Thursday, March 31, 2011

A Walk in the Forest


The Rapaleros took a walk in the forest and had good fun, good laughter and great fellowship (even danced to Bee Gees and Michael Jackson hits too!).

Pics courtesy of YH's Motorola Defy :)





Yes you see it correctly... those are Rapala Jigging Raps! Deadly stuff on Peacock Bass that have been used to conventional lures

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Cancelled trip :(

We received a call after a 2hr drive that due to stormy and windy conditions at the east coast that it was not advisable to head out to sea. The boat captain had advised us sea conditions were not favourable and as such, we had to cancel our much anticipated trip.

Well, it's better to be safe than sorry!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Light Jig Reel - Okuma Cedros CJ-40S

In anticipation for next week's outing to Pahang for light jigging, my grubby hands got hold of a unit of Okuma Cedros CJ-40S as a test unit. Woohoo!

First impressions of the little reel is how the spool resembles a familiar Daiwa reel ;) But definitely no way near that price I'm sure. Jumping into the specs, the box says:

DURABLE CONSTRUCTION:
AlumLite: Aluminum body construction
Patented EOS: Elliptical oscillation system
Quick set anti reverse bearing
4HPB+1 Stainless steel bearing
Machined aluminum anodized spool
DFD: Dual force drag system
Hydro Block water tight drag seal
HDG: Super strong High Density Gearing

Gear Ratio: 6.2:1
Line cap: 190yds of 10lb line
Weight: 343g
Max Drag: 5.5kg


Rigid forged aluminum screw-in handle with power knob


Saltwater OK with all the anodizing


Drilled holes for a lighter spool


Okuma's thin blade design - unique and makes the reel look overall sleeker


Anodized spool for corrosion resistance


Power knob!


Check out the water seals on the front drag

The other drag washer sits behind the spool - Okuma's DFD design that churns out impressive stopping power

5 bearings





Hopefully I'll have some good shots of nice fish with the reel and will be able to let you readers know how it measures up after next weeks' trip.



Monday, March 21, 2011

Storm Asia Edition lures coming our way!

Hot Rapala Insider news!

I had a sneak peek into the product roadmap for Storm lures and seems like we southeast Asian anglers will get to have a Storm range of lures specific for our type of fishing and for our tropical fish species hitting the retail store shelves very soon!

For one, there's the upcoming Basho Frog - a rubber amphibian with a cupped mouth to push water like a popper while remaining weedless. Perfect for Haruan or Toman fishing at weedy places.

Not too sure about the price or specs at this point but here's some sneak shots into this lure. Brought to you by RapalaInsider ;)





Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Sg Bintuka Black Bass - Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

I had the opportunity to join Fred Goh and gang at the Lure Fishing Seminar @ Kota Kinabalu, Sabah over the weekend organized by KBS Tackle Sdn Bhd (a notable tackle retailer in Sabah). Since we were already at East Malaysia, Mr Kok of KBS Tackle extended the invitation to us to sample the mangrove fishing at Sg Bintuka - a nice river system approximately 1.5 hours away from the city center. How could we say no?

We checked out of the hotel 3.30am in the morning and headed towards the direction of Beaufort. Some good 10-20km before the town, we took a turn down a nicely tarred 'kampung' road which led us up to a little kampung house by the river. There were easily more than 10 boats parked neatly at the jetty. There we were greeted by Din a.k.a Black Bass Hunter. He had been fishing the Sg Bintuka for a while and was very experienced in hunting down Mangrove Jacks and the prized Black Bass, hence his name.

BLACK BASS! Nice! Prior to this, I had only thought Black Bass could only be found in Tawau. What an ignoramus I was! The very friendly Din was to be our guide (guiding 3 boat loads of hopeful anglers!) for the day. Off we went in the early morning at the first streaks of dawn...

Early morning sunset. Special thanks to Sony A33's "Twilight Mode". No tripod needed!

