Malaysia Fishing Trip Series Part 3: The Journey To Mersing Vlog First Half | FishingAdvNHF

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    As planned I left my hometown Pontian to Mersing for the fishing trip, the schedule was delayed as I spent a total of two days at my parent's home doing some chores, on top of that I spent some times to do some shopping. 

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    The day was 6th June 2015 Saturday and at 2:50pm I left Pontian. The rain had just stopped and the sky gradually clears up. Before I set off to Mersing I did some studies based on the Google Map to help me figured out the shortest route. It showed that the Simpang Renggam - Ayer Hitam way is the best and I followed although I was a bit reluctant to. This is due to that route has to pass by Kluang and the journey from Ayer Hitam to Mersing via Jalan Mersing is a killer! The narrow and winding two way lane claimed many lives as I heard. As the matter of fact I did this once in 2008, back then I was still an inexperience driver on Malaysia road. I remembered that it was a raining day and my car's tires was 40% worn. Throughout the whole journey I could feel the moist on both of my hands and feet. I was quite confused as well and I lost my way a couple of times. 

    After stopping by at a Fishing Tackle Shop cum Pet Shop cum Aquarium Shop to get some worms, I began the journey northward. The starting point was en-routing Jalan Pontian towards Batu Pahat direction and halfway through I needed to cut through this small town called Ayer Baloi. From here I continued for some distance on the Jalan Parit Raja and then I got into Jalan Parit Makorsa which at the cross junction I continued onto Jalan Parit Ismail. At the end of that road I drove onto Jalan Besar which leading towards Simpang Rengam. 

    From the beginning of the journey on a few occasion I nearly made the wrong turn, fortunately the mistakes were amended earlier and I was able to arrive at Simpang Renggam without burning off extra gasoline. The rain resumed somewhere on the journey here, one glance at the sky it didn't seems like it was going to stop anytime soon. 

    Simpang Renggam is formed by four town of Renggam, Machap, Layang-Layang and Simpang Renggam itself, the major trade here is plantation and Pineapple is the main product produced. Among the four town, Renggam was made famous when the British Queen Elizabeth II visited the place in the 1950s.

    From here I was supposed to make a turn onto Jalan Batu Pahat and proceeded towards Kluang. Somehow or rather I made a wrong turn and I ended up at this small little old town named Renggam. At that time i wasn't aware about the history of this place but I was attracted by the peaceful and quiet environment. 

    I decided to make a stop here and explored the town on foot. Everything looks old including the buses, I found a Train Station and took some photos. This old town preserved most of the original look from the past, it made me felt like I was walking into the 1970's. 

    Next in part 4 I returned onto the right track and came upon a new highway which offers stunning scenery, stay tuned! 

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Malaysia Fishing Trip Series Part 2: The Pontian Vlog | FishingAdvNHF

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    Before I left for Mersing for the fishing trip I had to help my parent to do some chores. So on the second day I arrived at my hometown Pontian, I went out to pay some bills in the afternoon and after the mission accomplished I went on to search for my lunch.

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  The place I went for my lunch is the new town central, it is created from a plot of reclaimed land and after many years of development, it is now replaced the old town central, the Jalan Taib. Many shops set up at this new town central here and some newer projects are on going when I was there.

    Pontian Kechil which is the town where I was born is located at 1°29'05.2"N 103°23'23.7"E. A small town whereby the livelihood of the residents here are very much depend on the fishing at the Straits of Malacca. The Kukup which's a small fishing village produce some of the best seafood that attracted many seafood lovers to visit the town, mainly from Singapore due to the geographical location which's only 62km from Johor Bahru. Travelers who wish to visit Kukup will have to pass by Pontian Kechil and most of them would stop by and pay a visit to Pontian Kechil and this made my hometown bloomed.  

    I stop by at the seaside as I searching for my lunch and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Pontian Kechil. I recalled those days when I was a carefree little boy who roaming around with my bicycle with my gangs, I remembered once I walked almost one kilometer out towards the sea on the mud, I remembered the old fashioned playground which was built using concrete, I went back to the Chicken Rice Restaurant that I had the chicken rice since I was seven years old, I passed by my primary school... Those were the days.

    After my lunch I went to check out a fishing tackle shop here, I was looking for some big pyramid shape sinkers for my Bait Launcher. I intended to stick to the formula that has proven to be workable, the frozen bait bullet. The shopkeepers here gave me some stone cold faces and their mono tone voice turned me off, initially I though of recording some video here but.... Anyway, I got what I wanted from that shop. Although it is not the pyramid shape that I was looking for. I went on to search for the Spark Plug for the Hangkai 3.5hp Outboard Motor, I was told by many shops that this Spark Plug is quite unique and it is hard to find here. Devastated but I didn't give up, more shops were visited and this included Hardware Stores, Machinery Stores and so on. Finally I barged into this half closed Motorcycle Workshop, it was around 7pm and I found the identical Spark Plug for the Hangkai. 

