"SOMETIMES CAN Anglers"
I call this the “DREAM TRIP” as this is one trip that I will never ever forget. 6 months has passed but still this trip is still deep in my mind and as I am writing this now, I am actually reminiscing of the time of the trip. I finally decided that I have to write about this trip so that my great grand children can read about it.
This trip to Tukun Perak was planned in December 2007 and was materialized in March 2008. organized by my dearest god-brother Alan “ No Brush Teeth” Tan from Penang. Without him, I will not have this experience of a lifetime so I would like to thank you brother, long live “ SOMETIMES CAN Anglers”
Every year I make a list of New Year Resolution and I will do my best to achieve it. The 2 things that were on the list this year was:
∑ Land a 15kg GT ( it was 10kg last year )
∑ To bring my brother Nicholas on a fishing trip
I achieved these 2 resolutions on this trip and I will never forget it.
And the story goes:
THURSDAY, 6th MARCH – The Anticipation
We left right after work on Thursday 6th of March 2008 to Penang. It was only me, my brother Nicholas and my TOYS driving up to meet with the rest of the guys who were already in Penang.
As we reached Penang, we were greeted with a MASSIVE traffic jam caused by those CERAMAH’s and HOKKIEN singers I swear! We made our way to Batu Ferringhi where Alan and another bunch of “SOMETIMES CAN Anglers” were waiting. We finally settled down in a pretty decent chalet near the Jetty arranged by Alan and off loaded our arsenal.
ARSENAL LIST
∑ SHIMANO STELLA 2500 FA + Tenryu Del Sol PE 0.8 – 1.5
∑ SHIMANO STELLA SW 8000 HG + Tenryu Oceania PE 1 – 4
∑ SHIMANO STELLA 10000 FA + SHIMANO Ocea GT PE 4 – 8
∑ DAIWA Branzino + SHIMANO Blue Rose PE 3
∑ SHIMANO Torsa 20 + SHIMANO Blue Rose PE 5
∑ DAIWA Saltiga 4500-Z I’ze Factory + A popping borrowed from Alan
∑ An assortment of jigs and poppers including some Adhek ones bought from fellow “SOMETIMES CAN Anglers” Ah Ng.
∑ I developed this new collection of ALL SHOUT products so its SHOUT for all terminal tackle and bags to carry my gear.
“SOMETIMES CAN Anglers”
I developed this Team name coz we don’t always get fish thus, SOMETIMES CAN but we have GREAT fun!
∑ Alan “No Brush Teeth” Tan
∑ Ah Ng “ The Toot”
∑ Ah Wah Siew
∑ Johnson “Brudder”
∑ Nicholas “ Capt Cool”
∑ And myself Bruce “ Ikan tada takpa, GAYA MESTI ADA”
The rest of the crew on board were friends of friends, cool people to fish with.
THE KAPITAN
∑ Ah Siah “ NIAMAKAHAI AR” on GT Chaser
The night before we leave for any trip is one of the best feelings. This is the time where we sit down, talk kok song and most Importantly, bonding. Cant imagine getting on board with some loners.
Well after talking a whole lot of cock, persuading Ah Ng to sell us each some Adhek Poppers, we went to bed reluctantly as we were too excited about for the next day.
FRIDAY, 7TH MARCH – The Arrival
“Brudder” Johnson has the most innovative way to get people of the bed. He wakes up, plays Japanese Porno on his phone on the HIGHEST volume and goes into the toilet for a shower. That was pretty annoying.
By about 9am, everyone was ready, had our breakfast and headed to the Jetty to get on the GT Chaser with “NIAMAKAHAI AR” Kapitan Ah Siah. The boat was nice, clean and looked extremely promising when we saw the split unit air-conditioning on it. But we learnt later on that its not working.
It was a tiring 6 –7 hour boat ride from Teluk Bahang in Penang. When we got there, spirits were high but body was weak so how?, MAKAN la! One thing to take note, ALWAYS prepare to bring some extra food on board. GT Chaser, chase GT can, makan makan fail la.
Luckily Nicholas is an avid photographer. He got some incredible shots and thanks too him, I look at those pictures every other night. The fishing wasn’t fantastic when we arrived. There were only 2 or 3 GT’s of about 6 – 7kg’s landed on poppers. Sadly, as I have not mastered the skill of popping, was banned from popping when there are people around me for fear I might just hit them. There were A LOT of Big Eye trevally’s during the night and its really fun on light tackle.
I didn’t do much fishing the first night so nothing much to report about.
