Recce Mission

Went Upper Pierce Reservoir for some first light action.

Anglers see sunrises and sunsets more than anyone else.

Changed location to Upper Seletar Reservoir to explore a new hole:

A very dated warning sign

Alot of weird things one can find in the forest

Deadly thorns on a fallen tree trunk

One of the few holes along the trail

On days like this, it doesn't matter how many fishes are caught...

Angry Bird Madness

Rapala, an established Finnish tackle company, with roots in lure making, came out with an answer to attract younger generation of anglers into the sport. 

The answer:

Lures, floats, beginner rod/reel combo, keychains, lure box.

And thumbdrive??

*facepalm*

Not available in Stinkapore by the way. 

Freshwater Baiters

They're usually in their 40's or older. 

In recent years, more and more Chinese nationals started appearing as well. 

So far, I've never witnessed or heard any freshwater baiter practicing 'Catch and Release'.
Not a single one.

Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing intended as a technique of conservation. After capture, the fish are unhooked and returned to the water before experiencing serious exhaustion or injury. 

Not that it's wrong... but the amount they bring back is simply too much. 

Ah Ping witnessed me cutting baiter's line that I tangled with my lure right in front of the baiter's face at Lower Seletar on 2 occasions. I don't even bother to untangle. Just whipped out my pliers and severed their line. 

There was also once when I kicked a pail full of small struggling Peacock basses belonging to a baiter back into the water. 

Shawn saw me intentionally hooking back baiters' line causing them to recast their live catfish again and again at Kent Ridge.

Reason for my unruly behavior is because of the way they parked their rods, laying line in the water at an angle which is perpendicular to others' casting direction.

How do those fucking baiters expect others to fish?
Not to mention baiting is against the law in our local reservoirs as well.

First of all, I'm not a 'C&R' fanatic. 

Yes, I do release all my catches regardless of size or species but it's not for noble reasons like 'preserving fish population for future generations of anglers', 'for the greater good of all mankind' or whatever nonsense those self proclaimed angler saints out there can think of. 

Here's why:

1) My dad and I don't cook. 

2) Troublesome to lug fishes home after a tired morning of fishing. 

3) Lazy to descale and gut fishes.

4) Preserve the fish population of my fishing holes for my own fishing fun.

5) Fishes from supermarkets are still affordable. 

Earlier generation anglers have a different way of thinking. 

They see it as a terrible waste to release any fish, akin to throwing money into the water. 

I don't blame them. 

My dad was one of these baiters when he was young and still actively fishing back then.

In fact, one of my current fishing holes was introduced by him.
He was the one who had told me about the areas around Mozzy.

He has since then stopped fishing.

Met a group of baiters at Spot Mozzy recently and sort of got acquainted with them after a few sessions of fishing together, none planned.

They do their baiting while I mind my own luring. 

Chatted a fair bit, assisted each other, laughed together.

There's even a couple of times I witnessed them hauling up softshell turtles, which they claimed could fetch them SGD 10 per kilogram at a particular hawker stall which sells turtle soup.

During my past 2 trips there, they caught over 7 snakeheads of various sizes at Spot Mozzy per session.

Raw chicken meat were used as bait, with two J hooks on a steel wire trace. 

They will just simply lob their rig over to the area right at the corner of the mouth of the tributary beside some vegetation. 

I will then walk around the area, casting between their rods. Sometimes even accidentally hooking up their lines. 

They're actually a nice bunch of local chinese hokkien speaking folks, with the usual healthy dose of vulgarities mixed in. 

Just because of the different way we fish and how we choose to process our catches, doesn't mean that we must murder each other.

By far, this bunch are the only baiters that I'm comfortable being around with.

Sure, they're bagging more than they can consume, going to Mozzy almost every weekend but the thing is, I don't own Mozzy. 

No one else does. 

None except the Stinkapore government.

Besides, they do housekeeping at Mozzy too.

Using a machete, they will clear the area of overgrown grasses, creating a more comfortable area to fish in. 

