A Not Quite Satisfactory Night

[DaFrogman]

Well, just another quick Catch Report. I apologise for the lack of pics, I brought the camera but forgot to load the ^!@%^%^@%%^ Memory Card...

It was one of those trips where I packed everything, prepared everything, but somehow one or two important details just happened to slip past me..... like that damned MMC card.

This time, at the very last minute, two of the team pulled out due to various understandable work and family commitments..... one chap pulled out in the morning the other just 2 hours before scheduled launch time. The BIG problem was that the second chap was the guy with the BOAT!!!! So the remaining captain and I were kinda stumped, but somehow he managed to get hold of a boat and another crew member. But the boat was a single engine which I thought would curtail our options.

Anyway, after launching some 2 hours later than scheduled, with just three guys on the boat we launched from another ramp on the other side of the the country and ran into sea conditions that can only be described as FLAT, and weather conditions that were just about perfect.

SO, we took the risk and headed to the area we had been recceing some 65km offshore. BUT as usual, Mr. Murphy was on hand to counterbalance the great sea and weather conditions, with ZERO current and glass clear water. The first spot looked ok on the sounder, but with nothing really biting except for one decent Kerisi Bali about 3kgs in size and tons of Pencils (Baby Barracuda), we motored around about 6 different spots in the area, but the sounder pic was less encouraging.

The seventh spot had a better sounder image and was actually close to 3 other spots, so we parked the boat so that if it did swing with a change in the wind it would swing within the nearby spots and we could easily adjust position by shortening or lengthening the anchor rope.

Things started pretty good, with the kaki in the bow of the boat suddenly finding himself wrestling with a totally U shaped rod and a heavy drag that was still giving out line (if you can picture an AVET EXW4/02 at sunset drag giving off line).... then WHACK!!!, something broke down there and after the customary cursing from the angler and the "sympathetic" queries from the rest of the boat on his fishing abilities, he reeled up a rig with a busted 80lb leader that looked a bit worse for wear.

I was next with a "something" that fought kinda like an MJ on steroids, which I called for an MJ in the 7-9kg range, when the same thing happened, mid-water sunset drag on the 665 and WHACK!!!, line limp, leader busted.... leaving us scratching our heads a bit..... we put it down to the number of Pencils whizzing around under the boat..... Next thing I know, the 60-100lb XH Seeker rod on the back rod holder suddenly did the U and since I was closest, I quickly cranked the reel (another EXW 4/02) 4 times to ensure a secure hookup on the circle hook I knew my kaki was using... he could barely get the rod out of the holder and this guy has some big muscles, same thing mid-water, WHACKKKK!!!, but this time we got the hook back with the leader undamaged..... How the heck do you get off that damned circle hook?.

Then things went really quiet after that except for Mr Pencil, who nailed baits as they went down and even managed to snip my mainline just above the bimini, thereby costing me one of my new custom ranggongs, a no.9 sinker and my 80lb FC leader with 2 Gamakatsu Octopus 2X Hooks....

So being pretty damned pissed, without a decent fish and minus a nice rig, I opened the old coldbox/tacklebox, took out the trusty roll of single strand wire and rigged up a 1 foot long bite leader, which then of course led to me gaining my personal Pencil Collection which was reserved for bait. Then finally, I got nailed by something decent and sure enough, mid water, I could actually feel Mr Pencil and Co., testing their luck on my wire leader, but up came my 3kg MJ, so that was a relief.

Just after landing the MJ, I mentioned to my kaki in the front that he should rig a squid bait in rocket mode, which he then did and added a sweetner bonito strip (Sotong Kahwin Bait).... Yup, next thing he found himself once again with a U rod and was sweating it, this time safely landing an excellent 5kg Ketumbang (some sort of striped spangled emperor which is highly prized here) so we were happy for the moment except for one more kaki who had gone to sleep to protest the Pencil Revolution below...

Well by this time, it was about 3am, and I was getting bored sharpening pencils down there, but I kept going anyway..... no results really until dawn broke, the Pencils left and I started picking off small Spangled Emperor and Grouper in the 1kg range. Then we woke up the captain, did the usual morning ablutions involving Listerine, Coffee, Nicotine and Sunblock.

We then shifted around checking the sounder for new spots and spying a commercial fishing vessel about 1km away we wandered over to see what they had caught through the night... these guys were trawlers and they hadden't caught very much except for small baitfish, kembong, selar etc, so we got a bucketful of fresh bait off them gratis and wandered off to consider our options. The sea was just flat.... kinda like fishing in a swimming pool.

