Snakehead Murrel, Channa Striata AKA Haruan

"The snakehead murrel, Channa striata, is a species of snakehead fish. It is also known as the common snakehead, chevron snakehead, and striped snakehead. It is native to South and Southeast Asia. It grows up to 1 m in length, though because of fishing, this size is rarely found in the wild.

Adults are dark brown in colour with faint black bands visible across its entire body. Males and females both help to construct a nest out of water vegetation during breeding time. Eggs are guarded by both parents. Fry are reddish orange and are guarded by both parents until they turn greenish brown at around 5–6 cm.

It is common in freshwater plains, where it migrates from rivers and lakes into flooded fields, returning to the permanent water bodies in the dry season, where it survives by burrowing in the mud. It preys on frogs, water bugs, smaller fish, and it will attack anything moving when breeding." Extracted from Wikipedia.

We are called Snakehead for a damn good reason..

This post is dedicated to our beloved Haruan, whom gave us happy fishing times but secretly, we thought of your big ass cousin, the Giant Snakeheads.. ;P WAH PIANG EH.. Thought of resting today but got an unexpected off day so went fishing again and again and again.. Reached spot already afternoon, sun glaring but water calm.. Hit first pot at PeeBee... Wah, this one mouth very loose fly cannot set hook easily. Change lure and HOOK SET!!! FISH ON!!! Nice fight on 4lb setup. Mood went up 30%..

Mouth damn loose~~~

30cm over handsome shiny PeeBee landed! Quickly snapped photos and release back. Next, found another pot but decidedly very spooky but think Banhock bro haven't ka ciao today so HOOK SET!!! FISH ON!!! DIY RIG DID IT! LOL Nice fight on my blue rod but not as powerful as Banhock's.. Mood add 60%+30%=90%!

First time use STORM tape so abit off, 37+7=44 cm Mama Haruan! ^^

 

Look like scary slug with pointed eyes... WEIRD

Fishy gave me a nice splashing upon releasing.. Handphone wet wet.. ZZZzzz.. Finally my last 10% mood up goes to this last pot, the Mayan Cichlid, who kept staring at me the whole goddamn time.. Okay 100% mood up feeling great but weather not so great. RAIN CAME and so that's the end of this catch report. Body and mind now exhausted.. Not going fishing so soon I guess~~~ Cya Fishos~~~

'Nobody nobody but jiu~~~'

Haruan One Night Stand

Wah piang eh... Think I kenna poisoned deep deep.. Went training fishing again this morning for 3 consecutive days liao. Slowly beginning to understand more and more of our fishy friends behavior.. Although no PeeBees are landed I had fun with a super spooky Mama Haruan which I disturbed for most of my 2hrs session, experimenting several lures until it pek cek and do a dolphin leap! I was like 'WTF!!! WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!!!' LOL

Night time and after work I popped over a waterhole near my workplace for a 1hr quickie session with some new rigs.. My intention is to work the rigs over shallow waters and see if they can be weedless. Cast, retrieve and pause. Fishing is pleasure. Then BOOM! I was like what happened? Some funny tilapias again? Nice pull so I whacked and cos the area is shallow I quickly landed with my 4lb setup..

 

Me and my itchy mouth~~~

Caught this 30cm over Haruan! Didn't know they work night shift! No wonder whole afternoon all go under weeds ZZZ... Hur hur... Tried to unhook the bugger for quite some time cos the thin hook very deep inside. Fishy is caught and released and after experimenting with other rigs I was satisfied with the answer.. I sibei noob still need to learn more! Cya Fishos~~~

PS: NOW I KNOW WHY MORNING NO GET!!! NICE ONE BANHOCK BRO!!

'heeheehee.. early bird catches the hee..'

Suck Thumb Post

Haiz.. Seem like the sizes of my PeeBee catches are getting smaller and smaller.. The earlier caught ones are now getting smarter by the day, with so much attention garnered.. Which led to the million dollar question. Are the bigger Tomans, smarter and wiser? Of course lah, even I landed my lure right atop their bony head, they also bo chup.. Hur hur... Which means.. Time to target the smaller Tomans or whichever haven't open their itchy mouth.

Itchy mouths getting smaller~~~ ZZZzzz

 

The fins very erect though.

Caught this hungry fella while I'm trying to catch Green Chromides.. Only memorable note, it broke my 4lb line upon landing and weirdly enough it doesn't swam too far off, just dive into some weeds nearby and the break line still close to the bank. Hur hur.. Handline fishing! Anyway, think abrasions must have cut the line loh. Okay Fishos, hopefully can land some decent size catches! Time to experiment DIY rigs! Cya~~

PS: By the way... My secret training is not this.. Hopefully netters dun catch on to this idea.. ;P

Valentine Day Fishing~~~

Went over my usual haunt this sunny day to cure my fishing itch. Already, some Fishos are prancing the area enjoying their fishing so I quickly set up my rods and join in the fun. Quickly spotted a pair of PeeBee stalking around so I casted my lure but fishy bo chap... Some more casts and they swam off spooked.. LOL But luckily yet another itchy mouth came and whack. Hur hur... Landed one PeeBee on my 4lb line.

