my new project - fishable site

just about to reach the site

the wooden jetty

the sampans

the sampans and the bridge

the bridge

on 22th february, i went for a site visit, to the location of my new project. the location really looks fishable, thus i am putting up pictures that i took there. any subsequent visit to the location, i would surely bring my fishing tackle along. the location looks potential to have the highly sought after fish known locally as tapah. scientifically, it is known as wallago attu.

23 february fishing - pix from chen's camera

chen's catch of the day

we split not long after these people went into the water

hidden paradise?

water was super clear... and only baitfish were available

water was emerald green in color due to the minerals in the soil

where are all the fish?

water is so clear, u can see right to the bottom of the pool

lost world? reminded me of mangrove forest but it's actually fresh water

are we in the amazon flooded rainforest?

nice piece of stretch of water, but there were hardly any fish splashes

Zero Results

at this location, my first cast with a bbd was taken abruptly, but there was no solid hookup

a very potential place

at one point, noel had a fish taking the spinner bait that i lent him, right by the side of the pond

noel, continuing to cast, diligently

pitcher plant or nepthenes of the species gracillis, semi submerged in a pond

pitcher plant or nepthenes gracillis

pitcher plant. nepthenes gracillis

nepthenes gracillis

the last 2 saturdays (16 & 23 february), i went fishing but the results were BIG FAT ZEROES for me. on 16 feb, noel and myself went to a new area to fish. the area is somewhere along the padawan - borneo highlands road. the spot looks fishy. there were definitely fish, for there were splashes and the lures that noel and myself present were taken by fish but, somehow, there were no solid hook-ups. we plan to be back there again in the near future.

today, 23 february, chen and me decided to tackle CM pond again. upon reaching the pond at 8am, we started casting. i opted to cast from one particular "high" spot that i could see a stretch of area that is to be fished. using my polaroid sunglasses, i could easily see haruans coming up for air, but observing the fish's reaction, it seems that they have been highly spooked as each time they come up for air, they would dissapear again quickly, leaving a wake of splash. casting at those directions didn't result in any take as the fish has long gone from the immediate area. i tried all lures, i.e. propeller lure, blade dancer, sp rigged weedless... but to no avail. chen walked around the pond once, casting at various locations... and he was duly rewarded with a haruan. around 9am, a bunch of caretakers of the park started clearing the CM pond of weeds. haruan rises were getting far and few in between, so chen and i decided to make a move to another nearby location. this "new" place that we went to were littered with small pools with crystal clear water and a couple of man made ponds. the man made ponds looked fishy but again, there were no splashes to indicate any big fish. at one of the smaller pond, i spotted a splash and proceed to cast there. my first cast with the propeller lure, i got a strike on the lure but again there were no solid hook-ups. the water was crystal clear and i could see the culprit that tried to take my lure. it was still there. it was a haruan. i cast and cast again. the haruan followed my lure but then made u-turns. then i changed to a blade dancer. again the haruan followed the bbd but it never took it into it's mouth. i could only deduced that because the water is "tap water" clear and thus, the haruan could easily see what its biting into, so it chose not to bite a fake fish. again, i vow to be back to that location to fish again.

cny fishing 2008 - pictures from charles's camera

fishing at one fishy corner of the 1st pond. i was feeling the "heat" as charles had landed 2 haruans and i was still at zero!!!

spotted a haruan and cast my trusted bbd to the area

after a few cast... this was what i got. the sp part of the bbd was no more. got 1kg kah the fish?

Charles with another strike. the fish put up an excellent fight. the haruans at this pond were really fighters

finally the haruan shows its face. peekaboo!!!

quite a good size haruan. seems well fed as the pond is full of baitfish

the surprise fish at pond no. 2. can anyone guess what fish it was?

a 1kg+ belida... on SP!!! woohoo!!! great catch Charles!!!

feeling the heat at pond no. 2. there were so many belida rises but i cast to no avail. next time belida, next time!!!

My Chinese New Year 2008

Would just like to share how I spent my chinese new year this time around, besides fishing on the 3rd day of CNY. For that, you would have to visit my wife's blog. It is written in chinese and is full of pictures of our home and friends who happened to visit us during this festive season. For readers who do not understand chinese, there is a link that translate the blog content, but I think the translation is crappy... so basically, just enjoy the pictures.

(normal link)
(translated link)

CNY fishing 2008

charles drew first blood with a sizeable haruan, using a redhead whitebody crank bait

charles with the same haruan as above

besides fishing, i also managed to take some pix simply because the scenery is stunning

there are 3 ponds at the place where charles brought me fishing. this was the first pond we cast at

beat that!!! casting whilst balancing on a 6 inch plank in the middle of the pond!!!

the pond has been "cleaned" to rid off the the water liliies a couple of weeks before cny, so fishing with lures was smooth

water lilies at the second pond just begging for a photoshoot!!!

a gazebo right in the middle of pond no.2... ah!!! lifestyle of the rich and famous. there was only one fish caught from this pond and it was by charles. and the fish is a... (stay tuned for the big revelation)

close-up of the floating gazebo

more pix of water lilies

my wife likes this particular picture

the balance beam

dragonfly

i like this pix of another dragonfly

more dragonflies