PULAU RAWA

Sun, Sea and Soft White Sands

Just got back from my wedding shoot in Pulau Rawa. Its really a beautiful place to be, the white sands, the clear blue water and the civilized people who are at the island just makes the place irresistible.

Day 1


The view from Our Room

We took off from KL at about 5pm, reached Mersing Jetty at about 8:45am, just in time for the first boat to Pulau Rawa. We checked in at the reception in Mersing and off we were to Pulau Rawa, My wife, and my 2 photographer friends.

Upon arrival at the jetty of Pulau Rawa, we were greeted by CLEAR BLUE WATER and swarms of tiny fish. There were a lot of baby todaks, parrot fish and ikan bilis around. I was already too excited for night time when we have time off shoots to go fishing at the jetty.


The Swarm of Ikan Bilis which greeted our Arrival!

After some light food, we got changed into our beach gear and basked under the sun on the soft white sand to discuss what, where and when to take photographs. We decided that we will do sunset shots only on the first day so the whole day is free! I quickly grabbed some snorkel to recce the terrain that we were going to fish in later that night.

The place is filled with corals and the chances of SANGKUT was confirmed. There were many different types of fishes and I swear that I saw a school of “Pak Chong” in the water. This got me all excited for the night, I just couldn’t wait to prepare for some casting and light popping.


My Beautiful Bride


Me and My Bride!

After the evening shots, we had dinner then followed by some drinks and we were ready for some fishing. Got a bag of cuttlefish from the restaurant, brought my gear and marched to the Jetty, and we were ready to fish!


And then...it was time to prepare to FISH!

First, I had my gear set for popping and another set for bottom fishing (clearly this was for the girls) I tried all sorts of poppers, glow in the dark ones, pencils, chuggers, nothing seems to work on the fishes. You can see the todak giving chase but no bite! Finally I gave up and changed it into a bottom rig. I could feel nibbles on the line, but no solid hook ups. Then as I was changing my bait, I peeped at what the guy on my right was using, he was using apollo’s to land small selars. FARK ME, WHY DIDN’T I THINK of that! My hooks were too big for the fishes mouth! The whole night we were there, we only managed to get a few tugs from the todaks but no solid hook-ups.


Me & Steve waiting PATIENTLY


Me & My wife waiting for "SOMETHING" to bite!


Fiona & Steve...


The Sotong we never Caught


The Barracuda we never Caught!!

This was frustrating as I was actually under a lot of pressure by my wife and my friends. I was supposed to be the guy who knows his fishing stuff and here I am, not landing one single fish while people around me were landing selars, baby barracuda’s and sotongs all night long! Another thing that was annoying was that I didn’t bring any big hooks for the trip. The guy beside me was using the live selars as bait fish. The gear he was using was pretty heavy for jetty fishing. But when it was hit by something really big, then only I realized that there are some huge mama’s out there. The snap swivel he used was torn wide open by that fish. Thats why we are known as the "SOMETIMES CAN" Anglers, not everytime can get fish one hai mai!

Day 2

We woke up at about 6 in the morning to get the sunrise shots. The tide was at its peak in the morning so before I left my room for the shoot, I hooked on some remaining sotongs and casted it out from my room balcony.


The view from up the Mountain


Mrs Wong & Fiona

We went for breakfast then straight to the jetty for the shoot. We then took a hike up the mountains to snap some shots there as the view was absolutely breath taking.

In the afternoon, it was the same drill, chill by the beach. This time, we got some bread from the Restaurant and was feeding fishes as we snorkeled near the jetty. The fishes were really shy at first but when they got used to eating the bread from our hands, they were unstoppable. Fiona was snorkeling the whole day while me and my wife slept on the hammock. Steve, our other friend was also seen snoozing away on a hammock.


Me on the Slide!


Fiona Hand feeding the FISHES


Steve on the HAMMOCK


The FANTASTIC 4!


My Favorite shot of the TRIP

5pm sharp, we got changed and headed to the other end of the island for the cave shots. After that, we went for dinner and played some pool. We wanted to go fishing but the weather wasn’t too kind to us, it was raining the whole night. When I got back to my room, I checked my bait, and the line was cut! Don’t know if it was a fish or coral but was too tired to investigate.


