Do I still fish or do I not? I DID!

My rods and reels finally saw the light than the light in my boot...

All thanks to 'BATMAN' from Canada, Terry Mcginnis. (Oh, he is not batman as in batman but actually they share the same name.) We went fishing together for a good 2 weeks but results are poor...

Since he is from a cooler place, Terry has a GOOD TIME getting use to our local weather here in Singapore. Hardcore bashing to fish for peacock bass is OUT.

The easier reached bass' hideouts are all run.... but luckily, he did catch one but before we could get a camera on it, the fish got away. We ended up with a treble from the lure that he caught the fish with, hung loosely on his hand while we watched that fish slipped away.

At least he got that fish's slime on his hand to proof...

Gamefish & Aquatic Rehabilitation Society

In fishing (I mean fishing in Singapore), it is alot easier if you are willing to pay and fish in a commercial pond. A LOT EASIER.

Although it is easier with money for commercial ponds, but there is a group of fishermen who prefers the 'Adrenaline Rush' instead. It is part of the game if you are fishing in the wild and in restricted water.

What do I mean by 'Adrenaline Rush'?

When I fish in 'Restricted Waters', I always have to keep my eyes open and also on the time ALL THE TIME. It is like 'fishing like a ninja'.

National Parks and PUB have a group of rangers to watch over such waters. They would come up to you if you are in the act. Some of them are nice but some of them aren't. Some listen to you and some don't. Some of them would threaten you and bully you! (I'm serious and if you are one of those NOT SO NICE rangers reading my blog, I still remember you and your face.) Hahaha... just joking. One of you is quite cute too! (Not sure if she is still in the gang or not.) I remember one guy used force on me and told me to sit down. Then said, "You are under arrest!" Hey you, you think I am stupid? Anyway, this idiot caused me some abrasion on my neck and arms. I caused him a twisted wrist when he tried to restrain me and forced me to the ground. He was yelling in pain when I turned his wrist around his back. It is good to be trained in the army by the government. In such situation, I do know a little in protecting myself. Luckily, ARMS are not allowed if not he would be probably smelling my nozzle and fearing a bullet flying thru' his water filled head. Hahaha. Just kidding about the ARMS part.

My friends and I got away most of the time. Chinese has a saying, "Go up the mountains too often, you will encounter the tiger."

Indeed, I got caught just not too long ago. I received a fine like what I told my new found Canadian friend, Terry. Singapore is a fine country.

After that, I think I have enough of all these shits. FISHING IN SINGAPORE IS LIKE COMMITTING A CRIME! YOU WILL GO TO COURT AND THEY WOULD EVEN OFFER YOU A STAY IN THE CELLS WITH YOU PAYING FOR IT TOO!!! DARN, THIS IS SERIOUS STUFFS!

I always imagine myself in the cells telling my cell mates what I did and ended myself in there.

Breaking-the-ice session in the cells somewhere...
Cell mate X, "I cheated government's money..."
Cell mates, "I am a government servant, caught moonlighting..."
Me, "I got caught fishing..."
Everyone, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WTFWTFWTFWTFWTF!!!"

So, not only me got enough of such shits. We gathered together and formed Gamefish & Aquatic Rehabilitation Society. As flyfishermen, we love the nature. We love the fish. Most of us have no barbs in their hooks. Even when we hooked the fish, we do care about letting it go and to live another day. Sometimes, the fish we caught has more than one hook in their mouths. We took time to remove the rest as well. Some pick up rubbish along the way. Some look at the insects in the water and observe what the fish feed on. Some tie flies beside the stream... I pray that the rangers will not come. Heehee...

We love the nature and we love the fish. We love the trees, flowers, grass etc... It is a beautiful place out there in the RESTRICTED AREA and the love we have for these areas doped us badly... always falling back in the same trap to go back to the nature for a reason, PASSION.

