Jenius

The videos are pretty self explanatory but here's a summary of what went on that day.

Woke up at 5.30am to catch the early bus out to catch first light. When I arrived at Chinese Garden MRT station, it was still pretty dark out and I had initially intended to fish at the white bridge located in between Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden. A voice called out to me about 5 minutes into my journey and the owner of said voice made an inquiry on my purpose of being there (full conversation in video). After a small chat and a long walk, I arrived at the legal area only to find that it had been closed since 1st July. Slightly ticked off by how the day started, I carried on an arduous journey to the Lakeside area to try my luck. Less than 10 minutes into the session and I got my first bite of the day and also my first on the Jetty. It wasn't a biggie but small fish is better than no fish any day. I stayed for about an hour and left as all the walking had taken so much time that the sun was soon up and glaring.

I came back at last light at my usual spot where baiters and dabao kings hang out. They seemed to have had quite a good haul in the afternoon with plastic bags filled with struggling fish. Some of you might condemn their act or condemn my act of not intervening but to each his own. While I am sad that there's less fish for leisure, I am pretty sure the fish concerned would not go extinct any time soon. Last light was pretty good for me with 3 bites even though I only landed a small one. I dropped the rest just off the edge of the water but they were not biggies either. All in all it was a pretty good day for me until I broke my rod whilst trying to remove a huge piece of rubbish i had hooked up. I guess you gain some you lose some hahaha.

Tight lines and smiley face :)

P.S. Do visit my shop via the link above. Stocked up quite a few nice things and trying to keep the price competitive to benefit anglers. :)

As a cheap miser of an angler, it is no surprise that I would scout far and wide for the cheapest of alternatives the world could offer. Aliexpress has become one of my go-to sources whenever I need something, angling related or not. There is a sequence of steps I take in order to decide where I make a purchase (which I should discuss in another post).

There is but much debate about the purchasing of products online and even in this day and age, it is hard to say for certain whether a purchase made online would hold sufficient credibility. Shipping issues aside, it is always a bit of a gamble when making a purchase on an e-commerce site such as Aliexpress. Of course the landscape that is internet shopping is improving daily and rapidly but occasionally buyers do face disappointment when they finally get their product [for example this fake of a fake (SJ4000) of a fake (SJCAM which is a popular GoPro alternative*) which I bought a while back https://sg.carousell.com/p/52447114  << its pretty funny apparently]

Fret not anymore! Your hero is here! LOL.

So I bought a bunch of soft lures a few months back and only managed to try them out recently. They were quite cheap in my opinion as they were going at around slightly more that 8USD(around 13SGD) for 50 pieces of 75mm lures. I bought the paddletail variation and they came in 5 colors which I didn't really fancy (but they were cheap, like me. cheap.) At first glance, they did look really good as they were packaged very nicely like most budget lures with the whole ziploc bag thing and they even had Korean words at the back (which might have been Kpop song lyrics for all I know). Price wise they would be less than a third of Z-Man lures but of course the quality would be different.

Personally, I am no expert in luring and lures but it is quite noticeable when comparing the texture, elasticity and rigidness between a lure from Z-Man and the one I bought online. The Z-Man definitely feels like it is able to survive longer than the Bassland (that's the brand apparently) lures but with shear quantity advantage, the Bassland does have its edge. Credit has to be given to Bassland for adding a random mess of glitter in the soft plastics which would definitely serve as an irritant for peacock bass.

I was out testing a new lure I purchased the day before (which I bought on impulse) but nothing was taking that particular lure. A small incident with a tree traumatized me and after managing to retrieve my new fat lure, I immediately kept it and switched to a cheaper alternative- the Bassland soft lure on a 1/4oz jig head. The Kuying Snapshot paired with a SeaKnight BC reel was the gear of choice for the day. A few misses later, a juvenile PB went for my lure and swallowed if whole. The hook was set through its nostril which meant that there was almost no leeway to escape. It's been quite awhile since I caught a peacock bass (simply because I don't do too good luring). The last time I caught one was when I was still using a flip phone. Whatsapp wasn't even a thing then.

