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Boat trip 25th July '11

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 1:51 pm
by teamilk
Went on my 2nd boat trip on local waters. Was told that it's gonna be a good trip with big catches. excited and thrilled for the big fights!

Reached the dock at about 8am. 5 of us. First time trying out this start off point, first time trying out this boatman, Ah Cheng.

We were abit turned off when we saw the boat. Small boat, No proper fish storing box, no toilet, no icebox, boat was in terok condition.
But nevertheless, we booked already, so we just try out. Like one of my fishing kaki said, "bad boat, good catches!"

So we sailed off, after setting up, and preparing.

1st half hour, I got the first blood. no struggle at all, i just reeled up to check my bait. surprised to see a little squid. and so that was the first blood. followed by my buddy, got a bigger squid. then follow by me, a small garoupa. then my buddy again, another garoupa. medium sized, about 1.8kg.
then.....it was all....crap. all our bait were eaten by all the small garoupas. that spot, and the spots after that, were all crap.
no big fishes at all! the "biggest" was my friend's 1.8kg garoupa.

The boatman, was really bad, lousy, and unfriendly. he kept complaining about our setup, he kept going "tsk tsk" (the lizard sound) when we tie our own knots, kept saying "no need to tie like that lah, tie (his method) can liao, so easy also don't know..tsk"

he didn't help us bring in the fish, he kept circling around the same few spots, he slept while we're stoning under the hot sun, he practically just went to a few different spots. (btw, he keep going to the spots near sentosa cove there)

overall, really a bad experience. bad spots, bad boatman, bad catches. if not for the booze we bought and the good company, it's really a waste of money.

total damage for 5 of us was $440.
boat rental was $350. bait was live prawns only @ $30/kg. (we felt that it was expensive considering that we paid $20+/kg last time)

I wouldn't recommend bros there to go tryout that area, or at least, the boatman.
only took 1 photo of the catches, but i don't know how to post here. lol...
i've posted the exact same post in fishingkaki forum.

Re: Boat trip 25th July '11

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:15 pm
by Peace
I've not tried Ah Cheng before but from what I've seen from other anglers' catch with him at FK, his catches are usually quite okay, especially night ones. Even for your catches I think it's not too bad considering there's a 1.8kg grouper, I had catches worse than this but it's understandable if the boatman put in effort to shift spots and find fishes.

One thing about most if not all boatmen is that they got lots of pride in what they do. When you don't get fish, they will look bad and will want to correct you to rectify the situation. Some can be sensitive to what they say while others can be blunt, harsh and more often sarcastic on newbies. It's one of those 'old bird syndrome'.

It's always a little shaky the first time trying out a new boatman because we don't know their fishing routine and expectations. If you can, just try to follow everything the boatman recommends the on the first trip. Let him have control of the situation and see what he can do and judge him at the end of the trip.

I myself can't tolerate boatman with attitude problems especially one who keep criticizing on what you do and simply won't leave you alone. :shocked: Of course, we must first see where he is coming from and what are his intentions. Most boatman, even the bossy type are okay once you get to know them.

If you're sure the boatman is picking on you for no reason and being lazy not shifting spots, just move on to another boat on your future trips. It's still a lesson learnt and you can use this experience to gauge other boatman as well. To be fair to Ah Cheng, we didn't get to hear his side of the story so we shouldn't be too harsh on commenting on him on public platforms. :)

p/s: you gave me a good laugh with that "tsk tsk" (the lizard sound). :lol: :lol:

Re: Boat trip 25th July '11

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:07 pm
by teamilk
thanks for your comment Peace!
u should go FK see the "battle" i'm "fighting". but luckily some kakis agreed with what i'm saying... LOL...

anyway, i think it's an open discussion with good and bad comments. but getting insulted, not acceptable.

as for the trip itself,
Let him have control of the situation and see what he can do and judge him at the end of the trip.
that's what we did. we didn't comment at all during the trip. we started to complain on our way back to our cars.
so we were really nice and listened to him during the trip.

anyway, we just tried it out and we'll definitely not go on his boat again.

we were not unhappy with our catches, but we didn't like his attitude. if we get bad catches, we can blame our luck, the condition, the current etc etc...(those unavoidable factors). but with bad attitude, what else can we blame on?

thats the thing i like about HLF compared to FK, the anglers here are more courteous and at least, tactful. :D

Re: Boat trip 25th July '11

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:32 pm
by dBs™
Hi teh gu ni ... reading your CR make me laugh at ourself.
We had an experience with an extremely "attitude" boatman once.
I wouldn't say we are pro but being fishing offshore for some many years, we are experienced enough to know whats right and wrong.
Imagine being scolded for dropping the bait ? kena used the F word when you miss the fish ...
It's the worst ever trip but we still kept our cool ...
Had a great day and in fact wonderful memories about that kena scold upside down trip. lol ! :lol:

And I agreed with Peace that's a pretty good trip given one of you caught a 1.8Kg grouper.
Taking into consideration it's your first outing with the boatman.
Every boatman has their fishing style and spots ... so getting to know them is also a way to play the game well.

Btw ... West coat side are selling live prawns at $30/Kg.
It's $35/Kg if you fish Changi side and boatman takes you out to aunty's farm to buy the live in the sea live prawns.
Changi pro selling $33/Kg if I am not wrong.

But hor ... $350 for a small boat with no toilet no icebox no sounder ... it's EXPENSIVE lor !


Re: Boat trip 25th July '11

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 6:02 pm
by teamilk
lol DBS bank... =P

we kept our cool as well....my thinking is......no point flaring up lah...
afterall he's still more experienced...and we're on his boat. hahaha!

btw...1.8kg is my estimation...my friend estimated about 1.5kg...hahaha..so around there lah...

abt the bait price...my friend told me the previous time he went changi is about $20+/kg nia...
not sure abt the market price lah...
but u are right about the price of boat...lol...

cos changi, previously we went is $300 for boat nia...with good facilities. even got sink to wash hands! hahaha

well, lesson learnt lah... haha =D

Re: Boat trip 25th July '11

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:59 pm
by Peace
If both parties tried their best already, then I guess it cannot be helped. Sometimes, you need to click with the boatman to make things work. Don't worry, just move on to another boatman. There will be one you'll find enjoyable going back to regularly. :)