Back from Influenza... Minus the smell...

Didn't manage to get into fishing gear lately after having a bout of influenza which took a very long for me to recover fully... Still battling the virus but felt better than before. It also took my sense of smell away... Oh well. Anyway, decided to go destress in my usual haunt. Tagging along with me, my SS class wife finally broke our duck of catching fish together. Dunno why but everytime go fishing with her always landed zeros... LOL

Manage to land a small Peebee for wifey to take photos with.. Disturb nest got both chromides but one escaped after a short landing.. Oh well. Water very low. Almost can grab the Tomans there.. If I got more time, I could catch some more. GONNA WATCH SPIDERMAN 3D... YIPPEE YAP YAP.. Think it's gonna be a long time for me to relink my fishing interest cos my new PS VITA took alot of my spare time... Oh well...

Fishy days are getting lesser also due to work... Must really recover faster liao to make more early trips loh... Cya Fishos...

Shane First Fish! Meow Fish ^^

As you can see.. He is over the moon with his first fish, the freshwater catfish! Beginner luck in full effect as he landed this nice size in his first ever fishing outing, some more during a stormy night at Bottletree pond! Got 2 choo choo trains to enjoy too! LOL His pic dun do justice so I posted his video instead. Nice kg plus too bad cannot bring home eat hor?

Me got not much to post. Cos rainy and cloudy days always ruin my mood to go catch Peebees. Went down once and caught Peebee smallies with flies. Only interesting catch is this fierce Mayan Cichlid guarding her nest. Didn't manage a double hookup! So sad... LOL

Stress Relief

Didn't notice it's Friday the 13th today. Been raining almost everyday this past 2 weeks and today it's unusually sunny. So long sunny Singapore. Last time I fished is around 2 weeks back. Still quite sored one CNK taopaoed one nice melon and we were all stumped. One word. Pissed. And one newbie fisho uncle like, "Wah! So big! Hero! Hero!" I puked.

Anyway, in need of stress relief so I went back to my fishing ground today. Day off too. Spot very weedy. Very boring. Got one take. Never set hook. Long black body. Sad. Found pair of Green Chromides. Decided catch both. Done. Stress relieved? All released!!!

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~~~'

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~~~

First Fish For Water Dragon Year 2012!!! ^O^

Been trying hard to land my target fish for this year, a nice size Giant Snakehead. But I'm gonna admit with my Shimano telescopic rod, its powerless to control the fight against the big one, the only way to land it is to play the fish really well I think. Anyway that's how the fight with a good size Haruan goes today. Plenty of steering action and finally landed it but HAIZ! I yank the fish out by the line and let it rest on the bank while I searched for my lip gripper. Then I turn around the fish disappeared... Damn emo the whole afternoon after. LOL

Went over to new spot to pick up my mood, just want to relax and enjoy the nice sunny weather. Finally found what I looking for. Hur hur... But the Peacock Bass like all go courses liao, dun whack lures one. ZZZzzz Anyway played with a newcomer and finally... HOOK SET!!! FISH ON!!! The fish went rampage mode, swerve left and right and do a pancake dance. LOL Yay!!! My first Mama Zebra Tilapia!!!

 30 cm 1.2KG Newcomer! Yay! ^^

 Nice Uncle help me take photos after many tries... =P

Fish released back in good shape although abit woozy, like drunk liao. LOL Anyway happy to catch something so unexpected today. So Fishos, never give up and think postively and most importantly, enjoy your fishing!!! GONG XI FA CAI!!! ^0^

P.S It's Green Chromide ^0^

Trial Run For New Bashing Rod & Reel Set..

Having broken several Daiwa rod tips, I decided to invest less on branded rods unless recommended.. In the end, decided to purchase Chop Hock Heng's housebrand, a 5'6ft, 4-8 lb Pro Tech Magic Spin Light rod, which impressed me seeing how they work on Nigel's blog.. Aptly paired with a budget Daiwa Sweepfire 1000 to replace my trusty rusty reel, I'm ready for some no holds bashing and ultra light fishing.. No more  heart pains liao.. Kekeke!

 

Nite falls and after work I decided to test the set up at a water hole near my workplace.. Casting ultra light jigs with the rod seems fine although the set up looks quite bulky.. The springy rod tip clearly aided the distance casted.. The reel works fine too but I loaded it with 8lb which might be too much for it and wind knots happened twice.. Quickly remedy the knot and worked the jigs.. In the end of my 1 hour session, I couldn't complain about the set at all.. Caught several bait sized Tilapias which hardly worked the rod although I felt the sensitive tip really help me secure the hook sets.. 