    I decided to stay at my hometown for another night and the next day after some more rigging at my parent's home I set off to Mersing. At Pontian Besar I dropped by a Aquarium cum Pet Shop cum Fishing Tackle Shop to get some worms as bait, I bought some Umpun aka Pun-Pun or Sarong and some Wawat. 

    I traveled via the route that cut through the center part of Johor state and I came across a few beautiful places which will be featured in the next video. I had use this route in the year of 2006 and after almost 10 years I did it twice in a month!

    Stay tuned for the part 3 which I traveled from Pontian to Mersing via the Ayer Baloi - Simpan Rengam - Rengam - Kluang - Kahang - Mersing route which cut through the center of Johor state.

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Malaysia Fishing Trip Series Part 1: The Journey to Pontian Vlog | FishingAdvNHF

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    During the June school holiday I decided to make a fishing trip to my all time favorite fishing spot at Malaysia, the Pantai Air Papan. My plan was to spend a few days there with all my new and old toy. 

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    This trip had two purposes as I got a Call of Duty from my dad to help him look after his house during his holiday trip to England, I was told to check out the house once in a week as well as to check on the mailbox and pay bills if there's any. On my second hometown visiting I brought along literally all my fishing toys, I intended to spend a night at my parent's house and heading to Mersing on the next day. So off I go onto the journey back to my birth place, my hometown, Pontian, which's located at the state of Johor, West Malaysia.

    Pontian is a fishing province and it is situated at the west coast of Malaysia, facing the Straits of Malacca this town offers some great seafood that attracts many seafood lovers came all the way here, this includes Singaporean. Not far away from the town there is this famous seafood town named Kukup, most part of the houses here are build on the sea and many good seafood restaurants can be found here, it also attracts many tourist to visit, namely Singaporean.

   The journey back home is around 40 minutes drive during the wee hours, which is also my favorite travelling hour. It used to be a two hours driving on this winding and narrow old route. I took my time and had my supper cum breakfast at Johor Bahru, at around 6:30am I reached Pontian.   

   After inspection of the house was done, I found a few bills and a light bulb went burst. I took the ladder and replaced the light bulb, I also help to do some cleaning up on the house. As soon as it was done I was too tired to continue in any activity, had my shower and headed to bed. 

    I slept throughout the day and woke up in the evening. Took my dinner at a nearby Coffee Shop and went back to my parent's house to do some preparation for the up-coming fishing trip. I tied a few rigs and did some final checking on my Hangkai 3.5hp Outboard Motor, this was to ensure that it didn't breakdown in the middle of the sea. Everything seemed fine except I was not please with the Spark Plug and I figured I could get one in local Auto Spare Parts Shop. As it was approaching midnight and I began to feel hungry I decided to call it a day. Went out to a 24/7 Coffee shop to have my supper and I returned for more beauty sleep.

    In part 2, I woke up earlier on the next day, I went to pay the bills and check out a local tackle store, a small tour around of Pontian was made. 

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Singapore Fishing Trip: Stingray caught at Punggol End Night Fishing | FishingAdvNHF

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     It was a warm night and I was sitting in my living room watching some YouTube fishing videos from my 40" Sony LCD TV which's connected to a computer, as my flat don't have a store room all my fishing gears have to be placed at here in the living room, I had made a DIY fishing rod rack to hold all my fishing rods and there's a few cabinets for my accessories and a five level storage rack for my other stuff. They are all kept at the far right corner of the flat and are just beside the TV set.

    I got bored as there was nothing interesting at YouTube, I shifted my focus away from the screen and I saw my rod rack, the 18 years old Loomis & Franklin 10 footer surf casting rod was standing there and the rod tip was trembling, as if there was something over at the other end of the fishing line was nipping my bait...

    "HOLD-ON!!"

    I was still sitting on my PELLO rocking chair which I bought from IKEA and I wasn't at any beach or jetty, what's wrong with me? Hmm... maybe I should just go for some fishing now since I'm not working tomorrow.

    At 9:45pm I was ready to go, packed with two rods, the old timer Loomis & Franklin of course and the formerly PIONEER 13 footer surf casting rod. The PIONEER was given a complete makeover from a 7 guides spinning reel rod to a 12 guides multiplier reel rod, the reel seat was not installed as I bought two reel coaster for adjustable reel seat position, most of the time it was placed at the low rider position. Everything was ready except for one very important element, the bait! Although I had kept some baits in the freezer but I wasn't really keen on using them as the expiring date was long overdued!

