Sibu Kelong Eging Catch Report 18 December 2009 Day 1

The mothership must have had sent a distress call to her servants! Hotboys is under alien attack! Other than two that Jake's group got, our side landed a few spaceships too... But... It was a loooong loooong ride to Sibu alright.

Day 1
We had set out early at 0500 hrs since we had to be at Tanjung Leman Jetty at 0930 hrs. The mini van had arrived on time at the first pickup and proceeded on to the second pickup. That's when a minor blip occurred. The vehicle had not enough "Engine Oil" and was marooned at the second pickup. The driver went out to buy "Engine Oil" and after the slight delay, we were on our way to the causeway! We could still have breakfast and make it on time.

We got across the causeway without delay but... the van halted to a stop and couldn't start no more. This time, it looked to be much more serious than just "Engine Oil". Thankfully, the van was stranded just beside the petrol kiosk and the driver went to get the cure.

Waiting anxiously...

The vehicle wouldn't start and arrangements were made to get 2 replacement sedans. We waited and chatted with the driver.

We thought our problems were solved but the two replacement drivers were the proverbial kuku bird. We got lost many times and even drove into ulu villages. Villagers were staring at us strangely. We discovered a few nice water lily pads though.

After what seemed like hours, we finally reached Tanjung Lehman Jetty. It was now raining and it was not easy to get out of the car after having squeezed for quite some time.

Poor Meng Zai had to wait for us till we came and we boarded the ferry at around 1230 hrs.

We boarded the boat and checked for its safety. Number of passengers check! Lifejackets check!

Always wear a lifejacket in a ferry. You might drown if the boat hits a giant squid. You never know it might be karma since I have been bringing so many squids to their squiddy graves.

But then again, as a boatman, you cannot guarantee your passengers don't go mad and push you into the engine area.



We reached the kelong before a Selar frenzy and thankfully, we had setup before the frenzy came. It looks like the strong wind, rain and current were colliding favorably and luring the Selars to the kelong! I was jigging the usual sabiki without any bait and got a few big Selars including one which was close to a kg. It was quite a challenge trying to control the Big Selar from steamrolling its way to the kelong stilts. Everyone joined in the fun but the fun did not last long and the Selars were gone.

After the Selars, I showed momok some of the squid holes and hey, what do you know... One of the spaceships attacked me! Momok's squid gaff was put to good use. A small spaceship estimated under 1.5kg was gaffed!

It was intermittent rain and strong wind throughout. Conditions were quite hardcore for fishing but many of us persisted in the rain.

All of us were hungry and when dinner came, we functioned as hungry ghosts...

Eging was bad today due to the rain and we did not really try. Night eging was bad too and after a few tries, I went to hibernate early. Momok did not give up and was rewarded with 2 spaceships. Seems like the aliens were trying to catch us unawares.

Click here for part 2!