Parasite

Didn't know I have a fanboy until months ago.

Since then, I have been avoiding him like a plague.

Fanboy has been asking me (and my close fishing friends) for a reason why am I avoiding him.
We denied, of course.

That's the adult thing to do, I guess...
Avoid confrontation and maintain distance.

For now, the drama has come to a standstill and for closure (as well as for my own viewing pleasure of this blog in future), this post shall be nothing more than my personal take of the entire episode.






Months ago, someone added me on Facebook saying that he saw me brisk walking towards a fishing spot alone before daybreak.

How the hell did he managed to find my Facebook profile by just a view of my behind, I do not have the slightest clue.

Let's call him EX for now.

We started chatting and although I rarely add strangers on my Facebook, I approved his 'friend request'.

Back then, he was just this humble guy who started out fishing artificials, thirsty for angling knowledge and wants to catch more fishes and make new friends in this hobby.

There was once we fished together, I found out that the stick that he was using wasn't cut out for throwing light lures that he is using.

Introduced him to a better and more suitable rod.
Advised him on which model/size of reel he should buy.

Thinking back, things got more and more creepy from then on...
Something like a stalker?

He started to throw himself to my close friends, sending them requests and what nots.
Grabbing every available chance to converse with them or to meet them in person.

Every posts I made on Facebook, he is usually the first to 'like' and comment.
This weird phenomenon soon spread to my friends as well.

EX even started to join a particular Facebook Fishing group that me and my friends are active in.
Started posting stuffs regularly and adding more of our friends in the process.

As first, we didn't think much of it.
Maybe just an overly friendly person?





Firstly, he bought a bag.
Exactly the same as mine which Ling gave me as a present.

Bag is ok.
It is indeed a good quality bag at just the right size.
Many others are also using it.

I'll let this one slide.




Next came the pliers.

I purchased the Megabass pliers from Andrew.
Remembered that I bought 3 of those pliers.
For myself, Rong and Shawn.

Soon after I posted the photo of those pliers on my Facebook, EX asked me about the details.
I subsequently told him where and price.

With my help, he grabbed one as well.




Next came the Megabass black sun-visor.
It's not available locally, only available on a Japanese bidding website.

Since Shawn had a registered account, I asked him to purchase it on my behalf.

Same thing.
I posted the photo, EX saw and asked Shawn to buy it for him also.

A friend of mine had told me about it.

I replied him saying that it's his money and I'm not in position to comment on his purchase.




Next came the DRESS grasper.

I remembered telling him (when he asked) that it's good for handling tomans which most of the time, keep their jaws tightly clamped.

I remembered clearly that he replied that he feels happy with his Boga and it does the job for him.
Since he is not catching any tomans at all.

Well guess what?
He bought one eventually, albeit at a different color scheme, with the same holder as well.

While me and my friend were having our regular casual chat, we had jokingly bet that EX will put the holder at the same location as mine, which is on the slightly higher end of the bag's shoulder strap.

There are many ways and places to use the versatile holder.
You can even hook it onto the belt.

No surprise here, our guess turned out to be correct.



Plucked a photo from EX's Facebook's album:

Same Same Same Same Same.




Next, footwear.

There was once when EX expressed interest in my fishing boots which are almost waist high and unavailable locally.
I got it shipped in from England at a premium price as I absolutely hates getting wet while fishing.

Now, why should EX be interested in those boots when he himself declared to the entire world not once but many times that he was a combat engineer and is not afraid of getting wet, likes to go almost chest deep in water almost every time he goes fishing?




Next, flies.

I have this self-made fly that I always turn to whenever the fishes are not biting.

I'm really proud of this fly which took me time to improve.
From the jighead's weight/type, color sequence, tying method, and most importantly the tail section.

It took me almost a year for it to evolve into what it is now with constant field testing.

And then, suddenly EX became super interested in flies.
Since he doesn't know how to tie them, he got his friend to make him some.

Almost all have 'tails'.

And guess what?
So far, I seem to be the only person who ties flies on jigheads with those 'tails'.

Who's the copycat now?




Next up are those rubber lures.

