Threadfin Salmon (Kurau) on Changi Vincent's Boat!

Although I have lost count if how many times I went offshore fishing at Changi, nothing is as sweet and rare as seeing a Kurau landed right before your eyes. And a beautiful one at that! Kelvin landed this beauty of a fish on relatively light offshore tackle and to see that golden sheen on the fish was unreal.

It wasn't a day with much quantity but very good sizes! Very happy for the guys that they managed to score some as we have lost some monsters during our previous trips.

Weighed:

Kurau - 5.5kg

Barramundi - 4kg

I went home, gutted and scaled the barramundi and steamed the slices the very next day.

Recipe to steam for 5 minutes:

Some ginger slices

Rock sugar water

Light soy sauce

Pepper

Minced garlic

Fun day with Changi Offshore Ah Fong

Been terribly busy these days with career and family so much that fishing isn't really important anymore. But... that's what all anglers say until they hooked one. Recently has been a tough time for me because I've been outwitted by the fishes on multiple occasions.

Today though no such incidents as the big ones weren't biting but I managed to score a decent sized grunter (guhood) on one of David's (Dactylus) new prototype jigs. I barely jigged 30 minutes with it and I was rewarded! It's a very effective jig and I reckon it will be a big hit - that's a respectable promotion for you.

Anyway, the usual Changi Offshore suspects were caught... not the best trip according to Ah Fong's standard catches this week but still great fun. Let's hope we can continue the fishing in Singapore and not face another lock-down...

Brilliant Guhood! See that jig there?

Love the shimmer of this fish!

David caught a 4lb flattie!

A whopper flathead for Singapore waters 

Mangrove jack lor...

Another Jack... 

A gao by david on his tournament tenyas

EK by KY

Gao by Weiyee whom caught the most gaos today!

Decent table sized fish!

Changi Offshore Boat Fishing 2020 Update

A day of good harvest!

It's been a long time since I went to fish offshore in Changi and it's one of the most unique places to do offshore at. An entire culture and way of doing things permeates the fishing here as many of the wooden bumboat were relocated Pulau Ubin and or Pulau Tekong. Fishing is in their way of life! So I wasn't concerned we were going with a relatively unknown boatman today and I had a gut feel that he wouldn't disappoint.

Offshore in Changi is also one of those weird ones because of how much the habitat has changed and how the prevalence of fish farming and religious fish release have contributed to a rather screwed up (in my opinion) ecosystem.

When I first fished Changi as a kid about 20 years ago, the common fishes were not groupers or snappers. In fact they were rather prized. The common fishes then included sweet lips, parrot fish, stargazers, miss wong, tee ka chias, arumugam and so on. In fact, certain trip you can get even 50 pieces of arumugam. This was probably the indication of healthy reefs. Now? Most of the fishes are groupers and snappers. Most folks don't see it as a bad thing but look beneath the surface and you will see many of the fish aren't looking healthy and look like farmed fish or the offspring of farmed fish. Good or bad? I don't know... because the fishing is good right? Another story for another day...

A very nice red snapper. Look at that radiance! Would we still get to see this kind of fish in the future?

Well this trip was good and we all had fun. In fact, really grateful to catch two of the biggest groupers and the biggest snapper. No luck for awhile now!

This 3kg specimen really gave me a good workout on light gear!

Doesn't look like a wild fish but certainly put up a good fight and I had to drag it out from the coral

Another relatively good sized one that fought well

The one thing I have learned in Changi Offshore is that you never get the better of it. I got reefed on an unknown fish that was taken on 8 inch kelong sotong. It took out line although I was almost at full drag. The boat even had to chase the fish as it got stuck in rocks twice before it bust me off. Suspect? Hybrid Grouper. Another feature of modern day offshore fishing in Changi waters...

Beautiful fried Mangrove Jack

And of course... I wasted no time in dispatching the mangrove jack!

Swa Chiam Fishing with Prince of Peace Fishing Charters Singapore

A half day session which was blessed

It's prime time for fishing in Singapore now. Everyone is having decent catches after the circuit breaker lifted and after a few months of zero business, it is really good to see the fishing community raring to go again. If this had went on any longer, I'm sure many tackle shops and fishing charters would have closed down.

Not much fishing for me though because of work but that didn't stop me from grabbing a kaki or two who had a thing for light baiting game. Our target? We were going for something less conventional than your usual species. The fat fat swa chiams (pasir pasir, sand whiting) that Captain Jeff (Prince of Peace Fishing Charters) found for us were good fun and they were all very very big. You can't really see from the picture but all 97 pieces were almost the same length as our feet.

Almost all of them were this size!

Double hook up!

Fishing conditions are simple. In fact, if you pay my wages for a day, I would be glad to guide for these sort of trips. 1m to 3m of water. Sabiki rigs. Cut baits. Dropping the line or doing a simple cast towards the shore. Bites were almost instantaneous and when we were sick of the swa chiams, Jeff brought us to cast for some palm sized golden snappers which were a delight for the pot! There is much criticism now in bringing back small fishes but if you know your stuff, you would also know that bringing back big fishes do harm the environment and there is much evidence now that you should leave the big ones alone and bring back the small ones.

Well, cheem things aside, just not being wasteful is good enough for me. The small fish that I take I usually would fry as a side dish or use to cook soup. The giant herring will be used for crab bait or deep fried. This way, I do not need to go to the market to source for these things. This leads to a smaller carbon foot print.

Beautiful firm flesh!

Perfect size for a meal for two

The snappers were slightly harder to catch as they were finicky eaters and took small live prawns. But we managed a few! And then when the bite stopped... we went back to our swa chiam friends. If you want to fish swa chiams, downgoing will be the ideal time to fish. In fact, a few sickle fish (chao xi) also visited us and we had great fun on small sabiki rigs.

The snappers were there!

Sickle fish on sabiki. Shiok!

Sabiki rigs, size 0.5 sinker, 2m water. Where to find?! Give Jeff a call at +65 9742 8579 if you want to try. You can ask me along too if you're willing to pay my wage.

Stay safe all and be strong too.