    I used to buy prawns or fishes from the supermarket to use as bait, but ever since I bought my 12 footer braided casting net I no longer needed to visit the store. Whenever I needed bait for fishing I went to the jetty or pier which is frequent by small bait fishes, species like Tamban(Herring) and Mullets, with the cast net most of the time I got what I needed. Not far away from my home there is a jetty, I headed straight to that jetty and after a few cast I caught around 30 pieces of Tambans(Herring), now my ammunition were ready for the assault at the Punggol End.

    It was 11:30pm there were quite many people still here at the Punggol End, ever since the government gave this place a new face-lift and turning it into a modern looking full facilities recreation park, it is populated by people from all over the country especially on the weekend and it was given a new name too, Punggol Promenade. A stretch of new shop houses were built here and it was called Punggol Settlement. Many new seafood restaurants were opened here and it reminded you the old glorious days of the 80's where seafood was the main reason for people to come here.

     I chose the far right corner of the park which is right before the canal that separated Conney Island from Punggol End, reason for choosing this place was it is just under 100 meter distance away from the canal mouth which I could easily cast my bait on to there, there is a beach right in front of where I was and if a big fish was hooked up I could go down to the beach to land it, the canal mouth is also the channel that sea water flow during the high and low tide, fishes will be entering the canal follow this channel and exit via it too.

    I set up two rods using two different method of rigging, on the Loomis & Franklin it was rigged with a DIY float system which I make use of the cough medicine plastic bottle as float, this DIY float can be filled up with sea water and depending on how heavy tackle you are using, weigh can be increased or reduced base on the water level inside. I used a three feet 80 lb monofilemant line for the hook line, this was to target the surface predator fishes like Barramundi aka Kim Bak Loh aka Siakap, the Tamban is one of the favorite food for it especially a live one, I had to settle for a dead one as I didn't prepare the air pump to keep them alive. On the PIONEER 13 footer it was paired with the Abu Garcia 6600 C4 which I had modified it with a MonoMag breaking system and a CT cage open frame, The PIONEER was rigged with the standard long snood bottom feeder, a longer four feet 80 lb monofilemant hook line was tied near to the sinker (weight), this method would leave the bait further away from the leader line, greater chances that fishes will not see the leader line when they are taking the bait. Shy species like Stingray will never take your bait if they spotted or felt the leader line, some anglers went a step further by using Fluorocarbon fishing line which is the so called Invisible Leader Line.

    I used a DIY grid sinker on the PIONEER 13 footer and it was cast straight out from the spot, the Loomis & Franklin was cast over to the canal mouth which was on my right hand side. The tide was coming in and the current brought the float into the canal, drag tension of the Surecatch spinning reel which I paired with the Loomis & Franklin was loosen to almost none, this allowed the current to pull the float into the canal though I needed to reel back some lines after the float went too deep, but in this way the bait had covered most part of the canal mouth and increased the chances of getting spotted by fishes. 

    While waiting for the bite I went around with my cast net and caught a few small fishes, they were hooked on as bait immediately as the local breed is always the best bait. High tide tonight was at 2:35am at 2.8m with half moon and it should be a good day for fishing, current was not very strong but I guessed it would pick up some pace when the tide raised towards it's peak. 

    At around 1:30am the rod tip of the Loomis & Franklin dipped a few times, it was not a strong pulled and it was intermittent. I went near to the rod and monitored the action, it continued to pull gently for about two minutes and it stopped. This should be a small fish I thought and I didn't want to waste more time waiting, I lifted up the rod slowly and tighten the drag tension, reeled in some line to get the fishing line tighten and then by holding firm on the spool I lifted the rod tip up further, immediately I felt some jerk from the rod and Yes! it was hooked. Without further delay I pulled the rod upward with some force and velocity to set the hook deeper, as I retrieved the lines it was like almost zero resistance, some light struggle suggesting that not only this fish was small but it was not a aggressive type of fish. What fish was that? might be a Ah Seng aka Catfish aka Ikan Duri, they are everywhere here at Punggol End and they are not really a fighter fish. Here I am referring to the small catfish which is weak when hooked up, it is not the case if this species grown more than one kg. Some times back I was fishing inside the Yishun Army Camp, I had a shock to see my rod tip bent violently and the fishing lines stripped off, it was a 2.5 kg catfish that took my bait and I can assure you that the thrill was almost the same level as you hooked up a Stingray. When this fish which I presumed as a small catfish was lifted up from the sea, to my surprised it was a Stingray, a baby though. Well, it was better than nothing I told myself and after unhooking the baby stingray, it was released back to where it from for it to grow into a monster.

