"Smiling from ear to ear..."

Lasse, another sailfish grad made possible in Kuala Rompin.

"Give that man a cigar... plus a Tiger."

When we just called the day to an end (the skipper just started the engine), the alarm rang and screamed! "Fish on!" I happened to be the one going to pick up that rod and reel to retrieve the rig when the alarm rang on me. Before my hands got to the setup, the engine noise hit the silent. I was kinda relunctant but it was time to head back for dinner. Everyone was exhausted and the dense air and haze were the major factors in wearing us out faster out at sea.

Just as I was about to pick up the rod, the rod jerked and the alarm sounded. Without hestitation, I picked up the rod and off the alarm, set the drag lever to strike... (waiting for the line to tighten...) I striked!!! Immediately, the line started peeling off the reel with amazing speed.

I won the fight in the end. The second sailfish of the day that was managed onboard for a photo session.

In this gloomy weather caused by haze, the sailfishs tend to stay deeper in the water and even during landing, the sailfishs dived and held on like 4-5m below the boat. Most of our sailfishs were lost due to this behaviour. When we tried to lift them up from the depth, they just dived. After several attempts, the leaders gave way...

Day one, sailfish 4 anglers 2.

My sailfish ended the day, a happy one. All anglers onboard were all smiling from ear to ear. I was glad.

For a moment, I thought there was a small boy onboard of the boat that day whom I didnt get to meet....

"Always 25....."

Hahahaha

10th Oct 2006, LASSE'S BIRTHDAY!!!

10th Oct 2006, before setting off to Kuala Rompin, I remembered that it was Lasse's birthday. I managed to get Simon to help me buy a birthday cake for him.

It was the very first time that Lasse was spending his first ever birthday in Asia. I hoped he had a memorable one as well.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LASSE!!!"

Lasse's cake and card.

"I wish I will get my first sailfish tomorrow..."

"And many more as well... haha..."

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm seeing sailfish in this cup now..."

Kuala Rompin, 11-12 Oct 2006 preview.

Hi people, I am back. The mission to fly fish for sailfish failed but we still had a wonderful trip up there nevertheless.

The situation up there now in Kuala Rompin is very hazy. You will not have clear blue sky at all as the haze situation is really bad and somehow, sailfish are holding in deeper water than normal. You will still see sailfishs near the surface but not so common when compared to those fine weather in August and Sept.

My two friends from Finland, Juha and Lasse, both had a wonderful time up there and we had so much fun up there too. Both of them are now comtemplating about extending their stay to go for another trip next weekend!!! Hahaha...

Next weekend would probably be my last trip for this year. The monsoon will soon be here and I rather be safe than be sorry to go out there in Nov.

The trip's photos will not be out so soon as I need to consolidate all photos from three sources.

I believe the weather had affected our mission but this is not going to stop me from trying again. I will do my best to acheive sailfish on fly outfit again next year.

I hit the first sailfish on jig while I was jigging for spanish mackerel with my Majorcraft Offblow PE 0.8-2 combo'ed with Daiwa Caldia KIX 2000. My 20lbs phamton red Power Pro got stripped bare in less than a minute. I was holding onto the hot spool with my bare fingers hoping that the line will not snap. Fortunately, the leader snapped. The jig I used are from Smith, 60grams.

My Daiwa Certate 2500R-CUSTOM continues to perform flawlessly as it had the chances to connect with several sailfish during this trip. The sailfishs were not landed as the sailfishs were all holding deep beneath the boat during landing. The leaders burst off after several attempts.

Finally, I landed my first decent spanish mackerel this time. Almost 5kg on the scale, the fish's speed is amazing. At this size, the spanish mackerel seemed to lag in endurance as it only always dash short dashes which made my reel screamed. The sudden sheering pressure the fish put on the Daiwa Caldia KIX 2000 is amazing to me as it could make 20m dash that fast but that's all I get from it. As usual, most spanish mackerels swim in during the fight. Anglers have to be fast to retrieve line as many experienced slag line for even a few seconds but actually the fish is still on. The blood from the fish splattered all over me and even on my face. As the fish struggled on the gaff, the jig flipped out of its mouth and hit my knuckles... my knuckles were bleeding as well like the fish. After the jig was removed, I looked like I just had a fight... bloody mess all over me...