So yeah. If you are willing to wait 3 weeks, willing to take your chance on a brand not many have heard of or if you're just cheap like me, then the Bassland soft lures might be for you. They do work but I would not be brave enough to say that they are effective (because PBs have a reputation for going for most lures)

A small fish is better than no fish any day. Till next time, tight lines and smiley face :D

As an avid (but still noob) angler studying in NTU who is soon to contribute to the unemployment statistics of my country, Nanyang Lake is definitely no stranger to me. The lake is definitely a symbol of the strong character of youths in the past. In 1961, the students of NTI dug up the lake with pure labor as the primary tool and it has now become part of the identity of the school as it holds heritage value (thank goodness the students did it then because it would be near impossible to carry out such a task in this day and age. Freshmen orientation camps aren't even allowed to scare freshmen with "fright night" anymore pffffft LAME). And while I do know of its location and its history, I've only managed to fish in the pond twice throughout my entire student life due to the undesirable procedures required in attaining a permit to fish there. Of course I've had my fair share of loitering around the area after classes and at 3 in the morning where occasionally I would just watch in envy as the permit holders fish.

Moving on from depressing issues, I spent my birthday this year fishing here for the second time. I've spotted PBs, patins and tilapias since I last fished here last year after the renovation of the lake and hoped the lake would proof promising again. The NTU Anglers' Club, which I am a phantom member of, had reported of probable poaching activities in the past which made me slightly worried that the lake would not deliver. Nevertheless, I went down for the event in hopes of putting my self-built rod to the test.

I made my way down early for registration and was first to arrive. Choice of bait for the day was Bounjour Butterscotch Loaf (which also happened to be breakfast) and Taiwan Sausage (courtesy of my friend Shafique) as opposed to the marshmallows I used last year. The first catch I had last year came in early with a running sinker rig and I adopted the same strategy this year which proved effective.

If I like it, the fatties should like it too

I caught my first (and only) patin of the day on the butterscotch bread early into the event with my first cast at around 0930hrs. It wasn't the biggest of patins but most anglers would agree that "small fish is better than no fish". I had a little help landing the fish and removing the hook from a kind angler at the event as I did not bring a lip grip or a hook remover. A quick photo with the fish and I was eager to release it to bait up for my next catch. While I was releasing the fish, a shadowy figure surfaced and almost took a bite at my catch! There was no mistaking the red tail of the RTC as it swam back down to the depths. 

My friend Shafique arrived shortly after armed with a packet of red sweet sausages after my tip-off. With some birthday luck, I hooked on to a red-tailed catfish on my first cast with the sugary weapon. The fight of this fish was unlike that of a patin and it was thrilling as my reel screamed. Wrestling it slowly and patiently, there was a moment when I thought I had lost the fish as it swam in my direction. I could feel its weight which was exaggerated by the cheap nylon line (Daiwa Justron size#2, but i'm pretty sure its a replica) I had bought online. I struggled to switch on my action cam to capture the moment (yes, i know, priorities) and soon after managed to coax it to the surface. One of the Anglers' Club exco members assisted me in landing the fish. The creature "farted" the entire journey from water to land. Protocol demanded the mandatory photos and I proceeded to release the fish. Unlike the patin, the RTC has a rather rough and non-slimy skin akin to leather which I found rather amusing. 

The rest of the day was rather uneventful however as the sun rose to its peak. Shafique managed to catch a patin on the crimson processed meat and the rest of the day was pretty dull with us shifting spots to avoid the sun. 

I did have footages of the patin and RTC catch on my action cam which I had initially planned to upload but a glitch in the recording system of the device overwrote all my important files and now i'm only left with the pictures I took from my compact camera. I guess everything evens out in the end but I am glad I managed to catch my first RTC on the first day I brought my self-built rod for a test.

The Jenius #1, my first self built rod

Nanyang Lake's biodiversity has certainly improved this one year and I do hope the new species introduced (especially those not mentioned in this article) would flourish. I'll be back again next year. Tight lines and smiley face :D

Thanks for organizing NTU AC! 

p.s. I was pissed that I lost all my footages so I didn't bother editing any of the pics.