    At around 3am the 13 footer had a hard struck but it stopped when I reached to the rod, I waited for it to strike again patiently but it never happened. After 5 minutes I decided to test out if the fish was hooked just as the baby stingray did, the step was repeated as I lifted up the rod with some fishing lines retrieved to get some tension, slowly I brought the rod upward hoping to get the jerk or pull from the other end, I was quite excited and nervous as judging from that struck, it could be something huge and aggressive, could it be the Mama of that baby stingray? It appeared that my dream catch was not going to happen tonight, nothing could be felt and the bait was still attached on to the hook when I reeled it back, half of the bait was gone though. What a missed!

    For the next two hours the two fishing rods remained unchallenged and as I was getting tired and hungry, I packed up and called it a day. 

    Many biggies were caught here at Punggol end in the past, it used to be a hot bed for Barramundi and most of them were 3kg and above. In recent year the rate of landing one of this is getting slimmer, the construction of the dam could be the main culprit. Having said that occasionally anglers did catch some nice species from this fascinating place, I shall be returning soon to hunt the biggies, till then see you, Punggol End.


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Intex Seahawk II Inflatable Boat Unpack and Set-up | FishingAdvNHF

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    Few years back I was fishing with friends at Punggol, while waiting for the bites we saw a small boat heading towards the Coney Island, which's right opposite of where we were. We watched them docked their boat at the beach and fished on the Coney Island. At that moment we were thinking that how nice it would be if we had a small boat that could bring us there. I even suggested to get some plastic barrels or big piece of Styrofoam and tied them together to ferry us across.

    The idea of getting a boat was not materialized, here in Singapore you are required to have a Power Pleasure Craft Driving License (PPCDL) to drive a boat which have motorized device on it, be it petrol or electric. And the wild idea of having barrels or Styrofoam tying together was abandoned as the current at the canal is quite strong. 

    One day while browsing the Chinese online store AliExpress.com I came across this inflatable raft and was hooked on it, I decided to get one of this for fishing. I spent almost two months reading reviews and watching videos on YouTube to find out which brand and model is best for me, I also needed to consider on the price tag as I was on a tight budget. Various online stores were visited and eventually I found the cheapest seller on Taobao.com, another Chinese online store, but the problem was that they didn't offer international shipping. Coincidentally I heard of my elder sister was coming to visit my parent in Malaysia and she worked in Beijing, China. I made some calls and she agreed to help me brought back the raft and the rest was history.

   I anxiously waited for almost three weeks and when I picked up my sister at the Singapore Changi Airport I finally saw it, it was wrapped nicely with layers of plastic sheets and it was heavier than I expected. My sister complained to me on how difficult it was to bring it here and I felt bad as I told her that the package was not bulky and heavy. After sending my sister across the border to my parent's home in Pontian, I returned to Singapore with full of excitement and was eager to unwrap my new toy.

        I carefully unwrapped the package with a penknife as it was wrapped with thick plastic sheets with strong scotch tapes all over it, no damages were spotted as the carton was well protected by the three pairs of Life Jackets, the seller cleverly placed them at the three sides of the carton and the remaining side was stuffed with lot's of bubble wrap. There you are, the Intex Seahawk II Inflatable Raft which I purchased from the Chinese online store and the three pairs of cheap Life Vest were given as a freebies.  

     When I opened up the carton there was a huge carrying bag which stored the raft, I didn't know the package included the bag and I was thinking of making one. I lifted the bag out from the carton and unzipped the bag, the accessories were bagged separately into thick plastic bag, first item I took out was the hand pump, then a pair of aluminium oars, two set of inflatable seats and two rubber pouches, a Menu was found too with the soft plastic pressure gauge ruler inside and lastly the Seahawk II inflatable raft.

    I lifted out the raft with the help of my daughter and we laid the raft on the floor to check for defects, It turned out to be perfect and the next step was to inflate the raft up to find out if there was any air leakage.
    

    The Intex Seahawk II come with three separate air chambers, one on the each side of the tube and another one is the floor base. The main air chamber (the tube) is using the Boston Valve whereby the floor base is using a normal air valve. There was no indication on how much air pressure could be inputted, according to the Menu it said using the soft plastic pressure gauge ruler to measure the printed marking on the raft, do not over inflate by exceeding the mark. I did some research at some website and many said it depends on the weather and temperature, as in hot summer day the raft should not inflate to it's fullest, on the other hand during cold season or night it can be inflated to it's hardest. Anyway for now my intention was to test for air leakage so it didn't really matter. 

    The Intex company has marketed this raft is capable of fitting in three people and the advertisement has shown a family of three enjoying the raft on a lake, my verdict was this raft is just nice for two adults of my size for fishing. On the inner side of the tube there is some fine print saying the maximum weight it can carry is 200kg, which is also just nice for two 70kg adults and some fishing equipment. So if you are lucky enough to hook up a fish that is 70kg during the fishing trip with this raft you might need to call for help. : P  

    I took out the hand pump and started to inflate the raft, it was quite easy at the initial stage but after the air chamber no.1 was done, I could feel the sourness on my arms and back, my legs were tired too. I regretted for not getting the Electric Air Pump which cost $30, saw on a YouTube clip someone using the Electric pump to get the raft fully inflated in minutes with no sweat and Yes, I was sweating like a cow for your info.

