The Todak Journals

Bay at Jalan Abbas, 18th Feb

2006-02-20T16:48:00.000+08:00

Sometimes hard work does pay off.
The night before the trip, Charlie and myself pay a visit to the rivermouth delta near my place to castnet up some live bait.

No more market fish/squid/prawns...or even worms to catch small baitfish....we were going prepped!

A few casts later and we were stocked with some small mullets and as the tide picked up, the shrimp came in.
Shrimp sizes were good, but quantity was somewhat limited...overtime with the net was needed.

3 hours later, we were set :)

Shrimp & Mullets:

We were on the rocks at about 1130 the following day.

Gayle and Kat joined us awhile.

Wasnt long before Gayle whipped out a blinker and did some fishing in lala-land

...workin at Nets till this mornin took a toll on the poor girl, heh, and i took some pics.

"Can i order a Gayle...on the rocks, please."

Awhile later, the girls were off. They didnt really do any fishing...just came by and chilled.

Charlie had a decent sized croaker (Gelama Pisang) on live prawn.

Fishes we threw back include: 3 small stingrays (Pari Ketuka), a medium sized catfish (Duri) and a small grouper...no sign of them biggies yet.

Towards late noon however, things got interesting.

One of my rods twitched...slowly picking it up, i gave a small strike and reeled in slowly...Only felt the weight at first, then a quick but huge dip, then a second and third dip...after which the thing went nuts!

Line screaming off the reel i could see the fish run towards the rocks...steering it clear, the fish surfaced.

"SENAGIN!!" screams Charlie, grabbing the landing net.

There were tense moments when the little guy went for the rocks, since the line on this tackle was only 6lbs.

A short power struggle later, we had a quick and clean landing.

Me and my catch:

Mood pumped back up, lines were baited and re-set.

About an hour later, Charlie screams 'SENAGIN!' again as his jumped clear of the water some 20 yards off!

Landind his Threadfin, we were a happy duo. Two Threadfins in a day! Who woulda thought :)

Charlie & catch:

The last time ive seen a Senangin (Threadfin Salmon) landed on a beach in Penang Island was a fairly long time back, when my dad got one...has to be at least 10 years ago

This would also be my personal first wild Threadfin Salmon...Double joy! :D

Charlies was taken home for the family to enjoy at dinner, and my fish was taken to a Tg.Tokong choo char joint to be steamed, Canto style...Mmmmm...

Edz, Khimmy and Hockster joined me, we ordered up some other dishes and enjoyed a good dinner.

Perfect way run down a day.

...and people still say our beaches are bare of fish! :P

I say its a matter of sellecting the right time and tide, and putting in some effort for some live bait...or maybe the right lures...wonder what kind of lures they would take...

hmmm :)

More old pics, Balik Pulau 2004

2006-02-20T16:22:00.000+08:00

The area is amongst some prawn breeding facilities in Balik Pulau...not sure if it was an ex-paypond or not, but it was a nice place. My old classmate's dad, Dr. Hia invited me to join him there.

The pond at Balik Pulau

Lots of tarpons streaking about as evening came by. I was spinning and Dr. Hia broke out his fly-fishing equipment.

Tarpon on Yozuri Minnow

Fly-fishing truly is interesting. The line whipping about, dancing and teasing the surface of the pond... I made a note to give it a try back then...

Dr. Hia and his tarpon, on fly

Even to this day however, lack of access to the gear and a teacher has made me put this off till a future date...

I will get about to doing it!!!...*soon*

: /

Pulau Kendi, 11th Feb

2006-02-12T15:53:00.000+08:00

Pay attention to your lunar dates!
A lesson learned...

Its been a LONG while since we were out on a boat and i guess we were too eager.
Charlie and myself decided to make a trip out to Pulau Kendi since it was a long weekend for Thaipussam. Only refered to my tidal notes for the tide shifts.

Figured that we could still try our luck with the whopper Stingrays in that area with live squids.