SATURDAY, 8TH MARCH – The Dream
Well I must admit, I slept throughout the morning which was said to be the GOLDEN hours for GT popping. When I woke up, I learnt that only 1 GT was landed. Then I saw something that really amused me. Ah Siah “NIAMAKAHAI AR” took his rod, stared at the water for a bit, spotted a floating log, casts the popper so accurately that when It landed, it was instantly snapped by a POWERFUL GT. This guy is the true meaning of skill. No fancy gear, just pure skill…but then again, that’s not how I roll la.
He passed the rod to Alan to enjoy the fight but sadly, he lost the fish. Might be his skills, but one thing I learnt for sure, is that I will never take over a rod from anyone…you hooked the fish, you finish the job!
2pm LUNCH TIME! And it was maggi soup and maggi soup. After the meal, I went to sleep again. Then at about 4:30 pm, I woke up and saw Alan popping. Then Ah Siah “ NIAMAKAHAI AR” said to him “ turun Jig NOW”. After 2 rounds,he was rewarded with a fish. At first he said it was a small fish, no fight, don’t need the fighting belt. But when the fish went for its second run, ALAN was officially CRYING for the belt. Ah Siah said to him, “ you said small fish ma, no need beltma, so now you enjoy la!”
Seeing this I quickly grabbed my STELLA SW 8000 HG with 40lbs braided PowerPro line and dropped a 180g Blue Metallic Sardine jig into the water. It only took 2 jerks from the bottom before I could hear my reel SCREAMING its heart away. I have NEVER in my entire life felt a pull like this from a fish! This was like EUPHORIA! On its 3rd run, the fish stripped almost 300m of my line, I was only a few meters from being SPOOLED! At this moment, I told myself, bring it on, let the rod break, let the reel burst, Im bringing home this baby! I was virtually on my knees and pushing my gear to its limits. It was the BEST feeling in the world! This is the moment where we will know to ever buy Tenryu rods and STELLA’s ever again!
It was a good 20 minute fight, and the best 20 minutes of my life. Nicholas was great, he took multiple shots of the fight and I really appreciate it. When I saw the fish emerge, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It almost brought me to tears. I have achieved my RESOLUTION!. When we brought it on board, Ah Siah “NIAMAKAHAI AR” estimated the fish to be about 25 – 26kg. For me, its like a DREAM come through. It was one of the happiest moments in my entire life.
Once the fish was on board, the smile on my face was priceless, I could hardly lift the fish! I was like a SUPERSTAR! Everyone was taking picture of me and my PRIZED catch. A few minutes later, Alan landed his another 20kg and above fish. This was just too much for me to handle. 20kg GT’s, landed on the same time with my best friend…” SOMETIMES CAN Anglers”.. Almost everyone raped the fish after we took the pictures. Sadly we couldn’t release neither of it. Ah Siah is like that…KEEP EVERYTHING!!! Although we actually stole fish that were caught and dumped It back into the sea.
Ah Siah thought us something new. The best part of getting the biggest fish of the trip isn’t the fight, or the first, or second or third run….it’s the SHIT you get to brag a bout for the rest of the trip!!! It was WAY fun man…looking at other people’s fish and telling them, “ Nah…that aint a 20KG class fish…better work harder!” cracks me up big time!
SUNDAY, 9th MARCH 2008 – The Bigeye Party!
So, after being crowned the 20KG class GT Kings of the trip, we had the license to mock people, talk loud, be arrogant and have a permanent smile on our face! So as we were resting, suddenly at about 1am, I could hear Nicholas asking for help. He landed a good size GT for a beginner, 6 – 7kg on a jig. I was so happy that he landed a good size GT! I was just happy he came along.
Soon after that, the whole boat was awake and landing Big Eyes after Big Eyes…of course me and Alan sneakily stole a few and released it into the sea again without anyone noticing la. It was fantastic fishing. Each person landed at least 7 – 9 fishes. My STELLA 2500 + Tenryu Del Sol was SOOOOOOOOOO Much fun landing those Big Eyes!…but the fun was short lived when Alan accidentally broke the top part of the rod AAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!
Ah Siah the “ NIAMAKAHAI AR” is a true champion. He demonstrated the “ One Cast One Fish” technique to us and it was seriously that.
This is by far the HAPPIEST trip of my LIFE and you can be sure I will be back to TUKUN PERAK once again this year! And this time, I will try my best to learn the art of POPPING akakakakakaakak….
BRUCE…“IKAN TADA TAKPA, GAYA MESTI ADA”
“SOMETIMES CAN Anglers”
Till my next post!!! CATCH AND FUCKING RELEASE IT LA!
ON LA BRO