    Me and my daughter took turn to struggle with the hand pump for almost 25 minutes and we finally got it done. The Seahwak II looks solid and spacious, the inflatable flooring is so comfortable and the inflatable cushion seats are nice as well. 

   The Intex Seahawk II Inflatable Raft was left at the corner of my living hall for the next 5 days and it only leaked slightly, the testing and inspection was completed with perfect score and a week later I brought it to the Desaru beach at Johor, West Malaysia for the first real test on the sea.

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Malaysia Fishing trip: Kijal Awana Jetty, Terengganu | FishingAdvNHF

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    On 18th of March 2013 March I kept my promised and made it to the Kijal Jetty at Terengganu again, this is the Jetty I had visited over the last two years (check out the 2011 trip and 2012 trips). I decided to make the Kijal Jetty as my first destination with a plan B in mind if time permitted.

    My journey began at 2am from Singapore and it's a smooth ride through the custom at this hour, as usual I went to Johor Bahru to have my supper first and bought some snacks and drinking water at the petrol station while I doing the fueling up. 

    3:30am I left Johor Bahru to Terengganu with some 500km ahead on the journey, learned from the mistakes I made from the past trip I done some homework and found the shortest and easiest way to get there. 

    I would begin from Johor Bahru and entering the North-South Federal Highway, exiting Yong Peng and en-routed Jalan Labis towards Labis, this Jalan Labis is one of the heavily used route for some huge and heavy cargo trucks to transport goods up north, it was constructed to be wider and straighter and although it only has two lanes, over-taking lanes were added at some parts where the altitude are greater. From Labis via Jalan Segamat I headed towards the famous durian town, Segamat. Followed the Federal Route 1 and continued towards a place named Taman Yayasan, turned right into Lebuhraya Tun Razak and joining Lebuhraya Segamt - Kuantan then from Gambang I needed to enter the East Coast Highway towards Kuala Terengganu direction, I would have to take the exit to a town named Gebeng and then followed on to the Federal Route 3 towards my final destination, Kijal.

The Distance and Travelling time

    With the GPS guided map on my mobilephone I didn't lost my way and I recorded the journey with the Android Apps, My Track. The total distance recorded was 416.42km but in actual it was 464km according to Google Maps, with almost non-stop driving I managed to clock an impressive timing of five hours thirteen minutes and twenty-nine seconds only, it was a huge gain in time and distance compared to the previous trip which I spent almost 8 hours and 700km via Kuala Lumpur.

Fishing Rods and Net

Reels and Gaff

Accessories

Cast Net, Kite lines and Bait Cooler Box

A total of 100 pieces of Tamban (Greenbacks)

    I brought most of my gears and prepared 100 pieces of Tamban (Greenbacks) which I caught from the Woodlands Waterfront Jetty as baits, they were packed separately into 10 packets with 10 pieces each.

Fueling up

Ammunition ready!

     Making sure the petrol tank was filled up and had the ammunition (Four packets of cigarettes and homemade coffee in the flask) ready as there's quite a distance ahead for the journey. I en-route the North-South Federal Highway of Malaysia towards Yong Peng and hopefully I wouldn't get lost.

On the North-South Federal Hughway of West Malaysia

Misty night near the Machap

Coffee break at Machap Rest Area

       Had my first "Renggit White Coffee" break at the Machap Rest Area, cold and quiet night and the coffee was extremely nice, it's my energy booster. 

Exiting to Yong Peng

Yong Peng Town

    I had traveled some 150km and it was around 5:30am, tired body and getting hungry I made another stop here at Yong Peng trying to find some food.

It look like a ghost town

On the street at Yong Peng

    It was a cold and misty night on the street of Yong Peng and I couldn't find any shop that was open, due to the nature's call and the street was empty, I took a leak near to the drain.... : P

On the road again

Pitch dark on the Jalan Labis

Towards Lebuhraya Segamat - Kuantan

   Continued my journey into the Pahang state, it was around 7am, been driving continuously for almost 200km, needed another break soon.

Found a Malay Eating house at Gambang

Super nice Nasi Lemak

   Pulled over at Gambang as my energy level was at the red bar, found this Malay Eating House opposite the University Malaysia Pahang. The hot steamy coconut milk rice was so delicious and the samba (Chili paste) was marvelous, I had two plates of it as the serving portion was so little.