We were desperate to go out...no one noted that it was Chap Goh Meh!...the moon was so bright it felt like a spotlight was bearing down on us...
in other words, no sotong! :(

...all we had were the pathetic shrimp i managed to jala the night before...not very good sizes...

Towards the end of the night, we managed to pull up some decent sized croakers, about 20 or so, but that was the extent of it...

Casting in the morning also proved fruitless for biggies...not even the Queenies came out to play with our poppers...

Still, cant say i had a bad time
...better a bad day at sea than a good day in the cube

Heh.
:)

Unexpected little surprise :)

2006-01-21T23:03:00.000+08:00

Was stuck on the fisherman's dock waiting for a boat out to the pillar yesterday...decided to do some casting since there seemed to be lots of fish fries hanging around being chased...

Tried a popper and some softbaits at first, no takers. The Storm however, was snapped up quickly by this little cuda, or Kacang Kacang, which is what the fishermen here called it :)

The pillar itself wasnt particularly fruitful...

These little cudas were quite fun on light setup...would like to try casting forthem again soon...

Selama, Perak...Udang Galah and Haruan hunt

2006-01-16T23:55:00.000+08:00

Was invited by Charlie to drop by his in-laws place...been a good year or so since my last haruan hunting there.

This trip of course, was a little different...target: Udang Galah! Never tried it before, but am hooked now...

Arrived evening on Saturday, Charlie had the petrol for his boat ready and supplies set up...off we went to Din's place, Din, being the nice fellow who houses the boat at his house, next to one of the river's feeder streams.

Beginners luck was probably to blame for my early catch, landed a few moments after our first stop...a decent sized specimen too...
Alas, that was to be our only catch for the rest of that day. The water wasnt particularly good for prawning, but my host was determined to show me a good time...

I tried insisting that I was already quite satisfied with my first ever Udang Galah and the serenity of the river itself...he wouldnt hear it tho...heh.

7:00AM following day: Breakfast and stocking up on foods for lunch. Todays catch wasnt particularly good, but damn! the river in the early AM sure is a beautiful sight. Comin back at 3PM, only a short half-hour break before we were out again...this time for the elusive Haruan!...It was kind of a last minute decision to go for the snake-heads by the bro-in-law, but pooped as we were, we werent gonna say no!
Nothing spectacular on the Haruan hunt, with me losing 2 hook-ups and landing a 6-incher...i had to let it go...lest it was eaten by the bait :P ...the others had some better luck...

Catch total: 3 prawns, 5 haruans...Charlies momma-in-law cooked up a nice little gulai with the prawns and fried the snake-heads...uber yummy stuff!!!Will be back for sure!

Batu Feringghi

2005-12-12T09:10:00.000+08:00

The Miami beach here in question is of course the one in Penang, not Florida :P

Gayle called at about 11ish am yesterday...said Kat, herself and some family members gonna be at the beach after Miami...thought what the heck, i could use the sun...

Arrived there just after 1pm, and being an outgoing tide, didnt expect much till after 4 or 5, after the tidal shift...so most of the family was basically chilling on the mats...

Gayle decided it was time to hone her castnetting, so gladly, her daddios gave the pointers, and me having a camera, couldnt resist...'dont you dare!' said she. Care not did me :P ...Heres a pretty classic casting pic

Gayle's dad is a pretty avid fisher too, and ever ready to share in the hobby. He enjoys fishing and enjoys teaching others to enjoy the sport even more. Its hard to find folk as passionate about hooking a fish these days...

I killed most of my time jumping from rock to rock and casting my lures out...kind of like a warm up for the later part of the day, with that ever present hope that a loner biggie might be swimming about and take an early shot at my lure...

Kat was having the time of her life, this being the first time she is fishing ever...and i think shes been bitten bad by the fishing bug, cos next weekend we gonna drop by my fav fishing depot and rig her up for some serious fishing :)

Evening eventually came by and off i shot to the rocky outcrops to the far right of the beach. A few casts here, jump a few rocks...test the lure here, there, fast, slow...the usual stuff...and then BAM! i steer him quickly away from the rocks and off my drag goes...its not a very big Grouper, but on light setup, it sure is a decent play...line was only 6lb, so avoiding the rocks was crucial.

