The Fishing

The foam box was about 2 ft in width. This Selar fish was more than 1 foot in length!! But most of the Selars were slightly less than a foot in length, still big for Selars.
























Another Selar was caught.




















It is very crowded where most of the fish are being caught. The fishes only feed around one particular side of the Kelong.



















For those who fear the sun there is always indoor "swimming".





Lots of dried cuttlefish; proof of productive night fishing many days ago.

Little boy and little girl were also expert anglers.

Lots of fish call "Leng Chiam" a type of wrasse which can grow to more than 1.5 kg in weight.

I don't fish this area cos it is too near to the toilet.

The sea breeze was very strong most ot the time.

Gathering at Tanjung Leman Jetty 12 Dec 2009

Tanjung leman jetty is about 2 and a half hours drive from the courseway. If driving on your own you got to drive towards kota tinggi. This is the jetty that will bring you to the Pulau Sibu resort or one of the four Kelongs around Pulau Sibu. We arrived at the jetty around 12 pm but the tide was too low so the boats could not get into the lagoon area. The authorities constructed a logoon (using rocks) around the jetty to protect the area from the rough sea.

16 years ago, i started going to the kelongs around here. Back then there was no jetty, just a hut on the beach with some tables and chairs. You could park your car around there and pay the guy RM10 to look after your car while you go fishing on the Kelong.

Boarding the boat meant you get into the water and wade toward the small motor boat which would take you to a bigger boat. The bigger boat would then bring you to the Kelong.

Nowadays we have the nice Jetty; just need to pay RM4 per trip.

The Bunk area

Upon arriving, we check out our sleeping area, put our bags down and attend to our stomach. Lunch is served just after arrival.

After lunch it is time to get everything in order so that i get into the action quickly.

Got to get the "apollo" jig fixed up in order to catch the bait fishes (Ikan Kunning, Tamban and Selar). In December the Selars are big so they are of good eating size. Jigs with luminous green lures are their favoutite.

Below:

KL Tan is giving some fishing tips to the newbies.

Father and Son Teams

They are all ready for action.

While.... KL Tan is still explaining.

Leaving the Jetty at Tanjong Leman

Everybody is accounted for and it is time to set off towards Ah Yew's kelong.









Ang Peng Guan is an expert videographer.









Testing my Sony T700's automatic smile detector on Low Chee Kin. It is working fine. Might come in handy when photographing smiling squids later on.









The camera suddenly took a picture... Leh Hua smiled and the camera just snapped one shot on its own. Very powerful software in cameras nowadays.

Towards Pulau Sibu

The boat is now about half way between the mainland and the island of Pulau Sibu.









The island in front is Pulau Sibu where the Sibu Resort is located (We are not going there). Our destination is a kelong in front of the island.

Behind Sibu is another island call Pulau Tinggi. The island has a very tall mountain in the middle and the top of the mountian is usually obscured by cloud, which is what we see here. During the durian season, boats full of durians from the Pulaus would come near the kelongs.










We are approaching the island and Ah Ngan's kelong can be seen. An Yew's kelong is to the right.










Ah Yew's kelong can be seen quite clearly now. There are a total of four kelongs in the area but his kelong is the one that stands in the channel between the islands so it is reputed to have bigger fishes.

Finally, clear sight of Ah Yew's kelong. I can hear the sotong calling. By the way, my job is to catch fresh sotong for everybody to try. But on this trip i forgot to bring wasabi.

Ah Yew's kelong

The kelongs in this area has this square just behind the kitchen where unfinished scraps of food can be thrown in to feed the fishes. Of course the toilet is nearby and a lot of feeding activities happen there as well. I shall not elaborate ... That's why i do my fishing far away from the square just in case i kenna the "See Hung" fish. So i stay away from the "Pek Tor" fish.









The rods are in their holders. All geared-up for the big action. Where are the big fishes?









This is the area outside the main dinning area. See the chili plant below the float? When we arrived there were lots of red chilis still on the plant but before we left, there were none left. These people.... really too much leh.










This is the side facing the mainland. This is where i caught all the 7 -8 squids.









The main dinning area. The food here tastes very good maybe because we are hungry all the time. The coffee here is free-flowing so very good news for coffee lovers. But must remember to add water because it is usually very sweet.

Catching The First Sotong

The sotong was sighted. Must get there before it goes away.




Where are you?? Then suddenly!!






Sotong is pulling really hard!!! And squirting lots of ink!!!

Finally the sotong finished its squirting and landed on top of the kelong.
This is locally known as the "Green Eye" squid. When just caught, the flesh is very transparent and the eyes are green in colour.






What? Time for dinner? But another sotong is calling....

Fish Tale

Tan Kee Long is trying to find the biggest selar.

But the girl got it instead. Selars are plentiful and very big during this time of the year. Althought the sea is a bit more choppy than usual due to the monsoon, the fishes tend to find shelter among structures in the sea such as kelongs so that's why we are catching so many selars.

Beautiful sunset view. Next morning the sun will be up on the other side of the kelong. Probably rising among the mountains of Pulau Sibu and Pulau Tinggi. I don't think anyone can wake up early enough to catch the sunrise. Anyway, it rained in the middle of the night and kept raining even when we were headed back towards the mainland's jetty.