Sibu Island is now a light and micro jigging fishing paradise

Gone are the days when we looked to Sibu Kelong as a quick getaway from Singapore. It used to be a kelong fishing paradise but suddenly it was gone as authorities closed it down. Fret not though, one style of fishing may be gone from Sibu (from Tanjung Lehman Jetty) but another has taken its place.

Preparing to set off

Good old Tanjung Lehman jetty. Memories!

Enter the likes of Ah Bee, Micro Jig, James Chai (Ah Niu) and so on. These people have really set the tone for fishing at Sibu ever since the kelongs were closed. They have already been there for some time so they're rather experience with the fishing spots there. A typical day of fishing would involve light & micro jigging, lure casting, and even some bottom bashing via live prawns. Tenya is also rather popular.

Our group of kakis caught on to the Sibu fishing scene quite late on as we were busy with Merchong. Soon though, we booked a trip and called Ah Yip (Engler's Charter) to send us there. The trip was very easy to arrange and we just had to meet Ah Bee (the fishing captain) at Tanjung Lehman Jetty. He would get the ice and prawns. The good old provision shops were still around at the jetty so getting some food and drinks were easy too.

Ah Bee (even though he was young) was quite knowledgeable on the fishing spots and had good variety. He had some bottom fishing spots where we scored some good parrot fish (eng ko), ebek and other reef fish. The highlight though was when he brought us "close to the island", a term familiar with many Sibu fishing regulars. Monster fish were often found here as the rocky terrain meant that the area was less prone to over fishing and you needed skill to get the fish. Sometimes anglers lose the battle to the big ones there. We've seen some 30kg GTs landed on light setups there and according to Ah Bee, coral trout aka ang gao were so common here he would get a few every trip.

Master Yip with most tastiest catch of the day

Great capture on pink tenya

Not sure why Yip's face is in shock

Strong hooks won't open on you

Good sized ebek on pink tenya!

It wasn't happening for us though. The gang lost a few jigs and lures during the initiation when we went close to the island but during that time only Yip got a decent coral trout on tenya. Ah Bee later told us it was very windy and the water conditions made it difficult to drift past the coral peaks. He didn't smoke us though as we saw good fish the next day on his Facebook.

Conclusion? We only had one trip there but it really is a good place to wind down, get your casting gear wet and land a few good fishes. Day trips are possible and the fishing is reasonably priced. If you're looking to go test some fishing gears, you can do it here. One wonders though whether the wonderful catches are just temporary. Some of the fish caught in Sibu aren't migratory and at the rate they're being hauled up, it's only a matter of years before it is over fished...

Our decent haul

Some Sibu light jigging and micro jigging contacts available here:

Ah Bee



Micro Jig



James Chai (Ah Niu)