After the beach, droppped by a new Serani makan place opposite Rasa Sayang...pretty good food(or maybe i was just uber hungry) but the environment there sure was relaxing.

All in all, i would say i had a pretty good Sunday.

Lake torpedo

2005-12-08T12:39:00.000+08:00

Met up with Charlie after the Jazz Fest.

This fishing spot is kind of a secret. Would not usually withold a location, but this case is by request, so I shall...

Picked up the ciggies and Kopi Tarik for bribes from the mamak's on the way there...yes, bribery was required to get in...

Bait was frogs picked up from Chai Leng Park while on route to Ipoh earlier in the day...

And we were set!

Fishing went ok, with a few strikes on my frog, but no solid hookups...After awhile, Charlie was first up with a decent sized Haruan...

About and hour later, the toll from the day began to set in...body became lethargic and useless...i put my rod down for the night...cursing, but i just couldnt continue...

Immediately after, Charlie hooks onto a torpedo. On relatively light setup, this fish was pounding the equipment...Maybe it was the unexpected strike of something so massive, or just a bad hookup, but charlie tried locking his drag down, which resulted in him losing that fight.

During the excitement, i was lively again, cheering on the fight...with the loss of that round, my body reverted into shutdown mode again...Charlie was determined to get another go at that monster, but i decided to crawl to a spot on the ground and catch a few Zzzs.

I woke a shortwhile later to the sound of a reel being pummeled by abuse again...Charlie had another hookup! Sweet...watched him fight awhile, adrenaline now keeping me awake...Cheered him on a bit, then he did something i wasnt prepared for in my semi-comatose state of mind...he passed me the rod!!

I guess he thought this was definitely a fight i wanted in on...I humbly accepted of course :)

I would have been just as happy if Charlie fought it, but i thank him greatly for offering me the thrill of that fight...After playing the monster down for a bit, and tiring it out, we could finally identify it...a Patin!! and a fine specimen at that!

Having not had Patin for awhile, we discussed 'catch & release' or 'makan'...finally agreeing on taking this one specimen for eats, we proceeded to bag it. I estimated the weight between 6 to 7 Kilos...

Heres a pic from weigh-in at the market where i got it gutted and cut. I underestimated the weight.

This will be officially the LAST Patin i take home tho...not because it tasted bad, in fact it was damn tasty!...but this fish has more fat chunks than a pork trotter!...Its one of those fish you could probably eat once every 2 years or so, without feeling you have over-indulged...this is one fatty fish!!! Dinner for 12 with just a third of the fish at the restaurant that night with the gang...a Fish Head Curry and Steamed Fish dish.

The rest went to my momma...cos shes a sam-chan (pork fat) fan too! :)

Old pics - Off Pulau Kendi, 2004

2005-11-19T19:36:00.000+08:00

Found more old stuff...Pulau Kendi night trip, so as with any nite trip, sotong hunting was key.

Heres a pic of the gang on board...me doing some casting, Capes with a queer ass smile in the far background, Charlie looking for something, and that pale thing up front be Tats...recovering from the hell of eating the some oily/spicy stuff before boarding...against better warnings :P

...Khimmy was there too, on the other end of the camera of course :)

Cought a decent batch of squiddies and off we went-a-hunting for them fishies...got some snappers, about kilo-ish and morning saw Charlie landing a decent queenie on bottom rig, overall number of catch was so-so...im not sure whos holding pics of those tho...

We did have some nice encounters with some pari, with Capes landing his first biggie that nite, and me losing mine when the gaff shaft got entangled with the roof of the boat...both were about the same size, and after weighing in at the market after docking...came up to an impressive 20KG...

Needless to say, pari was provided for many friends and relatives :P...and we had 3 dishes of pari that night itself in the restaurant...and enough pari meat to last us quite a bit :)

Heres a nice shot with Tats on the left, me on the right,

and Capes center with his prize for the night ;)

North Russian Wreck, July 1 2005

2005-11-15T22:54:00.000+08:00

On the wagon again!!! A brief view of what pics i had from our last trip out to sea...

