Singing pore with PB’s

Singing pore with PB’s well not really, this was my first real over seas fishing adventure.

Got into Singapore airport at 11.30pm and decided to sleep at the airport. Tomorrow afternoon I would be meeting the other guys for our trip to Rompin to mix it with Sails on fly. Well to say I got sleep at the airport would be an understatement. The pic on the advertisement inside the airport was misleading. A pic of what looked like a small room with a bed made up with a blanket, sheets and pillow was a lie. After paying to sleep (by the hr of course) I was taken to the room. A communal room with about 50 beds and people coming and going, people snoring and others were talking.

ARRRRRRRRRRR.

By 5am I had had enough, not sleep LOL. Red bulls are a wonderful thing

First impressions of the impoundment was WOW, got the camera out to get some pics and the lens fogged up straight away. It must have been 30deg and about 99% humidity the poor camera didn’t know what hit it. After about 15min the thing was able to take pic’s again.
In a hundred meter stretch I must have seen 10 No Fishing signs and there must have been 30 odd people fishing. Anglers out number the signs so it must be ok. Fished until midday and would have caught over 20 Peacock Bass. These are one of the best looking fish going around. The big black dot on the tail is the biggest stand out. They use it to confuse others as it looks like another eye. The 4wt was just the trick for these guys; they hit hard and put in a good account for themselves. Unsure what they taste like but the locals were keeping all the fish they caught and laughed at me each time I let one go.

Mini Toxic Poons

Indo-Pacific Tarpon, Oxeye Herring or Mini-Poons (Megalops cyprinoides) look a lot like their BIG brother Atlantic Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) but just down sized. These are a species that legends and dream are made from. Well the big brother anyway. Tarpon have been on my wish list for many years. Tarpon are purely for the sport fishers as they are not a table fish.
Little did I know that the backwater or should I say blackwater’s of Hong Kong have many of these little speedsters swimming around in them. They are also a sucker for a small well presented fly. Down sizing to a 4wt made each encounter fun and enjoyable. Flies such as Toads, X Toads, Bentbacks and small Clousers have been the most successful.

Tarpon are big performers and fight to the end. Jumps, short but fast bursts of speed and more jumps add to the excitement of these Mini Poon’s. Can't say the same for the environment they were caught in, Slaughter house outlet, China's border and just a toxic waste dump but that another story.

Rompin Sails

No need for words as the photos say it all. Over 100 sails raised in two days, unsure how many shots and heaps landed. Theres a short vid at the end to have a look at.

Deep Fly Bass

Once again I felt the all too familiar bump through the rod. This was about the tenth bump for the morning. The 1/8th black and purple spinner bait was failing despite the fact it had been the go to lure on Bass Electric tournaments. After trying soft plastics, lipless crankbaits and divers that littered my tackle box the fly rod was rigged. I was ready to try again. With a black and purple Bass vampire connected to the leader by a loop knot.
The ABT requirements for these tournaments are, two Bass per angler greater than 30cm to the fork. All anglers have six hours to fill their limit and penalties are enforced if anyone is late back. It may sound easy but when there are forty other top Bass anglers trying to do the same thing the pressure is on.
With the new fly rigged, I made the first cast and it was a rough cast at that, not a long cast, only about 40ft in length. As the fly line was sinking, I stripped the remaining line from the reel in preparation for the next cast. With the whole fly line neatly coiled on the floor of the boat the retrieve was started. Now the point I was fishing had a wall that was about 15m long and dropped off from 3ft to 30ft. the fly line was laying straight under the boat by the time I started the retrieve.

