How I was Hooked to Fishing - Part 4

Soft Plastic Lures are soft and flexible artificial baits that mimic the swimming action of small fish, worms, frogs, lizards or other living food of fish. There are varieties of lures in different shapes and sizes and their soft bodies when dragged through water swim in a manner similar to living organisms which fool the target fish to think that it is a real bait. 

Advances in science enabled lures to be made with real-life swimming action, vibration through water, color and even smell. Hybrid lures having a hard multi-sectioned body that can move like the vertebra of a fish and soft plastic tails that flip water and create vibrations that other fish can detect are the epitome of achievement in this field.

During my previous visit to Beach Road, I had purchased a soft plastic bait named Berkley Gulp! Alive Minnows (Salt Water). The pack contained rubber-like objects shaped in the form of small fish with forked tail and were dipped in a smelly liquid which can attract big predatory salt water fish. Anxious to try out these baits, I visited Bedok Jetty armed with my new rod as primary rod and my old cheap rod for jigging Tambans.

I baited the hooks with the Gulp Alive Minnows and cast the line. The new rod was enabled me to take longer and accurate casts to the specific areas in the sea as I desired. Meanwhile, I jigged for Tambans using my old rod and in a short time had a decent collection of Tambans.

 Ocassionaly checking the minnow baits I observed that there were bite marks all over the soft body of the lure and once my lure was cleanly bitten off in half by a fish with sharp teeth with bite marks clearly visible. However, I wasn't lucky enough to catch a fish. I replaced the artificial bait with Tambans several times, but even the Tambans came out eaten or dead. It was quite late in the evening by now, so I packed all the stuff and went back home with the remaining Tambans, which were cleaned, fried and eaten along with dinner that night.

 Some weeks later, I wanted to try out if the soft plastic lures work in fresh water. So, I went to Jurong Lake one fine morning. Jurong Lake is my favourite fishing destination due to the amazing landscaped scenery, peace and tranquility of the surroundings and the beautiful tall Pagodas of Chinese Garden which can be seen from the fishing grounds. Similar to all the lakes and reservoirs maintained by Public Utilities Board, use of only artificial baits and lures are allowed in Jurong Lake and here my collection of hard and soft plastic lures comes in handy. 

After setting up my fishing equipments, I hooked a Gulp! Alive Minnow to a jighead (kind of a weighted lead sinker with a hook attached) and cast it in the lake. After several casts, while retrieving one I felt a pull and as per the basic instinct of an angler, I tugged the line to set the hook. The line pulled back at me which could only mean one thing; Fish On!!!

As I reeled back the fish slowly n steadily, suddenly the line got slack. I felt that somehow the fish had escaped away. Disappointed, I reeled back the slack line only to see a curious incident; a fish was flapping and thrashing madly on the water surface and it was moving from one side of the fishing ground to the other. This weird fish dance had diverted my attention for some time, but on feeling that line on my rod tighten a bit I realised the fish was still on the hook. It must have swam towards me and hence the line was slack and when I reeled back it tried to de-hook itself by flipping around. I came back to my senses and quickly reeled the fish back on the shore. The first thought on seeing that fish was, "WOW". It was bright & colorful, had the reputation of being a fierce game fish and referred as "freshwater bullies" (due to their ferocious nature to other fish) from the Amazon River of South America.

This fierce warrior is called Peacock Bass. It is neither a Peacock nor a Bass; it is a Cichlid. The name of this fish is due to the colorful body and the spot on it tail which looks like an eye on a Peacock's tail feather.

This was my first catch on a soft plastic bait and surprisingly using a salt water bait for fishing in fresh water lake. However, it was my last catch too.

Due to the heat of the day or the commotion caused by the fish, I could not catch any other fish that day and went home with my catch.

The Peacock Bass was cooked by my wife and the fish tasted wonderful. A fresh fish tastes delicious and very different. That is one of the reasons I love fishing, the main reason being passionate obsession for fishing...

As a great fishing enthusiast once said, "Fishing is unquestionably a form of madness, but happily, for once bitten, there is no cure."

...concluded...