Picked up the last of the goods needed from a minimart...here we see my buddy Hockster just being happy to be here

And the journey begins... Charlie looking and a hazy Penang left behind

Here we see some just 'happy' faces...cant you just feel their exitement

Well, at least Im happy to be here!...however, moving along to...

Hockster~ doing some early berleying for the fishies! Shortly after stopping

And it begins...listening and looking out for splashes and explosions...First biggie up

Trevally on popper! not super big, but weight for weight, these fellars sure pack some punch!

Then a brief pause for dinner and to enjoy a little sunset...its also about here that i realise the batteries on my camera dying out...sucks i know, but ill promise to check them next time around... :(

The night had us some pretty good fishing, with some 5KG and up trevallies and some pretty sizeable snappers, will try to get the pics from one of the other cameras on the boat that nite :)

But still...was some sunset...hated myself for not noticing it sooner...this pic was towards its end...

Till next time!

Penang Bridge Solo

2005-11-15T02:38:00.000+08:00

The early bird gets...a beautiful sunrise...

The Tamban were really taking today...non-stop on apollo jig...only reason i stopped was because i figured thats all i would need, cos im sure i could fill the bucket(below) up if i wanted to...i was pulling up an average of 2 a cast and 3 on a cast was not rare at all...must be a huge scool.
Set up my bigger fish gears, 1 live on bottom and 1 live freelining setup (the 2 rods in the lowest pic)...target for today would be barrakudda or mackeral on freeliner and maybe a red or fingermark snapper on the bottom rig...none came in the end tho'

Heres my Bucket o' Baitfish...Tamban on apollo jig...fun to catch and good for frying too...most of these followed me home cos the biggies werent biting! :) yum!

Also spent a considerable time hunting Todak or Gars around the platform...used many tails from my baitfish. Considerably hard to get a hookup on these buggers cos they keep the bait n hook in their beaks for awhile, and the line tends to get cought up in the rows of teeth and get sheared off too...but, thats what you get when you use a 6lb line on these guys...sigh*...Ladies n gents, my arch-nemesis, the Todak...this one here is about 2 feet long...fairly good specimen....

And i think this last pic for me is what i feel that fishing is...Its a day being on the beach, stone or riverbank getting disconnected from it all...catching an actual fish however, is just a bonus ;)

Cheers, and tight lines to all!!

-the ed

Secret location on pg island

2005-11-15T02:15:00.000+08:00

Heres a pic of my exboss and serious fisho kaki Mr Charlie, posing with his prize Haruan of the nite.

Yes, Penang Island still has some very decent specimens, but you must know where to look and who to bribe :P kekeke

Picture is about 4 days old at post date.

Loban hunt, fishing pole n Gardenia

2005-11-15T02:01:00.000+08:00

The Loban is one of our local mullets...and usually caught with castnets.

These shy creatures hardly take to a hookup, due to their eating method of spitting the food out after touching it.

Even with the proper equipment, the movements in the float are usually ever so subtle, you really need to focus on it really hard sometimes...

My choice of eq for this little fellow is just plain fishing pole and 4-6lb clear monofilament, and a really really small hook. Fish is very easily spooked by bigger hooks even tho their mouths can take it.

The pic shows one i cought recently, roughly about a month back, and a decent sized specimen too, although they have been known to exceed 2kg in weight, i have yet to see one get landed on hook n line...

Mind the pic quality please, was my trusty old 7250i's phone camera i used...

Cheers!
-ed

Another blog is born!

2005-11-14T08:46:00.000+08:00

I take my fishing seriously...a bit too seriously sometimes as i am told, but hey...too bad lar...

'Jobe' by day...'FISHERMAN' by night!
...well...ok, not only at night, but u get the idea...

I enjoy fishing to say the least.

Heres my blog for all fishing related material...will also include tips n tricks of the art and my own findings on local fishing methods...

And yes, it IS an 'art' to me :P