Tanah
Merah - Johor Shoal, Singapore
24th February 2008
Gerard Norman Theseira
Asia's largest
aerospace and defence event, a joint venture between the Civil Aviation
Authority of Singapore and the Defence Science & Technology Agency,
Singapore Airshow 2008 was on and we decided to enjoy the Aerobatics
Display on the water. Performing that day were the Black Knights, F-16
pilots from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, as well as performance
by the Royal Australian Air Force Roulettes.
Having got up early
to watch a couple of Six-Nations rugby matches in the morning while
tying hooks to leaders, it was good to have made plans to go back on
the water and fish.
New to the usual
suspects (Sandra, Din, Agi and me) was Justin, a colleague from the
shipyard. It was his first afloat fishing trip in a long while and he
was more than happy to put his new fishing rod and reel to the test.
Sandra's cousin, Myrle, was welcomed onboard as a last minute addition
too.
By 1100hrs, we
were on the pontoon at SAFYC Changi and ready to to slip off. The "live"
prawns we purchased the day before seem to be OK, but fading fast. Hence,
we were eager to get out there. Our first fishing spot was just outside
the marina. Local fishermen, claim that the spot was teaming with Finger
Mark Snapper, Thread Fin Salmon and Queenfish.
The time spent
at spot number one harvested 2 Finger Mark Snappers, 2 Breams and a
whole lot of tiny Groupas (a.k.a. Aramugams'). Pleasantly surprising
to us all, was a catch and release of a undersized Coral Trout (or Blue
Spotted Brown Groupa). I say undersized in the hope that other how find
that the caught fish is too small for eating return it safely back to
the sea.
Right on time at
1215hrs, the Black Knight let it rip. It was nice to watch the close
formation flying and hear the roar of the F16s as they flew passed just
above us. The Aussie pilots seem less impressive from where we were
situated though. The biggest plane in the sky that day was the A380
Air Bus.
By 1430hrs, we
decided to hoist anchor and make our way to Johor Shoal to try out bottom
fishing in way of the sand banks. The area was crowed with Sunday Fishermen
and their boats. We decided to anchor closer to Frontier Beacon end
of the sand bank. Din was quite happy to stick to lure casting style
of fishing, while the rest of us continued Apollo style bottom fishing.
By 1445hrs, Justin
hooked an energetic Chao Si (Batfish). The fight was decent. With his
newly purchased light tackle in hand and one could tell that Justin
was happy.
With the weather
starting to turn windy/cloudy and hazy (thanks to the Indonesian forest
fires), we decided to return to the clubhouse. After a hot wash up,
it was back home.
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