mine~

Approximately 5 hours, 2 spots and many snagging incidents later... I humbly ate 2 Egg Prata and a cup of Ice Milo at a 24 hours Prata shop nearby... with a big fat ZERO for the night~

The 1st spot was... empty~ Although there was this 1 young couple perched on top of a boulder nearby. Laughing, giggling, singing... and don't know what. I was too busy charging and casting my jigs out to take note of them.

2nd spot... which was my favourite was unfortunately taken over by surfcasters. Casting was a little bit troublesome... as they've already "covered" quite a wide area... including my favourite casting spot.

Both places, the water quality was not as favourable as I had expected. The 1st spot had so much debris floating around... from plastic bottles to styrofoam boxes. The 2nd spot however, although free of any debris... was not any different. The water was abit cloudy... maybe due to the rain. Either way, neither spots produced any squids last night.

I think I'll be paying AO another visit in a few days time. To restock my stocked squid jigs for Tanjong Pinang next month~ Hahahahaha... Maybe I'll get some 3.0"... that would do nicely.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Open season~!!

2009-04-13T19:34:00.004+08:00

"Gear up!! Eging tonight!!"

Activated Alan, Halley and Nigel yesterday, just 3 hours before full tide. Unfortunately Halley and Nigel wasn't able to join us yesterday due to work and time constraints. No matter... Having Alan along is still better than going alone. Hahaha

The 1st spot wasn't that bad initially. The waves were pretty high and rough for a while... and Alan had this scared, stonned look on his face. Hilarious man... "Wah the waves so high... scary sia." Hahahaha~

Alan even brought along his prototype squid attractor... "I want to test something", he said. 30 minutes later, I sacrificed my jig while roaming around in the suicide valley just meters in front of me. Snagged right in between the rocks it did... sigh.

We left hurriedly to another spot as soon as a swarm of mosquitoes invaded the area. Note to self: Remember to by OFF. Haaa

We managed to catch 3 decent sized squids last night... much to Alan's objections. "Small small only", he said. Well... it still beats the ones we've caught off Punggol jetty any day I'd say.

More info and details in aCFiSHiNG

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Work work work

2009-04-05T10:54:00.003+08:00

Worked from 8am - 8pm... went off to a movie marathon from 9pm til 2am... went off to Mc D's for some grub and stayed there til about 8am... went off for home afterwards and have been online doing my usual stuff.

24hrs w/o proper sleep... WHY CAN'T I SLEEP?!

I've been having flu for quite some time now. Sometimes it gets better, sometimes it gets worse... neither here nor there... but most of the time its IRRITATING the crap out of me.

Speaking of crap... I've been crapping nothing but liquids... Food poisoning maybe? Or maybe its cos of the flu. Anyways, I've always wondered, if everything turned liquid, how come it doesn't look that much?

I think my body is storing it somewhere until it gets better before I crap the hell out of myself once I'm well enough. Somebody get ready the plasters and icepacks.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Bahahahaha... poof!! You're a rabbit!!

2009-03-31T20:02:00.001+08:00

You are The Magician

Skill, wisdom, adaptation. Craft, cunning, depending on dignity.

Eleoquent and charismatic both verbally and in writing,
you are clever, witty, inventive and persuasive.

The Magician is the male power of creation, creation by willpower and desire. In that ancient sense, it is the ability to make things so just by speaking them aloud. Reflecting this is the fact that the Magician is represented by Mercury. He represents the gift of tongues, a smooth talker, a salesman. Also clever with the slight of hand and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Good tide... good tide

2009-03-30T08:30:00.004+08:00

Eging tonight... was not bad in general. The tide conditions were good, the waters were a soothing hue of blues and the night skies were calming... almost void of clouds, one can already imagine piercing through the night skies to the distant stars.

Sadly, Alan wasn't able to join us this time time around.

Tonight's arsenal consisted of Coffitas and Yamashitas... Rods, Buchiniku and Triplecross... Reels, Freams KIX and Hyper Certate... with the Autoking Squid Gaff for added measure.

Since Halley was basically quite new to eging, I brought him to a well known spot along this particular rocky coastline... a place that was quite notorious for its morning surprises. One of the many few spots that would often remind one of the phrase "looks can be deceiving".

The 1st hit for the night. The squid took the jig quite near to where I was standing... just meters under the calm waves. The 1st few bursts were quite weak but grew stronger with every burst. Taken on Yamashita, landed by Halley.

Still new to the eging scene, he took quite a while to get the posture and hand placements correct... and even after some tutoring, he still got it wrong! Hahahaha... never mind... our zombie faces aren't really model material. Half the blame should be on me, as I was quite sucky at night shots without proper lighting... can't help it mah, my camera sucky.

