A Day To Remember

Some pic's from the archives.

1999, New Years days, Ill let the pictures tell the story of how things unveiled. A day that goes down in the history books for LBG (Land Base Gamefishing)

Some of the other Black Marlin caught on the same day. We would of seen over 40 fish this day and over 10 were landed, some kept some released.

Its all about the head

What a crazy, wild looking fish. The Giant Snakehead. By name by nature.

The first time I sore these weird looking things is still stuck in my head. Standing on a small bridge over looking the waters of a small dam in Hong Kong. It was closed season so no fishing this day. At my feet there were four Snakeheads harassing bait into a tight ball. Three would round them up and one would cut into the ball and rip a few baitfish. The other three would clean up on the wounded fish. They were roofless.

Two weeks latter and the season now opened I was back with a spin rod and a few small poppers. The hit was hard but the fight was disappointing. But if its all about the take than these things win.

They really hit hard.

Kung hei Fat Choi

Happy Chinese New Year, or something along those lines

They talk about the lead up to the Chinese New Year, Lunar New year, or the Spring festival as peak season for the Sea Bass in Hong Kong. It is commonly called the "lunar New year", because it is based on the lunisolar Chinese calendar. The festival traditionally begains on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called the Lantern Festival. That's a bit to get your head around if you're not Chinese. For us expats over here the holidays started on the 13th February this year.

Why am I going on about dates and what not's about this New Year period. Well because it changes each year depending on the lunar cycle. This lunar cycle must have something to do with the Sea Bass in these waters. In January this year around the same lunar cycle I found myself doing battle with a beast of a Sea Bass, a month latter another battle with a beast of similar proportions. Last year was the same but I was new to this species.

So if you are looking at a stop over in Hong Kong and its around this New Year festival time, pack a spin rod and some lures. You just might find yourself having your own battle.

Let's see what next months lunar cycle holds.