Rock Luring

Rocky outcrops dot most of the shoreline of many a coastal area and more likely than not, house table-sized groupers which are more than willing to pounce on any lure that scuttles along its path.

The trick is to really 'bump' the lure around the grouper 'holes'. Grouper are pretty lazy fish and would rather sit and ambush prey that swims along its way. Therefore, working the lure around the different depths of the rocky shoreline is a good way to cover ground. Sinking lures such as Storm soft plastics or deep diving lures like Fat Raps work pretty well. Occasionally you do get snagged every now and then, so don't leave the lure retriever at home. But don't be deterred and do keep the faith in working those lures. You'll be duly rewarded!

Oh, and a tip is to experiment the tides. Some places may fire on the rising tide and some may be happening on the run-off tide. Good luck!

Keep an eye out for such outcrops. They are home to some nice lure-snatching fish

Fat Rap FT proves its not only good for Toman but Grouper too

Shad Rap on Bleeding Pattern

Possibly one of the most deadly lures for coastal rock 'bumping'

This one on the small FR05 FT

Chartreuse colours seem to attract more bites

What To Do With 1 Hour to Spare?

What does one do with 1 hour to spare in the evening? Now that's a silly question if you're a hardcore angler.

Which was what I did precisely after work one day. Just needed a short break after that stretch of stressful afternoon engagements. Grabbed my newly acquired Majorcraft Sakura BC & Curado 200 E5 combo and headed down to the rocks.

The tide was just nicely rising.. just nice for knocking on some groupers' doors.

At the end of the hour, I was pleasantly surprised that the good ol' spot still yielded nice fish. All were happily released to fight another day. Oh, and did I mention I got busted off twice? 40lb leader cut off nicely at the rocks.

For those who are stressed at work - drop those files and knock off that computer of yours, pick up your rod and go toss some lures. Even if it's just for 1 hour. You'll be surprised at the effects.

Stay sane. Go fishing!

Location: Look for loose rocks such as these.

Keep casting around the rocky outcrop - key thing is to bounce those lures off the rocks every now and then to 'knock' on the grouper's holes. Normally they'd ambush from these holes.

Be fast! Once they hit, very often they head back to the rocks. Keep the fight short and sweet.

30-40lb leaders are a must to avoid cut off at the sharp barnacles

Size doesn't matter - just enjoy the entire process. Happy luring!

I Hate Frogs!

I hate frogs. Period.

So don't even think I will consider using froggies as bait for Haruan. They are cold, squeaky and ugly. Hate em'! Those pesky things!

So instead of using little Kermit's cousins, I clipped on a Storm Wildeye soft plastic shad to cast into the weedy patch. Not exactly a wise thing to do since it wasnt really weedless; each cast returned a clump of weed patches wrapped around it - looking like some weedball.

But nearing a patch of weed, this little greedy fella pounced on the softie bait. See? I don't need froggies to get Haruan too! Ok... so its a mini fella. But it still counts, right? :) 

Cute lil' fella. We put him back to where he belonged.

Chinese New Year Grouper

Here I am back again at our Grouper hole. This time with Jeffroman in action. It was close to Chinese New Year and since there was nothing much to do - what else than to pop down to our spot 5 mins away from my home. The tide was just about right and we began casting our lures. Soft plastics were the order of the day and in quick succession we got a few tiddlers on the SPs. Jeffroman was using his Berkley Gulp while I stuck to my faithful Storm Wildeye SP. Since I didnt have the red tail ones already which were killer - I settled for the white/pearl one which resembled the anchovies (ikan bilis) which should work...

All the groupers were released ... lucky them... since it was Chinese New Year I'm sure the folks back home would not have mind steamed grouper. But we're nice people...aren't we Jeff? ;)

Happy Chinese New Year!

Small is beautiful no?

The dark patches on the grouper are lighter on the little ones

Fish of the day: A snapper on SP!

Very nice indeed!

The last fish of the day - close to 800gms on Bleeding Shad Rap