We want to share this PASSION with the rest. We want to teach the public about the beauties we have in Singapore. Fishing 20yrs ago is very different from fishing today. Some of the seniors still could not perceive and believe that fishermen could evolve to stage like us who cares about the fish, the water and the nature around them. Fishing is disgusting to them. Rubbish is fishermen, some said. For most of us, we only left a trial behind telling the rangers that someone fished there. We take pride about what we do and we do it. Not only doing it, we share.

We are not the ugly bunch of the people whom others identify all fishermen are. Flyfishermen are snobbish and HAO LIAN (proud in Hokkien). You do not need a expensive fly rod to catch a fish but you need the correct PASSION to catch that very fish that you have targeted.

You do not need a good rod to cast well. You do not need an expensive fly line to catch that fish. You do not need those expensive toys but you need PASSION.

Flyfishing is about presentation, the fly at the end of the line, stealth, etc and not about what brands of rods and reels you got in your bag.

You do not need expensive reels from Abel or rods from Sage to show off.

You only need the technology that they offer to better cast and better fish in demanding situation.

All the expensive toys' manufacturers build their products with passion for the water. Wrong people use them to show off. The right people use them for demanding situation.

I remember Henry Lau from Coho told me, "Abel is not a tool, it is an instrument."

Why build an instrument for fishing? PASSION.

Why do I fish?

"Fishing is a PASSION, FLY FISHING IS FOR THE PASSIONATES!"

A beautilful stream with beautiful fish... what fly to use?

The chirping of the alarm clock woke me up at 4.30am on Sunday's morning. My tired eyes fought against my eye lips to steal a glance at the time. Light flashed across my room and thundered roared from a distance. Raining. The room temperature was just right cool for a lazy Sunday's morning but I had to wake up.

Just before sunrise, my friends and I reached the stream. It was cloudy and the rain had stopped. With my rod and reel ready, I pondered about what to tie to the leader(I did not use a tippet, lazy me). The river was exciting. Minnows were running for their lives while their predators worked hard for breakfast. I chose a woolly bugger.

Gingerly, I moved in the swarm with both my feet in the water. I caught a pattern in the water. The woolly bugger swam across the target with short pauses. The pattern moved, made a dash for my fly but UTURNED. 3 tries, I switched to a black crazy charlie with tinsel finish. This crazy charlie made it into its mouth at least 8 times but somehow, no hook ups. I changed by angle of strike to the left and immediately the line was tight a tug of war started. A little fellow that fought hard. Shot it with my phone camera and released. During the battle, a pretty decent 3-4bls'er followed behind. It had to swim side ways when it hit the swallows with the hooked one. Upon releasing, a few more decent peacock basses swam across my sight and disappeared into the shadows of the stream.

My fly found its way thru the air and into the water once more towards the sightings. 3 short burst, the fly line found its way fast through the guides of the fly rod. Suddenly, I was totally awake. I knew that I had made the right decision to get out of my comfortable bed and braved the rain to the stream.

This fellow is fat. Thick on its back and fought really well. The Tiemco Euflex is just too weak to stop the fish. I had to fight the fish with the help of the fly line instead. Big splashes for good minutes. A warrior in the shadows of this stream.

The crazy charlie was found midway in the large mouth. My fist could actually entered the mouth while I tried to remove the fly quick. Billy helped me took a few photos and the fish swam away freely.

A good morning for me with dear friends. Breakfast was minced meat noodles, awesome. Sweet aroma from the freshly brewed coffee made the whole morning even better.

I am looking forward... to fight the Sleep God to fish again...

5 FALLEN 6 SHOTS!

In 2008, I think my line was wet only twice. TWICE! I caught only 2 peacock basses on a spinning setup. Scored 2 for 1st trip in Lower Pierce Rsvr and 0 for the 2nd. 

As a fly fisherman, I have left my babies(fly fishing equipment for more than 2yrs) collecting dust for years.

Out of the blue, I was invited by a group of friends to target the alluring Cichla Temensis in a certain water hole. I have seen such beauties landed by local anglers in local waters but never did I took effort to go hunt for them like the good old days.