Gonna try it out on my fave Peacock Bass and hopefully at other members of the snakehead family in order to secure a full review.. I guess going budget doesn't seems too bad after all.. At least now I dared to whack the rod and dump my reel.. LOL

Peacock Bass Day!! With Extra Bonus!!

Got up early this morning.. Thinking of cracking the Toman code but its not that day today.. Tried to fish at my usual spot but the water was very weedy, making my usual minnow lures grinding to a halt.. Switched to other options loh.. Anyway, only saw some baiters and a few fishos at the goalmouth.. Actually, I don't have problems with tapaoers.. but please lah, dun catch all and bring home.. You can take 1 back and savor it but release the rest mah.. Nothing special to boast about catching a kind of fish which so eager take lures.. If you take all like one kaki told me, take 8 back.. It's like robbing loh.. Haha.. Anyway, got 8 takes, 5 landed.. Which include one very cute young Zebra Tilapia..

Very fast taker.. 2 casts kena liao.. ^^

Smaller one think follow big bro above..

Eh, why side kena scratched!?

Nice fight.. Dun wan come up loh..

Looks like my Beauty Queens are a lively bunch, ranging from 25 to 30cm, weighing 1/2lb to 1 lb.. I always like their ferocious takes.. Especially when they are in a feeding frenzy.. Got all of them within an hour of my 3 hrs session.. All are CNR except for 2 which were caught by a group of couples who were baiting and thought this is seawater.. LOL Next time try Woodlands Waterfront lah.. There got more nice tasting fishes..

My Very First!! Zebra Cichlid!! Sorry about the scary cigarette box..

Final catch is a funny one hur hur.. I tried to google it and it really looks like a cross between Mayan Cichlid and Zebra Cichlid.. In the end, should be Zebra cos the tail got no eye loh.. LOL Very cute catch! I like the colors.. Very charming.. Fish is CNR too!! Hopefully can grow big big to 2kg hor.. Okies fishos.. Cya next time =)

PS:  In the end should be Mayan Cichlid cos the sizes doesn't match up with Chromide and Zebra.. ^0^

CrossBeat Little Cherry Popper...

Went over my usual haunt this morning. Weather's pretty cloudy and streaks of rain fell. Determined to break my rod virgin today on a mama Toman, hopefully. Tried a new lure, a spinner-bait with those flashy blades and bushes around the hook Heck, caught up with the hydrillas at the blade neck. Some more 'weedless lure' sia they told me. -_-"

Anyway could see those Tomans swimming around happily but no bites at all. Haiz... Singapore no fish sia. I keep thinking like that lately. Anyway went work after this morning workout casting all sorts of topwater lures. Most pleased is the propeller lure. Hopefully, gonna master its mechanics loh.

Nite fall after work, popped over the reservoir over my workplace and tried a new spot to play my game. Rather shallow at the spot so i casts my add-on rubber skirt jig around hopefully kena a bite or two. And YES, caught one TINY Nile Tilapia... LOL!!! Finally broke my rod virgin and also my tiniest ever hooked up. Damn overkill loh for my Crossbeat... T_T

Struggled for a few sec upon hookup. T_T

Fish!!! After A Month Long Absence!

These are trying times I guess. Really have not been into the mood in fishing after gaming up ALOT. Dunno if my amateurish fishing skills had degraded or not. LOL! Went over NSLK to pick up the slack today. Weather is not good at all, rained some time after wifey arrived. Had to take shelter else would be drenched for good. Tried out the usual hard plastics but damn fished up so much debris. The river current is too fast and not to mention how the heck so much weeds had grown over the past month! Also tried a small topwater plug i bought yesterday but quite weak in action though. Switch to soft plastics. No luck at all. Damn... After a while wifey call me up into the tunnel and guess what i saw. An injured EarthEater. Quickly scooped it up and check for damage.

Palm sized fish food. Don't last long cos kena whacked by other fish.

EarthEater was so weak that i caught it easily in the water. Released it soon after, hopefully can recover but i highly doubted it. Went over to the other side of the longkang and tried some burn and stop. Nothing. Wifey called again and i rushed over. She say got some fishy bubbles. Hmm... No harm trying the spot. And BAMM!!! :)

5-inch baby Peacock Bass caught. Very feisty. :)

Another Baby caught. Or was it me... Lao Baby!!! (^-^)

So ends another fruitful day at the river. Hopefully this would fire up my passion more for fishing again! LOL! YAY! Went over fishing shop and get supplied with more soft plastics cos they get sungkot so easily... Oh Well! Cya Fishos!!!

