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.
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