Jalan Mempurong

Date: 5th Feb 09
Point of Cast : Jalan Mempurong
On the hook : Sotong,Prawns and Sarongs
High tide : 2.2m (9.32pm)
Old fisherman's tale of sea harvest: Ikan merah (Crimson Snapper), Ungga Tanda ( Russell Snapper), Pari ( Stingray) & Tudong Periuk(Sickle Fish)
(sized at least frm 2kg onwards as per the local "lau chow" anglers)

The Call

It was 4pm and i suddenly got the urged to called up Mogi and see if he's coming home soon. I have been having these sudden itch to go fishing. After a few unsuccessful fishing trips, the itch to wet some lines seems to be intolerable especially for me. I have to admit I'm not a big fishing fan especially here in Singapore. I have had my fair share of the waiting game. IT sucked!! Being raised in the Riau Island where fishing is much more "happening" .. it takes awhile, kinda like a long while for me to get used to fishing here.

Back to calling Mogi, I was lucky, he's already on the way home and looks like fishing was the activity of the evening. As soon as i hung up the phone, its time to look thru my gear ( which was always stoodby by my front door, for all the last minute non planned trips!) .. get in the shower and wait till Mogi gets home.

The "Difficult" Stopover

The minute i heard the front door clicked open, i knew it had to be Mogi. I didn't even gave him a chance to change, not even a shower! The itch was unbearable, " We need to get going" I whined. We boarded the cab at 5pm and headed out. We then made our first stop over at Sincere Tackle Shop in Yishun. As Mogi browsed through the busy shop looking for supplies, I was taking my time browsing through the rods and reels.

God!! Help Me!! I was trying so hard not to buy anything on impulse. It was hard! Really hard! I cant help it the " Don't care just buy " bug was biting hard on my nerves. The tackle shop to me ( well every tackle shop which is well stocked) is like the men's version of Metro. (Anything from high end to low end stuff!! Get it!!)
I am a women after all, shopping is still one of my best qualities, irregardless. Mogi must have sensed that i was losing it and took me out of the shop (he had promised to buy me that pretty pink xzoga line before dragging me out .. then only i agree to leave the shop!!) Now you know why its a "difficult" stopover for me!!Compromise is Mogi's way of dealing with a pampered and demanding wife ( in his own words) We then proceeded to get some drinking supply and then hopped in the cab to the mentioned destination.

Getting There

We got in the cab and told the driver to drive us to our destination. As soon as he heard it, he goes ...

" Aiya!! That place at night so dark dark!!.. The road damn kampong. Why u want to go there?"

I have to admit, I got a little pissed. He could have just said that he didn't want to go but instead he had to nagged and broughtmy spirits down. Mogi engaged in a conversation with the diver. I couldn't care less. I was bored and he's driving too slow. At this point of time, i wished that we had our own vehical. I tell you, we'll be venturing into any god's permitted fishing hole (which comes with a price) Price of what? For starters, its a known fact that we will lugged around every other equipments that we have ( maybe throw a kitchen sink or two... muhahahaha)

I was awed at the sight that greet me. It was almost 6pm and the road going in was already dark.

Arrived at the destination

The sight that greeted us. Looks like we stepped into a fishing paradise.

I was excited and eager to explore the grounds. The place looks bustled with anglers trying their luck by the river. We chatted up a fellow angler who was busy getting out a fish from his hook. He was trying to unhook a "helicopter" fish. Spotted in his pail were a few of those. He says he has always been fishing there and on good days, you can even get a grouper or two.

The promising river bank where we spotted some seabass.

The side of the river looked promising with bait fish jumping over and making a mad dash away from the seabass, but thats not where we were interested to cast our lines (well not me!) We had set our sight a little further down.

Mogi excited after spotting some seabass lounging around

We made our way further in to discover an abandoned jetty. Well its not really a jetty but kinda like those platform ramp for boat owners to lower their boats down to the mouth of the sea. The place looked nice and cozy. Not many people are fishing just two when we arrived. We set up nearby the two friendly anglers. I couldnt wait to castoff. The sea looks inviting with promises of a good catch. Just after setting up and casting off, we sat down to have a munch and traded "war" stories with the older anglers in hopes of getting to know the place better since its our first time there and questioned them as to what are the " promised" catch that can be brought home successfully.

The Catch

Half an hour into our first cast, Mogi's drag started screaming and running pretty wild. We rushed to fetch the screeching rod and the battle begins between Mogi and the fish. Much to our suprise, reeling in at 1.5kg was a pretty cute Grunter fish. What a runner!! I started to fidget as i looked at Mogi's catch. Engrossed into taking the grunter out, my drag started screaming also. I almost toppled running to fetch my rod. Now my battle begins, after 20 mins of fighting the rod, up comes the 1.8kg Russell Snapper ( Unggah Tanda). I was estatic and ready to posed for the camera. I shouted for Mogi to grabbed a picture of and my so called "big" fish. As soon as Mogi got his hands on the cam, I started to pose. Much to our dismay.. THE BATTERY WENT FLAT!!! I almost fainted! This was one of the moments that you just want to shoot yourself for being so dumb. I have forgotten to charge the cam batt and now i felt like stabbing myself!! Mogi had a nice time laughing and teasing me. Arrgggh Crap.. ( Note to self: Please Check camera's battery before any attempt to leave the house!!)

The night went by slowly, after our hook up, the night was pretty much quiet. We tried various baits but still it seems like we were only feeding the resident crabs. Its was actionless. Can u believe that? Just after two fish, all the action seems to ceased with the receeding tide.

The Journey Home

The time was 1am and nothing seemed to be tugging on our lines. The tide was getting low and the mosquito was having a feast on Mogi and me. We looked into our surrounding and then realised that we are in the middle of nowhere and it was pitch dark. We decided to pack our stuffs and engaged in small talk. I was worried that the place seemed a little creepy but Mogi assured me that there was nothing to be afraid of since the park connector lights would be on to guide the way out. The two fellow anglers was also packing and they approached us to see if we wanted to walk out together. Feeling a little puzzled, I looked at Mogi and think "Oh! How nice they wanted to walk us out together". We then waited for them to mount on their bikes and headed out to the park connector. To our suprised, the whole park connector's lights was OFF!! It was the first for us. We never knew that there wont be any lights to guide us back. We were told that the lights by the main road going into the road will be faulty but not the park's light being turned off. Now the taxi driver's word began to make some sense. I looked at Mogi and told him that this will be the last time that we'll be here till after mid night.

The surrounding walk in the park connector was challenging. Its was so dark and creepy that i wondered if it was only Mogi and me we would have waited till morning at the fishing spot. We would never had walked through the path. The so called "friends" that invited us to walked out together was quiet a distant away and all along the walk i kept looking at Mogi for comfort.We reached half way into the path and had to make a right turn to exit out to the nearest traffic light, just outside the junction between Sembawang shipyard and the road into Sembawang Park. The fellow angler waved us farewell as they needed to ride further into the park. Mogi and i thanked our lucky stars that we dont have to go through till the end of the road, we couldnt take the pressure of "EYES" watching us through the thick bushes in the forest.

As soon as we reached civalization, we hailed a cab and breath a sight of relieved. We made it out of the so call jungle. I was happy to be on our way home and am already planning where to go on our next fishing trip. I hope it will soon. Most likely, next thurs or fri.