Preparing for the CAVE Shot



Day 3

Fiona and Steve had to leave early n this day. Despite our pledges for them to stay, Fiona was insistent that they had to head back and prepare for another shoot the next day. Steve looked like he really wanted to stay but then duty calls, so they left the island on the earliest boat, 10am.


The BYE BYE Shot

The rest of the day, me and my wife just basked under the sun until about 5pm, when we heard thunderstorms. As we made our ways back to our room, the rain got heavier and it never ended, so there goes another night of fishing!

Day 4

This was our last day in this paradise. It was a sad day because it is always difficult to say goodbye to a paradise like this. I will be back next year to this beautiful island and I will be more prepared and land some fish!


Fucking off the Island and Back to Reality

UPDATES

In lieu of my big day coming up on the 10th f November, there wont be any trips until then. Tukun was CANCELLED due to lack of participants (I was truly heart – broken…no kidding ) and going for short trips to places like Pekan on weekends was a no no as I had to give out my wedding invitations.

The good news is, I will be going to Pulau Rawa to take wedding photo’s and you canh be sure that I will be bringing some fishing gear to that place. I was there last year and fishing from the Jetty can produce some surprises! The last time me and my wife caught some Sammy Vellu’s, small sting-ray and a baby shark….but it was way fun!

This time, im gonna bring some poppers and lures…maybe I might just get lucky and land some Big Eyes or barracuda!.

Another great news is that I just got confirmation that my long awaited ROD, Fake Lez is now in Singapore….it should be here in a couple of weeks! Cant wait for this new addition to the family to finally arrive! Thanks to my reliable friend, Darren…its gonna be HAVOC!

Below are some pictures of the island….ENJOY and do look out for this space for the RAWA ISLAND report!








BRUCE a.k.a GT KING

“SOMETIMES CAN” Anglers..

OK LAI!

This was a trip planned by Jigging Master Khian. It was to be a 1 day trip covering Hutan Melintang ( Im sure we have all watched the DVD and saw the GT frenzy in that video ) and Pulau Jarak on Kapitan Chong a.k.a Ok Lai’s new boat. TUNA 2. I’ve been to Pulau Jarak before and as far as I can remember, I only landed one Barracuda of about 4-5kg.

This trip was especially interesting as it was my first time fishing with my buddy Mr Ming. I wanted to turn this ex-bottom fishing into a jigging kaki. I hope I have finally showed this friend of mine the light…the TRUE art of fishing….JIGGING la puki!

The list of Fishing buddies on this trip are as follows:

Johnson “SHARK KING” ( new title as of now )
Ah Wah Siew
DD “The Hailer”
“Jigging Master” Khian
Naely “Todak Queen”
Ming
And Me….still GT King!!!!!

Saturday 20th September 2008

Brudder Johnson came over to my house at about 2:30pm. I screwed up as I forgot to inform him that we have changed the departure time to 4pm. So he chilled at my place for a bit and waited for Ming to arrive.

4:30pm, Ming arrived in a tank. An old skool Pajero which looks like it was BUILT for fishing. Freaking MADE TO FISH! We made our way to Sitiawan using the old roads passing by stinking “HAM YUE” town while the rest were making their way there using the Bidor exit. The old way was supposed to be faster …..we ended up in Sitiawan later than the others..

When we arrived, first thing we did was…MAKAN la what summore. We met up with the others in a new restaurant and the first thing we could here was Ah Wah Siew asing us to order the “Ha Mee”. Smelling something suspicious, I looked into his bowl and the color didn’t look right. Spotting this, we immediately got Johnson to order one for himself telling him it’s the best ever “Ha Mee” in the world! …yup, he bought it, he ordered the most stale bowl of “Ha Mee” known to “Ha Mee” eaters but in order not to offend our taste buds, he agreed that it was the best as he gorged down the sumptuous dish.

After makan, we headed back to Sitiawan Hotel. Nothing fancy, just perfect for sleeping. PERIOD. Of course the best part of the trip was this part, the get together before the trip. We talked about tackle at first but then some how room 226 became the parliament. There was a M.C.A debate going on and then we moved into deep conversations about camera’s and lenses, a language that I could not comprehend…..at all!

