It does seem, I’ve completely forgotten about blog writing in Fishyology. Well, not completely true. We were too occupied with so many things on our table. Especially our latest Project FC Factory and ever growing Fishyology Charter and Tour. Exponential growth. All this wouldn’t be possible if we don’t have our faithful readers from all over the world. I am grateful and thank you and apologies to keep you guys waiting.

After all this time, I think.. I still can’t move on from Mersing or Pulau Aur Fishing trip. Honestly I think this is one of the best fishing highlight in 2017. First day was phenomenal as we came across a school of Dorado and Bonito and the evening with Emperor and Snappers. Finally closed the day with a massive Guitar Fish. How about day 2?

Well day 2 was a much more relaxing outing for me. I’ve maxed out and weren’t really pushing too hard. I take my time to enjoy a great view of Pulau Aur. The sea was blue and the Island are filled with coconut tree. Which reminds me of Moana. Having to watch that movie hundreds of times because the kids loved it. It was special. I notice my rod is still hanging at the same position. Chopped some bait and get going with fishing again. Doesn’t take long to score some small Longfin Trevally and Emperor. Bite rate still at an optimal level. Thus we should keep on going while the bite last.

We were 50:50 on leaving or continue on fishing. Rule of thumb, if the fishing frenzy is still going don’t leave the field because it could have been different in few hours time. The captain urges to head in as he also highlighted that the boat runs out of gas to cook our lunch.

Finally we decided to come in and board the Pulau Aur for some lunch and refresh ourselves. The small island is beautiful. White sandy beach and crystal clear water. It is in-habitat by a small population.. Less than 100 people if I’m not mistaken. They have a proper school, a police station and some other facilities. Kids were playing along the long jetty. When we were there, a large group of local tourist departed from the island. The main business is eco-tourism and in feed this small island village. Epul was once involved in providing a water supply system for this small community. Awesome stuff!

We decided to head down to the mosque and freshen ourselves. Feels good. Since the gas has run out, we decided to have lunch at Pak Sarip favorite place. Warong Mak Janda lol. I’ve been around Malaysia, fishing. It is just hard to keep old man away from Mak Janda haha. A simple lunch and Cold Milo Ice. We rested for while before we head back and continue our fishing.

We head back to the Navy shooting range, hoping to repeat our mid-day encounter. We dropped our bait and waited about an hour without any bite or to precise.. not even a nibble. We decided to ditch the place and head further out of Pulau Aur. Close to the Indonesia border. We were planning to fish off a FAD’s or Unjam. Another boat was already parked at the Unjam and we clearly see a large group of Bonito hammering small anchovies. We decided to do trolling, the traditional way. It is like a long sabiki, with heavy poundage line and hooks that has fathers on it. All we do is let the line out and pulled when the fish took the small trolling lure. No rod and reel, just line and pull in with our bare hands.

Some of us tried to use it. It is a traditional way to catch Bonito. A delicacy among east Malaysian locals. They make good curry out of it. It is not easy as even if we get a bite, to pull it in takes a lot of effort and sometimes the fish can rip its mouth and swim away. We had some those trolling line and we decided to drift and cast our metal jigs. They keep a safe distance from our casting range. I knew they would be just outside of our casting range. The current was on our side as we can send more line out towards them. All need to do is guess, the movement of the fish. Once I know they were heading towards us, I cast out as far as I can and let more line out before I reel it in as fast as I can. The moment it bang the jig, ZZZZZZZTTTT Fish On!! It was a Bonito and this guys fights like miniature Tuna. Fun on light tackle. Epul got the second one but lose it in the end. CKT Tackle makes the best fishing hook. Good quality handmade assist hook. Fit for east coast fishing scene.

With only a handful on Bonito, we continue our journey closer to the Mersing shores. Fishing at night was slower as compared to the night before. Fooz was the only highlight that evening with a large Yellow-Spotted Slatey or locally known as Ikan Kaci. A large specimen and that ended our great run on fishing in Mersing, Johore. I didn’t fish at all that night and head in early to catch some good sleep. We reach the jetty early morning and begin packing up all our stuff. A few guys stayed on last night and they had to move several time because of a sea tornado were spotted close to the boat. The weather was pretty bad that night, but I didn’t notice anything haha. It was fun and this will go down the best fishing experience in 2017. Still another half year to go, just wait for our next adventure. 🙂