A Day of many FOOLs...

After a super long absence at the Singapore seas, we finally made a return to do some kayak Fishing.

My friend and I were at labrador park in one afternoon and were told by some anglers there that many big fishes are returning to the shore areas.

Without any hesitation, we decided to make our return at Labrador Park on the 2nd April 2010.

To my disappointment, the trip was marked with 'mishaps'...

FOOL#1

We bought live prawns at Taman Jurong and proceeded to link up point no.1 at Tanglin Halt for breakfast. As usual, the same old culprits were late and we started late at about 945am.

FOOL#2

We took longer than usual to setup our kayaks and I thought we returned all of our knowledge after a 3 months absence.

FOOL#3

After setting up, Robin then discovered that he has forgotten to bring his paddles! We decided to launch first without him as he rushed back to bring them.

FOOL#4

The fish finder remains quiet throughout with no signs of fishes but only jelly fishes. We were surrounded by the jelly fellas and Chee Wai got stunk on his fingers while taking the live prawns and luckily, it was just a short burning sensation he felt. Thank God we d o not have box jellyfish in Spore.

FOOL#5

Dave's rod got 'sunk koat' and broke his rod during his combat with the situation.

FOOL#6

We have suspected of a le ak in my AE previously, so, I wanted to test it out today. True enough, for some reasons, the 2 side chambers and the floor mat turned soft after 45 minutes and we quickly headed to the nearby beach to check for the problems. My heart almost stopped when I saw the kayak jellied. Mike and I huffed and puffed our way to the shore as fast as we could.

While resting at the beach, we decided to try out some shore fishing. Small nibbles only.

We could not find where the leakages were and decided to pump up the AE and hit the waters again. We left with no choice but to resuscitate the AE with our foot pump on board in the waters as and when it jellied.

The mangroves looked promising with the tide coming in, but we had no luck.

We heard a shout and knew that someone got the catch. To our surprise, Robin managed to hook up a beautiful and smelly chermin.

Then I heard a bubbling sound, like air bubbles bubbling in my AE. We decided not to risk it and headed back to shore for early retirement.

We made many new friends back at the shore:

1. Kite expert uncle who shared many of his successful fishing tips with us.

2. A group of canoeist enthusiasts who were launching a fleet of 8 'ships' to sister island to camp overnight.

3. Met Huey from Kayakasia.

2010 First Trip

Robin was down with flu and fever and hence, we had to abandon him and proceed with plan.
Chee Wai also occupied with appointment and in came Mr Sexy Preston (dragon boater) to partner with Dave to power through the water.


















Started super late at about 10am and luckily the weather was kind to us. Was a bit worried about the water conditions after the plankton bloom report off pasir ris report a week ago and the waters around the north might be affected.

True enough, the FF was quiet throughout till we hit the kelong. However, the FF seems to suggest that the fishes are hiding in some sunken structures near the kelong. We decided to risk it and end up getting 'sunk kaut' and lost some weights and hooks. Damn!!!



Circulated around the kelong and kenna from the kelong owner! He asked us to move away from his property friendlily. So, we decided to do some drift fishing along pulau seletar. FF was quiet and we began to talk cock sing song and wait. Just as we were engrossed in our conversation, Dave's Relix bended and he excitedly set the hook and brought up a junior chermin. Great job!



















Preston was really in the relax mood and started to catch up with the news...



















Nice weather too.

11th Dec 2009_Disaster Trip

Dave and I were on leave and decided to take the day to test out the hummingbird FF.
As usual, we started late and hit the water at about 9am and joined Alex and his son, Daniel at Punggol beach.
Joined them at the eastern side of the beach and started jigging for bait fishes as advised by Alex. He sure did his research well and knew all about the water depths, productive spots around this area and even the kelong owner too!
The FF did indicate pockets of small fishes but they are not biting!

Dave's HP sounded off and was told that he did not lock the van door. So, we quickly paddled back to the beach to lock it. Then we joined Alex and Daniel at the kelong, trying for selar. But again, they were not biting strangely. This time, Dave is having a terrible time - sea sickness and looked as if he is going to 'merlion' anytime. So, we decided to beach and rest a while.

At the beach, we decided to try shore fishing. As I was trying to reach for my digital camera in the velcro pocket in my PFD, I realised it is missing. Searched the kayak, bags and beach, and still could not find it. Tracing back the events happened, I suspected that I must had dropped the camera when I removed the PFD at the 1st time we beached to lock the van door. There was a group of students taking photographs when we beached the 2nd time and I suspected they may have taken it. Looking around the beach, I saw the empty ziplock bag which I used to waterproof the camera. Super upset man!

The students have left when I realised my loss. So, I decided to go after them. To my disappointment, the bus stop is empty and they are gone.

Super bad day!

7th Nov 2009_Bad Day

Sorry, no pictures cause all the 3 of us were zero-fighters today.

Overall, we were Losers today because:

1) Zero bites and zero catches with live prawns!
2) Our energy levels were all trips low because of the heat, we were totally exhausted for a short 4.5hrs journey and covering less distance than the previous trip. We lost to the Sun!

The only consolation is that we found a darn good place with free water to clean and sun our kayaks in Jurong.

And we met a new kayak friend, Boon at the sea.

Hope next trip is better.

Darn great fun at sea with 8 kayaks - 17 Oct 2009

It was a trip with many 'Firsts':

1. My wife and I in the same kayak.


















2. Robin finally did his maiden launch with a bang! - got 2 cao xis
Unfortunately, his catches shots are not with me but here is him in action.


















3. We made contact with Ian, Merv, Mathew, Alex and Eddy with a total of 8 kayaks at sea!Unfortunately, cannot capture everyone in the photo.



















4. We launched our Hawkeye fish finder and rod holders. Luckily, both worked well and managed to detect the fishes. But the challenge was the drifting. We need an anchor soon to prevent ourselves drowning in the sea due to over-exhaustion fighting the drfit!

Total catches:
Robin - 2 Cao xi
Myself - 1 Cao Xi
My wife - 1 cuttlefish, 1 flathead (released)
Misses: 2 cuttlefishes and 1 herring!

Anyways, it was a trip with great fun, superb company, decent catches and getting roasted...Looking forward to our next trip.

Our 2nd trip at Punggol_19 Sep

We were really excited with this trip as we get the chance to test out our newly designed and custom made fishing rod holders (inspired by the group of kayak fishermen in Singapore). We have no idea where to launch and thus, the morning was spent doing site surveys at Punggol Track 17, Punggol Marina and finally, decided to launch at Punggol beach.










































Decided to try out at the rocks near the break waters to find our Gao He...




































Then the sky started to cry and the heavy downpour forced us to seek shelter at the nearby beach under some trees. Cold, drenched and low moral... :(
Sorry for the blurr photos, they were taken with the camera in a ziplock bag.




































It was 3pm and we were about to give up. Current were strong and we were drifted away again and again. Should have bought an anchor!
Suddenly, Chee Wai got something with his rod. Just when I was getting ready to row over to take some photos, I felt a pull and immediately, set the rod and was sure I got that bugger! Wow, 2 fishes at the same time! That was the 'G-spot'. The shy Dave refused to take any photos with his catches because the fishes were too small...
Though the catches were small, but at least all of us broke the big fat egg that day. Btw, all catches were released.