Maximum effort, minimum reward

Exams are nearing and my kakis and I decided to head down for a final trip before the studying starts. So we headed to a secluded waterhole in an attempt to land a good-size bugger. However, it seems like it's turning out to be yet another "zero-day" until our hardwork of a good 30 minutes trek was rewarded with a small guy on my trusty spinnerbait. At least we had good company and a scenic location to fish at, which helps us to loosen or minds.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza BFS 3-10lb

Reel- Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG

Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb

Lure - OSP High Pitcher (3/8oz.)

Quantity over quality

My fourth consecutive day fishing and I can safely say that my luck has finally returned, scoring me a good quantity of fish. The day started off well with a trio swiftly caught on the spy-baiting technique before things quieten down. However, a change of location brings the action back, where I chance upon a large school of juvenile cichla temensis that "welcome" me without any hesitation until the action died down within an hour and I moved on to the final location before ending the trip. Once again, a school of juvenile happens to be in the vicinity..where I took a couple of casts to track down their location and the fun begins. Like before, the bites slowed down after several specimen were landed and I decided that I had enough, ending off the day with a result of 10 fishes ranging from 1-2lb+...

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza 3-10lb
Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG
Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb
Lure - DUO Realis Spinbait 80, DUO Tetraworks Perakko, DUO Tetraworks Toto Shad, Jackall Super Eruption Jr., OSP High Pitcher

Some of those being photo-ed.

One step closer

Lady Luck have not been smiling at me lately, until a few days ago where my luck finally took a turn, where I hit a nice-sized peacock bass close to the 50cm mark which I have been targeting all year. However, the fish came in at 42cm, still quite some distance away from my target, making me wonder what it could have been if I were to achieve second of 3 targets I set for myself this year. Oh well, at least on a bright side, I am one step closer to the target and hopefully I can make it before 2014 draws to and end in less than 2 months time.

Taken on the Jackall Super Eruption Jr. spinnerbait

ICE-CREAM SEASON

Been really unlucky for the past 2 weeks, where it all started with a stomach flu and since then I always face problems and difficulties in whatever I do...last fishing trip, I lost 3 lures despite being very careful..But on the bright side, I still manage to land several small fishes as consolation.
However, just when I thought I'm regaining my luck, my phone was stolen...sigh, such tough luck really had me wondering what's gonna happen next.
Oh well, just gotta keep my fingers crossed that such tough times will pass by soon enough...

Fell into temptation of the Valleyhill Airspeed 67S

Consolation catch on the DUO Tetraworks Toto Shad

Epic return to fishing

Back to fishing after a busy week due to work...
Been running out of spots, so I decide to head to a spot where I have not been to for a long time. Since it's only my second time there, I started off by throwing finesse-style baits in an attempt to determine the feeding pattern of the fishes. However, the day started slow, only my brother managed to score a green chromide by constantly attacking it's nest with a small soft plastic grub.
Fortunately, the day soon got to an epic when my brother hooked onto a his personal best peacock bass at 4lb on the GANKO Shad Tail. This catch proved to be the turning point as it got me thinking that I could not register any hit because of my finesse baits unable to sink effectively to the depth where the fishes are holding. Instinctively, I changed to a Zman Minnowz and jokingly told my brother, "This is the game-changer..". Soon enough, I hooked onto a decent 3lb-er on my first cast!
Finally, I got it right, to prove my decision was correct, my brother yet again scored a small fella using the same soft plastic and I follow suit with another before the bite died down.
We then moved to a new area and similarly hooked onto a couple of small peacock and mayan cichlid. The day concluded with my brother coming close to catching his first topwater fish when his popper was attacked thrice, but none of the strikes connected...Oh well, seems like it's not meant to be. Anyway, it's still a very fulfilling trip for us both, with my brother breaking his personal best record for peacock bass and me ending my dry-spell in such dramatic way.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza BFS 3-10lb
Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG
Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb
Lure - Zman Minnowz

                Rod - Protech Titanium Spin 6-12lb

    Reel - Shimano Sienna 2500

  Line - Powerpro braid 15lb

Lure - GANKO Shad Tail

LURE REVIEW - JACKALL SK-POP

Jackall SK-Pop Review:

Build:

Standing at 53mm and weighing 6.5g, I personally consider this as a “finesse popper”. Comes with a subtle rattle, one of the features that I like because I believe it won’t scare away spooky fish due to excessively loud rattle. Deep cup-mouth that produces loud “bloops” instead of the typical splashes reminds me of a similar action to the famous Rebel Pop-R. Just that the SK-Pop has nicer details and finishing. Originally comes with a feather-ed rear hook which acts as a tail to further convince the fishes to take a bite out of it. However, I changed the stock hooks to stronger ones since stock hooks almost always bend out of shape after a couple of fishes. In all, it has a realistic look completed with 3D-eyes and nicely carved gill plates to imitate baitfish. Of course not to forget that you can choose from a large variety of colours to “match-the-hatch”.