About 10:30, our Kapitan gave us a call asking us to join him for a drink. We being the most GAME people in Sitiawan that night, agreed and went searching for the sleazy pub he was in. We met up with Kapitan OK Lai in this really dodgy pub. It was too bright to be a feng tau joint, but yet played feng tau music….to tell the truth, it was music to my ears, the sounds of Chinese singers to hardcore music. I just freaking loved it! But sadly I wasn’t really GEARED for that kinda game, as so was all of us so we went in there for a good 15 minutes, had 1 drink with Kapitan OK Lai and left the place.

We ended up at a massage nearby called Shang Hai and had a good 1 hour massage before heading back to the hotel. Back at the hotel, it was time for some HAPPY friends and head to bed. It was kind of difficult to fall asleep especially when I have to sleep on the same queen size bed with Nightmare Johnson! Ming was out cold in a matter of minutes I had to endure the foot playing, the eye staring and the chronic laughs of Brudder Johnson!

Sunday 21st September 2008

6:15 in the pagi, we all woke up on time except for one guy….DD. learning that he hasn’t awaken yet, I decided to do the normal raid into his room. We stormed in the room, turn on the lights and started to shout “ OK Ok Skarang RAID semua BANGUN” and that totally freaked him out!

Once everyone was ready, we headed to a stall nearby to have some Sitiawan Chicken Rice. I swear to you Chicken Rice is like the national dish of Sitiawan. Its like every where and taste amazingly good!

After breakfast, it was off to Leisure Bay Café, the mosquito infested port ( applicable only after 7pm ) where we boarded the NEW TUNA 2! Filled with excitement, we loaded our gear on board and took some pictures. Sadly Alan “ No Brush Teeth” couldn’t join us on this trip. If he did then EVERYONE would have had a T-shirt, even Kapitan OK Lai! Luckily I had one spare t-shirt and I presented it to Ming in welcoming him into the “SOMETIMES CAN” Anglers club.

The Gear

Saltiga Game 3000 + Tenryu Oceania PE 0.8 – 3
Stella SW5000PG + Shimano Blue Rose PE 4 Full Gene

Hutan Melintang.

On our way to the first spot, we were lucky enough to see some dolphins which we thought were sails at first. It was a beautiful sight and we can even see brudder Johnson getting ready his jigging gear. Actually I thought to do the same thing but that wouldn’t be right….right?

Our first spot, Hutan Melintang. In hope that those GT’s on the DVD we watched would have “Melintang” this spot, we jigged our hearts out in search for something like that to “melintang” but the only thing that “melintang” was a Jemuduk ( im not too sure what its called but they say like that then I write like that la) by DD. After changing spots effortlessly, Kapitan OK Lai decided, lets go for some Sharks!

At the SHARK tempat, I was rewarded with the lost of 1 butterfly jig and a Metallic Sardine. I forgot, Shark’s had teeth. Everyone changed to wire leaders and jigged for sharks and not before long, Ming was rewarded by on JIG!!!! I was freakin happy for him! I quickly grabbed his video cam and recorded the fight!

At the same time, I could hear Brudder Johnson shouting saying that he too is on to one! The adrenalin rush on board was euphoric! My buddy, ex-bottom fisherman hooked on to a specimen on JIG!, Brudder Johnson making history with his prized 9kg Shark! Sadly Ming’s shark could not be landed but Brudder Johnson landed one of the biggest SHARK in the world!

Johnson Lim is now known as “SHARK KING” until a bigger shark is landed by another “SOMETIMES CAN” Angler. Do join me in congratulating him in earning this title on top of his other title earned in his last trip to Kuching, “SEK PAN KING”. Congratulations Johnson “SHARK KING” Lim.

After a while, we moved to Pulau Jarak. Fishing wasn’t good there. We only caught some “nothing”. Poor Kapitan OK Lai, feeling really pressured, he decided to bring us to Pulau Sembilan Mungkin Ada Chan. Same story there, but we did see some boiling action. Kapitan OK Lai advised us to troll for some GIANT CENCARU’s. trust me, there were some HUGE CENCARU’s in that place.