As usual, we had squid sashimi onboard but this time we had a Japanese chef onboard. I have learnt to prepare the squid properly to ensure 'no chewing gum' feel. The sashimi will just simply melt in your mouth... yummy... Now I know why Japanese cusine is expensive as it takes lots of extended effort to prepare something 'simple' to further enhance the taste of the dish. Not many will actually bother to go that far. To prepare squid properly, you have to remove three layers of skin! 3 damn layers!!! I tried but I believe I failed miserably by standard but at least I now understand why japanese chef are paid so much...

Stay tuned for the photos.....

The long wait is finally going to be over...

Tomorrow, I am heading up to Kuala Rompin, M'sia again. This time, my good pals from Finland are going up with me to fly fish for sailfish. I am so excited!

They are really very much prepared. 12wt and 14wt... spey rods... the sailfish are in trouble. Hahaha.

I forgot to bring my camera around today. If I did, I would have snap shot all the flies that Juha has tied for the sailfish. A box of them! Dont worry, I will snap them tomorrow and share with all my readers.

Hopefully the weather is beautiful up there and the sailfish would not disappoint my friends from Finland. It is a long way..... 20hrs flt time... and I've given them my word that I will visit them in Finland as well. Of coz pals, I will definitely go up there to flyfish for trouts, salmon, etc... and of course, we shall sit down here and then for some beer here and there... hahaha.

Kuala Rompin, here we come!

Genting or Singapore...???

The haze is quite bad... really bad... PSI hit 130 earlier this morning.

You dont need to smoke a cigarette at all as free smoke for everyone in Singapore now.

Smokers, you all can save some money today... lol

Hopefully there will be rain soon...

Heaven on earth? NO WAY!!!

I just woke up... I looked out of the window and saw...

"Am I in heaven or what...?"

NO WAY!!! IT'S THE SMOKE FROM INDONESIA!!!

I have just checked the PSI... 80... via http://www.asiaone.com (my online newspaper)

I think I am getting sick.... oh no....... hahaha....

My last trip up in KL I saw these...

It sure reminded me of my childhood days...

"Where's my lantern???"

Another shot with Sony T3

What Bali could offer for jigging and popping siao like us?

Safety is paramount! Be safe!

Dear readers,

2nd Oct 2006, a sad day in Singapore's aviation history when STAE loses two of its capable men in Perth, Australia. Four Singaporeans were out at sea fishing when the incident happened. One was found dead while another is still missing. Two others are injured.

We as anglers too, must always exercise precaution when fishing from land or from a boat. This is not a 'kiasu' attitude but being safe will ensure us a safe and pleasant trip out at sea or even on land. Always look out for friends as well as you will never know that you might be able to save a life when you spotted something amiss before an accident could happen. We cannot deny the act of God but we also cannot deny safety as well.

Sincerely, I wish all readers here safe and sound whenever and wherever you are wetting a line.

Remember, safety is paramount. Be safe.


Regards,
Edward Ng

"More precious... more!!!"

meke2 WANGAN S, Weight: 14g Length: 90mm

More testing tonight. Hurray, fishing again!!!

Barracuda hits again!

After so long, my good brothers finally had time to fish together again. The company is great and to end the day even better, Dave landed a nice barracuda. Well done bro!!!

"Why? Why? Why did the barracuda just ignore me all the time???"

LOL

"Precious.... precious....."

Sansyo Co. Ltd Hammer 90F 'GAI'

Toys.... *trembling hands*

"Precious....."

(HAMMER 90F 'GAI', Weight: 13g Length: 90mm)

"Pillow" Menu...

I think I havent been staying in hotel for a long time. Last night, I discovered that I could have my really late 'supper' on my bed in Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel.

I shall just let the photos do the talking...