The Simeulue Invasion
This report is LOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG overdue. I’ve been really busy at work and actually, I was trying to avoid writing about this trip as it was the best trip of my life. Writing about it now makes me feel like calling up the boatman and fucking making a booking to fish in that virgin waters once again.
I never understood what they meant when they say untouched waters until I went to Simeulue, I never believed that there are fishes that have never seen poppers before, I never believed that there is such a thing as One cast One fish until I discovered the GT Heaven, Simeulue.
I may come across as being exaggerating about the place, but I swear upon all my fishing gear that everything you are about to read about Simeulue is 100% the fucking truth. No bullshits, the best place to fish as of 2010. We fucking love it so much, we already paid a deposit to go again sometime this year end or early next year, and looking at it, we will be fishing Simeulue all year round for 2011.
The clear water, the abundance of GT, the whole freaking adventure to the place was worth every penny and I will go again and again and again and again if I had the time and money. There is no sight of other boats, its only you fishing these virgin waters. The only civilization around was the lobster boats, which came in REALLY handy.
So this is how it all happened:
The Call
After returning from Lucornia on the 17th of June, I felt a bit dissatisfied and a bit upset about myself. Throughout the whole trip, I spent more time in the room sleeping than I did fishing. This was due to the awesome air-conditioning they had on the Crystal Coral….it was just way too comfortable.
I decided that that would be my last trip on board the Crystal Coral. I love that boat, great food, good size, comfortable, just too perfect for proper fishing. Maybe if I bring Mrs. Wong on a trip then I will go on the Crystal Coral again, if not, not a chance.
My hands were feeling really itchy to go for a REAL trip before work kicks in after Hari Raya in August so I was scouting around for places to go. Just my luck, some dude called me on my cell and told me about this VIRGIN place off Sumatra called Pulau Simeulue and he wanted to invite the SOMETIMES CAN Anglers to explore the place first! More like pop its mafakkin cherry!
At first I was kinda skeptical then he started sending me photos of GT’s that got me drooling. I then sent the pictures to the team and everyone was like “LETS DO IT!”. Within a week, the 5 members were confirmed and ready to pop some GT cherry! This was the same excitement I had when I was confirmed for the trip to Banda Aceh! The crew consists of the following monkeys:
Bruce – Langsat Koh ( Brother Langsat )
Khian – Sai Kua Koh ( Brother Watermelon )
Alan – Ling Mong Koh ( Brother Lemon )
Ah Ng – Wong Lai Koh ( Brother Pineapple )
Terry – Manggis Koh ( Brother Mangoestein )
Counting down to the take off date, there were a lot of things for us to prepare as this would be the first fishing expedition that we organized by ourselves to an unknown part of Indonesia. There were a lot of logistics that we had to arrange prior to the trip because the guide himself was new to this and we worked together to ensure everything was smooth sailing.
Of course then there was the gear we had to prepare! Big trip, Big fish means fucking big gear la! I had my eyes set on the SHIMANO Stella SW18000HG but no one had stock! I even went all the way down to Singapore and they too were outta stock! Just my luck I had to settle for the SW18000 U.S spec. there is nothing wrong with the reel just that it felt kinda odd coz all its other brothers are Japanese so I ordered a YUMEYA handle and a FISHERMAN knob to match it to give it the Japan feel……like a mix.
Of course we gotta get a new rod for this trip, are you kidding me! I had my eye on the Tide Lez Gipang 77XXXH, the KILLA ROD for GT’s!! I checked with my buddy in the states, Enoch and he told me that Kilsong’s had it in stock. I was this close to getting it from him but I knew that the freight charges will KILL me!....just my luck when I went to Anglers Outfitters to stock up on some HAMMERHEAD poppers, Alvin told me that he had the rod!!!! It took me less than 2 fucking seconds to purchase the item.
ENOCH – Thanks for helping out buddy!
I must have purchased about 8 HAMMERHEAD poppers and multiple FCL Labo ones. I even got Terry to pick a popper that he feels will be the one to land that giant. Shopping before a trip is ALWAYS fun! The special thing about this trip is that we will be camping at one of the islands for one of the nights. I am totally hopeless when it comes to camping as I have never done it before, this would be the first!
Khian even arranged a camping shopping session in Midvalley during lunch and I bought myself…….a torch light akakkakakakkaka. Terry and Khian were more experienced in this thing so they were left with the task of making sure we have the right gear to do the right thing……at the fucking right place.
As the day grew closer, all of us couldn’t concentrate at work. E-mails and SMS were flying within each other every hour with expressions of “KAN JIONGNESS” and excitement, we couldn’t stop talking about it…..we were like a bunch of aunties at a mahjong table talking about their husbands!