Not to mention their landing nets which makes it much more easier to land fishes compared to my puny boga.





And also, we share a common hatred.
Hatred for those Thai nationals who lay nets in the water at Mozzy...

Which One is Better?

Daiwa Ryoga or Shimano Conquest?

A timeless question...
Asked by countless over years...

These two round baitcasters has been the subject of debate among anglers since Ryoga's launch.

Ever since then, people are still asking for opinions even until today.

Google on the subject and you will know what I mean...

When I was scouting for a round baitcasting reel years ago, I too, was in such dilemma myself.

Both have their own cult following.
Both has it's own unique pros and cons.

Eventually, I'm glad that I chose the right one...
Enjoying every cast with my Ryoga now.

According to a popular online tackle store which specializes in JDM fishing gears, the prices for both these reels are such (as of the date of posting):
Daiwa Ryoga 1016: USD 567
Shimano Conquest 100: USD 477



At this point, I should declare to all that I'm a Ryoga user, who also happens to having tried the Shimano Conquest 100 on a few occasions before.

Now, before I start listing out my opinions, I will like to ask Shimano's fanboys to stay the fuck away if you can't stand criticism on your gayish golden reel.
Leave this blog NOW and go do some reading of your own kind here.



The reasons on why I chose Daiwa's Ryoga over Shimano's Calcutta Conquest are listed below.
It's all my own personal hands-on opinions without going into figures and specs like ball bearing count, max drag, etc.

You may choose to agree with me or deem me as being biased but to tell the truth, I don't really give a damn... On the contrary, even till this day, I'm really glad to have chosen the Ryoga in the very first place.


1. Looks
Personally, I'm not really a fan of metallic gold color...
Sure, it looks unique but any deep scratches will reveal the silver underneath that golden shell since it isn't forged from real gold. (duh!)
It's perforated side plate not only look hideous, it also allows dirt and water to enter the reel freely where the centrifugal brakes are located.
Ryoga's swept back star drag and handle crank looks much cooler than Conquest's plain Jane.
Everything about Ryoga's machine-milled frame screams 'heavy duty'!

2. Performance
Ryoga cranks smoother than Conquest. There's no arguing this fact. Even when straight out of the box, the difference in smoothness is prominent.
Although many claimed that the Conquest can achieve a further casting distance than the Ryoga (it's a fact), I found out a way for Ryoga to achieve longer spool free-spin than the Conquest with only $3 without the need of any modification.
In my opinion, rod's action affects casting distance more than anyone realised. For this reason, I will not touch on the subject of cast-ability any further.
Ryoga also has line-out clicker.

3. Usability 
Conquest sports a centrifugal braking system. Nothing wrong with this system. It serves it's purpose. Thing is, to adjust the brakes, one will have to unscrew the side plate and remove the spool retainer to reach the pins. Reverse the procedure after adjustment is done.
This procedure is really troublesome if one keeps changing lures with wide range of weights.
With the Ryoga's magnetic brakes, all it needs is a click of the brake dial. Nothing more.

4. Ergonomics
There's no arguing that the Ryoga feels better in the hand compared to Conquest. Maybe it's due to the fact that it sits lower on the reel seat than the Conquest creating the impression of a smaller reel.
When I held both reels in my hand, the Ryoga weighs a tad heavier.
But once mounted on a rod, the Conquest is actually the heavier one. Strange...
This might have something to do with the design of the main housing and overall shape/angle I guess.



Above points alone are already enough to make me decide on the Ryoga over Conquest.

Fanboys may argue that the fact that Shimano is still producing it's Conquest after a decade proves that it's a champion reel.

Well, let's just say that I'm too skeptical to spend this kind of money on a 10 years old technology...

There's also once when my Ryoga starts having problems with it's anti-reverse.
The cranking felt loose with some excessive free play to my liking.

Although it's not spoiled, just a common worn anti-reverse pawl and/or plate, I bought another brand new one anyway since ordering the replacement part from Japan will take 2 months.

A brand new Ryoga 1016H. Again.
I refuse to settle for any other option as nothing out there beats the Ryoga, IMO.

