March 08, 2009
As always they came to my place and we left Singapore at around 2am. I always prefer to travel during late hour, other than avoiding traffic jam at the custom, the traffic will be lighter along the journey in Malaysia. One has to be careful though when traveling on the Malaysia road at night, especially on the Jalan Kota Tinggi, you would be greeted by long trailers and timber trucks. At night they are the biggest gangster on the road, handle them with extra precaution.
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| The Air Papan Beach |
It was around 150km for the journey towards Air Papan Beach. We en-routed Jalan Kota Tinggi and after about 100km we reached this town called Jemaluang. Turned right at the junction into Jalan Mersing for around 40km and we arrived at Mersing town. Upon reaching Mersing town we took the second exit at the Mersing Roundabout and continued into Jalan Endau-Mersing for another 11km. A signboard written "Pantai Air Papan" told us to turn right into Jalan Air Papan for 5.5km and at last, we met this beautiful Air Papan Beach.
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| Sunrise at Air Papan Beach |
The time was around 5:30am nearing dawn. We wasted no time and quickly set up our gears and as soon as it was done, we cast the bait out as far as we could into the South China Sea.
An interesting tip I learned from some anglers sometimes ago. I was told that fishes are more active during the first light of the day so you will have a better chance to hook up a fish during that period of time. On numerous occasions I tried to focus on that specific timing but so far I never landed any fish. Anyway, as the Sun gradually appeared at the far east horizon, we enjoyed this magnificent Sun rising scene while waiting for the bite.
The baits that we were using were the left over from the previous trip, they were loosing their freshness and they were tasteless. They remained fully intact when we reeled back to check on them, it was obvious that fishes were not attracted by them and we expected this. Thus, short fishing rods were brought here to hunt for bait fish. We were targeting the Whitting aka Swa Chiam.
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| The Whitting aka Swa Chiam |
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| The Sabiki Rig |
The first light of the day didn't bring us any fish and our activities slowed as the Sun rose high above us. We hung on and endured the blazing heat with the hope of landing a trophy for this trip. Colin and I were almost on the verge of giving up, Kiat Hong as the new comer didn't. He made full use of the remaining bait fishes caught over the night and he even took over Colin's fishing rod.
It was around 10am, Colin and I were hiding underneath this huge shadow under some trees. Somewhere far, around fifty meter Kiat Hong was busy replacing fresher bait on to the hook. My rod has been left unattended for the past thirty minutes, I was about to bring it back and call it a day. I highlighted my intention to Kiat Hong and he requested for one last cast. As he walked up to the shoreline with his fishing rod both Colin and I sarcastically wished him good luck. Kiat Hong didn't respond, he raise up his arm and show us a V sign.
Kiat Hong is not really a keen angler or I should label him as a casual angler, he joined us about few months ago and he was those type of angler that always don't like to do his own baiting and rigging. We were quite annoyed by this behavior and were teasing him all the time. When we saw the Whitting that he cast out landed just somewhere thirty meter of range, we laughed and commented on this poor cast.
"Hey! Are you trying to hunt for Giant Whitting?" Colin was the first to make the remark.
"Oi! Never eat ah?" I shouted
Kiat Hong didn't reply but he showed us his finger. We laughed non-stop and continued the teasing. Suddenly Kiat Hong dashed forward to his fishing rod and grab it, he struck it with some force and the reel went screaming. We were stunned but immediately broke into laughter again as we noticed that he struck it without tightening the drag tension.
"Wow! Hit a monster ah? So fast and so furious... Hahaha!" We just couldn't stop our laughter and when we saw Kiat Hong's silly face, it gets even louder.
"Bloody hell! I thought got fish. Wahahaha...." I almost went out of breath.
"Kan Ni Na lah! Just now the fishing rod really bend down." Kiat Hong was a bit annoyed.
"If really got fish just now, it is now on it's way home lor." Colin added.
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| Who has the last laugh? |
"Grab the spool! Strike it!" I called out to Kiat Hong.
Kiat Hong responded and followed my instruction. Fish On! Colin and I ran over to his side and assisted him. Colin told him to tighten the drag tension and lifted the rod high so the pressure could be applied to the fish. I asked Kiat Hong to strike the fish again as his first strike was weak. The fish was strong and it kept running even after the drag tension was tighten.
The first two minutes was furious but the run slowed down eventually. The fishing line continued to be dragged out at a slower speed, it was almost like inching out. We were quite puzzled and began to wonder if a fish was being hooked up. I was recording the footage using my Nokia C6 and as I did the close up shooting I noticed something...
"Did you tighten the drag tension?" I asked Kiat Hong
"I did! But can not too tight as the fishing line is very weak, it will burst." Kiat Hong told us.
Then, we knew why the spool never stop spinning, the drag tension was too loose. Kiat Hong carried on by telling us that his fishing rod was too weak and it might break as well. Colin and I began to get frustrated, Kiat Hong seems to be dragging his feet to retrieve the fish while we were exposed under the scorching Sun.
"Shall we set up the tent and prepare for a overnight fishing? Colin." I deliberately made the comment in front of Kiat Hong.
"I really scare it might break! Look! My fishing line is very thin." Kiat Hong refused to step up another gear and continued his bla bla bla...
"Let me try." Colin stepped forward and took over the fishing rod.
We were almost certain that a Stingray was being hooked up and as usual the fish started it's usual trick by buried itself into the seabed after some run. Colin held his cool and carefully pulled back the fishing rod, he was applying the pressure onto the Stingray. Bit by bit the drag tension was tighten, we have to be careful as the fishing line was weak. Brute force was not an option and the keyword was patience. This Tug of War ended when the fish panicked and began to move again.
"Keep the tension! Tight line!" I reminded Colin.
The Stingray made it's first run after almost five minutes, it was resting at the seabed and regained some of it's energy. The run was not that strong though. However, it still managed to strip out some lines. The weak fishing line was given a full test but it didn't break, credit goes to the experience angler.
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| 8 kg Stingray |
The Air Papan beach is a very peaceful and relax place for holiday goers as well as anglers. Many Stingrays were reported caught here and I always placed it as one of the top destination to fish. Another place I visited frequently is Desaru. A 12kg Stingray was caught there on my 2011 adventure. Check out the story here!
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Always Tight Line, Hardcore is the Spirit!
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