Spot Banana

ZH brought me to a new spot this morning.
Heard about this spot long ago while Derek went there last week.
Shall christen this spot: Banana.

It's a long walk there across different kinds of terrain.
A place where it's impossible to discover without anyone leading the way.

While on the way there, I'm really amazed that how can anyone actually find the way to this spot in the very first place??

ZH right in front

Secluded enough to dump a corpse

A tranquil place...

ZH caught 4 temensis. Or is it 5?
I caught 1, lost a few due to poorly set hooks.

It's been sooooo long since I last caught a temensis.
Been always giant snakeheads lately...

This is my catch:

Nice web!

After awhile, the action stopped.

We decided to head to Mandai.
Heard that the water outlet had been turned on recently.

Whenever the water is 'turned on' there, it will attract large amount of fishes.
Reason being, moving water will supply plenty of oxygen and baitfishes for food.

Anyway, reached and saw many anglers already there:

We fished for awhile getting many hookups.

A short while later, we stopped.
Why stop when hookups are good?

Simple.

That spot is extremely risky.
PUB goes there multiple times everyday to catch anglers fishing illegally.

ZH and I kept our rods and started chatting there.

True enough, a PUB lorry came and booked all anglers there:

We watched the show, mocking at those anglers' ignorance.

Kids...

I've already got fined twice by PUB.

One more time and it will be a court case for me.

Sport fishing is like a crime in Singapore.

Can only fish at legal spots assigned by PUB and only artificial lures are allowed.

Problem is, legal spots are all dead.

Destroyed by baiters.

Even if alive, will be crowded with baiters who often get away with using live baits.

These baiters will bring home their catch, no matter how small or palatable it is.

Worst thing is, I don't see PUB as proactive in booking these baiters using live bait.

They rather book lurers who practice catch and release.

And did I mentioned their attitude sucks too?

Bastards......

Shimano Stradic CI4 Servicing Guide

 

 

 

ZH passed me his reel to service this morning.

Wrote a pictorial walkthrough on how to do it.

 

Hope it'll help someone out there...

 

 

Here's link:  Shitmano Stradic CI4 Servicing Guide

 

 

 

Pun very intended.

 

 

Sick Tuesday

Many implications that my asthma brought along. 

Merciless cough, headache, fever. 

I rarely complain of pain but this time, my headache is really killing me...

It's short circuiting my brain as well. 

Alot funny thoughts and questions...

Slept till noon at Ling's place and Derek sent me this pic:

He hooked himself again.      -_-"

This time, it's his left shin.

Sadistic guy really enjoys piercing himself...

Anyway, the hook was removed by pushing it through to depress the barb after which the hook can be reversed back out from where it enters. 

Will have 2 wounds instead of one but this beats having to go to the doctor where he will be subjected to even more pain. 

And by the way, he got himself a nice catch:

Large Temensis

Was caught by him at banana tree spot. 

Afternoon, Ling went for her Muay Thai session at Golden Mile while I went to Anglers Outfitter to meet Derek. 

Chatted for awhile, mock at his noobness, drooled over his pics of the day's catches. 

He's resuming work at Jurong Island again which means that no fishing for him until mid July. 

Will intro him to ZH when the time comes. 

After saying goodbye and a few kicks to his shin, I left in the pouring rain making my way slowly to G Tackle. 

Sent my NRX there last Sunday due to a dislodged reel seat. 

As seen in the pic above, Gary has done a good job!

He's indeed one of the best local custom rod builder...

No trace of the fault whatsoever!

Returned to Golden Mile to pick Ling. 

Her right shin has a bad bruise but left one seems fine. 

Should have used both legs instead of one, I said. 

Maybe she can kill the instructor if she had used both instead...

Mother of all bird's nest:

Anglers' Nightmare...

Present from Kann and Brandon from Phuket:

Mini Pocket Chivas. 

Marlboro for scale only. 

Thanks!

Series of Unfortunate Events

Today is a beri beri suay day for me...

