Super Light Popping

Pulau Tinggi and Pulau Sibu are quite fun places to fish. There are plenty of coral bommies around to cast spoons, jigs and little poppers or pencil baits for trevally and queenfish. Kind of reminds me of Pulau Sembilan but of course the trevally there are bigger. Heck, whatever size fish on light tackle is fun regardless!

New Toy: Daiwa Certate Hyper Custom 2500R

Yippee bippee!! After saving up a fair bit, I finally got myself a nice workhorse of a reel: the highly recommended Daiwa Certate Hyper Custom 2500R! Gears mesh together so silky smooth that it's feels smoother than any shampoo ad on TV. Also got it fitted with a nice EVA RCS custom knob which feels great. To the 'someone' that helped to get this reel (you know who you are, sifu), a special thank you!! 

Trolling DT16s & Tail Dancer Deep for Grouper

Slow trolling for grouper was something totally new to me until 2 years back. Thanks to Fred & YH for introducing this technique. I've come to learn that trolling along rock bunds, corals and structure especially near drop-offs can produce yummy Grouper and other bottom species. Deep divers like DT16 (Dives To) and Tail Dancer Deep have large bibs that deflect them from the rocks and reducing the chances of snagging (although occasionally we do lose a few!) contrary to the belief that trolling lures along rocks is asking for trouble! You would want to make sure your lure bumps off the rocks while trolling as this will attract the attention of Groupers nearby. Oh, and do ensure that you set the right drag setting too! You never know when a big one will come along and 'reef' you before you can say "GOT ONE!"

This is considered 'pretty small-ish'

Tail Dancers do have a sexy wiggle, I must say

They give a good fight but er.... not exactly what we are looking for

Rapala Barra Magnum

Barra Magnums were designed with rugged saltwater bruisers in mind. The Rapala catalog states its made of a tough type of wood called Abashi. Has a nice swimming action when trolled and goes down pretty deep to approx. 3-5m. 

Spanish Mackerel seemed to love the brighter colours

Even threadfins pounced on the redhead

..and Barracudas too

Goes deep enough to attract the Groupers from their 'holes'

Rapala X-Rap Magnum 20 & 30

It's easy to test trolling lures - no fuss, no muss. Just troll them behind your boat and wait for the ratchet to scream. So we did just that when testing out the Rapala X-Rap Magnums some 3 years back. Pretty interesting catches...

Storm Wildeye Minnow

In the little lure department, this is in my Top 5 favourite lure list. A proven estuary and shoreline rock-casting killer lure that has caught Grouper, Threadfin, Barramundi and Bream. Initially I couldn't find this model in local tackle shops but I'm glad to say on my last visit to the new HotSpot tackle shop near Beach Road, I've sen them on the racks - goodie!

Air Ganda: Reflections of the past

Dug up some photos of a trip to Air Ganda more than 3 years back with Jeymatt when the Toman population was healthy. Man, I miss those days...

Beautiful Air Ganda in the morning

On Glass Fat Rap

Jeymatt with Rattlin Rap's victim

Another one on Glass Fat Rap