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