Expect the Unexpected at a Singapore Canal

When: 16 April 2015, 12 noon - 1pm
Where: Bird Place, Canal Fishing
Weather: Bright and Sunny
Water Condition: The water is clear and this canal is about 8ft deep. Because of the rain a few days ago, the water level in the canal is very high. The water level is a bit lower as compared to a few days ago.
Rod: Shimano Catana 5.5ft 8-16lb fast action rod
Reel: Shimano AERNOS XT 1000 reel
Line: Unknown brand 15lbs braid line
Leader: SureCatch 20lb Ultimate Leader
Lure: Weighted fly rig using Home-made Lemon Raffia Fly. This rig is also known as spin fly.
Method: Slow Jerk-Retrieve- Slow Jerk-Retrieve
Strike Zone: Near to the side of the canal wall.
Victim aka The Fish: A Peacock Bass and a surprise victim

Comment/Observation:
I have a small window of time to wet my line. I have been thinking of returning to Bird Place to target the Peacock Bass since the success a few days ago (Catch report – Lone Peacock Bass at Canal). This is because that was the first time I have caught such a decent size Peacock Bass at that location and I wanted to know what the bite rate is like.

I started out the session with the same familiar combination of the Rapala Countdown 5cm Gold and followed by the Nils Master 5cm Deep Runner Gold Florescent Red. Both these lures are my favorite as they often got strikes from Peacock Bass at other locations.

After 40 minutes and no hit, I gave up. I think the Peacock bass here are more wary. So I will need to go through my lure arsenal to find other lure or colour that will work at this location.

With little time left, I switched to the weighted Lemon Raffia Fly since it was successful during the last trip. I need to finding out whether the fishes are around. Slow retrieves with long pause were used to keep the fly moving near to the bottom. A moment later, I noticed that a school of Peacock Basses was attacking my fly near to the end of my retrieve.

A few retrieve later yield a decent size Peacock Bass. After a quick Catch-Photo-Release (aka CPR), I continue casting to the last known location of the school. There was no sight of them. They must have moved on.

I continue along the bank hoping to find the school again. I can clearly remember this one cast. After waiting for the fly to sink to the bottom, I started my retrieve. One jerk. Pause. One jerk. Pause. One jerk and a strong tug. And I gave one strong jerk on the rod to set hook. Then fish on. The fight was good as the take was quite a distance away. I was expecting a good size Peacock Bass as the fight was strong. I kept my rod tip down to prevent the Peacock Bass from jumping. I hate it when the Peacock Bass jumped. There is a very good chance that the Peacock Bass can spit the hook out. A while later, the fish surfaced and I noticed that the fish does not have the distinct colour of the Peacock Bass. It is in the Paca colour phase of the Temensis. What an unexpected surprise. I did not know that Temensis existed in these waters. I just found another place to hunt for Temensis. CPR was done and, just nice, it is time to wrap up the session.

I could not wait for the next fishing session to try to hunt for the bigger Temensis.

Please practice Catch and Release. This is the best way to sustain fish stock for the future.

Thanks for reading and Tight Lines.

Picture:

 

The Peacock Bass

The Cichla Temensis

Juvenile Temensis at a Singapore Reservoir

When: 06 April 2015 12 noon to 1pm
Where: Point ABC, Legal ground at a Reservoir
Weather: Sunny and slightly cloudy.
Water Condition: High, Clear water and a little choppy because of windy condition.
Rod: Surecatch Allround 5.5ft 6-14lb fast action rod
Reel: TICA CETUS SB500
Line: Monofilament 10lb line 0.23mm
Leader: SureCatch 20lb Ultimate Leader
Lure: Weighted fly rig using Lemon Raffia Fly
Method: Slow Jerk-Retrieve-Jerk-Retrieve
Strike Zone: The fish will follow in and strike near the rocky shoreline
Victim aka The Fish: Temensis and Peacock Bass

Comment/Observation:
I started with my normal stealth team of Rapala Countdown 5cm Black Gold and Nils Master Floating 5cm Green Back with Yellow body. There was a tug on the Nils Master and I saw that a school of baby temensis was chasing the lure. Changing to Countdown and Nils Master 8cm Floating Green back and Yellow side did not induce them to strike. In fact the more I run the lures passed them, the less interested they become.

