Bye 2015, Hi 2016

2015 had been pretty uneventful, so here's a long overdue update on the several last catches that helped me capped off the year. Here's to a more "fish-ful" 2016 and I hope to have more opportunity to hit the waters more regularly.

LURE REVIEW - JACKALL SUPER ERUPTION JR

Jackall Super Eruption Jr Review:

Build:
This lure comes in 3 different sizes: 1/4 oz, 3/8 oz & 1/2 oz, so no matter what fish or depth of water column you are targetting, this lure has got it all covered. Comes in tandem spinner-blades combination, which is my preferred model for being the best of both worlds, where the colorado blade emits strong vibration and the streamline willow leaf blade makes it suitable for fishing around cover. Durability is excellent, where the skirt remains very much intact and the hook does not get bent despite hooking up numerous fish. Lastly, being a huge fan of fine details when it comes to lure design, this is one of the few favourites of mine due to an emphasis on detailing on the lure, which gill plates are nicely marked out and finished with quality paint jobs and realistic 3D eyes.

Action:
Combinations of how this lure can be worked is endless, such as from straight retrieve to a lift-and-fall retrieve, I have personally caught fish on any possible retrieval, even when I'm slow-rolling it across the water surface. This lure is definitely has quality construction, where even the slowest of retrieve is enough to start the spinning of blades, making it easy to work.

Casting:
Nothing spectacular when it comes to casting, however, it is able to hit decent distance easily despite spinnerbaits not designed to be aerodynamic. Lastly, a smooth path in casting can be easily achieved, as long as the wire arm does spins wildly in flight, which does occurs occassionally, being one minus point to this quality lure.

Collection of Victims:

BACK INTO THE GAME

It's been a long time since I last went fishing due to my busy school schedule, leaving my set-up to collect dust at home until I finally found some free time to do some first light fishing few days ago. A thunderstorm went past hours before the trip and I thought it will be a good day, due to my experience on that particular waterhole, where bite-rate will significantly increase after a rain.
As expected, I can conclude that the trip was pretty decent, with numerous juveniles landed, along with a couple of 2lb-ers and a decent 4lb-er, not a bad result for a come-back trip.
Definitely expecting the my catch to improve, and with half a year gone, I have yet to achieve any of the target I have set for myself. So with my fingers crossed, hopefully my luck will turn in the second half of the year.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza BFS 3-10lb
Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG
Line - YGK Nitlon FC 8lb
Lure - DUO Tetraworks Yurameki

Hit the lure right after it came unstuck from a rock. Reaction strike!

Size doesn't matter when it's a topwater strike.

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

Did some pond fishing for a change, rewarded with a small patin which pulled my set-up into the pond, was lucky to react quick enough to catch the flying rod.

Bad Luck strikes..

It's been some time since I last updated rhe blog, as I haven't been fishing much lately and dry-spells came one after another, making my "fishing year" a bad one so far.

Hopefully bad times will be gone soon (fingers crossed), while I share an old catch I just came across in my phone.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza BFS 3-10lb

Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG

Line - YGL Nitlon FC 8lb

Lure DUO Realis Spinbait 80

Back in the Game!

Finally back to fishing after a month-long hiatus due to busy schedule. Here, I'm rewarded with this haruan caught on the usual suspect - Jackall Super Eruption Jr. However, fishing time for me will be reduced due to the upcoming internship programme which will "eat up" majority of my holidays.

Firm hook-set on this bugger.

Bye-bye 2014!

Just a late post on my last fish before I summed up 2014...
So I have not hit the waters for a month and finally managed to free up some time on the last day of 2014, so I thought why not try to land a >50cm butterfly peacock bass(a target I aim to achieve within 2014)? My decision proved right where I managed 4 bites, 2 of which are good-sized specimen >40cm. I lost the slightly bigger one, but managed to land the other to help me end off the year on a high. Oh well, I had to bring this target over to 2015 then...Talking about targets, my targets for 2015 would be - 1) Break my personal best record, 2) >50cm butterfly peacock bass 3) First adult toman.

Rod - Majorcraft Corzza BFS 3-10lb
Reel - Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG
Line - Sufix Castable FC 8lb
Lure - OSP High Pitcher

45cm specimen...currently my personal best in terms of length.

A smaller one to end off 2014.

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.