Breathtaking...

Check out the clouds

The fastest boat and fastest driver

Off we go!

Plenty of herons in the mangrove


"Gaya mesti ada"

Rapala Clackin' Minnows

After a long boat ride, we reached the spots where Mangrove Jacks & Black Bass were known to hang out. It didn't take too long for Din to help Dominic connect to a nice fish. From the opposite bank, we noticed Dominic's Rapalero rod bounce up and down, signaling a nice fish struggling under the load. After a good 3-4 minutes and no fish boated, we figured we should head over to check out the catch. MJ? MJ?? MJ???

BLACK BASS!

Dominic raised his hands in triumph as Din lipped the fish! The mighty Black Bass fell to a Storm Thundercrank Blue Steel Shad 8cm! Woohoo!





Caught on Storm Thundercrank Madflash TCM08

Check out the muscular structure of the fish... and the teeth!


Released

The little Barracudas were everywhere!

The Black Bass was still elusive to the folks on our boat and after a good hour of solid casting, we decided to explore the main river (with Din's expert guiding of course!). The question was, where do we start? All along the river the terrain was the same. Everywhere looked like a fishy spot. Reluctantly, we trolled with some deep divers such as the Taildancer TDD11. Soon enough, a nice Black Bass grabbed the Taildancer TDD11 Bleeding Tiger.



Our stomachs were growling by noon and in the distance, we noticed some chalet-style huts at the river bank with some tables and chairs. As we came closer, we realized it was a little restaurant!

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD!!! Curry Maggi Noodles with Egg never tasted so good!

And while the others relaxed after the wonderful meal. I went around snapping some pictures. There were some kids fishing with a cane rod and some line tied off the tip. No need for expensive rods and reels. At such times, I'm reminded of how simple life is for kids. No need for the complexities of 'modern' fishing tackle.


DAY 2 Field Notes:
We still had not caught fish that were photograph worthy at this point so we had to work extra hard casting on the following day. One observation we noted on Day 2 was that fish were hitting the bright-coloured lures (Fire Tiger / Chartreuse patterns) when the water was a little cloudy on the rising tide. However when the rising tide brought in clearer water, the fish stopped hitting the lures. A quick exchange of notes and we unanimously agreed to change to natural patterns such as Crawdad (CW), Silver or Bone and soon the fish were confidently hitting the lures. Although the MJs remained absent, the Groupers were consolation.

on Minnow Rap FT


Taildancer Deep CLF

Natural colours such as the Crawdad (CW) worked in clearer water


This one was on the new Rapala Crankin' Rap 08

Double hookup on Taildancer Deep

On a natural coloured Storm Thundercrank Madflash

Taildancer CW finds another victim

Sg Bintuka is such a beautiful and almost pristine mangrove system. The sight of many juvenile barracuda and previous captures of MJs, Threadfin, GT and Black Bass can only prove that this is a river system that is a lure angler's haven in the waiting. My only plea to anglers visiting Bintuka is to continue to keep the place as pristine and clean, void of pollution and rubbish. There are not many unspoilt spots like these so lets do our best effort to preserve its beauty.

And of course... where possible, practice catch and release and don't take back anything more than what you can possibly consume.

SOME RANDOM SHOTS (thanks to Sony Alpha A33!):



On our last day at KK, we paid a visit to KBS Tackle Sdn Bhd's retail shop

For folks who wish to drop by, they are at:

KBS Tackle Sdn. Bhd
Lot 10, Tingkat Bawah Millennium Centre,
Jalan Lintas Kepayan,
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah




Special thanks goes to Mr Kok of KBS Tackle Sdn Bhd for organizing the trip, logistics and extending a very warm East Malaysian hospitality to us. We truly had a wonderful time and hope to visit you again! Thanks also goes to Din (Black Bass Hunter) & Cikgu Karim for being our guides and sharing the local knowledge with us. You guys rock!