This Over-head bridge is leading to the University

The University Malaysia Pahang

    The University is just right across the MEC Highway from where I was, this highway will meet the East Coast Highway at the north end.

The Journey continued on the MCE

Beautiful landscape 

 I entered the East Coast Highway which will lead me to Terengganu after replenishing my energy, another 120km to go.

Breath taking scenery

    Clear blue sky with literally no clouds, stretches of mountain at the far side surrounded by greenery, warm morning sun beaming on this part of the earth, the scenery and weather was a feast for your sight.

Towards the final destination

    The journey was a smooth ride as the road was mostly unoccupied and the throttle of my car was fully open, in less than an hour I was at the small lane leading to the Kijal Jetty.

Narrow lane from the main road

Almost there, turn left from here

    As my car slowly approaching towards the Kijal beach from the wind down window I could hear the roaring of the wave, the smell of the mighty South China Sea was getting stronger too.

The beach 

Perfect weather

My humble Kia Rio 1.6L

Can you see it?

There you are, the Kijal Jetty

   The jetty is still there, fences on the left side of the jetty showed sign of wearing off, guessed the ranger that guarded the place didn't bother to maintain it, rubbish was noticeable everywhere, it was cleaner when I visited here last year and here she is, the Kijal Jetty, sitting right between the Kijal beach and the South China Sea, enduring the onslaught from the strong wave days and nights.

The surging wave

Stunning view

Beautiful as always

On the Kijal Jetty

      Strong current from the deeper part of the sea pushed the wave towards the shore, washed the beach and bulldozed the sand inward, the retrieving wave formed a layer of white foam, mixed with greenish-blue sea water and contrasting the clear blue sky.

The wave

NorthernHardcoreFisherman at Kijal Jetty

    This was My third visit to the Kijal Jetty and I still feel great, the weather was at it's best this year although it's a bit hot, I still remember when I was here last year the sky was full of dark cloud and the gusty wind was stirring the sea, it created some huge wave which rocks the jetty.

Platform at the end of the jetty

It's wearing off

    The metal railings were slowly fading away due to the corrosion from the sea water, will they be here when I returned in few years later?

Stairway to Heaven?

The sea at it's clearest I ever see

    Right at the platform there are two staircases on both side leading down to the sea, it will be useful if huge fish is being caught.

Angler on the edge

    There is another smaller platform extending out further and is joined by a huge metal pipe, not sure what it is built for but anglers take advantage of it to launch their baits from there. From where I stood I did see a few large shadows roaming underneath it, couldn't tell what fishes were they though.Anglers walked across to that platform via the huge pipe, this guy was jigging for Selar (Yellowtail Scad) using the Sabaki hook set, was told there's tons of them roaming near the jetty.

Superb weather

NorthernHardcoreFisherman

The Kitchen

    Returned to my car and set up the portable stove to boil some water, I needed a "Renggit White Coffee"! As for my lunch I cooked 2 packets of "Maggi" curry instant noodles with two eggs added, Yummy!

"Maggi" curry instant noodles with two eggs

Join me?

Relaxing

    Although it was unhealthy, I was very much enjoying a puff after the meal with my favorite "Renggit White Coffee", The end season North-East monsoon breeze was gently caressing me, the splashing sound of the wave relaxed me. Man, this is paradise!

Clear blue sky

    I was so reluctant to move away from the chair and I dozed off for half an hour on that chair, while I was away the jetty slowly occupied by some anglers and they even parked their motorcycles on to the jetty. I decided not to join in the crowds and set-up my fishing rod on the beach right beside the jetty. I figured that maybe I would landed some monsters which came near to the beach for food.

Surecatch 13 footer 

Loomis & Franklin 10 footer

    I set up the Surecatch 13 footer and the Loomis & Franklin 10 footer fishing rods, the Surecatch was rigged with a Apollo Rig using size no. 1/0 J-hooks to target on bait fish, my old timer Loomis & Franklin was rigged with a long snood bottom feeder rig which targeted on the Stingray.

Waiting game

    It was approaching evening and the Sun slowly fading away at my back, this was the golden timing to hook up some fishes and I patiently sat on the chair hoping to see one of my rod tip would dip. I could see the anglers on the jetty were leaving and very soon the jetty was empty again. 

    Darkness arrived sooner than I could thought of, luckily I was well prepared with the headlight and a portable lamp, I continued for another hour on the beach and I gave up after nothing was caught here, I shifted onto the jetty for the second assault.

Loomis & Franklin on the Jetty

Surecatch on the jetty

    The pair were brought onto the jetty and I made some changes on the rigging, as the rod holders were tied vertically onto the railing and the rods were almost 90 degree straight up, the angle of the lines were greater too. I replaced a long snood top feeder rig on the Surecatch as for the Loomis & Franklin it was switched to an one up and one down rig. It is deeper here and the current is stronger as well so the leader was increased by one foot to five feet, hook line remained the same at four feet and the weight was increased to a size 6 instead of size 4 that I used on the beach. As I didn't manage to hook up any bait fish from the beach, I had to stick to my Tamban (Greenbacks) that I brought from home.

