Chinese New Year 2014

Another dreaded festive season again.

Seriously don't understand what is the big hooha over it...
Every year the same old routine.

Won almost a hundred bucks on blackjack from Ling's uncle.

Quite a miracle since I hate gambling.

Megabass Club (Singapore)

I was asked to head an upcoming local fishing club for the Megabass brand.
It is to be on the Facebook platform.

Part of the strategy to grow the Megabass brand locally I guess...

That's strange...
Why me?

Considering that I'm extremely low profile when it comes to this passion of mine, it's weird that I'm approached instead of all those 'famous' names out there.

To be frank, heading and maintaining such a group is a rather tiring and tedious chore.
A major test of my patience if I were to accept this task.

And things will get worse as it grows over time with all those 'fishing politics' out there...

Who created all those politics you might ask.

Who else? lol

Kids hungry for fame.
Self-righteous childish 'adults'.
Jealous small people.
Fanboys from other brands.

To steer myself clear from all these nonsense, I avoid fishing with locals especially young kids.
Fell out with one, distanced myself from another.

Lack of fishing buddies doesn't bother me at all.
Not a single bit.
I am one who can go fishing alone on a regular basis.

That's how I remained under the radar where almost no one knows about my existence.
All they know is the lonely guy deep in the forest with a red baitcaster and a green rod.

Those who managed to find my facebook profile, friend requests will be ignored and fishing photos are all limited for viewing to my friends only.

So far, I have only added 1 fellow angler who saw me walking alone to one of the spots.
We hit it off quite well but have never wet lines before.


Agreeing to head the club means exposing myself to a certain extent.

Something which I have been avoiding all along.

Also, it will seem to the unknowing like I'm affiliated to a certain self-righteous angling group.

On the other hand, I'm a fan of Megabass baitcasters and hard-bodied lures.
I will be honored to contribute to it's growth in Stinkapore.




I wisely declined.

The Gang

Left to Right:
Shawn, Rong, Me, Cola, Francis

Shawn is a long time buddy whom I have known years ago at Mandai.
I fished there frequently during that period and met him a few times, also alone.
Kept closely in touch but rarely fish together until recent months, we have been wetting lines together every weekend.

Rong is a recent one who has no fishing friends other than me.
Got into fishing for just a few months.
Mega big spender this one is...

可乐 lives in Johor and comes over to fish sometimes.
A gentle giant who catches nothing most of the time but he's genuinely happy to wet lines with us even so.

Francis migrated to Australia and only comes back to fish and catch up with old friends once every year.
He's a friend of both Shawn and Cola and played host to him bringing him to fish.
Sumptuous dinner at Geylang.

Brought them all to Spot Mars to have some fun with snakeheads.
Plentiful of laughs, jokes and silly antics.

2014's First Catch

It's the first day of 2014, New Year Day.

Yesterday night, I was telling Ling that I wanted badly to return to Kent Ridge and try to catch the big one that I lost last Saturday morning.

Ever since Kent Ridge turned legal, baiters have been bagging every single fish they managed to catch.

Fish population there dwindled to a pathetic level...

The fish I lost last week might be one of the very few remaining snakeheads in that pond, if not the last.

Even those baiters are starting to desert that almost empty pond...

Sadly, having zero catch at Kent Ridge's legal fishing ground is common now.

Woke up this morning, hesitated about going there as having zero catch from my first fishing session at this first day of a new year doesn't feel quite right...

I just couldn't shake off my regrets from last week.

Should have set the hook harder...
Should have set the hook a few more times...

Should have kept my rod tip lower during the fight...

My thirst for revenge eventually clouded everything.

Reached Kent Ridge Park before dawn and casted my Surface Cruiser blindly in the dark.

Popped, walked, waked all yielded nothing.

After the sunrise, I could see the entire pond.

No surface action, no feeding splashes.

Not a single sign of life in the water at all.

Switched my Surface Cruiser to the same minnow which lost the fish last week:

Megabass X-140 SW

Walked up to the other end of the pond and I just couldn't find the set of fries from last Saturday.

They were gone. 

Returned to the legal area and I saw water movements at the opposite side, at the very edge of the bank below some overhanging trees.

It's those same fries from last week! 

Their parent has been guiding them, hiding underneath those bushes all along!

Quickly, I made an accurate low trajectory cast to the commotion just centimeters away from the leaves.

The fries started hitting my lure but none got hooked as the trebles were a tad too big for their small jaws.

I retrieved my lure at full speed and tightened my reel's drag 2 clicks tighter.

Made another cast to the exact same spot again.

BOOM!!!

The mother snapped at my lure violently at the very moment it landed on the water surface.

Immediately, I pulled HARD at my rod with tight reel drag not giving the mama any chance to dash deeper into the bushes.

She made a series of wild forceful headshakes which brought back fears when she managed to throw my hook last week. 

I made a couple of hard snaps to my rod just to be sure the hooks are set securely upon this thought.

A big mama protecting it's fries can have unimaginable bursts of strength at times of danger.

Her maternal instinct kicked in and she made a few mad dashes to free itself from me back to her babies.

Even with the tight drag setting on my Lin 10 Mars, she still peeled line easily forcing me to stick the butt of my rod into my ribcage for extra leverage.

Every pull she made, I prayed those Owners 3X trebles would held on.

Every meter I gained, she took back two or threefold's worth. 

After some time, she was exhausted and I started gaining line.

And that's how I landed my first fish of 2014...

Unhooking the mama

Big Head!

As always, fish was released safely back to where it rightfully belong...