Well, I'm still learning.
If you are into the pond fishing scene, then forget it - that's one of the few places I don't fish.
Light Tackle?
When I first started fishing, I was fishing 12lb test as a norm. Very quickly I made two discoveries. First, many other anglers then considered a 12lb outfit light tackle and second, 12lb. line behaved very much like a hawser for all the fish that were encountered. Within a few years, I had swung to the opposite extreme and fished 4lb. class line almost exclusively for all my fishing.
It's true that 12lb. is considered light or even ultralight for certain forms of fishing around the world. In Singapore, however, I don't think anyone today would seriously consider 12lb. light. The reason is obvious once one considers the average size of fish that is encountered. In a place where a fish of several kilos is generally the exception rather than the norm, it is my belief that 12lb. line is serious overkill for most fishing. True, there are surfcasters and grouper pullers, but these are the specialised minority. Most fishermen are familiar with the advantages of fishing light tackle so I won't belabour them here, suffice to say that its all that and more!
I guess to be convincing, I'll have to share some experiences. I used to lure fish the Singapore River a lot. In those days, I fished 4lb., generally off a baitcaster. This is pretty closequarters stuff, and yes, bustoffs were quite common. But those fish that did come out (and there were quite a few of these) were amazing! In any event, not even 20lb. line will stop a big determined grouper - I was fishing another set of bunds a couple of years ago with 20lb. braid and a stiff drag. Got a solid hit in about 2 feet of water and was snagged solid seconds later. After some wading and much excavation, I extracted a grouper that would have gone close to 3 kilos.
A common misconception is that if you have more than 100yds of light line (circa 4lb.) out, water pressure alone wil pop it. Typically, this notion is sprouted by armchair theorists who have never seriously fished ultralight lines. I guess this theory would be true if you were chasing billfish and tuna, but when was the last time you hooked a marlin in Singapore waters? On the other hand, I've had close to 300yds of 4lb. line out attached to a big angry (Singaporean) queenfish. Finally landed the fish, and no, the boat was not moved throughout the entire fight.
A common reason to fish heavy tackle is the need to use heavier weights to battle current and depth. This is a valid reason, but in the Singapore context, it's quite amazing that almost any spot can be effectively fished with no more than 8lb. line. If you've never tried bottom fishing with 4lb in 60ft of water, give it a go! You'll need to use some thought, but I think it's definitely more effective.
My final story is just to point out (again) that sometimes, you can't win them all. While fishing a lure off a downrigger in deepwater, I hoooked a true levithian. For the record, I was fishing pretty serious hardware - 20lb. braided line. More than 2 hours of hot pursuit in the canoe ensued. Just as I got my first image of the monster on the depth sounder was actually begining to hope against hope, the fish did what it probably should have from the start and reefed me in shoaling waters. Heart breaking? Definitely, but the point is that if fishing the heavy stuff can't garuantee you'll land every extraordinary fish, why deny yourself the trhill of landing most of the ordinary fish on light line?
Lure Fishing
We've come a long way since the days of the "fruit" Nilsmaster in the Singapore River and illegal poaching in the reservoirs! If you're just starting out, here are the notes I wish I had when I was starting out:-
I first hung a lure on a Singapore River fish over 15 years ago; it's nice to know that you can still do the same.Sadly, you can't say the same about many of the other fishing spots.
Interesting point:- seems like groupers from some spots pull a heck of alot harder than others!? So far, that's just an empirical observation that doesn't fully make sense, but I'd be keen to hear from anybody with any corroborating information.
Bait Fishing
Tried towing a few of those milk fish fry around and the results seem pretty encouraging. Think I;d still prefer the live prawns for fishing at anchor, though.
Rediscovered the wonder
of the circle hook. These things are fantastic! They do require a different
hookset, but in terms of hooking and holding power, they're pretty awesome.
Try a Mustad 10935 in the next live prawn you put out.
One of my favorite things:- drifting a live prawn under a float just inches off the bottom. Perfect for those days when the current and the wind are running in opposite directions and its not too rough out. Here's a picture of my favorite type of float for this:-
© Justin Lee 2003. All Rights Reserved. The right of Justin Lee to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with all applicable laws.