I had no choice but to deploy my Peacock Bass sure bite lure which is the weighted fly.  Soon the bites were coming fast and furious. I even got a bonus of a 12” long Temensis.  It was not considered big but I am very happy. Not bad for a short session. I will let the pictures do the talking.

All fishes were released unharmed. Hope they will have the chance to grow up and give better fight in the future.

Please practice Catch and Release. This is the best way to sustain fish stock for the future. 

Pictures:

A bunch of Baby Temmys come to play.

Big Brother wants to join in.

And Big Brother has a really big mouth.

Then Second Brother wants some fun too.

Next comes a bunch of baby Peacock Basses who do not want to be left out.

Lone Peacock Bass At Canal

When: 13 April 2015 around 3pm

Where: Bird Place, Canal Fishing
Weather: Cloudy.
Water Condition: The water is clear and this canal is about 8ft deep. Because of the rain a few days ago, the water level in the canal is very high. In fact the water level is up to the brim of the canal.
Rod: Surecatch AllRound 5.5ft 6-14lb  fast action rod
Reel: TICA CETUS SB500
Line: Monofilament 10lb line 0.22mm
Leader: SureCatch Ultimate Leader 20lbs
Lure: Weighted fly rig using Lemon Raffia Fly
Method: Slow Jerk-Retrieve- Slow Jerk-Retrieve
Strike Zone: Near to the side of the canal wall.
Victim aka The Fish: Peacock Bass

Comment/Observation:
This was a short session. Since the sun is high up in the sky, surface lures will not be effective.  So I started out the session with the Rapala Countdown 5cm Black Gold (to cover the top half of the water column) and followed by the Nils Master 5cm Deep Runner Red with gold glitter (to cover the lower half of the water column). Both the lures did not attract any strike. But the Nils Master did attract the attention of a Peacock Bass that follows the lure for a short distance.

After the Nils Master, I decided to deploy the Lemon Raffia Fly. Since the Nils Master attracted a Peacock Bass, then the PBs should be hunting near to the bottom. So a slow retrieve was used. This would ensure that the fly would be running near to the bottom. While running the fly near to a clump of water weeds, there was a tug but no hook up. After a few more retrieves of the fly in the proximity of the tug, the effort yielded a hook up. The Peacock Bass fought strongly and was landed eventually. Maybe this was the fish that follows the Nils Master in.

The fish was released to fight another day.

This is the tactic that I used often. I have noticed that most of the time the fish will be attracted by action of surface and diving lures, then follows the lure in but does not strike. Sometimes changing to another hard lure will induce the fish to strike. But this does not work all the time. Changing to a fly will normally get the fish.  In this case, I changed to the Lemon Raffia Fly and the result is clear.

Please practice Catch and Release. This is the best way to sustain fish stock for the future. 

Picture:

The Victim

Introduction

I started fishing like some 35 years ago. Although there are times when I stop fishing completely to get on with the various phases in life, but I eventually will go back to fishing.

I felt that fishing is a continuous learning game. Always keep an open mind and observe carefully. You will learn lots of stuff when you observed.

And always ask when you have a question. You will be amazed by the answer that you will get.

The internet is a great place to share and obtain knowledge. I started this blog with the aim of sharing the knowledge that I have gained through my years of fishing and also with the hope that someone may gained from it.

I will start by sharing one of my favorite saying: 
Give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day; 
Teach a man to fish; you will feed him for a lifetime.

I wish you happy fishing and tight lines.

 My first fish caught using lure.