Tioman Adventure 22-24 Aug 2007

Map of Pulau Tioman & Dive Sites


The first thing we did when we arrived at Tioman was to stock up on live bait-fish in our 20gal bait-well. It took just an hour to catch about 100 baits, mostly kembong & selar, whilst anchored 30 meters upstream of the unjangs. Thereafter we concentrated on bottom fishing & live-baiting downstream. Bonitos were in season and we found it was easier to catch them on the same jigs than using spinners. The best jigs were the Sabiki no 12 hooks with white fish skin and green reflectors. For bottom fishing, we use self-tied apollo rigs with bonito sliced into "cubes" as bait. They will catch almost anything.


The first Marlin of the day, a frisky 30kg juvenile Black, caught on live bait,
Pictured, Alex Tan, Quincy, Ngak Hoe, Fred Chua, WF
Location: Unjung 5.5nm SSE of Tioman at N 02 39.820 E 104 15.620
PS: We practise catch & release of all bill-fish, & we always ask permission from the locals before fishing at their unjangs whenever we meet them there. As far as possible anchor upstream of the unjangs and avoid tying up to them, to prevent them drifting.

Here's the Video of me with the Marlin

Nothing beats a dive off the many fringing reefs & islands just off Salang. WF seen here at Tulai Canyon. The best dive spot was at Pu Chebeh. Good news, the big fish are back. We saw numerous Trevallies, Coral Trout & giant Barracudas. Both the hard & soft corals are thriving. As always we would moor the boat at the many mooring buoys laid by the locals. (Never anchor your boat at the dive sites, as it will cause heavy damage to the reef).




Black Marlin caught on live kembong bait, off the local unjangs in the evening, just when the bonitos were boiling on the surface. There was an abundant of bait-fish, mostly kembong, selar,
scad and good sized bonitos. We went back to the unjangs at about 3am for bottom fishing and caught lots of "angkoli", red-bream. We were hoping to catch some action on mahi-mahi in the morning, but a pod of dolphins visiting the unjuang must have scared them off.


S'pore's prominent sailor Yeo Ngak Hoe onboard the Riviera 51 at Tioman Marina. We took shelter there on the 2nd night. The Marina is a welcome facility at Tioman and a short car ride to Berjaya Resort for dinner. Currently the only facilities are the walk-on, walk-off berthing, shore supply & water. Fuel is sadly not available yet. The Marina does however change the way we fish at Tioman. Its possible to leave a boat there for a season and just fly up to Tioman for weekend fishing. It saves lots of time & fuel too.

Overnight at Bedok Jetty

Its been more than 20 years since I've stayed the night at Bedok Jetty. The jetty must be at least 30 years old, but its in better shape today than it was before. The National Parks have done a great job. Hats off to the authorities also for allowing tents to be pitched on the jetty. What a difference a tent makes, it immediately gives your own private area and confidence from the weather. Well, we managed to wet our hooks the whole night, however the actions only started at 6.30am as Cedric predicted. The main activity was jigging for tambans, selar kuning and the occasional ikan kekek. However, we were there for the queen fish. Apparently they have been biting the past 2 weeks from day-break till about noon. The popular method used, is to cast a line with a sinker at the end upstream. Then hook a lively tamban on a 3 foot trace and connect the other end with a snap-swivel along the main line. Apparently this configuration gives the best presentation of a struggling bait-fish. Well it must have worked, we had 3 runs 7am, 10am and a confirmed hook-up at 1pm. Cedric had a great tussle with a 4kg Queenie at 1pm (1.5hrs before highest tide) on light tackle only to loose her when she dived under the jetty. All in day it was a pleasant outing.

Fishing Kakis

There really is no sport quite like fishing. Instead of competing with each other, all the players collaberate together against the prevailing elements...the sea, wind & fish. Whether you catch any or none at all, it is always great fun to be out at sea. Often the anticipation, weeks before the day of fishing is more than half the fun. At the end of the day, its the fishing kakis that make the difference. Often when you pair up with good kakis, the boat is automatically kept ship-shape at all times, anchoring is a breeze and all hands onboard are ever ready to help whenever someone hooks up a big one. If you have been boat fishing on your own boat before, you will understand the absolute freedom, that is so different from chartering a boat. The satisfaction when you hit big loads of fish, from your own new found spots, with your own rigs together with the teamwork onboard is truly satisfying. Its the ultimate definition of sport of fishing. So here's a salute to all who already got their fishing kakis well established.

