Another Giggling Trip on IT'S Gr-R-Reat with Jimmy Lim

October 14, 2013

Ladies have their ladies night out where they go wild and crazy in the clubs but hey did you know that guys have their day outs too? In the typical guys day out for fishing, we just cast our baits, take out a book to read and just pass our time. But with Jimmy Lim, we do all of that except we mix it with a new way of attracting the fish - "giggling". What was somehow started by me was soon caught on by the others and as we fished, we were giggling our way along... especially if one of us hit a snag!

Having got used to Jimmy's style, we were better prepared this time having raided Sabre Tackle for Halco Sorcerors and RMG Scorpions. They were to be used during slow shallow trolling which was probably the highlight and forte of Jimmy's. It may seem easy to do, but when you see the way he gets out of sticky situations during trolling (lure stuck reverse to get it out, boat going to hit the shore etc), you know that he has done this for years (must rub Jimmy abit so that he bring me to secret spot!).

Today's plan was to do some Madai fishing (Tai Kabura) while following up with our favourite trolling later on. Madai fishing at Punggol/Changi/Tekong waters are relatively "untried" and although they work too (as proven with Jimmy), it is less effective as compared to Southern Islands probably because the coral/rocks here are more spread out and the water visibility is not as good as Southern Islands. Species are also limited to Groupers and Snappers mostly at Changi. Although not as effective, the fishes still need to eat right and since the Madai Jig (coined by Singapore Jiggers) imitates a wide array of edibles for the fish (Octopus, Squid, Crab, Prawns), the fishes couldn't resist hitting the jigs in the morning! After hitting some not so decent fish on my new CTS Custom EB664 Madai Rod + Shimano Trinidad 12A, I finally managed to hit a decent Grouper on 100% Madai (nope, no Maprawn here!). It was surprising as we were drifting very fast and I was trying to get my Madai to have more time on the bottom (for strong current and drifts, I let my Madai literally comb the seabed and pray hard that it won't snag) so that the fish could "catch up" to my jig.

Matching clothing and jigs - the Gao just couldn't resist it!

DIY Madai rubber squid hook presentation

Finally, a good hit

The fish were hitting hard in the short window and I missed another one while Kiat had a good hit on 100% Madai too. Up came a huge Grunter (Guhood) at 4.5lbs. I have heard they take jigs but here it is proven that hey Guhoods definitely take jigs too!

4.5lbs Guhood on his favourite red Madai

Everyone was excited now since it was a great start to the day and we worked hard with our jigs. Jimmy even took out his new toy - a drift sock for easier drift fishing. We drifted, we jigged and we all worked hard but after the frenzy, the fish wouldn't even come close to our jigs! And that's when probably Maprawn and running sinkers came out... but that didn't help either.

Released to fight another day

Released into Icebox

Trolling wasn't good either with the Groupers and Barracudas not biting at all even though we had the killer weapons - Halcos! We gave up soon enough and head back to Punggol Marina.

To be honest with you, the catch wasn't ideal but it was still the usual fun giggling trip out with Jimmy. Endless fun cracking butt tingling jokes and having a good time (this time with some Bacardi Breezer and Baileys) with like minded easy going folks. Good catch and fresh fishes, one can always have but when all is pass, we remember the friendship made, the stories shared and the good times keep rolling on! That said, we can see Jimmy is not satisfied with the catch and although we consoled him, we know that if the fish are biting hard next time, we will seize the chance like we always do! Hee Hee Hee....