Strip, strip, strip, ‘BANG” fish on

I would love to say that the fly line was stripped through my hands and was losing backing at a great number of knots, but this is Bass fishing. Deep power surges were transmitted through the fly line and into the rod. The Bass made a few more last chance power dives before it was safely in the environet. Why did it take so long to pull out the fly rod? Within the next hour I had landed 15 fish and my limit of two Bass over 30cm was filled

Tackle Box
A fly rod outfit between 6wt and 9wt is recommended. 6wt’s are great for, the social/fun aspect but when its tournament time go for the heavier outfits. The wind seems to always be stronger on comp days. This is the world of the new age fast action fly rods. Full length sinking lines are heavy and require a high line speed to cast them effectively.
Reel need to be of the large arbor type. These reels help prevent line memory and have a quick line retrieval rate. Good if that monster takes the fly at the start of the retrieve you will be able to retrieve line quickly. Types of reels are a personal thing starting at the low cost graphite to full bar stock coloured anadised aluminum reels. Most guys when setting up their outfits for tournament fishing choose the low cost option and spend their money on other reels such as baitcasters and threadlines. If you are serious about fly, go for the best you can afford. Tackle bling is always a good thing.
Lines come in two form for deep fly fishing
1- Full length sinking lines which sink at around 6 inches per second
2- A shooting head system with a running line. Especially the lead core lines
Twisted fluorocarbon leaders are the most effective leader system. They help turn over the weighted flies used and they sink quicker than the more traditional tapered leader.

Flies
There’s not much that a Bass wont eat, therefore there are hundreds of flies out there that will catch them. Vampire styles, Pink things, Clousers, Deceivers, BMS Fuzzles and Bulletheads to name a few. These flies need to be tied sparsely as a bulky fly will sink slowly.

Counting down
For this technique to work you must know where your fly is throughout the retrieve. I am young (well young at heart) and didn’t go to school when inches and the old foot were used but these units make this style of fishing easier. The line sinks at six inches per second. Therefore with your sounder set up to show the depth in feet all you have to do is count down the fly to double the depth. Eg: if the fish are showing at 10 feet on the sounder simply count the fly down after the cast for 20 seconds. It’s that simple, I get confused if I try and work in metric units 150mm, 300mm, 450mm what’s next.

Retrieves

This can change from day to day and Dam to Dam. Two retrieves that have served me well are the strip, strip, strip pause technique and a consistent retrieve. Once you have counted down the fly to the depth the fish are holding at, start your retrieve with three 20 to 30cm sharp strips. Pause for five seconds and start the three strips again. Keep this up all the way back to the boat. Secondly, try to get the fly moving at a medium pace and keep it moving consistently with as little break in the retrieve as possible. The ability to lay out a long cast is a huge advantage for this technique. Bass are known to follow the fly almost to the boat and than strike. This makes for some white-knuckle fishing.

As always the rod should be facing straight down the line. Put the rod tip in the water or just above it. This prevents any slack line and increases the sensitivity between the angler and fish. If a bite or bump is detected just keep stripping and usually the hook will find its mark. Do not strike with the rod as this will end up being a very frustrating day.

With two of the biggest Bass in the live well, it shows how effective this technique really is. The long rod is now my go to technique for impoundment Bass. Pick it up and show others that the fly rod is still a force to reckon with.

Hong Kong Sea Bass

Good mate Kelvin penned this short article for the Mandarins Newsletter. Thought I'd post it here and share with y'all as well.

"Lo Yu" or Chinese Spotted Seabass (Lateolabrax Maculatus) have always been a bit of mystery to me, or so it was, until this past season when a friend and I decided to chase them in earnest. We came up empty on virtually all of our early "Lo Yu" expeditions -- I put this down to being too eager and fishing for them way too early on in the season, and not fully understanding or appreciating the habitat or behaviour of the "Lo Yu". Having spent countless hours fishing for them this past season, we're slowly piecing the puzzle together and manage to have moderate, but sporadic, success on them.

From what I can gather, most of the "Lo Yu" are not resident in Hong Kong, but swim across from the Pearl River Delta to Hong Kong to spawn during the Winter months. The season seems to peak from November to February. As with its close cousin the Japanese Seabass (Lateolabrax Japonicus) commonly found in Japan, the smaller fish tend to school up while the larger fish tend to be more solitary. Surprisingly, lure fishing for "Lo Yu" has really picked up in Hong Kong in recent years. Take a walk along any well-lit pier, dock, waterfront or bridge in Hong Kong on any given night from Chai Wan to Kennedy Town during the season and you'll probably see dozens of hopeful fisherman fishing for "Lo Yu" with the latest seabass fishing equipment.