Went to Spot Mozzy alone this morning and this is what I saw upon arrival:

A group of Thai nationals are in the water checking on their nets that they placed.

I spotted a total of 5 fucking nets in the water!

Wtf is wrong with these fuckers?

Put one or two near the bank, I'm fine with it.

But 5??!!!

All in the middle of the waterbody??!!!

How do you fuckers expect other people to fish?

You all really think this place is your home ar?

The closest one is mere meters from where I'm standing.

It's anchored to a stick that they planted in the lower right of the above pic.

With the help of a few other baiters there, we hauled it up and threw it away into the bushes behind us.

All this was done right in front of those Thais.

Fuckers really treat this country like their home...

If you look closely enough in the pic, you will find tiny small white spots floating on the water.

Those are their net markers.

Left to right, up to down, these nets blocked off all fishes within my casting range.

This is really too much...

Left after a short while after zero action and when my NRX's reel seat gave way:

This is apparently a common problem with all G.Loomis NRX.
Read about it all on the internet even before I got my rod last year.
Thought that those affected had unfortunately bought themselves lemons but it had actually happened to me this morning.

Lucky that it was discovered soon, and not while in the midst of fighting a monster snakehead.
Consequences will be dire if my reel falls off in the middle of a tug-of-war with a huge fish.

Apparently, the fault lies in the new skeletal reel seat design.

Being a 2 piece reel seat, the locking section needs to endure huge force in order to hold the reel securely.
Moreover from what I saw, the factory epoxy applied was of inadequate amount.
Just only a few stingy dabs of it which in my case, cracked over time causing the locking screw to dislodge itself (circled).

There's no doubt that this innovative design not only looks good, it actually cuts down on weight and enhanced sensitivity by exposing the blank to our fingers.

But all these at the expense of reliability?
Maybe it's not such a good idea after all...

Got home, searched the web, found out that the problem will still persist even if I send my rod back to it's factory in America.
Not to mention the lengthy shipping period...

Decided to find a local rod maker to fix it properly once and for all.

After some calls, was recommended to look for Gary, boss of G Tackles at Simon Road.

Called Gary and was told to meet him at his shop in the afternoon.
I rested awhile at home then started to make my way to meeting Ling at her sister's place.

While on the highway, I spotted this:

Entire front right wheel gone.

Auntie driver with hum bao face calling someone meters ahead.

Kann and family (minus Colin) had just came back from Phuket.

Seems like they had fun there.

Best thing is, they unwittingly escaped the worst of the haze here.

Ling and I went to Tiong Bahru Market after sending my NRX to Gary.

Collection will be on Tuesday he said...

Got home, fever got worse, asthmatic cough got worse, headache got worse.

Everything I can tahan. 

Except for headaches...

Watched an episode of Top Gear, sayang my Boyboy, told Ling where I placed my house's insurance papers and a few other undone businesses before slipping into a coma...

Impromptu Mission

Yet again, to Spot Mozzy with ZH who took a day's leave today.

Spent last night at Ling's place, left at 5.30am, went to Tiong Bahru Plaza Mcdonald's wanting to grab a McMuffin only to find out that it only operates 24hours on weekends...

Drove with an empty stomach, reached meeting point at 6.15am, with a strong 'chao ta' smell in the morning air due to the haze.

Trekked in and started casting with the rather thick haze looming over the entire area.

Spotted some commotion in the far distant out on the main water body.
Loaded my NRX, casted out my trusted minnow, hit bullseye, all in a fluid motion...

At the very moment my lure hits the water, BOOM!

Fish On!

I set the hook twice for insurance and guided the struggling toman to the 'landing point' where ZH was already waiting with the lip-gripper.
 

Giant Snakehead 75cm @ 8lbs

Later, ZH landed his first toman of the day with the same lure but a different color:

 

6.5lbs nice coloration!

I lost a good few fishes today due to poorly set hooks.

Well, that's life......

 

Moments later, ZH got a hit again:

 

 

7.5lbs

 

While ZH was still fooling around with his 7.5lbs, I got a hookup too.