Procrastination hit me hard. Staring at my equipment, I did not know what to take. The easy way out? Spinning setup (overkill) is already in my car's boot for months but seen no light for months too.

My feet paced the room for moments and finally they brought me to a stop infront of a drawer where two beautiful babies hide. Two sets of TIEMCO Infante(s). One pearl white and one blue. My heart skipped a beat. I chose the pearl white set. This white one has fought countless battles with me and never a moment when I did not feel good about having her. The blue one has not seen the water yet and not even a reel has mated with her. 

I took out my Abel Trout Lite and started cleaning the fly line. Loads and loads of memories just came flashing across my mind... those good old days in the water with a fly rod in hand.

Armed with only a few flies (wooly bugger, crazy charlies and a few more surface flies) I took on the water. While my friends were armed with spinning and casting outfits, I stood gingerly by the water and suddenly my mind went blank. My phone rang and the silent was broken. Reception was bad and I was trying to make up the intermittent messages. Finally, the caller hung up and I could set up my equipment.

The ticker from my little fly reel made her presence felt too. 

I did not take too long, 2 young peacock basses fell for my wooly bugger. Noticing that the fish flashed just below visible water depth and not hitting my wooly, crazy charlie was next at the end of the line. Two more fallen by my little charlie and a few misses as well. Soon, it was quiet again after a span of about 15mins.

I moved and found a plant sticking of out the water. Just a few casts, another fell for the charlie. Just as I was releasing the fish, I felt a sharp pain in one of my toes. Leeches! Upon raising my left foot, I could still see that the black fat ass was still sinking its teeth into my toe. Without hesitation, my pliers had it in her jaws. I checked the cut it had induced. Blood came flowing out of the cut but thank goodness, it stopped. I took a gamble to remove it hoping that its acid has not found it way into the cut. Phew... just in time. No bloody mess and no troubles for my friends. I left that part of the water quickly and found another swallow bank.

One more fell for the charlie and the irritating mosquitoes started to swarm around me. Not flies. They were mosquitoes and they started feeding on me. It was time to go.

I will be back, another day soon. No signs of the Cichla Temensis for this trip but I am not giving up yet.

Total 6 landed, 5 shots.

Fishing rod... in my boot.

After a good six months, I realized that I have not fished locally for a long time. This fishing blog of mine is getting seriously mycarblog from some readers' comment. Apparently, I still have readers reading my crapz. Hahahaha....

Yesterday, I took out my 4pcs DAYS spinning rod and left it inside my boot. I have a tackle box with jigs and lures plus other necessary items for fishing, included too.

I realized my Daiwa 2500R Custom is kinda too big for the rod.... I should start looking for something smaller in the market and thus the question is, "What should I get?"

A night ago, I took out my Tiemco JDM fly rods... a blue one and a pearl white one... my heart started beating and missed a beat here and there.... In my mind, I saw kalui... pacu... patin... peacock bass... the list went on... all those good times spent with them on a Abel's reel... I missed those 'runaway days'.

Fly Fishing Club Singapore

After many years, together with many fly fishermen, our dream to form a recognized fly fishing club in Singapore is finally coming true.....

Looking at my dusty fly rods, equipment etc... Suddenly I feel the need to pick them up and start 'flying' again.

The committee is forming and soon... Fly Fishing Club Singapore will be REAL!

Meanwhile, stay tuned to "Fly Fishing Singapore" and "Fly Fishing Club Singapore".

Getting motivated?

Fly Fishing Club Singapore

Hey people,

If you are a vivid flyfishermen or just a beginner, I ask of your support to our dreams.

http://www.flyfishingclubsingapore.blogspot.com/

This blog is created by flyfishermen for flyfishermen.

It is not going to be easy but no matter what, we must start somewhere.

Flyfishermen, unite!


Regards,
Edward Ng
"Fishing is a passion. Flyfishing is for the passionates!"