I hadn’t intended to go kayaking today, but when I heard that there were some guys headed to ECP, I couldn’t help myself.
This would be the first time I launched my ‘new’ Native Slayer 13 at a location other than Pasir Ris. I even ignored the fact that they were starting early.
Alton and Alan were to meet us at the carpark (their kayaks were not parked at Watercross like mine was) so Nordin and I met up in the wee hours of the morning to load our kayaks onto our vehicles. Nordin’s kayak was also not at Watercross but he kindly offered to make the trip down to help me load mine (and also later to help me put it back into storage at Watercross).
By the time we arrived at the carpark, Alton and Alan were mid way through their setup.
Unloading…
Alton and Alan launched first while we launched slightly later.
With the experience of launching at ECP at night, and owing to the very stable base of our Native Slayer 13s, we were able to jump into our kayaks without difficulty.
As was the case the last time we were here, the scenery was beautiful and the waters near the launch point were fairly calm.
We were supposed to rendevous with Alton but couldn’t see them so we decided to fish somewhere along the way.
Almost immediately, I discovered that my Daiwa Freams 3000 (2011 model) that was close to death the last time I checked, had actually died in the intervening time. Luckily, I had a spare.
Also, the mount for my fishfinder that broke on New Year’s Eve was still broken but there was a workaround, unsightly though it was.
We found a nice drifting line and Nordin hooked up this grouper.
Check out that sky and that water! Compared to Pasir Ris, this water is crystal clear!
A better view of Nordin’s grouper!
I can’t help but wonder if Nordin thinks that if he smiles in photographs, the camera will steal his soul. The amount of nibbles on our hooks began to wane as the wind began messing with our drift so we decided to move on.
Check out that view!
This time, we could see where Alton and Alan were but they were quite far out so we decided to fish near them but closer to the shore.
The wind was messing with us and our drift lines soon became large scale curves and spirals…
Keen to find the fish, I checked with Alton if they had caught anything. He almost immediately sent me photos of all the 7 fish that they had caught so far. Coincidentally, he pointed out that most of the fish they had caught was in the same vicinity as where Nordin caught his grouper. We caught nothing else and hit quite a few snags before Alton and Alan hooked up with us.
Alas they were heading back while Nordin and I continued on in the other direction. Some guys like to fish for only half a day. When I still had my Mariner 10, I was not particularly averse to the idea…. till I got my Slayer 13. While an excellent craft on water (it really is excellent), it is a massive pain when on the land due to it’s weight. So I usually stay out as long as I can to make the effort of launching and recovery worth the effort.
The new Slayer 10 is much lighter (one person can load it onto the roof of a car/van without issue) but I already invested in my 13 with all the gadgets and DIY stuff (read as: LOTS OF TIME and EFFORT) and importantly, the Slayer 10 does not have an electronics console which means if I were to make the switch, I would be back to using Tupperware boxes for my switch panel. With the waterproofing issue on my console switch panel on the 13 (the waterproof boots for my switches are really shitty), the point is somewhat moot and I am back to contemplating on making the switch.
When we were in the area to watch the fireworks only a month earlier (exactly a month actually), we found some interesting spots on our fish finders so we headed there.
By now, the wind and waves were picking up and drifting was becoming extremely messy and uncoordinated. So we decided to head back to our first spot, where the waters were calmer and where the hungry fish apparently were.
That view again.
Somewhere there, I caught a pretty little Hind (I think it’s a Hind). It took a huge bite just before the sinker hit the bottom. It gave a decent fight too.
My Hind.
Me and my Hind.
It was released unharmed.
A video posted by SingaporeFishing.org (@sgfishingblog) on
About an hour or so before we called it a day, Nordin hooked up what we initially thought was a decent sized fish so I had my camera on the ready.
Had the camera on standby for what turned out to be a small fish.
A video posted by SingaporeFishing.org (@sgfishingblog) on
We eventually called it a day and headed back.
I forgot that I left my C-Tug on the floor next to where my van was, but luckily Nordin was kind enough to drive out of the way (after storing my Kayak, I followed him in his car to help him store his kayak) to take it back. Blessedly, the C-Tug was still there.