When it comes to my toys, I'm an absolute perfectionist.

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

There was once a Conquest user who asked me:

'If your Ryoga is so good, then why you still spend so much money to modify?'

The question was fired at me in a mocking attitude.

Firstly, he was the one who seeked my opinion in the first place.

Secondly, I had sincerely hoped that as a friend, I should prevent him from wasting his money on a lesser product.

I kept my silence as said Conquest user was a friend of mine.

'Was'. 

I sacked him from my list of friends when I found out that he had been bringing large groups of anglers to some fishing spots and happens that I witnessed for myself on more than one occasion.

Besides a fishing spot wrecker, he also starts taking me for granted.

I remember once when he accused me of spoiling my Ryoga while attempting to service it myself.

Truth is, the anti-reverse components had worn off and there's this thing about me that I simply just cannot stand my toys not functioning at 100%.

He has absolutely no fucking idea of how many fishes big and small, both open sea offshore and reservoirs, that my previous Ryoga had subdued before I decided to retire it.

His antique Conquest pales in comparison...

Enough ranting.




Back to topic:

Why am I spending so much money to modify a reel? 

Money spent modding is enough to buy a parallel imported Conquest.  

Don't get me wrong. 

A Ryoga in it's stock form can easily outperform the Conquest. (bring it on, fanboys!)

It just need a $3 tweak, like I said earlier.

But why settle for less when you can have more?  lol

One may ask why would I take apart a perfectly good reel, throw some parts into the storeroom for eternity and replace them with new ones that in all reality it didn't really need?

Answer is pretty straightforward:

1) Weight reduction

2) Greater casting distance 

3) Enhanced smoothness

4) Increased cranking power

5) Cosmetic improvement

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

And finally, here's how my Ryoga looks like close up:

Daiwa Ryoga 1016H
G.Loomis NRX 804C JWR

Reel fitted with:
RCS 90mm Carbon Crank
RCS Power EVA Knobs (S size)
Hedgehog Studio's AIR Micro Bearings
RCS SV1000 Spool

A Usual Weekend

ZH went Gina Tackle Shop last friday...

IMA Popkey 120 in a discontinued color

Got him to help me buy a lure.

Feels so guilty now...

Anyway, my company held it's Seventh Month Prayers last friday.

Stayed and drank with the guys.

Ling came after she knocked off.

Went home and fell asleep close to midnight...

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

Went fishing at Spot Banana on Saturday's dawn.
Still felt the effects of alcohol whilst on my way there...

Upon reaching, we were delighted to see that the water outlet was turned on.
This means most temensis in the vicinity will flock there to enjoy the influx of rich oxygen and small bait fishes.

Doesn't apply to snakeheads though...
Snakeheads have secondary primitive lungs which enable them to suck in atmospheric air even when the water gets really low in oxygen.

Very soon, I got this temensis on my newly acquired IMA Popkey:

There were many bites indeed...

Felt sick and nauseous from the after-effects of last night's drinking...

Went to the outlet's mouth and toyed around with my lure:

Captured this awesome video by chance:



It shows a temensis executing a lightning fast strike against a top-water lure.

This is a fine example of why top-water strikes are always exciting.
The splash will be much more explosive if it is coming from a large fish.

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

Sunday's dawn, went to Spot Mozzy and met 2 regular baiters there whom I happen to know a few months back when we joined hands to removed a net planted by Thai workers.

Me: Nothing
ZH: 1

Baiters: 6 when we left.

Left the place and went to Pierce Reservoir where I caught this 3lb speckled peacock bass:

And by the way, the Berkley Whiplash crystal seems strong and after some dips in the water, it turned softer (which is a good thing).

Only minus point about this line when compared to Sufix 832 is that it is not as smooth.

Reason being that The Whiplash Crystal is weaved from 4 strands whereas the Sufix 832 has 8 stands.

No big deal, I can live with that...

Desperate Measures For Desperate Times

Went Spot Mozzy on Sunday morning.

Thunderstorm during my drive there.
Could bearly see the road ahead!