We are prepared for it. Terry had his new SW18000 & a Brand Spanking New Ripple Fisher Rod, I had my SW18000 & GT77XXXH, Khian ready with his Dogfight & Kehyohlu, Alan had his Dogfight and GIPANG 83H …..then we had Uncle Ng…..who was not even prepared for the trip until the night before we were supposed to fly off! He called me and asked me if he needed to buy anything so I told him he need not worry rods coz I had spare for him, just that he needed to buy a reel to match the rod and Kepong had just ran out of the SW18000.
So at 9pm he came to my house and dashed to Kepong to get some tackle. He bought a Stella SW20000, gloves, some line and some other small stuff. Then we went to my house to look at which rod he wanted to use. I had the Komodo Dragon, Tokara and Carpenter ready for him to choose from. Finally he decided on the Tokara. We had a final meeting in Khian’s place to talk cock till about 1am before we headed home to “try” to get some sleep before the adventure of our lives.
Here is the itinerary of the trip so that you don’t lose me when you start reading this blog as im fucking jizzin in my pants as im typing this ….the fucking excitement of the Simeulue Invasion is still in ME!
24th July – KL – Medan – Simeulue
25th July – Fishing around Pulau Goblok then head back to land ( I don’t know the name as the guide was pretty secretive about the location….he told us to just write Pulau Goblok
26th July – Fishing around Pulau Ngentok ( I know this means “FUCK” or something like that in Indonesia but hey, the Guide told us it was Pualau Ngentok, so we say Pulau Ngentok laaa) then head back to land
27th July – Fishing around Pulau Ngentok and Pulau Puki, camp the night
28th July – Fishing around Pulau Ngentok and Pulau Puki then head back to land.
29th July – Simeulue – Medan, we decided to rest a night at a very luxurious hotel in Medan before we head back to KL
30th July – Medan - KL
And now for the mafakkin story…..
Saturday, 24th July, 2010
My wife and brother were sweet enough to send me to LCCT in the morning to begin my adventure. On the way there, I was making phone calls to e everyone to make sure they got up and are on the way to the airport. EVERYONE was on time, no one was late but EVERYONE carried a sag of eye bags and a BIG BIG SMILE!.
Alan flew to Medan ahead of us from Penang direct. From Medan, we will meet up with our guide then get on a Fokker plane to Simeulue. I’ve never been on one before and seriously, I was kinda excited about it.
At the airport, we met up with some Singaporean anglers who were going to Banda Aceh to fish. They recognized the “SOMETIMES CAN” Anglers logo and asked if we were the SCA team! I love it! SCA is being recognized mafakka! We spoke a bit while we were queuing up to check in our luggage and exchanged numbers as they were eager to know what the outcome of the Simeulue trip will be like.
We were told that there is NO alcohol sold in the WHOLE of Simeulue so better stock up before we take off. Bad news for the drinkers so we bought a few bottles and of course, how can we forget, tons of WINSTON LIGHTS to give us oxygen and we already pre-arranged with the guide there to make sure we have sufficient supply of M-150 energy drink….no fucking shit.
I couldn’t remember much about the flight except that EVERYONE was OVERLY excited that we were finally on the way.
Medan
Ok, I love the place but the airport, my god is a friggin mess! The customs were trying every single way to get some money out of you and you actually feel a bit intimidated with the way they talk to you, makes you feel like a CRIMINAL!
When we arrive, we were told that we cannot bring the rods into the country…..Im like “WHAT THE FUCK!” yah, they said we had to declare every single item we bring into the country including poppers, jigs and reels! What fucking nonsense. They held us back, kept on telling us that we should have declared it before we tried to exit the customs and shit I was gonna lose it at these monkeys! Finally, all it took was just some oil being slipped into our arrival cards and we were let off….
I know they need to make a living but hey, pick on something else, not the gear mafakka! As much as I am appalled by the way those monkeys work, I don’t mind going back there again, and again and again and again for the fishing…..well fucking worth it!
When we got out of the airport, the guide and Alan greeted us. He seemed like a really nice dude and was really helpful. He kept telling us to be ready for the journey of our lifetime. We thought it was just too good to be true but fuck it, lets just make it happen!
We quickly switched flights on Susi Air to Simeulue. It was my first time on a 12 seater Fokker plane and man was I excited. The plane felt so fragile and we were sitting right behind the pilot! The view from there was just breathtaking! Surprisingly the take off and landing on these planes were sooooooo much smother than the big ones! I was impressed!