 

Guided the fish back to landing point where it gave a final struggle and made off with one of my treble hooks when it's split ring failed:

 

I can almost feel it mocking me while it glides leisurely further and further away...

Oh well... That's fishing...
Sometimes I win, sometimes the fishes do...

I lost a lure to underwater snag.
ZH lost a lure to opposite bank's vegetation.

But all in all, we had a fruitful day!

Good to see that ZH is improving on his 'toman sense'.  lol
He's now better on his spot casting rather than blindly casting all the time.

Casting accuracy still needs improvement though.

There's a formula for this:
Sniper Casting + High Toman Sense = Lord of Snakeheads

Keep it up!

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Went to Bugis Junction and Bugis+ with Ling where she bought 2 pairs of shoes to replace her broken ones.

 

Went Angler Outfitters to buy some egg snaps but they do not carry those which I'm using.

 

While walking back to Bugis Junction, passed by Kaiser and decided to try my luck.

 

Surprised to find what I need (VMC Dyna Snap) in this small shop.

 

Boss was kind enough to let me keep this Rapala 2013 Catalog when he spotted me browsing even though my total purchase was less than $10.

 

 

 

Not much confidence in Rapala's lures but their accessories like polarized sunglasses, pliers and luring bag are worth a look.

 

I personally own a rod by Rapala which is my favorite 2 piece rod.

 

Production for this medium-heavy spec (10-20lb line / 7-28gr lure) is extremely short, not much were produced and I'm one of the very lucky few to get my hands on it.

Those Predators in current production are of a different lighter spec (8-14lb line / 7-20gr lure).

Rapala Predator PE-C632MH:

Rapala Predator PE-C632MH

Ever since I got the G.Loomis NRX, the Predator has not seen any action at all.

Nothing beats the sensitivity of the NRX.
The feel of it is totally in a class of it's own...

Every single vibe the lure makes, every strike no matter how gentle, coupled with it's ultra sensitive rod tip, just makes it impossible for me to leave it at home...

Ok... 我又自己越讲越爽了......
hehehehehe......




No matter what, my Predator will stay with me as long as I'm still fishing and in future when circumstances forbid me to lug around a one-piece NRX, that shall be the time when my trusty Predator makes a comeback...

Till then!

Hazy Tuesday

Fell sick yesterday and was on MC.
Asthmatic cough, severe headache, mild fever.
Slept for awhile in the afternoon then woke up hours later, gamed for awhile until Ling came back from work.

Here's how the haze looks like from my home:

Pretty bad huh.
Can't even see Chinatown.

######################################

Went to my usual tackle shop during lunchtime again.

Saw these new Megabass reels on display.
They sure look nice... *drool*
Especially the LIN 10 MARS (2nd right).

Megabass
Black Jungle, LIN 10 C, LIN 10 Mars, LIN 10 Origin

Spent some hard-earned money as well:

Bought another one of my favorite lure, some extra treble hooks.
I was introduced to a weedless frog lure by a friend who works in the shop.

A very soft frog...
Soft enough for me to doubt it's durability...

Claimed that it's very effective and can easily trigger Snakehead strikes with it's unique erratic surface swim action.
Wanted me to give him feedback.

Let's see how it will perform on my next hunting session.

Speaking of which, ZH jio me go fishing tomorrow.
He's on leave.

Wonder how's Derek doing recently?

#########################################

Days ago, Ling tried to use my 10 year old shaver which I have already told her many many months ago that it is very blunt already.
Due to it's bluntness, it will often 'pull' instead of 'slice'.

Complained to me that it's painful to use...
She went and bought a new one today.

The new shaver:

Sunday First Light @ Spot Mozzy

Just got home from a good morning of snakehead hunting.

Went to Mozzy again with ZH.
Seems like this is turning out to be a weekly thing.
Or maybe until the heat dies down then we can consider venturing other common spots again.
PUB and Npark are still actively hunting down anglers who are fishing illegally even on weekends.

