Monday, December 25, 2006

24 Dec 2006 - Catfish

Caught this little marine catfish while fishing in the rain. Yes, it is the monsoon season, it rains almost daily, but my fishing itch got the better of me. So I went out to the sea wall beside SAF Yacht Club (just outside Changi Naval Base), hooked up an apollo rig with squid meat, and cast. The fight was short but still better than nothing. I didn't stay long, though. It was raining and I didn't want to risk a cold. Also, there were other people around fishing, and my poor casting skills meant I keep crossing lines with other people. So I decided to call it a day after less than two hours. By the way, the catfish was released back to the sea.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Rain, rain, go away...

Haven't been fishing recently. I guess it is the rain... monsoon season now in Singapore, and it is raining almost everyday. And it can be quite unpredictable, so you really can't tell in advance whether it is going to rain in the morning, afternoon, evening or night... or whether the rain is going to last an hour, or the whole day. Since I don't really enjoy fishing in the rain, I guess I may be giving it is pass for a while.

Meanwhile, you can still check out Fishing Kaki Forum for catch reports from others who fish in Singapore, and the surrounding countries.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Jetties in Singapore

Here are some of the jetties in Singapore where anglers frequent.

Bedok Jetty
Located at East Coast Park near Bedok Lighthouse (which is actually a lighthouse located at the top of a HDB flat), this is a very popular spot for fishing. The area 30m around the jetty is out-of-bounds to all boats so that anglers can fish in peace. I heard that there used to be very good catches here, with people landing BIG stingrays and even sharks! During the weekends, you can see a lot of people jigging for tambans (a kind of baitfish) here. Other common fishes caught here would be garfish (aka todak), queenfish, mackeral, grouper, pufferfish, trevally and catfish.

Labrador Park
There is a jetty here, currently with restricted access due to works going on around the jetty area. Seems like the authorities are shifting some corals around in the sea off the jetty. This is another place for tamban jigging, and I have heard of people catching queenfish and other catches here. Last time I went there, I saw a couple catching squids. A very nice place with a scenic view of Sentosa and the waterways off southwestern Singapore.

Sembawang Park
There is a jetty here too, though it is really small. I just went there to take a look last Sunday, and people were catching crabs. I saw someone with a trevally too. While the catches were quite significant in size, it can be a bit crowded here. And the jetty is not really that long, so if you can cast far, you may just want to cast from the beach at Sembawang Park instead of squeezing here with the rest of the crowd.

Punggol Jetty
Located at the very end of Punggol, where the seafood restaurants used to be. Now, only the jetty is left, with a small police post. Seems like a good place to catch squids. While there is no carpark, the jetty is just right beside (okay, about 20m) the road, so you can just park on the road and walk over to the jetty. It is about the same size as the jetty at Sembawang Park, so it can get a bit crowded.