McDowell Bamboo

Fishing at Mandai, Upper Seletar Reservoir

Could not get away this time. I was caught red-handed carrying the fishing rod and reel and trying to sneak out for a quick fix to cure my addictive urge. The patrol guy and policeman is my son Yong Zhi. He had been pestering me to bring him along all week. But his mum didn’t allow it because he had quite a handful of schoolwork to complete. Alright then, since it is Saturday tomorrow and he had finished his work.

Fly Fishing for Tilapias at Upper Seletar Reservoir with Yong Zhi

“Papa, next time, I’m going to catch a zebra tilapia this big.”

  

Board Walk

Lower Peirce With Double Zero Weight

Midge Rod Rebuilt By Billy

Bamboo Midge Rod Rebuilt by Billy Charmed the Peacocks at Lower Peirce

Caught a breeding peacock bass just before rain started to fall. Took a few quick photographs and ran for shelter. Rain showers pattered the waters while I took shelter from the lightning and waited out the rain. Managed to catch another breeder with brilliant vivid colours of orange and yellow. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

Moved to the board walk to have a nostalgic stroll with the fly trailing in the waters. It’s been a long time since I’d been here to fish. A wee little peacock bass hooked itself on the fly while I stopped to take some photographs. Just a little bit longer than the fly reel. Peacock Basses in Lower Peirce breed all year round. But this is the month when they breed in huge numbers. Looking at the swarming fingerlings all over the place, these fishes are keeping their breeding schedule. Fishing session at Lower Peirce starts today for me.

A palm size peacock bass ended my final catch of the day with a spectacular display of acrobatics and ferocious attacks on the fly. At the peninsular of Lower Peirce, I tested the rod to see how far it can throw a Scientific Angler #3 weight GPX line. Managed to get it about 35 feet without really trying hard.
Strip strip strip and the peacock bass whacked the fly. I was bringing it in when the hook came loose. But it whack the fly again instead of swimming away. I lifted the fly rod – missed it again. I did a quick roll cast and threw the fly back to it again. This time it hit it with such force that it went aerial. A fantastic beast of a fish. Only got it on the third try. Didn’t put up to much of a fight though. Must be tired out with those speedy attacks on the fly and aerial displays.


A wee little Peacock Bass.


Three misses on the fly before it got hooked.

  

Relaxing at Lower Peirce Reservoir

Relax At Lower Peirce With A Fly Rod

Went to Lower Peirce Reservoir for some relaxation after spending the whole day yesterday and part of this morning uploading the Fishing Reports. Neck was stiff and fingers a little bit cramp. Caught a good size Peacock Bass which put up a good fight for me. I think it somehow knew my mood was way down and wanted to cheer me up. No ...... I'm talking nonsense again. Time for another relax trip at my secret spots soon.

Only had my Nokia-6670 handphone with me and not my Canon Ixus 500. So the pictures aren't as good as the ones taken with a Canon.

Fishing Reports Are Back

All 33 Fishing Reports are back.

Thank you all for the patience.

Cheerio.

Billy

My Blog Was Hacked

All the 33 Fishing Reports were deleted by the hacker on 18 October 2005. I don't know when or if I can get them back. So I'll just make the blogs again and upload the pictures again. But it is going to take some time.

My apologies for being so stoopid to get the Fishing Reports deleted.

They'll be back soon.

Zhu Rod

Peacock Bass fight with a Zhu Rod

Last week, I acquired another bamboo fly rod from a close buddy. It is a Zhu Rod from China. It is a 6'6" #3 weight bamboo fly rod made from the original Tonkin Bamboo.

I put an extra coat of varnish on it for extra protection. Today, the extra coat of varnish on the Zhu Rod had dried and hardened properly. So it is testing time. Yes. You guess it right. Fantastic fights with the Peacock Basses, right down to the smaller palm size ones.




A closer look at the Zhu Rod named MacRitchie and the Peacock Bass.