National Day Celebrations

We left RSYC late on 9th Aug and headed straight for Marina Bay, for our yearly pilgrimage to join the the National Day celebrations at sea. When we were a mile away, I spotted Quincy's 51 foot Rivera (see picture) & several cabin cruisers steaming the other way. Something was wrong, why were they going in the opposite direction. We found out soon enough. Two Police Coast Guard boats were chasing the pleasure crafts away. They shouted instructions for us to stay 3 km away from shore, right where the ships were anchored at the Eastern anchorage. What a put off. So much for having the Hart System onboard for authentication of identity. There were 10 or us onboard, my family & Ngak Hoe's family of 5. Going home was not an option; the kids would be disappointed. We decided to stick around and very quickly found refuge at the sheltered harbour launch mooring off Clifford pier. Thanks to Ngak Hoe's quick thinking, we had a ball of a time watching the celebrations from the boat. Good thing I brought the 14" TV along, it showed us the events we could not see past the tall trees along Marina Bay. I must say there's nothing quite like watching the parachutists, the helicopters & the F16s screaming past live, from a boat at sea. The fireworks at the end of the celebrations is always a fitting grand finale, especially when we were so close. We'll come back again next year for sure, hopefully they won't chase us away again.

Taking out the Viking

I finally got the opportunity to drive the Viking from Raffles Marina to 1Deg15. She had been berthed at RML the past 10 years and had recently made the 30 hour journey from Jakarta to S'pore. This 60 footer looks big from the outside and feels enormous on the inside. I could not resist climbing up the tuna tower to take a look. Wow! it was so high up, the weather was a tad cooler there. This is one mean fish fighting machine indeed. As soon as we left RML, we felt the full brunt of the southerly winds. It had been blowing the past 3 days and we were experiencing white horses just off Tuas. The toque from her 2,000+HP engines pushed her through high winds & waves like a bulldozer through soft mud. If I had the Viking, I would take her to Aur and spend 2 weeks diving & fishing off the waters there. The comfort level is second to none.

Singapore's accidental Coral Reefs

Did you know that after all the reclamation & piling off the Southern Islands & Tuas area, coral reefs have still been thriving? If anyone knows, it has to be Mr Stephen Lau. I've known this gentleman since 1994 and have been fascinated by his sea stories and diving adventures. Today he is blissfully retired and occupies his time with maritime & environmental conservation. Message from Stephen; The corals in Singapore are still alive & thriving; "One need just to dive around the miles of sea-wall surrounding the Southern Islands to see them". The granite walls make excellent substrate for coral growth and especially the ones which incorporate a horizontal ledge at 3-5 meter depth. The horizontal angle allows the corals to receive direct sunlight and hence the growth proliferates. Where the sun-rays hit the wall at an oblique angle, the growth is sparse. Hence vertical sheet piling holds no growth. Though, a far cry from the corals of Bintan and no where as near to those at Aur, we still have a little piece of undersea paradise within easy reach, for that quick weekend getaway.

Jiang the Friendly Charter Boat Captain

I first met Jiang, when my buddies & I chartered his 45 foot kelantan hull fishing boat, earlier this year. We embarked at Keppel Marina and had a great time catching table-sized snapper & infant dog fish, which we released. Jiang prefers to fish at least 100nm from Horsburgh. He says, the coastal fishing areas are over-fished by the locals. They usually don't go far from shore because of the high cost of diesel. His favorite spots are wrecks & deep-water corals. He got the spots from old fishing kakis, ocean trawlers & finds the rest whilst on passage when they poop up on his trusted Furuno fish finder. Apart from the fishing spots, water condition, changing of seasons, currents & wind play an important role. Jiang says, if the fish don't bite the first 10-15 minutes at a proven spot, its time to move to another with different water condition & current flow. For example, the waters & current between 3 popular spots, Karang Mas, Horsburgh & Berakit, although within 10nm of each other are different. When the fish aren't biting at Karang Mas, its better to move to Horsburgh. He says, when bait fish don't bite, big fish won't bite either. When fish feed, they all feed together, big & small. When they don't feed, its usually because of poor water conditions, lack of oxygen, cloudy water or no current. I asked Jiang if he usually anchors up current of a wreck to fish. His surprising answer is no. Its a fallacy he says, to think the fish are always up current of the wreck. You need experience to know which corner the fish bites, through trial & error. Also if you're too close to the wreck, you'll loose the fish, as it will head right into the wreck when hooked. Its better to stay a little away, it less action but greater chance of landing the fish. His final advice to new anglers. If you love fishing, charter a boat first, you'll learn faster & catch more fish. Buy the boat only if you decide you also love boating. By then you would have acquired many fishing spots. Keep a log on the spots & prevailing sea conditions, time & season when fish were caught. Soon like Jiang, you too could be pulling up fish every time. Happy fishing...