I have been catching many fishes using them.
A specified brand with a specified size with a specified color on a specified jighead.
Namely: Zman MinnowZ 3" (White) on TT 1/2 ounce Jigheads.

There was once when EX asked me extensively on these rubbers.

I replied him that any color works as long as there's fishes in the waters.
White happens to be my preference.

I replied him that any type of jighead works.
Just get the weight that he is comfortable with and is within his rod's specs.

And guess what?

He scoured through my fishing album's photos and bought these:

Image plucked from EX's facebook.

Same brand of rubber lure with the same size on the same color as what I have been using all along.

Even the same type and brand of jigheads.

Out of the countless brands and colors and lengths and swimming actions, he chose to get these.

Coincidence? 

Next, weedless jigheads.

This happened after I started to keep my distance from EX.

He saw my purchase and went and bought 5 packets for himself:

My purchase.

EX's with the same weedless jigheads.

A friend of mine alerted me to this.
By that time, I'm already quite numb to EX being my avid follower.

Yet another coincidence?
You go judge.




Next, lures.

Back when EX and me were still on good terms, I had introduced him to a few lures which are fun to use and produces results from lethargic fishes.

After things turn sour, I bought a bulk of newly launched lures by Duel for myself and sharing among friends excluding EX.

Why?
Because I'm starting to get sick and tired of someone 'following' me like a stalker.
Also, the lures I bought were too heavy for EX's rod specs.

Anyway, here are the photos:

Mine.

EX's.

Knowing that I'm not going to give him one, he went and bought it for himself.

There are tons of newly launched lures out there. Why this one?
Just because you do not want to be left out like a little kid begging his mommy to buy him a toy that all his friends are playing with?

Anyway, this lure turned out to be crap.
Still catches fishes but action is even worse than it's predecessor.





When things progressed to this stage, I got really uncomfortable and to be frank, irritated...

It's really irritating that someone is trying so hard to be another 'Ken' instead of enjoying the sport in his own way.
Or maybe EX is enjoying himself while basking in the process of trying to be another me?

A few items, it's ok. Nothing to shout about.
But when almost everything are the same, it's a freaking stalker alert.

EX is a married adult for crying out loud, not some teenager who craves for peers' attention by trying to fit in by wearing the same clothes, using the same mobile phone, etc.

You get the idea.




Anyway, I kept my distance from him since then and whenever my friends asked why, I just jokingly told them that I'm uncomfortable with EX's level of admiration for me.

Even they know that his obsession had crossed the line.

It has been a couple of months during which, 2 friends of mine expressed their same sentiments towards EX to me.

Both of them feels the same way about him.

In both cases, I just advised them that the money belongs to EX himself.
Google can find him almost everything.

And I empathised to them again and again not to be affected by the strained friendship between me and EX.
I have no qualms to them remaining as friends.

Even when I get remarks from people that EX becoming more and more of a show-off, I brushed the topic aside.






Until 2 days ago in the dead of the night, my tolerence towards this fucker hits over the roof when I saw what he posted after a long tiring day out from work:

I have recently been physically and emotionally drained by my work and my recent accident.

Usually, I'll just let it slide and forget all about it but this time, it's simply too much.

First time he called me names was when I donned a raincoat when it started to rain while we were fishing together months ago.

He had stealthily taken a photo of me in the raincoat and posted the photo on facebook, jokingly called me a pussy.

Although annoyed back then, I held back.

Well, I admit that I am a petty person who dislikes to be called names.

Who the fuck doesn't?

Will you be happy if I called you insulting names as well?

'Pussy' just hit dead on my nerves.

Lost my cool and lashed out against his posting:

And proceeded to make my thoughts be known to everyone who visits the post:

Maybe I went too far with my replies to EX's post.

Maybe it's childish for me to retaliate back the way I did, stooping myself down to his level.

Maybe I should have swallowed it and went to bed, forget about the whole thing.

Fuck no!

I was having a very bad day and EX's whining post just ignited my temper.

What kind of a grown man posts such things like that all the time anyway?

Trying to get recognition from others? 

Machiam girls posting attention-seeking stuff to gain sympathy or supportive comments from others.

Not happy?

Stay the fuck away from that person that makes you unhappy lar...