    It was getting darker and colder here with the wind picked up a few knots and the sea started to get choppy, still no sign of fish bite and I had been fishing for almost four hours. As I looked up to the sky I only managed to spot a few stars and the moon was so shy that she only shown a quarter of her face. Yes! it was a crescent moon which the night would be darker, fishes likes to lurk around in the darker spot hunting for food, someone ever told me during this day chances of hooking up a monster fish is always greater.

Coffee break on the Jetty

    While waiting for the fishes some guys from the nearby Awana Kijal Resort paid me a visit and they were not here to fish, probably they were just too bored at the resort or just having a stroll after dinner. I guessed it was my portable lamp that had attracted their attention and I was bombarded with almost 30 minutes of Q&A, (i.e. Where you come from? Why you fish alone? Any fish caught? Bla...bla...bla....) After they left I was almost exhausted from the drama and soon after that another intruder came knocking on my door, the sleeping bugs! It's time for an Energy Booster, the "Renggit White Coffee".

Call it a day

    It was five minutes before midnight and I was overtaken by the tiredness and hunger, I packed my gears and called it a day. During the past when I was out somewhere for fishing I always accommodated myself in my car and didn't really had a good rest. This year I decided to give myself a better treatment by getting a hotel and have a full rest. Most of the accommodation at Kijal here are resorts hotels and Awana Kijal Resort cost almost M$400 a night, I was not ready to part with that amount of money for a few hours of rest. I drove around the area searching for budget hotel and after the fifth hotel was not available I gave up and headed towards Kemaman hoping to get a nice cheap room there, I had my plan B which was sleeping in my car again in mind if Kemaman had nothing to offer.

    After few rounds at the Kemaman town area the lucky me managed to find this hotel which's not fully booked, I was left with no other alternative but to pay a price of M$88.20 for the twin sharing room as it was the only room left. I went straight up to the room and had a nice long shower, it was more than 24 hours since I last bathed, Yucks! I stink like a rotten fish.

Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng

Round 2: Roti Prata

Very nice curry

    After the shower I went to a Indian Eating House nearby to fix my hungry stomach, as I was starving I ordered a Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng (Coconut Milk Rice with Fried Chicken) and a Limao Ais (Ice Cold Lemonade), I didn't stop there and I had one Roti Prata Kosong (Plain Indian Pan Cake) and one Roti Prata Telur Bawang (Indian Pan Cake with Egg & Onions) with another glass of Limao Ais, another piece of fried chicken was added to the list. 

The Budget Hotel

Twin Sharing Room

     Although this was not a fancy five star hotel but I would gave it a three and a half star rating, the room was very neat and clean with almost new furnishing, bathroom was clean as well with no yellowish stain spotted, it had a working water heater and the water pressure was strong, I ever stayed in hotels that were having broken chairs, malfunction water heater which the water was like dripping off from the sprinkle. The most important element of a hotel room is the bed, I was very satisfied as it was soft and didn't smell bad, bed sheet was so clean and it looked brand new, best part of it, I had two soft bed to choose from.

Fully charged

Open car park next to the Hotel

Kemaman

    A good rest for me and I was fully charged for the next stage, my plan today was to explore the Kemaman but first and foremost I needed some food. The hotel did not have their own private car park and I was told to parked my car at the empty plot just beside it, fortunately my car survived the night without any window broken. The Kemaman town center is just a stone throw away from where I was, some Chinese Eatery were spotted there last night when I searching for room, I decided to get myself a Chinese lunch for today.

Roasted Chicken Rice with add-om Roasted Pork

   I am not very fussy on food and it is especially true when I was on the fishing trip, my top priority was to fill up the stomach and the choice of food should be able to provide me with high energy. I stopped at the first eatery I spotted and made a quick decision to order this Hainanese Roasted Chicken Rice with add-on Roasted Pork and extra rice, it was going to be a long day ahead and I needed plenty of carbo and protein.

Exploring new spot

Good spot? Any fishes there?

Under construction

Tired NorthernHardcoreFisherman

    The lunch was fulfilling and I was ready to go, hit on to the road again and saw this bridge on the Kemaman River, as I was passing by I saw a unblock lane beside the bridge which leading towards the river bank. I made a U-turn and went underneath the bridge via the narrow lane, this could be the breeding ground for barramundi aka Kim Bak Lor aka Siakap.