7pm, we headed back to MOSQUITO infested port, Leisure Bay Café. All geared up with Ridsect, I was ready. I arrived, I saw and I conquered. The mosquitoes were helpless against my arsenal.

As this story is a little long winded, I am deciding to cut it short. Here is the summary.

We had a fantastic dinner ( the “Ham Tan Kai” was just farking too good to be true )
It was a fun journey back home in Mings Fishing Tank!

The trip was farking fun though not many fishes, I had a fantastic time with my best fishing buddies. “Ikan tiada takpa, Gaya Mesti ada”. This is also why we are called “SOMETIMES CAN” Anglers. Not every trip so dapat ikan mah, so sometimes can la

Till my next post… Here are some pictures… will upload videos once I get it from Ming…

The Best Part of the trip...Tackle talks and Bull Shittin

Kapal Baru TUNA 2!!

Me the KAPITAN!

Brother DD! The Hailer...He is Seriously LOUD!

Mr Ming...

"SOMETIMES CAN" Angler

Brother DD WACKING it!

The Prized CATCH!

The Shark...

The Newly Crowned "SHARK KING" Johnson

Double Whammy for Ah Wah Siew

Me and my HUGE Cencaru

The cencaru



Cencaru FUN!

PENANG Trip Gifts!

I was in PENANG for work on the MERDEKA week so you know la, sure have to Punch card at my favorite tackle shop there, Zainxan Pro Fishing Centre, Beach Road.

You know la how it is, masuk tackle shop, confirm must buy something one! So was scouting around for something to buy and then, I saw the something, SHIMANO Butterfly Jigs! Ive seen a video once on how these jigs works and it was pretty interesting! So I decided to buy some of these jigs and test it out on my next trip.


SHIMANO BUTTERFLY JIGS....aren't they beautiful!
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVG0aaWvNja1v0EI0P5vyLmOl_WzjS-lL0zS8jZBgfi13yq9kPEkJRwZxt1lb2stM8jpKAhnDNEn5tBDhacg0SFOg5t3sDM88Jy8olnxwHix-4zkRx_cUx7CssTqlwpNw3misNrxa4c_-/s1600-h/IMG_2339.JPG">
SHIMANO BUTTERFLY JIGS....CONFIRM DAPAT GT BESAR @ TUKUN

SHIMANO BUTTERFLY JIGS....I have developed the habit of buying 2 of the same colored jigs...what Darren, a fishing kaki of mine said was really true...what if you sangkut and you lose the most sought after Jig by the mama and papa GT's! Hai Lat Right!

Here are some pictures of the jigs and ofcourse I will not say no to Metallic Sardines as it is one of the elements which has brought me the title of….G.T King.


A MUST Have...Metallic Sardines...

To add on to the surprise, my lovely wife had secretly ordered a line retriever from the same place ( pasal she knows the owners daughter!!!) and presented it to me as a present! This I would say, is FUCKING BEST ! But picture tada la, coz my eyes sudah nak tutup, so besok hari sajer la

Till Then. Dont keep your fishes, spend some money and go buy from the market. Poor guys at the market oso need to makan.

Nic Vs. Cobia

Finally! i have learnt how to convert the files from the video recording i did in Rompin the last trip!! Attached to the blog is a video of Nic Vs. Cobia on my NEW STELLA 5000PG paired with a Blue Rose PE 3. Watch the video and enjoy it! Its a 8 minute video, i have managed to convert 43 secs of it into 3Mb with the help of my brother and my NEW MAChine!

ENJOY...and yes the cobia was released although it was the ONLY fish landed akakakakaka

SOMETIMES CAN

My MAChine

As promised, pictures of my new blogging MAChine....Mr Yong...feast your eyes on this new addition to the family....kira its for fishing also coz all the pictures have to go somewhere....and video's need to be edited, this MAChine does just that..







Awaiting next week for the JARAK trip. too bad we couldnt make it for Tukun this weekend, would have been AWESOME but no worries, Alan will be arranging it, sometime mid October.