Instead, EX has time and again chosen to post such stuffs on his facebook wall, promptly replying to every single comment his friends gave.

Yes, it's not the first time he is doing this.

Attention-seeking whore...

Wonder if EX appreciates my name-callings now, since he likes doing it to others so much.

Didn't even have the guts to put names on his whining posts.

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

And the next day morning, I received this bullshit from EX:

First of all, whether the post was directed at me or not, EX knows best.
I know best.

I didn't even bothered to reply to his stupid Whatsapp message.

Secondly, I don't give a fuck.

To me, this is just a pathetic attempt trying to act smart and turn the table back around to his advantage.




Fishing is not about having the most expensive gears.
Fishing is not about flaunting those branded gears.

If EX still thinks that way, it's his problem.
Doesn't affect me a single bit.

But who am I to preach?
If EX still wants to prove to others that he is superior in the hobby in his own way, so be it.



In today's standards, EVERY lure angler can afford a thousand dollars setup or paraphernalia.
And with Google, everything can be found on the www.

It's just that most would rather spend their money on other more important stuffs in life.
Example milk powder or what nots.

EX, still thinking that this is a matter of who owns the most expensive gears, is actually the only one with a low self-esteem problem.

Like I said, go think about it.




The issue I have with EX is his shameless following of my everything from the beginning.

Even my friends (not just one) can jokingly tell me that I have a faithful follower which actually irks me.

People say 'Imitation is a form of flattery'.
This to me, having a fanboy outfitting himself like he is my doppelganger, is not a compliment at all.








EX, with a girly behaviour of posting such attention seeking bullshit and calling names on Facebook doesn't even deserve my time at all.

But if EX wants to take things to a higher level, I will not back down like before either.

I am absolutely sick of his nonsense!

And I know that EX is reading this.




UPDATE: 29th July 2014 - 11.49pm

Jason just called me and in his good nature, tried to mediate the dispute between EX and me.
Said that EX called him after seeing this post and wanted to know why I posted this entry.

EX claimed that his Facebook post which triggered all this, was not directed at me.

Who to blame?

Like I said, since EX did not put a name to his bitching post, ANYONE who felt that they fits his description are free to confront him.

And that of course, includes ME.

So far, everyone who knows about this felt that the post was indeed targeting me.

This blog entry is here to stay.
All I had written here are nothing but facts.
Even at some point where I'm not entirely certain, I'd let the readers judge for themselves.

EX's facebook post is up to him.
It's his facebook profile and he can post whatever shit he wants.

Everything has it consequences.
Be responsible and prepare to face the music for what you wrote or said.

Don't be a pussy and start to roti prata your way out of this mess you created in the first place.

While EX's facebook post showed his frustration, accusations and name-callings, my blog post showed FACTS and my retaliation.
But unlike his facebook, this blog only has a handful of readers.

EX will heave a sigh of relief knowing that readers of my blog whom are fishos are only Shawn, Ah Rong, ZH and EX himself.
No one else will know this exciting episode.

New addition will be Jason since EX had given him this blog's link just now.

Jason told me to take things easy and not blow things up.
He also told me to give him 'face' and delete this blog entry, treat it like nothing happened and go our own ways from now on.

Isn't this what I have been doing all along?
Keeping my distance away from EX?

Until Sunday night, when I saw that bitching post.

Anyway, as I gave Jason my word, I'll put this episode to a rest.
There shall be no more further sequel to this as long as my tail is not stepped on again.

This blog entry shall naturally be buried over time.

If it happens again, don't go to my friends crying foul.
Leave them out of this.

It's between you and me.

Be careful of whom you tread on.
Be it intentionally or not.

LV's Poster Boy

Took a day off today to bring my Boy for pruning.

Boy suffers from very severe separation anxiety disorder if I'm not within his 5m radius field of vision and will also cry like there's no tomorrow if being caged up or when he feels that his freedom is violated.

This is the reason why I have to be present or in the vicinity during his pruning session, collect him asap once it's done so that he will not spend a single minute in the cages like the other dogs.

Sometimes, I got this weird feeling that he owns me.

Not the other way around... 

Little rascal...

lol

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...