Tanjung Pinang Offshore Trip 3 Part TWO: Stylo Milo Uncle

So after dinner, we prepared for the war again and some of the guys woke up to join us. But as the night proceeds, the current was getting extremely strong. Size 30 sinkers were used and some went even higher. There were a few big eye jacks landed but they fought like steamrollers with the current aiding their runs.

The Frenzy Started. Video provided in the link but not very good quality
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8917216763469352968

A big pull and a screaming rod later, a friend was fighting head on with a monster fish. The first take was strong and line was peeling. This fish was slow running but very heavy. Deckie suggested Ang Chor... And we were all hoping that it was! Line was slowly regained and the fish was halfway up when the line came loose! Reeling back the rig, we discovered a piece of jaw/skin of a gao. Judging from the colour and type, the Captain told us it was a gao tun. We were all very disappointed but i guess it was not meant to be.

That was when the light drizzle started a feeding frenzy started. Batmans, Rays, Cobias and Jacks started to feed aggressively in the strong current and everyone was busy. Some were even fighting in the rain. The feeding frenzy lasted around 3 hours and during this time 3 rays were lost and 2 good sized brown rays were landed. A few cobias and many big batfishes were landed.

During the frenzy, the captain told me there might be BIG GTs below and told me to try jigging. Being poisoned due to his words, i told a friend and he couldnt resist his urge to try Jigging. So he clipped on a 150g lumo jig and went to the front of the boat to jig. Very soon, he had a take and brought the fish up and it was a GT! But a baby one at only maybe 800g. In time, many ka zhua including me came over to have a jig at it. More small GTs and Bulats were landed and many more missed.

Getting Jiggy


After that the Deckies borrowed a set and another friend took out his jigging set and jigged too. 3 Crazy jiggers and onlookers watching. I borrowed the set a few times but had no hook ups although i had 4 takes. It was during this time, an old man(friend's father) who never jigged before, took the jigging set and drop the jig to the bottom. To everyone's suprise, the moment the jig hit bottom, it was taken and the rod bent into a nice curve. The fish was fought up and a nice looking Cuda was brought up. Another pest fish but hey it was on Jig. Kekeke...

After the frenzy stopped, everyone except the 3 crazy people continued fishing. During this time, the current had slowed down to a simple size 8 sinker does the job. Squid were arriving in schools and we had ample bait to go around. Hopes were high but as the current was slack, the bites came at intervals and at slower periods.

During this time, we put down whole squids. Many pests were landed but a Don's rod bent down and line peeled out. He pumped the fish up and after it left the bottom, it was confirmed a ray. The remaining 3 on the boat took turns to fight it up and within 30 minutes, the very good sized marble ray was on the deck flipping. A tiring job for 3 of us but we did it good and fast.

Uncle Fighting. Damn Stylo


Then came the second big pull which came at no warning. Rod parked at rod holder just went into a bend. Rod couldnt be taken out easily from the holder and we had to force it out. So begins the second tug of war. I took over after awhile and i must say although its very very heavy, its not a ray. I was thinking maybe it might be a gao tun again but as it surfaced, it turned out to be the saltwater equivalent of the mekong cat... The Jahan a.k.a Kim Chu Seng. Turned out to be the biggest seng i ever fought and i had trouble lifting it up. By now, everyones arms and backs were aching.


Frenzy!


We wanted to call it a night but just when we wanted to, rod bent and another ray came along! This time, the ray was bigger and more powerful. Took us for a ride and 30 minutes later we were still fighting it... Around 40 minutes later, we regained half of the line slowly. We were very tired though and just nice one kaki came out to do his small business. Of course, we just drag him over and pass him the Gimbal belt and asked him to fight it. Kekeke... But sadly, around 5 minutes later, the hook came off the ray and the fight was over.

Feeling very disappointed and tired, we called the hunt off and went to pack our stuff and knock off. During this time, the deckie managed to land a 4 kg plus Gao and even a nice Ang Chor but too bad we were tired already. Before we slept, we called the sleeping ones and managed to poison them to go out and fish up some Ang chor but there were no more fishes but the pest Cudas.

We headed back to mainland and along the way, i smelled delicious breakfast cooking and couldnt resist taking a bite.

Beh Tahan!


All of us woke up and the catch was divided equally among 8 portions and we had our lucky draw! The deckie was kind enough to provide us with a small container and wrote numbers on papers. Then he labelled each pile of catch and all of us took our lucky dips. I got number 1 which contained an Ang Chor tail and Groupers head. Others were lucky and got parrots while some were not so lucky and got kaci. Kekekeke...

Lucky Draw!

Anyway, we went for a GOOD massage after the trip and went back with aching bodies. Oh and of course we went to the coffeeshop to have our ang gao and ang chor steamed/curry. Who can resist right? Wahaha...

Our Lunch after the trip


This is the end of the CR and my last trip of the year to TP. Hope everyone enjoyed it! Till next year!

The Company