So we took another risk and headed off about 30 more kilometers out to a place on the drop off which we hadn't been to for over a year..... with water in the 350-400ft range, we then drifted a number of spots, the second of which granted me a nice 7kg grouper and a smaller kerisi bali, the rest of the kakis landed a number of these small kerisi bali and Grouper in the 1-3kg range, but we were hoping for the XL 7kg versions..... no luck there.

The final spot we hit before we would need to head back was really good on the sounder, so we decided to drift over it and the other 2 guys ran 3 hook heavyduty (100lb mainline with 80lb branches) Apollo rigs whilst I elected to stay with my ranggong, 4m 50lb FC leader and single 5/0 VMC Octopus hook.... The other 2 guys got hit first one by one, the first fish was a very nice 9kg Grouper, the second fish was an even larger 10kg specimen..... So I sent down a huge rocket rigged squid bait and let it drift just above the deep reef below..... WHAM, with drag at sunset, praying that the leader would hold and the fish wouldn't make it to the reef, I managed to gain about 4 quick pump&cranks before the fish pulled the handbrake and did a quick U turn for the reef below..... 29lbs of drag and then thumb pressure finally managed to avert disaster..... But this fish was fighting all the way and had 5 more runs to the reef (leaving me wondering if it was a Grouper or in fact an Amberjack)... and for the first time in quite a while, I had to pump the rod with both hands whilst feeling that "great" nagging pain on my lower back....

10 Minutes later, up popped my PB Grouper for the year...... it weighed in just over 14kg and it made my day..... We then decided to anchor and chum, but somehow, the bite just died down, I had one more strong jerk on the line, but I guess even though I switched to an 8/0 Mustad forged hook, it must have missed the sides of the bucket mouth below....

So, we called it a day and began the 2 hour run home......... we travelled just under 200km for this trip in a smallish single engined boat.... well if not for the weather, no way would we have tried that and we managed to find about 15 new spots to consider for future trips

There are more pics, but I'll have to dig up my scanner if my other kaki has printed the negatives...enjoy....

Just as an aside, my captain was speculating that the last big s=fish in the night might have been a really big GT...... well thats interesting and it might explain the bisted leaders from sharp tail flukes and maybe not so much Mr Pencil....

Regards,

DFM

[fishpullipull]

Once again ,good one Dafrogman....

[dorado_02]

Hi DFM,
I really envy you man. . Every time good catch, keep the photos coming. You normally go with a small boat ya ? Any chance of arranging a big boat, so that maybe some of Team Sepak members can visit you some day. We can discuss it when we meet soon .

Cheers.

[AmbeRjacKHunter]

Any chance of arranging a big boat, so that maybe some of Team Sepak members can visit you some day. We can discuss it when we meet soon .

Lek Dorado, you cari peluang aje ha... anyway just remembered somewhere that Saimee told me there's free slots available for next year's trip on 30th Feb 2006

Any takers...

Saimee,..12th confirm ?

Rgds
Bro RK

[fishpullipull]

Nak jugak!

[AmbeRjacKHunter]

Nak jugak!

Sure or not Shah ,.....reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeead carefully jangan main Nak aje.....

Rgds
Bro RK

[fishpullipull]

Nak jugak,meaning kalau Sepaks nak invade Brunei....count me in!

[DaFrogman]

Thanks for the nice comments guys, but it was a not so good trip aside from that mama Grouper and MJ. I gave my other 7kg grouper to the owner of the boat we used.

As far as larger vessels go, for this Catch Report trip due to the last minute changes, we only used a 23 footer with a single 85 outboard. All of the other boats we use are bigger and run twin or triple outboards. Our usual boat is 29 feet long with twin 200 outboards. The faster and larger vessels open up many more options for exploring further and starting back later and of course doing so much more safely if the weather or sea gets bad.

Due to the size of the boats, not more than 6 anglers can be comfortably accomodated and that number includes the crew and captain/s (I am part of the crew). BUT if for some strange reason you guys find your way here, gimme advanced notice and we try to sort things out.

RK,

I'm sorry but I can't confirm the 12th definitely even though I have bought the tickets, arranged hotels and all the rest. My work commitments are somewhat unusual and pressing at the moment. The moment I get a green light I will either give you a call or drop you a mail. If I do come, I'll bring some photo albums to peruse whilst we

Regards,

DFM

[AmbeRjacKHunter]

Hello Saimee,

long time no hear from ya.....and the forum looks somewhat on Silent Mode lah ... so any hit & runs since our meet up to spice up this unsual sombre scene here in FO..

Whereabout is Pengiran Zul anyway ...still stucked here or back home harassing those illegals around your pond..


Salam to all at home

Bro RK

[DaFrogman]

Ok RK,

I'll post something then....

Regards,

Saimee