The catch of my life time (so far)

Hello all! This is my first and hopefully not last post. Ghetto fisher man ong and abel master of comebacks can stop pestering me about posting. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW.

Also warm welcome to all of you who are visiting our blog for the first time! Hope you all find some thing useful that will help you in your angling journey.

Ok so here it is, the the catch of my life time (so far!)

KIMMM BAAAAAKK LOOOOORRRR

It was the most intense fight I ever had, even more exhilarating then fighting the giant cat fishes at farmway 3. Wild fish always fight harder, especially if it is their first time being hooked, and the stakes are so much higher because in the big blue ocean, once you lose that fish you will probably never see it ever again. I will post the video on our fishing kims facebook page! Allow me to show off my catch for awhile haha. Early estimates placed the fish at around 5kg, but a more accurate weighing at home turned out a whopping 8Kilos! Woohooo.

Master of comebacks! Check out the Kim's is longer then his body

I also wanna give a shout out to the two malay abangs who climbed down to help me bring up the fish because it was too big to lift out with my fishing rod. Really would not have known what to do if not for those two (maybe jump into the water). In return for their help I shared with them the spot which I casted and they where promptly rewarded with a 1kg KBL. Good things happen too good people? Haha. But really appreciate them for all their help! 

Spiderkims

Okok enough showing off, the reel (see what I did there) question everyone wants to know is HOW YOU CATCH ONE?!?!?! I can only share from my own limited personal experiences so please don't flame me "you stupid or what", "who does that?!?!". I do this for fun and if any of the more experienced fisher people out there have more tips and tricks to share please let me know in the comments! All tips are greatly appreciated.

Ok so here is what I did! I had specially rigged to target KBL because I knew from past experiences that there where actually quite big KBL (2kg ++) in that area and it was just a matter of going at the right time and tide to target them. And of course the hardest part is placing your bait at the place you would most likely think the KBL's would be hanging out without snagging your line. 

Ghetto fisherman ong in happier times

2kg KBL at the same area!

Why is placing the bait the hardest part? Thought just throw into the ocean and wait right? While that is partially true, some knowledge about the behaviour between different fishes can help increase your chances of landing your target fish species be it KBL or others. 

Contrary to popular belief, KBL's tend to hang around structures quite near to the shore line waiting to ambush unsuspecting prawns or fish, so to increase your chances to land one, it is advisable to cast your line near some structure, be it under a jetty or some kelongs (wooden poles). But this posses a danger of accidentally snagging your line on the structure if you allow your line to drift too much, or a misplaced cast (speaking from experience lol). I had previously lost 2 KBL's due to snags and inexperience fighting around structures, but hey learning the hard way makes you improve. 

Illustration of a Kims hiding among roots.

To counter this problems, I used a single snood appollo rig to reduce the chances of a hook snagging onto a rock or pole, and a heavier size 5 sinker to prevent the current from pushing my line out of place and into structure. Also KBL tend to be a mid water feeder as opposed to catfish which are bottom feeders, so try to position your snood slightly higher. 

             

All numbers are estimates. Feel free to modify as you see fit.

Strong knots are highly recommended. You don't want to lose the big fish due to weak knots!

T knots and snell's are the best. For more info check out our post on knots! 

T knot - http://fishingkims.blogspot.sg/2014/06/t-knot-and-illustrationspictures.html?m=1

Snell knot - http://fishingkims.blogspot.sg/2014/06/snell-knot-for-hooks-and_15.html?m=1

Try and aim your cast directly outside the structure to try and tempt the KBL to come out of its home and chomp down on your bait! For this reason live baits are usually prefered as the vibrations of the bait will attract the attention of the fish even if they are not actively feeding although dead baits can work as well. 

As for tide and time, the best tide to fish for pelagic fish like KBL is when the tide and current is coming into shore. The current will bring the KBL in from other areas and take up residence around the structures. Typical feeding times are dawn and dusk. However if you are fishing in a mangrove area, KBL's can be found around the clock and and might even be easier to catch during low tide! 

But since this is called fishing and not catching, even if you set up everything in the most perfect conditions you could find, if the fish aren't biting/not there, then there is nothing left to do but enjoy the scenery haha. 

While there is still a huge amount of luck involved and nothing is ever certain in fishing, that's what makes it so fun! No two fishing trips are ever the same and the ocean can constantly surprise you, so just keep throwing your baits into the sea and don't give up!

OK I AM DONE! Hope you all found this useful! Happy fishing everyone. Remember if you do responsible sustainable fishing, the fishing will sustain you as well! Think about it haha. THROW BACK THE BABY FISH LA.

Lastly, I personally recommend eating some sort of fish dish before going fishing to build up some "fish hate" against you so they would attack your bait with a vengeance when they smell fishy murder from you. 

I thank my friends for sharing the experiences with me, and God for blessing me the way he has.

-Bryan Chan 

                          

                                                                     

PS : Just to add some points on sustainable fishing, on hindsight I should have thrown back the KBL I caught as it was probably a big spawner due to its age and size. But after seeing the two abangs go through all the effort to help me land my fish it would have been quite rude to have thrown it back. If I ever have the privilege of landing one of a similar size I will release it. SUSTAINABLE FISHING EVERYONE. Have a good day.