Action:

Easily worked either fast or slow, depending on your style of fishing. Able to walk-the-dog fairly easily as well, making it a versatile topwater bait. As said previously, it “bloops” instead of splashes, making it stand out of other poppers in the market. However, one down-side is you need a soft-tip rod to fully bring out the best action of this bait, since it will “jump” out of water instead of popping when worked on a heavy action rod. Hence, it’s best worked on light line and rod, as for reel, it does not really matter as long as it’s comfortable to the user.

Castability:

Smooth casting. Able to reach decent distance, despite only weighing at 6.5g. All in all, it’s comparable to other poppers of the same weight range.

Some of the many victims of Jackall SK-Pop 

Recce-ing new ground

Went to a new spot today and got a good start by hooking up a decent sized cichla temensis o my first few cast but only to lost it due to a bad hook-set. After that, it was dead quiet till I snagged a lure and decided to change to topwater for good. My decision was right which I hooked up a small one on my second cast, saving me from "zero". In conclusion, it's definitely a spot worth spending time to find out the feeding pattern of the fishes and hopefully can achieve this in the upcoming trips there.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza 3-10lb
Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG
Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb
Lure - DUO Realis Popper 64

Something "new" besides fishing

Back to bettas and shrimp-keeping and made several "new signings" hoping to kick-start the collection.

The shrimps are already doing well, with a female recently giving birth to a batch of shrimplets, definitely looking forward to forming a massive "red-army" of fire red shrimps.

As for the bettas, the older ones are dying off slowly, so I got myself 2 new ones, hopefully I can find then a partner to get myself back to breeding.

PLAYGROUND DESTROYED

Exams coming to an end, so I finally could afford some time for fishing after 2 weeks of exam preparation. The recent trips I had were either zero or getting some pesky small fishes even though I'm fishing at a spot where I'm very confident of getting some decent-sized fishes. Seems like this place had changed alot since my first trip here, now, I could barely get a decent one, where they were so abundant here about 1 year ago. While fishing, it's really saddening to see several fish carcasses strewn on the ground, giving rise to think that the population had shrunk due to the baiters. Oh well, I guess it's time to find a new playground again.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza BFS 3-10lb
Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG
Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb
Lure - Luckycraft Pointer 78sp
Fish Arrow Flash J 3"

SLOW DAY STRIKES AGAIN!!

Normal service at Pandan legal ground resumes...with the only fish of the day in this teeny tiny peacock bass. oh well, nothing last forever, I already had expected this to come sooner or later. Guess it's time to give Pandan a rest, moreover it's not worthwhile to travel the distance just to be a "zero-fighter".

Set-up:
Rod - Majorcraft Corzza BFS 3-10lb
Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG
Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb
Lure - Jackall Chubby Vibration

PANDAN FRENZY

Received news that Pandan Reservior Legal Fishing Deck was packed with fishes, so I decide to head down to have a look. True enough, when I reached the place,it was already many anglers and all of them were landing fishes consistently. As for me, I had to fish the "leftover" areas which were not as productive since the "good spots" were already too crowded for me to squeeze in. Fortunately, I still managed to land a total of 5 fish through the day and even landed my first walking catfish on lure. Not a bad day I suppose, since it's not a common thing for anglers to land >2 fishes there on normal ocassions.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza BFS 3-10lb

Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG

Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb

Lure - Zman Minnowz

Another conned by the ever-reliable Zman Minnowz. You simply cant go wrong with it.

Valleyhill Airspeed 67S claimed another victim that had fell for the irresistable left-right twitches.

Go finesse and you are bound to hit fishes, sure enough proven by this small guy caught on the Rapala X-Rap Countdown 05.

One of the bigger ones landed that day.

Bet he's annoyed by the rattling of the DUO Realis Vibration 52.

