Tester?

Some time back, I received a private message from someone:

He is not the first person to try making money by importing overseas lures to sell locally.

Not the first to approach me either.

Cost price of these Taiwanese / Thai / China / Malaysian made lures are dirt cheap.

They usually sell them locally with a price tag inflated at >400% above cost.

But that is none of my business...

I'm just a regular fisho, not a businessman.

Fishing is my passion and it stays that way.

I also do not like the idea of being 'endorsed' or sponsored by any fishing brands.

Like I said, fishing is my hobby and passion.

I like to use whatever gear I fancy without having to commit to a certain brand.

One thing about his choice of words bothers me though...

Testing.

Now, I understand that some of these sub-standards lures need to be tested before they are imported in bulk for local distribution and profit making.

But whenever I hear some people out there saying that he's going to test this or that lure, it just sounds plain stupid especially the lure in question is from a reputable brand.

Big brands spent big money on research and development, tank tested by experienced technicians, field tested by their PROFESSIONAL pro staffs prior to releasing the model to the market.

Who are you, an amateur who only fishes once in a while, fit to test them?

lol

If one thinks that a lure is good simply by being able to catch a few fishes on some sessions, that 'one' is just plain ignorant...

At a good fishing spot where large amount of fishes are present, especially aggressive species like Temensis, they will bite ANYTHING which moves and fits into their mouths if they are in the mood.

Cast a used wine bottle cork with a 'KEN's FANBOY' written on it, walk-the-dog with the cork, it will also trigger bites.

Poissons de Louis Vuitton

Marina Bay Sands.

Went there a few times.
Always thought of what kind of fish lurks beneath the waters.

Was asked to tag along by Jason and his friend this morning.

Although I don't really like the idea of urban fishing, my curiosity won and I went anyway.

Reached there at about 11pm and started casting right next to the Louis Vuitton Flagship store.

There were many onlookers, mostly foreign tourists.

Water is deep at >5m!
Snags are aplenty.

Hopped my rubber along the bottom and got a few fishes.

All were lost while lifting them up onto the railings.

Well, except for one:

This fat small hybrid peacock bass attracted attention of many passerbys.

I quickly removed the hook and drop it back into the water after the photo was taken.

Like the previous one caught by Jason, it remained floated belly up on the surface.

I can only think of 1 reason why.

When a small fish is winched fast up to the surface from such depth, the rapid change in water pressure messed up it's buoyancy. 

In the process, ambient air found it's way into the guts and the poor fish can't swim upright thus, crippling it.

I left shortly after while Jason and his friend made their way to the opposite Fullerton Hotel's side to try their luck.

No more mood to fish there anymore...

First time I killed a fish.

Albeit unintentionally, it still doesn't feel good...

All the unwanted attention from strangers...

Shall never fish there again in future.

Accident

Fell asleep at the wheel this afternoon on Tampines Expressway.

Was on the way to Ikea Tampines from Tuas for work.
One end to the other end of the island.

Dozed off at the near empty straight stretch near Punggol East Flyover.

My lorry veered left and hit the back of a tipper truck:

Regained control and stopped at the road shoulder.

Friend was riding shotgun and suffered 2 fractured fingers on his left hand.

When things like this happen, you will wish that the person injured is yourself instead......

Old Spot Christened

A few years ago, I found a lake somewhere.

Caught nothing but saw many small peacock basses about 3-4 inches long.

Jason had asked to join me this morning expressing interest to revisit this spot again.
Seems like he went there years before but also never returned due to the lack of fishes at the lake.

We met up for breakfast this morning and headed to the lake.

After some time of trekking, we reached the first water body and tried.

Got this small peacock bass on rubber:

This has got to be the smallest catch in my entire fishing experience...
lol

Water was deep.
Estimated at least 5 meters just at the edge of my casting distance and that is not even halfway across the lake!

After some time of zero action after my first small catch, we trekked to another nearby lake.

Very soon after we reached, a large school of toman fries were spotted.
Both parents were present and they are HUGE black specimens.

This got both me and Jason all excited and we started casting all sorts of plastics towards it.
Even chased it to the other hole.

I had never expected to find tomans here and had brought along lures meant for peacock basses. 

No takes...

After they swam deep into the vegetation, Jason and I trekked to the other side and found a creepy looking structure:

There were no coffins or corpses inside but I think it is suppose to keep the water level in that lake at a certain limit to prevent the banks from flooding.

