IntroductionThis will a guide based on my personal experiences with Changi Offshore. Feel free to PM me any FAQs and i will try my best to help you. This guide may not be fool proof so don't hold me responsible for any lost fish! =p
Brief Schedule for the dayMost Changi boatmans will follow this schedule. Something like the below:
8am--------------Departure from Changi Jetty
8am-830am--------Buying of live prawns from floating fish farm/Top-up fuel
830am-530pm------Travelling to fishing spots/fishing
6pm onwards------Back at Changi Jetty
Cost and AccomodationNormally a bumboat from Changi can fit at least 8 people and a max of 12 people. However, not all the bumboats are of the same size and it is advisable that you check with your boatman first.
The cost of booking a boat differs from each boatman and they might have extra charges for weekends/holidays so do check with your boatman. The pricing will stand at around as low as $220 to $400 for a good days fishing. Expect the charges to go up frequently as DIESEL prices are not really going down these days.
Find out more on the cost here!
Food, Toilet etcMy current knowledge is that no boatman from Changi will provide food for you so you have to get your own food for the trip. If you never bring your own food and steal your fishing mate's food, then you will get flamed.
Most of the bumboats that bring you out for fishing now have built in toilets. However they are not really that clean so it's always to leave your shit onshore! Anyway not all boats have toilets too so check with your boatman.
There will be an icebox provided by the boatman to store your catch so don't worry. If there isn't one, then flame your boatman.
The FishesThe common fishes of Changi waters are Snappers, Groupers, Stingrays, Barrumandis, Parrots, Grunters, Chermins, Queenfish, Giant Herrings , Sweetlips etc...
The type of fishes you encounter depend on tide, current and season...Bear this in mind...Certain current will be better for certain fish...
The SpotsA brief break up of the spots your boatman might bring you to:
1. Fisherman's Bank- Wide Lagoon like area with little or no current. You can use running sinkers here.
2. Fishing beside Metal Structures- Use heavy rods here and strong drag
3. Outside Changi Navel Base waters- Boatman is going for Chermins. Patience is your greatest weapon here.
4. Near breakwaters(Tekong, Hyundai)- High chance of Kims.
5. Near Tekong kelong- High chance of Snappers and Sangoat
6. Near Ubin below sunken kelongs- High chance of Snappers and Sangoat
7. Outside Hyundai CP7 shipping channels- High chance of Guhood, Gaos
8. Near Pengarang waters
9. Near fish farms close to mangrove nearing malaysia
TackleNormally i use 10-20lbs tackle. Most of the time, it is adequate enough but but sometimes you never know and you might get bullied by a big fish. I remembered sometime back, my friend was using a PE4 setup and he hooked onto a one way ticket. At a max drag of 10kg, the fish still ran out and snagged itself on pillars!
In general your tackle should look like this:
Rod: FAST ACTION 5ft-6ft PE 1-3 or even PE 2-4
Reel:Minimum 2500 Shimano sized reel
Main Line:12-20lbs/30-40lbs
Leader:20-30lbs Dupont +10lbs for FC
Sinker sizes: Mostly will use sizes 2-5 but bring along some big ones too just in case.A fast action rod is very important as there will be ALOT of drifting in Changi boat fishing. If you have a slow action rod and react slow... You might find yourself cursing and swearing when you drift pass a coral/rocky area. This is because a slow action rod will not detect the "bounce" of rocks and hence, you can't lift up your sinker in time... As a result, your sinker will get stuck on the rocks/coral...
This is of course not a must do setup. I have seen before setups of 6-14lbs rod with 10lbs line landing Chermins! This is because sometimes, there might be no current at all and using a light rod will be sufficient as you do not need to use big sinkers.
But be advised though! Sometimes if you encounter strong currents, your small rod might not be able to take the load. I have used up to size 10 in Changi waters so far. Also, if you're using braided line instead of mono line, expect to use a sinker size of +2 compared to your peers who use mono line. This is because braided lines tends to "float" and drift out more easily as it is lighter.
Equipment ManagementAs this is an offshore trip, ALWAYS remember to wash your reel with warm tap water after the trip. During offshore trips, your reel will be more prone to the elements as the saltwater(on your reel) will be dried by the strong sun. This will cause the salt to form on your reel more quickly... So it is important that you wash your reel and oil if after a few trips.
If you are using mono lines for your trips, be sure to CHANGE the line every 2-3 trips as the strong sunlight and saltwater will damage your line and make it brittle. Your line may also suffer nicks and weak spots due to stretching or fishing at pillars.
If you are using braided line, wash the line and check for nicks(abrasion) in the line. Nicks at the mid part of your line are very common when fishing at pillars. If there are nicks, cut off your line until there is no more nicks.
All these steps are very important if you want to avoid losing the "big" one when fishing offshore...
RigsThe usual apollo/paternoster rig or single hooked apollo with a longer snood should suffice. You can even try ranggongs/running sinker rigs if you wish. The normal practice is that the anglers use 1 hook per rig. This is so that the live prawns can last throughout the day. MOST IMPORTANT HINT here is to make sure your rig is at the bottom...And not dangling around the mid waters.
For brand/type of leader used... FC Leader is good for targetting shy fish like Chermin/Queenie/Threadfin Salmon. A good 30-40lbs would suffice. For Dupont line, get 20-30lbs will do. Its up to individual on what type to get. For Rang-Gongs, get Gu Gak or just the straw tubing type. Metal type not advisable. Rang-Gongs as a whole are not advisable to be used as alot of drifting will be done and boat will be moving alot. Chances are that your rang-gong will get messed up alot.
BaitsNormally, the boatman will bring you to the fish farm which is around 20-30minutes away from Changi Jetty to get live prawns which is $50 per 1.5kg. It is highly advisable you buy the prawns from the farm as they are of uniform size and you can choose what sizes you want(Small, Medium, Big). This is unlike tackle shops in which you might find tiny or huge prawns in your bait well. However, please request not to be given SOFT SHELLED PRAWNS a.k.a Ruan Ke Xia. These prawns die very fast...
You can also bring other bait such as dead prawn meat, sotong or fish meat if you want but to me, the most effective bait for day fishing is stilll live prawn because it can virtually catch ANYTHING under the sun.
Parking and DriftingFor me, very simple... For Parking(Anchor), If current is strong and consistent, i will probably use rang-gong with longer leader. If you are fishing at back of boat, how long also can. But front of boat remember to use shorter leader and bigger sinkers. Bait presentation will be excellent with a rangong and long leader.
For drifting, i avoid rang-gongs and go for the conventional apollo. The shorter snood length means less tangling of the lines. Drifting wise, its always good for you to hold on to the rod as you never know when you guys might drift over a rocky area. If you encounter some rocks, try to "bounce" on the rocks and lift your rod immediatley if you feel its dangerous(I.E alot of rocks). Look out for fish too!
Going ArtificialWant to lure? Jig? Good news there will be many spots that you can try out in Changi Offshore trips but these will be determined by the current because only certain spots can be visited with respect to the current. Sometimes you will be visiting metal structures/buoys(Jigging/Deep Diver), Tekong breakwaters(Luring) or deep blue waters like Changi Naval Base area(Jigging) and Sandy lagoon area(Luring) with corals/rocky outcrops.
So if you are a luring fanatic... Bring along some Spoons/Jigs/Deep Divers/Shallow Runners for different purposes. You never know...
Note that you can buy SALTWATER Ice at the fish farm for a good price of $2.50 a huge block.