   Although it looked promising I didn't set up any fishing rod to test out the water, it could be the carbohydrate inside the chicken rice or I wasn't really fully recovered from the travelling yesterday I was feeling tired and sleepy. I went back to my car and took a short nap under this shady spot.

NorthernHardcoreFisherman in the car

    No time to loose! as Buzz Lightyear always quote in the Toy Story, after a short thirty minutes rest I returned to the main road again heading back to the Kijal jetty, decided to focus on the jetty for this trip and the weather was at it's best this year, Yeah! got to hook up some fishes today!

Towards Kijal

Nice weather

    I did have a plan initially to do some exploring on the far northern side on the state of Terengganu and might venture into the state of Kelantan as well, during the 2011 and 2012 trips I explored many places in Pahang and Terengganu which leading to the encountered of the Kijal jetty. Well, I still can go with that plan after the Kijal jetty, it is around 20km away from Kemaman and it took less than thirty minutes to reach there. 

Kijal Jetty again!

Gearing up

    It's around 1130am and the scorching sun was approaching to the center of the sky, I was backed at the Kijal jetty and not a single soul was spotted. I unloaded most of my gears for a full day assault on the jetty.

Transporting the gears

Round 2

It was super hot

    It took me two separate trips to transport all my gears on to the jetty and I changed my outfit thrice, it was really hot on the jetty.

Taking a break

NorthernHardcoreFisherman under the hot sun

     It took me almost an hours to bring up all my gears on to the jetty and I started to get disorientated as the scorching sun was trying to defeat me with it's heat.

Towards the end of the jetty

Finally it is done!

    The first thing I did was to set up the huge beach umbrella that I brought, it was secure on to the rusty railing using some zip tie, I rested on the chair underneath the umbrella for fifteen minutes to get some recovery, this was tedious!

Setting up the umbrella

Recovery in process    

Study the Sea

     I went up to the edge to check out the area and I found that the tide was on the rising, current was not very strong and the wind was weak. I drawn out a plan to had two rods set-up on the platform, the two of them would be attacking the left and the right respectively.

Unleashing the beast

The Loomis & Franklin 10 footer Spinning Rod

     I re-used the rig from yesterday night as the depth here is greater and the current would pick up the pace very soon as the tide was on the rising. The timing was almost perfect and hopefully I would land some biggie today. 

Assaulting the South China Sea

    While waiting for the first action I brought out my 12 feet braided casting net and tossed around the jetty, hoping to get some fresh baits from the local water, the fresh and local bait fish is always the best.

Here we go!

Let's get some baits!

Where's the baits?

The other side of the jetty

    It's quite bizarre that after numerous attempts from the end to the middle of the jetty I didn't manage to net any fish, I gave up trying after almost two hours of casting and focused on my rods instead, the tide raised to it's peak and still no sign of stripping fishing lines from my reels.

      In the afternoon groups of anglers came and some brought along family with children running and chasing around the jetty, motorcycles occupied part of the platform made the already small place became crammed, I figured that maybe it's time for me to leave.

     I started packing my stuff and while I was doing that, an angler came forward and ask, "Bang, going back already?"

    "Ya, no fish leh." I smiled back

    "Bang from where?" he asked

     Seriously? I was interrogated by the groups of hippies last night and now... again?!

    "I from Singapore, but my kampung is in Pontian, Johor." I replied him anyway

    "Oh! I from Johor too, Muar is my hometown." he seems like very excited on finding someone from the same state. Hmm... he was quite friendly though, maybe I could find out more from him about this place. Although I had been here for the third times but basically I had zero info on this jetty, anglers who frequented this place should know more on the species that were hooked up and the best season or timing.

    "Bang stay in Kijal here? always fish here?" haha, it's my turn to bombard him with questions

    "I stay at Kemaman, work at a oil company here. During my offday I will come here." the man said

    "I see, so how's the catch here? I heard others told me here got many monster fishes, true?"

    He grinned and said, "Ya, many biggies were caught here, I saw it with my own eyes!"

    "But I never had the chance to catch one yet, hahaha..." he added

    We chat for quite awhile and his friends joined in, one of them who's a local here told me that during the Sotong (Squid) season, many fishes came near the jetty and he caught a GT (Giant Treavally) weighed 6kg here. The season began from June to September according to him, which's quite the same at my kampung, Pontian, during the June - September Squid Season many Threadfin were caught there.

    Most of the angles left before the sun set and headed home for dinner, I done my packing and slowly brought back all my gears to my car, had a dry shower here and changed into new set of clothing. I left the jetty at around 8pm and after 3 nights and 2 days I was ready to go home.

The same old Malay Eatery

The same old food

    On the journey back home I returned to this Malay eatery to have my dinner. Yes! it's the same eatery that I came in 2011 and 2012, still serving the same Nasi Goreng Ayam. Wait for me Terengganu, I will return!

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