I tested the depth of the drop-off right in front of me and it was deep.

Skipped my rubber lure across the surface to beneath an overhanging tree, got a take.

Seconds into the fight, I lost it.   :(

Continued skipping back to the same spot but nothing came.

We chatted and suddenly, a ball of fiery red toman fries appeared out from nowhere to right in front of us.

It's a different school from the previous one and it's parents were also massive!
This time, they're both in watermelon coloration.

After a few casts, they swam away out of our casting distance into heavy cover in good speed.
We could only managed less than 5 casts each.

Seriously spooked them...   lol

Left for home around noon and while trekking back out, saw a few Indian baiters at the first hole where I caught the smallie.

Will be back again to catch those massive tomans.

Next time round, I'll have something ready for them. 

I'm pretty sure my fast sinking pencils are buried somewhere deep inside my storeroom...

Spot shall be christened:  Rambutan

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

And here I am, finishing up on 3 blog entries and publishing them all at once.

Work have been kind of hard on me lately.

Money is good but at much expense of my health and time with loved ones.

Humans or animal alike. 

BoyBoy has been missing me much...

Need to catch up on some much needed rest...

Hope Germany wins tonight.

Not a soccer fan but I like their jersey.  lol

Rarely, But It Happens

Rarely fished during last light hours.

Was catching up on some much need sleep this afternoon when Shawn called and asked me out for some evening fishing.

I agreed, got up to shower and changed, was the first to arrive at Spot Rex.
It's been a long time since I have been here...

Walked into the water and took turns casting every lure in my lure case.
Nothing bites.

An hour later, Shawn arrived with Shun.

After a while, everyone yielded nothing and we decided to walk deeper into the vegetation.

Same thing.
No fish. Zero surface activity.

Walked back out and while me and Shun walked to the same spot in the thigh deep water previously, Shawn decided to head to the other side.

Good choice indeed!

He caught a few temensis there.
Those fishes were hiding there instead of me and Shun's side.

Shun went over to Shawn's side while I stayed put, not wanting to crowd with them.

Jason came soon after, just as I pretty much predicted.

Chatted for awhile.
Asked me to check his Shimano Stella which had been getting noisy lately.

Nothing was spoilt actually.
All it needs is just a good cleanup and lubrication to run like new again.

He's pretty surprised that I know how to service fishing reels.

Not many can do a good job these days especially in Stinkapore.


Anyway, we agreed to visit a spot tomorrow which I have not been to in a very long time.
It happens that he's been there once many many years ago also.

I bid farewell to them and left early.

Got a date to watch Transformers: Age of Extinction.







Oh, and by the way, the movie sucks.
Nothing like the 3 episodes before.

Sad Sad Day...

Kent Ridge Park...

Used to hang out here for a while catching many giant snakeheads.

In my opinion, tomans here are the hardest fighting ones in our entire country.

Although the largest one I caught here only weighed 11lb, but when putting pound for pound, they're much stronger compared to those at Kranji reservoir.

You think it's a 12 pounder on the end of your line?
It will eventually turn up to be just a 7lb specimen.

Not exaggerating here.

There was once I landed 2 specimens weighing 9lbs each end to end.
The brute force displayed by them had me struggling to pump my rod on the second take.

Tomans here will often try to snap your line by brute force and lightning acceleration while dashing towards cover at any given opportunity.  

Those using light tackle better not hook up those above 6lb in this pond.
'Courting your own doom' so to speak...

The residents at the nearby Normanton Park Condominium are extremely protective of this pond.
I was scolded and chased away by quite a few of them initially, before this place turned legal.

Seems like many anglers are either bringing back fishes or casting right next to the jogging trail causing danger to them.

That's the reason why anglers are not welcomed there and they will not hesitate to call the authorities if anyone is spotted poaching there.

But things slowly changed when they realised and witnessed me releasing my catches back into the water.
One by one, they welcomed my presence and some even greeted me or stopped for a chat.

The last time I went there was on New Year's Day this year where I caught a 10lb specimen.
Sadly, it might just be the last of the very few tomans left in this pond...

All because of those brainless pricks at Nparks...
Fucking murderers...


Back to topic before I stray too far with my rants.

Was in the vicinity for work and had time to spare.
Decided to make a detour to the old favorite haunt of mine.

Upon arriving, this is the pathetic sight it greeted me with:

Pond's perimeter were all barricaded.

Upon closer inspection, those signs wrote:

Sad isn't it?