Valentine's Day and you give me thumb to suck???

Oh well, that's about the only catch I could manage in my 2 hrs session. Recce around, could not see any Toman commotions and the only interest are the 'basketballs' really really daring, came so close to bank but when u cast lure at them they stop like at traffic light. ZZZzzz.. Met long time Fisho of the area, Bro Dan and we spotted a PeeBee buffet with smallie Toman joining in the fun. Parents must have went out for V-day celebration.. Nature really are cruel sometimes.. Anyway tried to hunt the hunters but I no luck today spooking the PeeBee in and out.. LOL Maybe next time..

Ang Moh Fishing In Singapore Long Kang ! LOL

Think I saw thefishinginHS Youtube blogger guy and his spec fren this sunny morning. Haha, his fren very cute cast his line over mine when I atop bridge popping my elusive preys. I was like 'WTF.. How come you cannot see my line meh. ZZZzzz.. Green line human eye can't see rite..' Line untangled by a nice China Fisho.. Hur hur.. Anyway, only manage to strike once but never set hook and finally lure buried under the tons of weeds... So in the end, got an egg this 2hrs session.. By the way, the orange 'basketballs' have returned...

It's always great to see young C&R Fishos around and enjoying fishing..

I haven't yet fully deploy soft plastics but they really works when slow retrieved. Great for catching lazy bottom huggers or lure evading species.. LOL Lures, u LOSE some u GAIN some. I'm lucky to find some lures again this year. Can you recognize yours? Hur hur~~~ Too bad it's mine now! ^^

This DIY spinner very cool and come attached with a long red line.. Whose is this?

 Poppers.. Found several, never really need to buy from shops.. ^^

Boring Morning~~~

Thought of landing my target this bright sunny morning but it's elusive again although I got a feeling it's still there waiting to be caught... ^^ Went for a short trip hunting the Toman this time but hard luck and at the end of my 2hrs session only manage to land this tiny fella.. Oh well~~~ 無魚蝦也好~~~

Feels like 100g gold bar in my hand. LOL

When All Things Fail...

Still have Chao Ji 'SUPER' Fly to save the day! That pretty sums up my day at my usual haunt today. Water conditions today is not bad and the sunny weather is going great... BUT... Hard luck catching the usual suspects and especially pissed when missed a strike on a soft take Haruan. So I went hunting the neglected Peacock Basses! Spotted some of them and asked a young fisho to try too but it really calls for patience, as none of my lures seems to be sweet candies for them, except for...

MR SUPER FLY~~~

HERE TO SAVE THE DAY~~~

  

Finally landed a nice 32cm 1lb Mr 'Gok Tao' Peacock Bass which really make my mood up. LOL Cheap thrill but for a newbie like me, the take and the fight is all I cared! =P Confidence swarm in and switched back to lures and manage to strike a smallie in but I think got a poor hook set so it escaped when landing... T_T In the end switched to Chao Ji Fly and got the fishy in the bag!

 

'Grrr... So hungry and this madman still wan measure me...'

This little fella is so light, guess it must be really hungry to whack my 2nd luring attempt! Sorry fishy, I ain't got no food for ya! All Aliens returned home after Chao Ji Fly spared them their lives! Alright Fishos, thanks fer coming and viewing my lame catch report! LOLOLOL

Bro Gilbert Caught an Eagle! LOL

Enjoy the following clip and remember while you're out fishing, unexpected catches will make for an unforgettable trip! Practice Catch and Release too! ^^

Prianha.. hahaha..

Checked AcuWeather and found these days cloudy and spotty rainy days are the norm. But I still decided to check in on my usual haunt to see if I could have a go with the Giant Snakeheads.. Hur hur.. Nothing much at the waters today as it's teh tarik time and the water is flowing quicker. So I went for a nice recce walk and try to see if my fave fishes, the Peacock Basses have returned. And yup, they're here but not biting and not in packs. T_T 

With time constraints I limit myself 2 spots to try and the hunt begins! But with time tickling by, I thought I'll get an egg today but hey hey hey, still lucky, I think.. Got first hook up, wanna play a bit but fish gone crazy turn left turn right very energetic and poof, hook come out and I thought gone case liao. Emo a bit but tried again blind castings into weeds and FISH ON!! HOOK SET!! AND NABEI JUST REEL IN DUN PLAY PLAY LIAO! LOL

Wah... Prianha Wannabe.. LOL

  

Green Chromides hard to differentiate hor. Right pic is previous catch.

Landed the 30cm 1kg fishy and wanna say thank you very much for entertaining me today. Fish is released abit late than usual cos I checking if fishy fishy same same de last time. Please please Heavens oh dun rain when I'm fishing or the day before I go ok!! Okay Fishos, please practise catch and release and enjoy your fishing! Cya~~~