Those bastards......
When will they ever take time to really look into the cause?
When will they ever eliminate their double standards?
When will they ever learn their manners and communicate with other fellow human being with respect?

Answer is obvious: NEVER!

Anyway, enough of my endless ranting.
Shall write about the good stuff instead...

 

###################################

 

 

Arrived outside Spot Mozzy before daybreak and took this pic while waiting for ZH.

 

 

 

Weather's looking good unlike the previous couple of times we were here.

Gentle breeze, clear sky, sudden icy cold wind, shadows darting in the woods, strange feeling of being watched, hairs standing on the back of my neck, etc.

 

It's a fine morning indeed!

ZH arrived and after gearing up, we started our long trek...

While on the long walk in, we chatted:
Superman movie,
Spiderman & Superman's similarities,
Why isn't he using a multiplier?
etc.

Blah Blah Blah until we reach the spot.

Clipped on my favorite lure and started casting to wherever there's signs of disturbance on the water.

Sometime later, I saw a trail of bubbles further in the tributary beside where I was standing.
I knew that it is a large fish swimming close to the riverbed which explains the bubble trail.

Cast way behind and cranked back my lure through where the bubbles were spotted.

Suddenly, a violent pull.
I striked and it's fish-on!

Heavy weight, forceful pull, wild dashes.
Hook was firmly set and it had no chance of escape.

ZH helped lip-grip the fish and it's indeed a large specimen.

Enjoy the pics:

 

Look at it's fearsome teeth!

 

 

Giant Snakehead 12lbs @ 90cm 

 

Boga reads 12lbs

 

Looking like a water serpent

Look at how long it is!

Released it after a series of photo rape.

Realised that this bugger bent 2 of the trebles on my lure and spent the next 5 minutes changing them.
Upsized the original hooks and the lure still swims enchantingly...

Continued casting and caught another one weighing at 7lbs:

 

Giant Snakehead @ 7lb

Released.

 

Next event is a rather unfortunate one...

Happened on me alot of times but this time, it's ZH's turn.

 

He got a hookup from the tributary:

ZH fighting the snakehead

Final pic of the runaway toman

 

ZH managed to reel the fish back and just when I was about to lip-grip it, the bugger struggled and pulled.
ZH tugged the fish back once more and when I proceeded to attempt gripping it again, it gave another wild headshake.

This time, it got lucky and freed itself from the hook!
Wtf $%#%%*(*;%

Sian....
If I knew, should have taken over ZH's rod, kick his ass into the water, and ask him to catch the snakehead with his barehands himself.

At least getting wet is better than losing a good size snakehead.
Shall do that next week if he catches one again...

Resumed casting with a strange guilty feeling...
Last week, I caught 2 snakeheads: 7lb & 10lb.
Today, I caught 2 again: 12lb & 7lb.

Although I have been here before, it was on the other end of the waterbody where it is not as productive.
ZH was the one who brought me to this particular spot.

Told myself will let him fight the next fish I catch and help him land it successfully.

Someone up there (or most likely down below) heard my promise and I felt a tug at the end of my line.
I set the hook hard, walked over to ZH, took his rod, shoved him mine and took out my phone capturing these pics below:

ZH fighting the fish with my setup

Reeling it in like a pro

Yet another fine specimen

A wide smile

My photography skill is improving!  lol

ZH offered to help me take a photo of me and the fish.
Somehow, it feels not right as I'm not the one who fought and reeled the fish in.
I only helped triggered the bite, the rest is his show.

So instead, I suggested we take a pic together:

 

 

Fair and square.

But again, something about this pic doesn't seem right...

It looks kinda gayish...  lol

 

I'M NOT GAY!

Maybe he is, but certainly not me.

 

I love you, Ling.

I love you, Boyboy.

 

 

I foul hooked a baby Soon Hock as well:

Poor thing...
When I threw it back into the water, it was still alive.
Hope it'll survive...

#######################################

Reached home, showered and washed my gears, turned on computer, blogged.

Then this monster came along:

 

Sitting there beside me smiling like a weird psychopath for the next 20 minutes...