The flight took 2 hours and we landed at Simeulue airport….if that’s what they call it. I think they have like 6 workers running the airport akakakakakak….. and there are only 2 flights into the place a day. From what I hear, there are seldom tourist in this part of Indonesia so seeing a bunch of Chinese guys dressed in a uniform ready to fish their waters was a first for MANY people.
From the ground staff at the airport, to the sundry shop owner to the place we were housed, everyone stared at us like we were aliens! We looked like we were from outta town…no shit!
We stayed in a restaurant cum motel called BXXXXXh. To my surprise, the place turned up really nice, nicer than most of the rooms they prepare for us fisherman when we check into a foreign place. Its got proper air conditioning, clean beds pillows that don’t smell like sweat and a Television! One floor down was the restaurant where they served only NASI PADANG!, perfect, I don’t have to walk aimlessly in a foreign land to find familiar food!
After checking in, the usual talk cock, sing song, tie leaders began. We could hardly get any sleep as the anticipation of what we will face tomorrow was just toooooo fucking KAN JIONG!
Sunday, 25th July 2010
We got up at about 630am, got ready and headed straight for breakfast. The kitchen prepared fried rice for us as breakfast, I fucking love it….but they underestimated the amount of food we consume for breakfast….
The first spot we went to, lets just call it Pulau Goblok was a disaster. We only managed to get bout 5/6 hook ups. In my heart I felt a bit sad, maybe my expectations of the place was a bit too high. Hey, if we got these kind of result in Pulau Jarak back in Malaysia we will be JUMPING!
We fished hard the whole day but the result was shitty. We could feel the pressure on the guide as he knows that we will be reporting this place to the entire fishing world of Malaysia when we get back and if this is what we came all the way here for…..the place is like what the Chinese would say…”COLDER THAN WATER”.
On the way back to land, the guide was very apologetic and promised us a better day tomorrow. Oh well I thought, that’s why we are called Sometimes Can Anglers…sometimes can, sometimes cannot. We kept a positive mind still, its not the fish, it’s the whole adventure that makes fishing fun.
Monday 26th July 2010
We headed off to a different direction. This time we headed to Pulau Ngentok. Don’t take my word for it, the guide told us specifically not to mention the names of the islands as I believe he wants to control the fishing charter in this area. To us is no big deal, we just wanna fish.
As we were approaching Pulau Ngentok, we could see a perfect storm brewing behind us. Within minutes, we were caught in one of the heaviest storms I have ever been in my entire life. This time I actually reached out for my Poseidon Life belt and had the trigger for the float out just in case. We could hardly see anything in front of us.
It rained for a good 4 hours. Means we only had 3 hours to fish before we had to head back to land. FYI the boat takes 5 hours to get to Pulau Ngentok and we left at 730am. We arrived Pulau Ngentok at about lunchtime but there was no way we could pop in that storm. The storm subsided at about 3pm.
This was when we truly experience the magic of Simeulue. I kid you not the GT’s here are like on steroids! I think it’s the current as they fought much harder than any other GT I have landed. Not to exaggerate the story, every 5 casts 1 fish of a decent size. 10kg and above were common. We were landing fish after fish after fish! The action was non-stop! We didn’t even have the time to rest or have a usual afternoon siesta!
Who says GT’s only bite in the mornings and evenings? In Simeulue, these fellas are biting ALL the friggin time! When it was close to 6pm, the biting got even more intense! The challenge was who could release the fish faster so that they can take on the next challenge!
It was a pure 3 hours of hardcore ADRENALINE rush as we were just landing fish after fish after fish. We didn’t even have time to snap pictures of all of it. Everyone was just too engrossed with the fishing. I tried but hey, I have to play also! Akkakakakkak When the guide announced that we had to head back already at 7pm, we were quite unhappy but its ok, we will come back again tomorrow and camp at the island.
We only got back on land at 11pm! That was the latest I ever arrived at the jetty on day trips! We were all dead tired and FREAKING Hungry. When we got back to the motel, cold Nasi Padang were waiting for us….oh ya, did I mention that we had Nasi Padang for lunch too…
Tuesday, 27th July 2010
Today was D mafakkin day man! We set off at 730 to Pulau Ngentok and reached around lunchtime. Need I say more, GT’s after GT’s after GT’s after GT’s….its like a fucking paradise man! No trawler boats, no fisherman with nets, no big ass cruises, just a few small sampan-catching lobsters were seen. The water is UNTOUCHED!, UNFARTED on! This is what we fucking call a VIRGIN!