Or maybe I'm the only one besides those residents that is feeling so.

This place gave me many memories...

Honed my knowledge and skills for giant snakehead fishing.
Taught me how to 'read' their directions after surfacing for ambient air.
Showed me how swiftly kingfishers hunt for those toman fries.

I walked around the perimeter until I reached an old hole of mine.

This was where I caught the largest specimen here.
This was where I almost fell into the water while fighting a big one that eventually got away.
This was where I was literally slapped in the face by my own rod when my line snapped in the midst of a violent fight.
This was where I improved my casting accuracy by leaps and bounds after sacrificing countless Surface Cruisers.

This was where I learned the hard way that a single mistake, regardless of beforehand preparations or in the midst of a fish fight, can possibly result in the lost of a trophy catch.

All those memories flooded my mind at that very moment I saw the pond in it's current pathetic state...

By allowing baiting, Nparks had stupidly allowed this pond to deteriorate to it's current state.

Countless baiters are casting raw chicken meat, halved catfishes, etc, into the water hoping to bait for giant snakeheads.

Now, the pond is almost fishless.

To top it all, it's water is contaminated...

I had once told them before in an email protesting the rules that they were adopting for the legalised fishing area.

All I received was some stupid reply...

Look at now.

And by the way, despite the water condition now, dragonflies are still thriving there.

So much for: 

'Dragonflies are only present in water bodies that are clean and unpolluted' - quoted Ms Toh Yuet Hsin (Senior Manager / Parks - Nparks)

This was what she said to me when replying my email mid last year.

How can we entrust our nature parks and waters to those who know lesser?

Project V5 - Aftermath

4 days later today, my video has attracted 165 facebook shares with some being overseas.

As a result from this video, I have received about 40 friends requests, and many private messages from other anglers who expressed interest to fish together with me.

All of them were ignored.

This video is not intended for me to meet new friends or to make myself famous.
It's just a project which floated in my mind for quite some time but I had been procrastinating about doing it.

Megabass America, Megabass Japan, Fishing Kaki Forum had shared it on their official facebook pages as well as numerous other facebook fishing groups.

While embarking on this project, I am confident that it will be quite a hit.
But I didn't expected it to be so well received among the fishing community.

Much thought had been put into the camera angles and scenes.
Some were done on the spur of the moment, example like the addition of the last scene which featured the raw footage complete with real on-field sounds.

The production took about 10 days over the span of 2 fishing sessions and massive hours on the movie making software.

This was on top of my extremely busy work schedule.

Luckily, most of the scenes were well captured on a single take which actually saved a lot of time out on the field.

And I was lucky enough to be able to catch a good sized and extremely hard-fighting 15lb Giant Snakehead with all the action captured at POV angle, just the way I want it to be. 

BoyBoy's scene needed to be shot 3 times as he kept moving about, curious about what I am doing.
That little rascal...  lol

The entire video was shot on my Nikon AW110 compact waterproof camera except for the fish fighting scene which was on a GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition fitted with a polarised filter and it's vented back casing which captured the sound of screaming drag at the last scene.

The Nikon is not really user friendly when it comes to POV footages. 

I had to go buy a GoPro to capture such scenes. 

On the other hand, the GoPro's fisheye effect doesn't really suit the 'story-telling scenes'.
This is where my trusty Nikon comes in handy.

When the footages were all edited and effects thrown in, my software had trouble compiling it into a single video.
To add to the problem, GoPro's MP4 format is not recognised by my software and converting those footages took about 30 minutes for each clip.

I tried to troubleshoot and re-convert some parts before trying to publish it again.

This process repeats itself for the entire night before I found out that the entire project completed with numerous transitions and raw footages proved to be too 'heavy' for my dated laptop to process.

Over 5 gigabytes of high definition footages edited and processed into a 367mb (6.5 minutes 720p) movie!

After some brainstorming, I came up with an idea of breaking it up into small portions, then join those small portions into bigger portions, then finally putting the music in and joining them all together into a single movie.

Luckily for me, it worked and the rest is history...






Thanks to Shawn who suggested me to make a new fishing video.
He said that I have not make one for a long time which put me into action.

Thanks to all my friends who shared it out.

Thanks to those who watched it over and over and over again.
You stalkers know who you are.   lol





When everyone forgets about this video and me falling back under the radar, I will make another better one again.
Meanwhile, I'll continue shooting and compiling more footages for the next bigger one.

Till next time...