Slowed down into a drizzle when I arrived at our meeting point.

Put on our disposable raincoats and started trekking in.
Was pretty sure the rain will stop once we reached Mozzy.

How wrong...
Rain continued with dark skies looming blowing strong chilling wind.

Zero bites...

ZH caught himself a small tilapia though...
Bugger tried to eat his large minnow which is longer than the fish itself!
lol

Spotted a 'hole' in opposite bank's vegetation.
Maybe a snakehead is hiding there waiting out the rain?

Casted and got my Scouter stuck!
Sianzzzz................

Tried pulling it back but my braided line snapped when I tugged lightly.
It must have frayed badly somewhere causing this sudden breakage.

One of my favorite snakehead lure...
Stuck...
Expensive one...
Arrggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Decided to retrieve it no matter what!

Stripped down to my underwear and rubber boots, waded my way towards my Scouter which was still clinging on some branch just above the water surface.

The tributary's bottom was packed with loose mud and with every step I took, my leg sank into it to shin level, sometimes up till knee level.
Warm slimy sticky mud flowing into my boots.
Gross but feeling strangely shiok...

Water feels surprisingly warm in this cold weather though...
Rain showed no sign of stopping and instead, grew slightly heavier.

Pass the halfway mark, it suddenly turned deeper until chest level.
Thankfully, mud had progressed to hard ground as the water deepened.

Luckily there's no breeding snakeheads around.
They are known to attack anything (including humans) if their nest gets disturbed.

Not to mention water snakes, crocodiles, water ghosts, leeches, etc.
I'll have no problem as long as there're no cockroaches in the water...

Unpicked my lure and waded back where ZH pulled me up the bank.

Wet and cold but happy to get my Scouter back.

Peeled out and discarded all the remaining line from my spool.
It has been used for quite a long while already.
Might have already suffered some abrasion damage which are invisible to the naked eyes.

Went back home, washed my gear, rinsed my boots along with a hot shower.

Had purchased a spool of Berkley Whiplash Crystal awhile back.
Intend to replace my Sufix 832 with it.

The Whiplash Crystal costs way cheaper than Sufix 832.

One thing I found out about those braided lines on the market is that NONE of them are stating facts on their packaging.

In reality, both are capable of achieving breaking strength of over 35lbs.

I'm talking about the stated breaking strength and thickness on their respective packagings.

For example:

Sufix 832's 20lbs has a diameter of 0.26mm. (stated 0.23mm)

Whiplash Crystal 30lbs measured 0.26mm as well. (stated 0.10mm)

(Above measurements are verified by me personally using digital tools from work which are used to measure paper thickness.)

This means that Sufix is actually marketing it's 30lbs line in a '20lbs packaging' so as to fool anglers thinking that their line is hardier and stronger compared to other brands of the same line class.

While the Whiplash Crystal states a realistic poundage of 30lbs, it conveniently downplayed the thickness by a rather huge margin to their advantage obviously.

I have no faults with Sufix and in fact, has been using their line for almost 2 years now.

The 832 is still a better choice compared to most (not all) braided lines out there.

'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

Will try the Berkley Whiplash Crystal for now.

I'll prefer fixing it now than waiting for it to fail me in the middle of a fish fight...

Chlorine & Quarry

Saturday morning, we went Spot Banana.
Reached just before dawn and was surprisingly pleased to see no one there but us.

Water was abnormally clear with patches of bubbles floating on surface. (?)

Adjusted my drag setting and clipped on my Scouter.

First cast into the far distant.

Man, this lure can really fly!
If loaded properly, it can easily outcast Surface Cruisers.

Lure landed on water and I walked it slowly on the surface pausing every now and then.

A huge splash and strong tug.

I pulled my rod and fight lasted for a short while. 

Suddenly, it went slack...

Reeled it back and noticed that one of the trebles got bent.

Oh well... that's life...

Carried on casting and the place seemed abnormally quiet save for a pair of zebra tilapias swimming leisurely near to where I was standing. 