This is how you should hold your catch. Just remember to let the squid squirt out as much ink as it could in the water before lifting it out. Green Eyes this size is somewhat an uncommon sight for me. Reason being, I've not really ventured around new spots yet so I'm quite lacking in ground knowledge about eging spots. Currently, this is one of the only 2 spots that I know of for sizeable catches.

We hit another one after around 10 minutes or so, although albeit... much smaller than the 1st. All throughout the 3 hours there, Halley spent almost half of his time unsnagging his jigs... cos other than the morning and night surprises, the place is also quite notorious for its rocky walls, steep rocky sides, underwater vegetation and strong under currents. A lure's graveyard of sorts.

4 squid jigs later, we decided to pack up and head to the nearest coffee shop for an early breakfast and a glass of ice cold Milo... aaaah... just great.

Not bad for his 1st day I might add... He picked up the basics quite fast and was ready to try the "suicide valley" after only 15 minutes of coaching.

I lost 2 recruits tonight... hopefully Alvin has more of them in stock.

P.S: Just don't forget the basic rules... "Cast further, sink deeper and work harder".

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Dragged out of the house

2009-03-26T18:31:00.003+08:00

What began as a normal MSN chat on a normal day after work... ended up with me, having to drag my sorry butt out of the house to "accompany" my very short fused friend on his despo day out at our usual Farmway 3 Catch&Release pond.

I woke up at 7am, just a few hours too late... due to unforseen circumstances, which was mainly cos I didn't charge my handphone last night... my handphone with its trusty alarm clock function died on me the very next morning. But luckily, after a little bit of rushing here, and packing there... we managed to arrive at the pond at around 8am.

Today's bait was, the ever trusty and popular market prawns (1kg). Deshelled and rigged up whole on a long snood "prawn spinning" rig. Rig in 2 small splitshots near the snap swivel for added weight and we're good to go.

There were quite a lot of baby Pacus around. Measuring close to 10 inches and above, they can often be found harbouring around the keep nets. Smart little buggers... preferring to nibble slowly on your baits rather than making a dash for it. It was a pretty interesting experience... a very good way to practice your striking and hone on your sensitivity.

I had a few "unknown" hookups today... but I didn't manage to land a single one of them as they would always "throw hook" as soon as they get near the water's edge. The 1st one was a confirmed foul hook, cos I could feel the unsteady jerks during each run... I think, I might have accidentally foul hooked somewhere near its tail. The 2nd and 3rd one however were confirmed solid hookups... but every time, they would "throw hook" just inches away from the water's edge.

But at least I did happen to get a consolation prize! "Baby" Chaopraya... the 1st catch of the day. It was tough as it was bulky... but don't let its small size fool you. It can be a pretty stubborn dirty fighter when it needs to. It gave my friend quite a good time on my Rapier & Certate Hyper combo.

P.S: How Halley? Throw your Buchinuki la. Time to get your own Rapier. Didn't I tell you before? 1 piece rods have more UMPH when it comes to sensitivity, feel and butt power. But then again, the Rapier X has been quite known for its raw butt power ever since.

NeCRoPLaSTiC

Bashing bashing

2009-03-24T12:07:00.006+08:00

Do take note... your run-in-the-mill slippers from Bata aren't exactly bashing materials. The grip is there, its comfortable and its pretty light... but the material is just too soft and flexible to really have a firm foothold on damp grounds... as tested and proven by me.

I went bashing with Roger last Sunday. I packed my usual gear on and brought along my Hyper and Rapier X... thinking I'd get some action and at least scratch that itch a little bit.

"We are going to a new spot", I was told... but it turned out that the new spot was quite close to an old spot of mine so it was a real eye opener cos I didn't expect to be able to traverse through my old spot into a new one... albeit quite some distance away from the old spot.

The entrace to the place didn't really look like an entrace... as you can already see.

I believe this is nothing new to the regulars... as I've seen quite an open beaten path in and out of the place. Even inside, I found a network of paths... far too complicated for a 1st timer like me so I rather not try my luck.

We reached the place, which was very very deep inside and made way to a clearing nearby. Its pretty safe... if you know what to look for and where to step.

3 hours later... just as the sun began to set behind the background, Roger finally got a hookup. A palm sized Peacock Bass on his 5 minutes DIYed fly... the only landed catch for the day. Hahahaha

Other than that, we didn't really managed anything sizeable. The Tomans and Belidas were quite a distance away... even 1oz SCs weren't able to reach that distance... so we had to settle for Peacock Bass, Gourami, Orh Peh and the likes.

I nearly slipped and slide into the waters when the ground beneath my left leg gave way. If not for an underground root that got exposed halfway along the slope... snagging me right in the crotch, causing me to stop just inches above the waterline then I'd most probably slide down in slow motion nearly 2 meters down into the water below. What was Roger's reaction? "Come let me hold your rod..."

Note to self: Use sandals and watch where you step.

NeCRoPLaSTiC