27th May 2006: A Mirror
We were working hard jigging for baitfish when the ratchet on Lawrence's Daiwa SL20SH went off. As I was the nearest to the rod, I quickly wound the line tight and struck. Ideas of Barramundi were quickly dispelled as this fish did not have the muscle power of Barramundis. However, the nice Diamond Trevally that surfaced also lit up the face of Lawrence. It has been quite a while since we saw Diamond Trevallies at Bedok Jetty. The fishing has been good lately! We also had our share of heartbreak, as both Lawrence and me lost Barramundis later on. We will be back!
Above: Besides the name Diamond Trevally, the shiny and highly-reflective Chermin is also known as Mirror Trevally in some places.
13th May 2006: Finally!
Finally! After a few suspected Barramundi misses this year, this 5.9kg beauty was brought up. Well, it decommissioned my landing net in the process, which had been serving me well for the past 6 years. Not to worry, a new one has been fabricated!
Above: Adam with the 5.9kg Barramundi he fought, which took the bait on Ah Boy's rod.
11th-12th May 2006: Another Productive Day at the Jetty
With the strong showing from the fishes last week, we were back this week at the jetty again as the current flow was even better this week. As night fell, the fish also started to show up, with Lawrence scoring again with a 3.25kg Conger Eel with his rod which brought up a 43kg Stingray some months back.
Above: Keep clear of the jaws of the Conger Eel!
After the rain, I noticed some movement on my rod tip and striking firmly, a nice table-sized Red-spotted Garoupa found itself on dry land. We had thought this was a Barramundi at first as the fish swam towards the surface with fast strokes, similar to that of big Barramundis.
Above: Keeping the fish alive in the water till departure time using keeper clips.
Shortly before midnight, an angler landed a Stingray, which was estimated to be in the region of 1.5-2kg. At 0200hrs, we heard a small commotion and it turned out that Vincent had a big hookup. Walking over to take a look, he asked if I had a gaff as the one that they had was not able to reach the fish when it surfaced, due to the low tidal height at that moment. Agreeing to help him and just as I was walking over to get my gaff, we heard another commotion! One of our rods were bending ugly and line was peeling out fast. Reaching the rod, Adam found that the fish had already made it's way home to the jetty pilings. The line parted after some time. At this very moment, we found that there was another hookup on another rod, but suffering the same fate as this one. Well, 3 hookups at the same time and 2 lost. Hard luck. I proceed to set up my flying gaff and by this time, Vincent's fish was about to surface. All of us had thought it will be a big Stingray, but when it surfaced, the large Shovelnose had the crowd cheering! It was definitely big too. Coaxing the Shovelnose towards the jetty, I sank the gaff in the moment I had a clear shot. This fish was strong, and it required a lot of strength to hold it at the water surface with the gaff rope. A second gaff shot was dispatched and soon, the fish was brought onto the jetty, with Vincent breathing huge sighs of relief. Bringing up big fish at low tide at the jetty was not easy, as any huge fish would have ample opportunity to dash underneath the jetty and cut the mainline on the barnacle-infested pillars. The customary weighing and photo-taking followed and this Shovelnose weighed in at 28 kilograms, not counting the weight of intestines and body fluid lost when cutting the fish. Everyone agreed that this one would be at least 30kg if we had a weighing scale to weigh it whole, instead of piece-wise.
Above: 3rd Shovelnose at the jetty this year, which are normally seldom seen.
6th-7th May 2006: Quite a Productive Day at the Jetty
The current did not bode well for fishing today, but what the heck, wetting a line sure takes away some of the fishing itch. Arrived at Bedok Jetty at around 3pm and before setting up my rods, saw a double hookup of Wolf Herrings from anglers who were fishing for them using floats and live baitfishes. Both were around a kilogram in weight and both looked liked having a bite taken off them while being reeled in. Most probably due to the work Barracudas or Queenfish.
Above: Given the right current flow and presentation of live baitfish, these toothy critters are a common sight at Bedok Jetty.
In the evening, a palm-sized Red Snapper took my offering of a squid on a 5/0 hook. Did not expect such a small fella to get hooked on such a big hook. It sure had a big appetite. Anyway, we are seeing more of this species in our waters, especially around Changi/Ubin areas. Looks like the farm escapees are taking to breeding in our waters. which is a good sign!
Above: Breeding in our waters?
Shortly after this, a Malay angler had a strong hookup on his rod and after 15-20 minutes of hard pumping, a nice Shovelnose surfaced. It weighed in at 8kg.