Great to have a catfish to join the fun, creating a larger variety of catches being landed that day.

SHORT "ITCH-CURING" SESSION

Went for a quick session in the noon which turns out pretty disappointing, with only 3 small guys out to "welcome" me. All of them were set on my trusty Jackall Chubby Vibration, which on a more optimistic point of view, helps me build up more confidence on this lure.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza BFS 3-10lb
Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG
Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb
Lure - Jackall Chubby Vibration

TOPWATER DAY!!!

As usual, friday is dedicated to fishing, however, the day started out badly which I had to wait out a thunderstorm before heading to the usual spot. The trip started out very slowly, and it was not until I switched to my trusty popper that I managed to get several missed strikes. Throughout the day, I continued to get short strikes from whatever lures I used, but at least I managed to land 2 of them on topwater, making the day a tad better.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza 3-10lb
Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG
Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb
Lure - Jackall SK-Pop

First fish of the day was a small one.

Ending the day with a decent 4lb-er which gives a good fight on BFS set-up.

Jackall SK-Pop, the lure of the day.

1st visit to pay-pond in S'pore

Since Fishing Paradise is closing soon, my friend and I decided to pay our first visit there before it's gone forever. My plan was to bait throughout the day, but I have only got one fish for the whole 4 hours, which is a walking catfish that became my current personal best for the species. Eventually, boredom got over me and decided to try out luring for the remaining 2 hours. Surprisingly, my bite rate increased after changing to lure, registering several hits on my IMA Flit 120 and Jackall TN50, but none managed to stay hooked, until I finally hooked one on the Jackall TN50, only to realised that it was foul-hooked by the tail, giving me a strong fight that even made me thought that a have caught a good-size fish. Recalling the incident, I must be really lucky to land it without much difficulties, considering the low chances of foul-hooking when i'm using singe de-barbed hooks.Nevertheless, t's still a fish caught on lure and also my first rohu. $24 for 2 fish is considered decent for me and I will definitely be back soon for the bigger fishes.

Rod - Rapala Shadow 8-17lb
Reel - Abu Garcia REVO Premier (Gen. 3)
Line - Power pro braided 20lb
Lure - Jackall TN50

Rod - Rapala Shadow 8-17lb
Reel - Abu Garcia REVO Premier (Gen. 3)
Line - Power pro braided 20lb
Bait - Dead goldfish

WELCOME TO THE "10-LB" CLUB

The day started off with a blast by scoring a 11lb cichla temensis, which helped me fufil one of my target of getting a "double-digit" fish within this year. It all started when i decided to stop at a certain spot to give topwater a try, especially when when water surface is calm with slight breeze, my favourite condition for topwater fishing. Within a few cast, it proved that my choice was right with a huge take on my Jackall SK-Pop, but did not connect. Since the fish have revealed itself, i continue casting to the area where the lure was attacked and true enough the surface once again exploded on my 3rd cast and this time, the fish was hooked. The fight was the best i ever had, with the fish making multiple long, powerful runs that had my line peeling off. After an exciting battle, the fish finally succumbed to fatigue and I am sure this is the one that will break my personal best record once again. Just when i thought it's all over, my kaki assisting me in landing the fish lost his grip on the boga, and the fish once again made a final dash, with the boga still on it's mouth, but eventually, we got the fish back. Recalling the battle, what a close shave it was! As usual, after a few picture, the fish was released unharmed, hoping we could cross path again in the future.

The set-up:

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza 3-8lb

Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG

Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb

Lure - Jackall SK-Pop

Close-up shot of the lure that did the job.

The damage - one broken hook point of the rear hook, good the the others held on strongly.

There's no better way to end this exciting day with a scenic view of the sunset

UPDATE - SMALL GUYS AS USUAL

It's been quite awhile since i updated this blog. So as usual, have been fishing regularly and getting the usual small guys along the way.

Set on the Jackall Chubby Vibration.

Jackall Chubby Vibration claimed another victim, performing well in stained water conditions.

When the lures did not produce, the next thing to turn to is baiting.

A decent one on topwater Jackall SK-Pop.

smallie madness

Did some fishing recently and was warmly welcomed by the smallies...
Managed to get good quantity of bites, but failed miserably in trying to get some quality bites.
Guess I cant complain much for landing 7 in 3 days, all set on either the Jackall TN50 or Jackall Super Eruption Jr.