Nite Double Kill @ New Spot

Dun understand why lately had trouble sleeping so i kept giving excuse to myself for getting myself up early for my morning fishing. Must be the hot season i guess, very sunny and dry resulting in a recurring cough. Anyway, manage to pull myself up today and went for my usual haunts to look for my beauties. And what a shock i had when i reached the place. The usual netting over the canal is open and tied to the banks. So as to facilitate the cleaning of the waters i guess. The waters felt more rapid than usual and the thought of my beloved Peacocks were washed away etched deeply in my mind.

But alas i got to get my priorities right this late morning. I need to try out my modified soft plastics jig for the Tomans today. Hopes are high this slightly overcast day. Some young Fishos were already testing the waters and i can't afford to wait. Casting the 1/4 Oz rig is pretty solid and i manage to hit the other banks and so distance is assured. Flourishing hydrillas were a problem so I'm testing my timing on the crank not to hit them and it turn out well. Soon i nearly got a hit on a Green-Headed Mama!!! She chased my lure to the bank but didn't attack it, instead and amusingly enough she went below my rig and turn her body downwards so that her mouth opened slightly from below. Hopes rocketed sky high and suddenly crashed to the ground as she shut her jaws tight, the rig crashed onto her and she dashed away in a flurry. Left stumped i bid this haunt goodbye. Maybe Next time... :(

Night time and with crashed hopes i decided to visit this fishing spot near my workplace in Woodlands. Amazingly, haven't given this spot some tests yet for over a year even though it's so near. Haha, and it turned out to be more productive than LSR Jetty. Met a couple of friendly Fishos this cool night. And they were on the prowl for Catfish. ^^ Got some pointers in and decided to use my DIY light jig for some testing.

My very FIRST, Jaguar Ciclid a.k.a Guapote Tigre. ^^

Boy, this Jaguar fight hard!!! Though its slightly bigger than my palm, it reminds me of the 1/2 Pounder Peacock caught in Feb! Some darting actions were imparted and since i worried that it might dive into the rocks i just crank in hard and pulled in out fast. No problem with my tackle! LOL

Hook set No. 2! Bait sized Nile Tilapia ^^

Luring close into my 2 hours session. Hit this bait sized Nile Tilapia. Not bad for tonite's expedition. Kekeke. Gonna love this spot!!! Will be my new testing ground for ultra light jigs and lures. Thanks to the Fishos for the company and congrats on them for catching 2 beautiful Catfish and i'm so glad they're CNR Fishos like me too!!! ^^

Met a smart Fisho!

After last week outing at LPR, i decided to visit LSR this time ard. Manage to get up early and promptly wake my dear up for breakfast and quickly set off. Hmm... Not much fishos this Monday morning. Water was rather choppy so i test out this new ultra small fly setup i let it float ard the banks and after 10 mins, got something at the end of the line. I quickly crank in cos like no fight at all but then BAM! Alot of splashes ard the bank! Something hit my 'Live' lure! LOL!!!

I tug hard and freed the poor fella from becoming breakfast. See the scars? Think kena whack by a toman. Released the little fella near a spot beside its frens. LOL! Dunno what fish is this though until i met this smart fisho who told me it's an eartheater. And he caught 2 BIG PEACOCK BASS!

The big one think 2kg!!! The smaller one think 1.5kg!!! Congrats!!!

Nice to see CNR anglers like this Fisho ard! Glad to get some pointers from him and see him in action hahaha. Learn from the pro lah. What a memorable trip and though no peacock bass is landed by me 2day i'm still happy cos i managed to hook one biggie but i too kan cheong pull it up too fast out of water and it leaped and shook and the hook fly back!!! LOLOLOL

Jip Puun Heurr Hotspot!!!

Hey Fishos! Been checking out suitable freshwater fishing spots near my workplace at Woodlands. So far Kranji Reservoir hasn't been too kind to me. Lots of baiters there targeting groupers A.K.A soon hock or soon fu. Anyway the area is quiet in the mornings. Not much lurers there so kind of boring cos cannot learn from the pros... Haiz :( But it might be a blessing in disguise cos i found a TILAPIA HOTSPOT! :) Caught one while using a small crankbait. But haiz, that place very easy kena fine de. That's why the place is so full of big fish! Hahaha! Fish is CNR cos honestly i dunno how to cook it! :P

Slightly larger than my palm! FOOD!