Above: Strong fighter!
Squid started to show up when night fell, but jigging proved to be the way to catch them. I managed about 40 pieces on my jigs, while a friend managed about 20 plus pieces. With such fresh bait, Victor proved that fresh squid was still the one to use for night fishing, when his reel went screeching barely minutes after casting out a freshly-caught squid. He was not around the vicinity when the fish took his bait, and Adam had the joy of fighting the fish, which turned out to a 6.5kg Stingray.
Above: Victor with another one meant for BBQ.
There was not much action after this, but at 3am, an angler cycled in with a huge Stingray, for weighing purposes. He borrowed my weighing scale and the ray weighed in at 16kg. This one was caught at the beach beside the jetty, with prawns from NTUC as bait. Shortly after, an elderly uncle also landed a baby Stingray. This was the third one within 24 hours and coupled with the 2 landed by other anglers the previous day, it was not difficult to guess that Stingrays are hanging around the vicinity of Bedok Jetty. Looks like the rays have arrived earlier this year, as the stingray run normally starts from late May every year.
29th April 2006: Hits and Misses
Baitfish was sporadic, and jigging only landed less than 10 Tambans. However, that did not stop a frisky 6.75kg Stingray from taking Lawrence's offering of a Tamban on a clipped-down rig. Lawrence, Adam and me all had a go at this fish and it was gaffed up neatly. Before that, other anglers had landed fishes like small Russell's Snappers, a Coral Cod, a Queenfish and a really nice Parrotfish of around a kilogram.
At 9.50pm, the pull that everyone was waiting for came. Barramundi! This one fought dirty, going right into the refuge of the pillars after taking the bait. Being first to the rod, I tried to slow down it's run, but it still got home. Passing the rod back to Adam, he tried to force it out of cover and after a while, the fish swam back into open water, visibly tired out. Down went the gaff, and I gaffed it in the gills. Right after gaffing, Adam's hook dropped out! We thought we were lucky as the Barramundi was still hooked by the gaff, but at an arm-length away from dry land, the Barramundi jumped clear of the gaff hook. What a waste! This one was definitely more than 5kg, with very very broad shoulders. Well, some days the anglers win, some days the fish win. We will be back!
Above: Lawrence's 6.75kg Common Brown Stingray. BBQ!
15th - 16th April 2006: A Special One Turns Up!
It has been quite some time since I last paid the Jetty a visit, and the long weekend coupled with favourable tides presented a good opportunity to go hunting for the finned ones. The action proved to be quite good, with a rare Coral Cod landed in the late afternoon on a presentation meant for Barramundi. Prior to this piece of action, an angler landed a Queenfish of around 2.5kg. In addition, small fishes like Russell's Snappers, Parrot Fish and Sicklefish were being landed. Juvenile Queenfish were hunting down the Tamban schools as well. From the big mass of storm clouds gathered over mainland Singapore, we were lucky to escape with only a few drops of rain while almost the whole of Singapore was caught in a heavy downpour for much of the afternoon.
Above: A kilogram of this fish retails for S$88 at most local seafood restaurants. The 700g fish above certainly made me smile.
A friend lighted his pressure lamp to catch some squid as night fell, but squid showed up few and far in between. At around 2245hrs, a friend lost a Barramundi, which lost no steam in heading straight for the refuge of the jetty support columns after taking the bait. The barnacle-infested pillars cut the line like a hot knife through butter. Alas!
I managed to jig a squid near to midnight, as it proved to be the ONE, luring a 2.8kg White-spotted Stingray with the last cast of the night. In fact, I only knew that I had a fish on as I was reeling in my line, as this Stingray chose to swim downstream. It was a miracle that no lines were entangled.
Above: Good size for BBQ.
On a sidenote, the Barramundi seems to have taken to reproduction at Bedok Jetty, as evident by 2 very juvenile ones fished up. They were released for a better fight in the future.
1st January 2006: A Good Start to 2006!
The Diamond Trevally action was good at Changi areas for the past month, and on this day when the current was favourable and the sun finally appeared after long periods of rain, the Diamonds turned up. I managed to land this one, while other anglers at the same spot had 6 hookups, landing 2 and losing 4. News filtered in on the next day that action was getting even better, with about 10-14 pieces being landed. One tip here, for good landing rates of this species, sunshine is always preferred!
Above: 1.3kg Diamond Trevally (Alectis indicus)