NO Civilization at all, no communication, no electricity, plenty of GT’s lurking in those crystal clear waters…..i swear to you we could easily see the bottom of the sea at 50 feet! Every cast out is a KAN JIONG one. The way the GT’s HAMMER the HAMMERHEADS and FCL Labo’s was to die for…..money cant buy that feeling, this is what keeps an angler repeating what he has been doing the whole day over and over again!
Im gonna give myself a pat on the back for this trip as I was the most hard-working angler of the trip. I was fishing under the rain and kinda forgot about lunch. This is the kind of boats that will never make you lazy as there is NO AIR CONDITIONING and NO COMFORTABLE SOFA’s for you to chill. As a matter of fact, there isn’t really space for you to chill! This is a no nonsense lets go FISHING kinda boat.
We were fishing till about 7:30pm before we remembered that we had to set up the camp. We were so engrossed with the fishing that the camp was the least of our worries.
We initially had some problem anchoring the boat as the waves were very strong. The boatman was trying to pull the boat closer to land so that he could tie the boat to a tree but he needed help. Khian and Terry dared me to jump into the water and swim to island to help the guy in the dark and you know la, me being me, china man, kennot la lose face, LETS GO!
The boat was actually quite far from shore then I realized what an idiot I was. And trying to pull a boat closer to land? What the fuck was I thinking! Anyhow I tried my best, so much effort in helping the guy until I twisted my lower back. Fuck shit this wasn’t good, I got 1 more day of fishing and now im getting this! Fuck it, if I had to break my back tomorrow, I will mafakka!
The Camp
Khian and Terry were in-charge of setting up the tent. Me and Ng were in-charge of setting up the campfire and Alan, the official Chef! He is a pretty good cook! The camping was way fun, there was a running stream in the Island where we bathe.
The island was infested with a weird kinda crab. It was ALL over the island. Luckily there wasn’t much mosquitoes and it only rained for a while. It was quite an experience for me and the fact that everyone got together to “survive” in this no man’s land made the adventure so much more interesting. I freaking loved it!
Wednesday 28th July 2010
This day was just RECORD breaking. It was like the GT’s were waiting for our poppers to touch water. The action was NON-stop from the time we arrive at the spot till the time we left. But before that I have to let you know what we had for lunch.
In the morning when we were heading out, we saw a lobster fishing boat approaching us. These guys have been out at sea catching lobsters for a week already and they have ran out of cigarettes. What a perfect opportunity! Out at sea, money is nothing and my WINSTON LIGHTS are a commodity. Tooo bad I didn’t have 3 or 4 cartons as we exchanged 6 packs of cigarettes for a lobster! We paid and additional RM200 for another 5 lobsters and 2 other weird ass looking shellfish.
So if you are going to fish in Simeulue, bring extra ciggies….these guys are hardcore. Their boat is like half the size of ours but they can fit 5 people in it and live in the damn boat for a week out at sea! HARDCORE! Uncle Ng did the most unthinkable thing, these guys already looked like pirates and our friend, the uncle, Mr P.R had to jump into their boat to pick the lobsters. Seriously, I was seriously suspecting that they were pirates!
Uncle Ng actually sat in their boat for about 30 minutes chit chatting away on how they dive 30 meters into the water with a normal gardening hose and shit. Hats off to the Uncle man…”KU TAN TEIK YAT KOR!”
On the last day, the action was just berserk. NON STOP action I swear. The sizes were minimum 10kg and above. We didn’t even have time to film all the fishes being landed and released. After landing the biggest one for me of the trip, Alan borrowed my rod.
After 2 casts, I could hear the reel SCREAMING away from the back of the boat. Alan hit the Jackpot. A 30kg specimen was on the other end of the line. It was so funny coz Alan has been landing big fishes with my rods and never on his own one! So he said for me to pack stuff for him for the next trips. HAMMERHEAD’s are the way to go. They love that shit down there…
As if the 30kg specimen wasn’t enuff, Simeulue rewarded us with another 30kg specimen, but not a GT, a BARRACUDA! That mafakka was HUGE! Uncle Ng was totally shocked at the size of that beast! What a fucking rockin way to send us off! Simeulue is MAGIC!
I don’t even want to talk about the trip back. It’s just saddening that we had to leave this Popping paradise. We did bring out jigging outfit but im sorry, there just wasn’t time for us to do any jigging at all. The fishes were biting NON-STOP! But I believe that jigging there can be quite productive.
Well to sum it up, this was the best trip of my entire life and I have decided that 2011 will be solely dedicated to fishing the rest of the islands in Simeulue, well except for the Taiwan trip in May, that one will be the exception.
Till the next time we INVADE SIMEULUE…..”KU TAN TEIK YAT KOR”
