Tanjung Pinang - 5th March 2004 to 7th March 2004

[LBT]

The 5th of March 2004 saw the 3 Amigos going international for their fishing exploration trips for the first time together as a team. Joining them were Yong, Henry, Cat, Jason, & TaiKong. We met up bright and early at Tenah Merah Ferry Terminal, the one and a half hour ferry ride was uneventful and we reached Tanjung Pinang at 11am, where the boat was already waiting for us.

Instead of heading out to sea immediately, we decided to go for a sumptuous seafood lunch, consisting of mud crabs, fish, prawns, and some traditional foods. As good as the foods were, we were here for the fishing.

On arrival at our boat I was expecting a thatched roof held up by four posts and a mattress on stilts. I was more than impress when we were unloading our personal belongings into a remarkable, yet still traditional, fishing boat complete with generator power, showers and toilet, for a 3hour ride out of Tanjung Pinang to Mapur.

Most of us stay awaked throughout the ride out to sea. By evening time, we reached the spot. Feeling ambitious, the biggest squid head was rigged & thrown overboard, as I was hoping to target the elusive monster snapper (but sad to sat, that dream did not materialize).

The first hook up was 10 minutes later, when Cat got two Kachi at one go. Nothing significant was caught, until after dinner when Yong’s rod bended profoundly and his Penn reel started screaming continuously with strong line burning run. After a good 6 to 7 minutes struggle, Yong landed our first worth mentioning catch – 6kg Ang Kueh. Adrian & Jason were the only other two anglers on board to land Ang Kueh of size 5kg an above that night, with the rest of us catching only an assorted range of species ranging between few hundred grams to four kilograms in size.

In the middle of the night, the sleepy anglers still fishing onboard suddenly woke up by that ferocious strike on TaiKong’s rod. He was given no chance but hung on tight as the fish peeled off hundred yards or so of line. Feeling the pain from his rod butt, TaiKong passed his rod over the Henry who was beside him. The fish hung tough occasionally ripping another hundred meter off the spool. The fight was tough enough to make us me think it might not be those big Ang Kueh was caught earlier. All I knew at this stage was that it was big!

Henry started to get a bit of headway with the fish before it raced off at blistering speed; the last part of the fight was a tug of war before the 50lbs leader line snapped. It was clearly a big fish but we didn’t get a chance to get a see just how big it was. According to the experience boatman, that could be a huge shovelnose shark.

After all those commotion and a bowl of nice warm Maggie noodle, the “Z” monster grasp hold of me, sending me back into the cabin for the night’s rest. Adrian and TaiKong are the only two anglers who continued fishing all night long until next day late afternoon before they take a quick 3 hours rest.

The Amberjacks provided a lot of excitement and thrill for our day fishing. I got my first taste of real action in the afternoon with the Amberjacks, before dinner were served. After waiting for a one day one night, I finally got my first big Ang Kueh action just after dinner. My inexperience in handling big fishes sent me into panic mode, but luckily Adrian was in the background providing me instruction and tips consistently. For the first time in my entire life, I experienced the real thrill of fighting such a big, strong, and stubborn fish. Every run the fish makes sends my adrenaline high and my heart pumping fast. Fatigue begins to set it fast; I took occasional breaks from reeling in my catch to rest my tired arm. After 5 minutes of action, I finally landed that beast, we didn’t weight it but I can tell you that it was very big and heavy for my standard. The light tackle I used gave me endless thrill to battle the fishes.

By mid night, I decided to take my final rest and plan to wake up at 5am to hope to catch the final action of the trip. However, thunderstorm sets it, sending in rains and strong winds hosting some pretty rough sea condition. We decided to pack up and hand back to shore.

Along the way back to Tanjung Pinang, we stopped by a seafood restaurant for a seafood breakfast. Nothing beat the taste of freshly caught steam Ang Kueh and Grouper. We ate ourselves silly until we had trouble walking back to the boat.

Over all this is certainly a very enjoyable trip, with great company.

[edylie]

[edylie]

[Tunahunter]

We will be back again. Very soon, to whack the ang chor and groupa.....

well done, me going 20 to 21 March, will post Catch Report then.

[edylie]

Originally Posted by fishingbuddy

well done, me going 20 to 21 March, will post Catch Report then.

Hi William,

are you going to tg pinang or batam trip?

Best Regards,
Edy