Malaysia Fishing Trip: Fishing Expedition 2012 Pt 5, Star Cruise Jetty, Kijal | FishingAdvNHF ~ Fishing Adventure of NorthernHardcoreFisherman

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Finally, I reached the Kijal Jetty, a great fishing spot that I first discovered in 2011 trip. I had traveled almost six hundred kilometer in distance over the last two days and crossing through many towns over three states of Malaysia. Along the journey I took a few breaks and a failed attempt on the Kite Fishing at Chendor, Pahang due to the weak wind.

Although I had came here knowing that the weather was going to be rough, I didn't anticipate that it was this worst. When me and my car inched closer to the jetty, the roaring of the rough wave could be heard from miles away. Droplets were visible on the car windscreen and it was mixed with some fine sands, it caused some squeaking sound when the wipers were trying hard to sweep them away. I could feel that my car was facing some resistance and I had to accelerate slightly. Pacy wind penetrated through my opened car windows and it was moisten, it forcing me to wind up the car windows as I do not want my car's upholstery to get damped.

Extra effort was needed to push open my car's door as this mighty strong monsoon wind was trying to stop me from getting out. The thundering sound of the wave was getting louder as I walked towards the jetty, the attempt by the Mother Nature to intimidate me from getting up close was failed. I got more excited and was eager to find out how was it felt on the jetty.

When I first visited this place in 2011 I was told by a ranger (he claimed) that the beach behind those wooden fences was restricted to the public, he told me it's a protected area for the Greenback Turtles. In the later date I found out that this is not a protected area for the turtles, it is under the management of the Awana Kijal Resort and it is open only for their guests. The resort is situated at the far end of the beach.

As I stepped on to the jetty, trembling could be felt from my feet. The assault of the mighty wave seems like wanting to tear this jetty apart, it pounded as hard as it could to the jetty, splashing up sea water onto it and I bet that it was just the matter of time for this jetty to surrender to this onslaught.

The wave retreated to the South China Sea almost simultaneously after the kinetic force was transferred onto the beach, it left behind a layer of white foamy air bubbles on the surface of the sea. The bashing of the wave pushed the sands to the higher ground and at the same time brought back some back to the sea. In the process, beach worms that were hidden underneath the sand were dug out and dragged into the sea where bunch of eagerly waiting hungry predators would swallow them in split second.

This scene was unthinkable when I was here in 2011, back then the sea was calm and clear, sunny through the whole day. The ironic part is when I did the third long distance trip to here on the same month in 2013, a combination of two scenario which was rough on the first day and completely calm on the next. I used to hear some fishermen mentioned how unpredictable the ocean is, especially this South China Sea and I couldn't agree more as I myself had encountered this sudden change of weather and sea condition over my past fishing journey. In recent day I began to do some fishing with my newly acquired Intex Seahawk II Inflatable Boat, I was forced to retreat at many occasion as the sea condition turned with the blink of the eyes.

I was not alone here as these local boys came onto the jetty with their motorcycles. I figured that I should approach them for some information about this place.

"Hi! You guys are locals?" I walked over to them and asked

"Ya! Bang.(Brother) We are from nearby village." They smiled at me

"Bang, why you come here?" They seems curious to see me alone here, especially a Chinese guy.

"Was planning to do some fishing here, but the condition seems quite bad." I told them

"Ya, we fish here as well. But today doesn't seems like a good day, we are quite surprise by this rough condition as well." One of the slim boy said

"Bang, you should come here during the June to September season, it is the Squid season and hundred of thousands of squids can be spotted around here. During that period of time many good fishes will come close for the squid." He continued

"Ya, Bang, I caught a Giant Trevalley last season, weighing fifteen kilogram! I fought with it for almost two hours!" Another boy added.

Great information! I should change the timing of coming here next year. I was a bit skeptical about the Giant Trevally could be caught here at that moment. As the matter of fact, recently I did read some post on the social media that many Giant Trevallys were caught around this area here, maybe...

The gang left the jetty for dinner and I went up to the edge of the jetty to enjoy this rare encounter with the Mother Nature.

During the third visit here in 2013 I saw anglers walked over to that small platform, they were jigging for the Yellowtail Scad which came in groups. Tons of them were hooked up but I didn't join in the fun as that small platform was crowded with five anglers.

I went back to my car and decided to have another rest and hope that the sea might be calmer when I was awaken. At around 9pm and I woke up surrounded by the darkness. With the help of my portable stove and portable lamp I made myself a cup of "Renggit White Coffee", I needed this to stay awake for the night fishing.

It was extremely quiet comparing to just now, the sea was calmer and the wind had slowed down. After the coffee break I set up my Loomis & Franklin 10 footer fishing rod and paired with the Shimano Aero Symetre 4000 Spinning Reel, the rig used was a bottom feeder rig with a size 3/0 J-Hook. I hooked up the frozen squid that I bought from the NTUC Supermarket in Singapore and tossed it into the South China Sea from the jetty.

It was five minutes to twelve o'clock, it started to get windy and the sea became choppy, wave started to swell higher and eventually splashing up the sea water onto the jetty. I was a bit reluctant to leave the place as this seems like the perfect moment of hooking up some biggies, I hung on although I was drenched by the splashing sea water. But soon after I was forced to pack up as I began to feel the trembling of the jetty, it was pretty scaring as I only had a head lamp in this pitch dark atmosphere, I couldn't see anything that was coming from the sea and an unnoticed huge wave could just swept me into the sea.