A Hefty Queenie off Pulau Hantu

( A 5kg Queenfish caught off Pulau Hantu)
As luck would have it, I landed a 5 kg queenie with the help of an old friend of mine, Stephen Lau onboard his Albacore 310HT. We had earlier fished about 100 pcs of selar & tamban off the Yellow buoys south of Jurong Island. They were the largest I had seen in Singapore. Some as big as the ones you would catch off the Unjungs at Tg Pinang. I was glad Queenie took the live tamban offering and gave such a spectacular aerial display, you would think, she was the blood cousin of the sailfish. As usual we divided the fish in half. For those who do not already know, the queenfish makes the most delicious fish & chips. There is none better, I assure you. The taboo about Queenie as a good eating fish is unfounded. The supposed finger markings on its body, are hardly the prints any human can make and it usually numbers more than the 4 fingers and a thimb. The Aussies have been savouring its succelent meat for decades. So next time you land a Queenie, head for the supermarket & compliment the catch with a large bag of frozen fries.

John Lee, a special breed of Angler

(Picture of John with a 3kg local grouper)
I recently had the pleasure to go fishing with John Lee, whom I met at the RSYC. John is happily "retired" and is a superb angler. He owns an Albacore 28' and charters it out for fun. What impressed me most about John is his knowledge of the peculiar eating habits of our local fish. He knows when they feed and is very skilled at anchoring the boat so precisely, he sends the bait right into their homes. It's no small wonder, John always catches the fish. Another remarkable feat is, he hardly travels far to the happy hunting grounds. Many are within visual distance of his base camp. Whatever will John catch next, when the season opens in mid March.