How I was Hooked to Fishing - Part 1

Fishing is one of the most popular activities of Singaporeans. On every weekend or holidays, the beaches and lakes of Singapore are flooded with anglers and handliners. Uncles, aunties, children, grandpa and even grandmas are seen fishing and participating in this family activity. The most popular fishing destination is undoubtedly Bedok Jetty where anglers are packed so close to each other that every once in a while one can see Fried Bee Hoon (that's what they call for entangled fishing lines) caused by two anglers fishing very near to each other. More on the fishing locations later, let's see now how I was hooked to fishing...

Anglers fishing at sunrise at East Coast Park

A popular hangout in Singapore is East Coast Park beach where Singaporeans indulge in various activities such as cycling, skating, bowling, barbecue and fishing. The anglers lining up the shore waiting patiently for the catch of their lives always intrigued me. Why do people just sit there waiting and waiting more for hours? What possible fun can they obtain from such a sluggish activity?
These thoughts kept appearing in my mind for several days until one day when I was shopping in the retail store called Giant. I saw a fishing rod combo; a pretty cheap combo for 12$ (most probably for children). A sudden spark was triggered in my heart and even though not knowing anything about fishing, I brought the rod along with some hooks and sinkers.


I learned the basics of casting by watching YouTube videos and observing the anglers at ECP and later on practiced casting with 'Surecatch' plastic lures at various places like Labrador Park, Bedok Jetty, Bukit Batok Town Park and Pandan Reservoir. My aim was not to catch fish, but to cast accurately and efficiently, which is the most important rule in fishing. Also, the 'Surecatch' plastic lures surely didn't help me catch any fish in that period.

Tamban caught by Jigging using Sabiki Rigs at Bedok Jetty

When I was ready for it, I started with small fish called Tambans. Tambans are small herrings (sardinella) found abundantly around jetties like Bedok Jetty. They are usually caught by special rigs called Tamban Jigs (Sabiki Jigs) which is basically a paternoster rig with 6 to 8 branches fixed with small hooks adorned with feathers or skin which act like small lures. So, the hooks are dropped in the sea and jigged in up and down motion. The feathers attract the tambans and they are hooked up; sometimes even multiple tambans get caught in one cast. The light pull of the fishing line signals that a tamban is caught and continuous pull means there's more than one hooked up.
Mostly children and aunties are seen Tamban fishing and by the end of the day, they collect a bagful of those delicious tambans which are later deep fried and devoured at dinner.

Tambans can also be used as bait for catching bigger fish and many anglers have two rods in their arsenal; one dedicated to catch tambans and one for bigger fish.

Catching even those small tambans can be fun and thrilling. The strength with which they pull the line makes one wonder; even a small fish has a tremendous power in water. And this was just a small trailer of what I may get in future. The answers to all my questions were beginning to come forward; part by part.

View of Bedok Jetty from East Coast Park

It was time to move ahead and try to catch bigger fish. So, armed with prawns from Sheng Siong supermarket, I headed towards Bedok Jetty one fine day.In my last visits to Bedok Jetty, I had seen many people using a simple handline (fishing line wound in a spool) catch fish directly under the jetty. So this time, I brought one handline spool with me, hooked it with pieces of prawns and dropped directly below the jetty.
Patience is a virtue and no one knows better than a fisherman, especially in Singapore waters. There are so many anglers concentrated in small dedicated fishing areas, along with other factors like infrastructure development and environmental issues, that to catch a single fish it takes lots of time. It takes days (or at least hours for an expert angler) to catch a good sized fish in these waters.

That day patience eluded me. For hours, as time ticked by, my patience dropped. The fish kept eating the prawns and every time I pulled up the line the bait was gone. At one point I was so frustrated that I hooked up four hooks in a single piece of prawn and dropped it at the sea bed. After some time, when I pulled up the line, I was relieved to see a fish caught one of the four hooks. As I pulled the line up, my mind was filled with mixed emotion; thrill, excitement, happiness came along with horror, disappointment and surprise.

Scorpion Fish caught at Bedok Jetty

It was the ugliest fish I had ever seen!!!

Nevertheless, it was my first fish, so I was satisfied with what I got. An aunty helped me de-hook the fish and told me that it was a Garoupa. Still not sure of what fish it was, I pulled up my iPhone and searched on the internet. I found the photo of a fish matching to the one I caught and learned that it is called Scorpion Fish. The name itself was terrifying enough and the looks of the fish even more. I also learned that this fish had poisonous thorns on its body, although, this fish can be eaten and is considered a delicacy in some cuisines.

So, from smaller Tamban to a small Scorpion Fish... My mind was yet again full of thoughts. Will I be able to catch a bigger fish? If catching even a small fish can give so much of satisfaction and thrill, what can I get if I catch a large fish?
With these thoughts in mind, I looked forward for the next big thing...

...to be continued...