No takes at all. 

ZH spotted gushing water further up and we realised that PUB had turned on an outlet up ahead. 

We walked up to the outlet feeling excited as moving water usually promise good catches and hookup rates. 

Water pumping out has a greyish tone to it.
That's when we smelled chlorine.

PUB will sometimes pump water loaded with chlorine into it's reservoirs.

No fish will wanna stick around chemical laden water...

After some photo taking, we left...

Went to Mandai to check out a water body.
It's an abandoned quarry in a SAF's training ground.

Trekked in and saw the biggest bamboo tree in Stinkapore:

Real thing is much bigger than seen on photo

No sign of wild pandas nearby though...

Found the water body after a long trek and some dead ends.

I walked up the fallen tree and tested the depth.
It was too shallow...
Only slightly less than 2 feet deep at the area around the fallen tree...

We stick around observing for a cigarette's duration during which not a single fish activity was sighted.

Another dead lake...

Mosquitoes are very much alive and active there though...

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

Went home and showed Ling this:

Something which I picked up on the ground while trekking in.

She doesn't know what it is and seemed not too interested...

Anyway, kept it at a corner in my fishing bag.

Lucky charm?

This seed from a rubber tree brought back some of my childhood memories in Malaysia...

Long Holidays

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday!

Super long weekend due to Hari Raya and National day.
This doesn't come by often.

Spent Thursday morning with Ling, Kann and Kico, Maricar going to the pool at Roxy Hotel.

Too bad I can't swim, otherwise will join them.
Also, I don't think it's good for the kids to see my tattoos.

Sat by the poolside while they're having fun.

Ling instigated Kiki to blast me with a water cannon.

And failed miserably... lol

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

Friday morning, went to Spot Mozzy.
Also the start of chinese seventh month.

ZH overslept.
Made me wait for half and hour...

No sign of any paranormal activity.
Snapped this passing spider while I strolled the area in the dark, quiet and cold morning killing time.

We trekked in after he arrived and very soon, he got a bit from the tributary:

Giant Snakehead @ 6.5lbs

On Jackall Mickey 140

Fish was caught using his newly purchased Jackall Mikey 140.

One of the trebles was totally mangled, another one nearly dislodge one of the snakehead's eye.

It's lucky that the rest held on and we managed to land the fish despite it's tightly shut jaws.

I continued casting out into the open waters trying all those new lures that I purchased recently.

Deps Buzzjet, Jackall Mikey, Daiwa Morethan Scouter.

Not much luck with the Mikey despite it's enchanting sub-surface swimming action...

Switched to the Scouter and 'walked' it slowly with pauses. 

Awhile later, I saw a splash where my lure was and the line started tugging.

Striked immediately and after some headshakes, it suddenly went 'dead'!

No more struggles and pull...

I then reeled back my line slowly.

Strangely, there's still weight at the end of my line.

Must have hooked onto some trash or branch at the river bed, I thought... 

When nearing, I saw the fish.

It had allowed itself to be towed back slowly without putting up any fight at all!

Strange... First time I've encountered such peaceful reaction from a hooked snakehead...

However, once retrieved near enough for it to see my silhouette, it instantly transformed into a wild thing again.

Dashed, shook, thrashed.

There's was once it even jumped cleanly out of the water surface attempting to throw my hook!

Missed the photo opportunity of it's spectacular leap...

Cigar smoking snakehead

Giant Snakehead 6.5lbs @ 65cm

As always, the fishes were returned safely back into the water.



No more action after this and we returned to civilisation...

New Lures... Again...

Top: Daiwa Morethan Scouter 130F

Centre: Duo Tide Minnow SLD 145F

Bottom: Jackall Mikey (Skull Shell Edition) Chart Back MB

Been buying alot of expensive branded lures lately...

This is it!

No more new lures for August!

I'll try...

Record Freshwater Catch!

Went to Spot Banana with ZH at first light this morning.

Upon arrival, saw a scene which disappoints me.

Another fishing buddy lost...

Shall not elaborate further but it made me an even more selfish angler.

Anyway, back to the events.

Caught nothing, not even a single bite.

Spot is almost dead due to some individuals who keep bringing groups of anglers there...

After countless casts, I went in deeper into the banana trees and joined ZH.

No action there as well...

Saw a monitor lizard circling around the area, sliding in the water looking for prey to feed on.

Was casting my dark colored Surface Cruiser when the lizard saw my lure.

It started to give chase and quickly, I retrieved my lure.

The large reptile made a few lazy bites at my lure which didn't connect.

At this point, I developed an evil thought...

Was trying to lure it closer to terrify ZH, who seemed to be rather afraid of it.   lol

Suddenly, it made a quick dash in the water and snapped!

I was stunned at this lightning fast maneuver.

Met countless water monitors when fishing, they have always been slow and seemed to know that our lures are artificial.

At the most, they'll swim close enough and investigate without attacking.

They seem to be smart enough to know that lures are not food.

This is my first encounter with a monitor lizard aggressive enough (or stupid?) to attack my lure.

And a rather huge one that is...

Lure still hanging from it's upper jaw

At the very moment it took my lure, lizard dived and dashed once it felt resistant from my tight line.

The strength from it was unlike any other monster I caught before.

Not much shakes but the pull... I will never forget it...

Could only held on to my NRX, not able to do anything, allowing it to peel line off my reel.

It's initial dash was crazy...

Pulls line off my Ryoga like nobody's business...

At one point, It attempted to crawl onto land on my far right.

I immediately thumbed my spool hard and pulled it back into the water.

This is the moment when I prayed to myself that everything hold.

Knots, terminals, line, rod.

Soon, it wore itself out with all the wild thrashings as I pulled it close.

I passed my rod to ZH and proceeded to lip grip the monster.

ZH was kind enough to let me use his cheapo lip grip fearing that I might lose my expensive boga to this beast.

What to do now??

Of course, the smart thing to do is to cut line and forgo my surface cruiser.

But that lure was one of my favorite (and expensive!), there's no way I'm going to sacrifice it!

Moreover, I don't think leaving it stuck in the lizard's mouth is a good idea.

They are not like fishes which can perform vigorous headshakes to dislodge the hook.

WTF?! Pliers so small!!!

Next thing is to remove the hooks.

Once again, the very kind ZH passed me his pliers.
Very small pliers indeed...

The lizard was hissing menacingly as I was removing the hooks from it's jaw.

Thankfully, the procedure was rather quick and the lizard did not attempt to eat my hand.

More photos:

Tried pulling it up on land but failed as it was too heavy!

I had actually tried to pull it up on land to take better photos (against ZH's protests) but it was simply too heavy.
Also, the standing area that we're on is extremely small.
No way to accommodate 2 grown men and a huge angry lizard.

This beast is well over 20kg!!

Fearing that I might injure it's jaws, I let it went free...

Here's a video showing the later segment of the crazy fight:





We left after a short while later.
No fish... Only 1 big hissing man-eating lizard...

Went to a prata shop at Thomson to have breakfast, then to a hardware shop at Toa Payoh Lorong 1 to buy new water boots.
Current one stinks like hell!

Chatted for awhile and left for home.

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

Went to Lower Seletar Reservoir at 3pm to join my other 3 colleagues who were there to catch yabbies.

Yabbies are freshwater mini lobsters.

They recently started a craze over this activity...

One of them had also purchased a baitcasting gear recently and wanted me to guide him casting it.

Once I arrived, I saw yet another water monitor.

This one is much smaller and skinnier.

It's eating a tilapia which it had caught earlier on.

For the first time, I tried my hands on catching those darn yabbies.

It's actually not easy to get hookups.

Out of 20 attempts, only 1 will succeed.

After some time, my stubbornness paid off and I caught the largest of all!

My very first yabby!

The haul

Went home slightly over 7pm.
Dog tired...

Showered and went for my favorite porridge near my home at Tiong Bahru.

Went and fetched Ling who went for her company's outing to USS.




Couldn't forget the lizard...