Day trip at the FAD/Rumpon

The water condition was perfect, no swell or wind. We cruise to the FAD smoothly. When we arrive there were litter lay hundred of Mahi maui surrounding us. It didn't take long until Antok start shooting and filling up the cool box. There were few Wahoo also. Watch the video and it will explain how bless we are to be in the island of God...

2 spearfishing Trip in North Bali

First day we start spearfishing early in the morning at the FAD. The effort of waking up extra early payoff. We were greeted by  mahi mahi, amberjack , rainbow runner and Wahoo.

We had no luck getting close to the wahoo, but manage to shoot some mahi mahi and amberjack. On the way back we stop by our favorite reef and shot some reef fish and big barracuda.

The next day we saw some fat doggies but out of range. Then we decide to go back to the FAD to give the wahoo another shot. We made the right decision, the water is like  a lake , and the FAD was full of fish. we were busy shooting and loading the gun until we are tired. Michael shot his first Wahoo and it was the best way to end the two day spearfishing trip.

East bali 17 December 2012

Waking up on Monday  morning at 3:30 took a lot of effort! Thanks to yerbas mate tea it solved all the problem. Dimas showed up late, is his first spearfishing trip and Enk showed  at 4:00 am already smoking Kretek cigarette. 5:00 am we head straight to East Bali to hunt.

I haven't seen Ketut the boat owner for 2 year and he is one of my favorite, he never judge or question my demand. He so patience and chilled.

Before sunrise we were heading to the first spot. A bit nervous about the visibilty but it payoff waking up extra early to watch the beautiful sunrise. The water is great and visibility was acceptable. We didnt see any Dogtooth or big GT. Only saw 1.5 kg skipjack and few grouper.

 The next spot was the same nothing worth pulling the trigger, but it was good dive. happy to see sea turtle on both spot and some whitetip.

Third spot is where i encounter  big Dogtooth in the past but today result was nil. We chum the whole area but no sign of them. The place is also a favorite spot for local jiggers. Ketut also said the whole year his customers only caught one 40 kg  Dogtooth. Is sad to hear that and is even more sad not to see any big fish. Enk manage to shoot a small GT and that was the highlight of the third spot.

second spot good visibility

Heading back from the third spot

The last spot was our last hope in bringing dinner home. The visibility was really poor, Milky on the top but clear on bottom. I have no choice but to start shooting anything decent, which was Rainbow runners for fish and chips. Then queen fish start coming when i still have the rainbow runner on shaft. As soon as i reload they were gone. It was nice 3-5 kg size. Then me and enk start shooting more rainbow runner and i shot trevally. But the queen fish is nowhere to be seen.The last spot is famous for Mangrove jack and Scribbled snapper but they all decided to chilled at their hiding spots.

Overall it was a nice day at the ocean, we save in total 5 turtle in different spot, enk saw the biggest one in his life, so it must be a huge one. We also saw solo dolphin, it either sick or ready to give birth because it was swimming in seclude bay. There was few 1 kg size Dogtooth hopefully it will grow and get super fat soon to reach a good size. We also saw 10kg size school of rainbow runner but dissapeared in a second. Thank you to Dimas for all the nice Picture and hopefully one day will join us future hunting trips.

Dimas chilling

Steam Coral trout

Dinner for the children Rainbow runner

Eid Al-Adah

Some people on our humble little island got together to slaughter some goats and start one of the biggest Muslim holidays of the year. We decided to book a boat and see what there is to catch around Bali and some of the outer islands.

Our trip started at 8 am in Tanjung Benoa and we headed to Nusa Penida first. The first stop made was a couple of bays down from christal bay. The visibility was generally ok but that didn’t help the fact that there were no big fish around. After about 1.5 hours of swimming the bay up and down all we have seen was a group of big Emperor fish and few bigger groupers that where hiding deep in the caves of the bay. Other than that there were just the standard schools of unicorn fish and a lot of small reef fish. Nobody knows where but of course Eenk was able to catch something decent which was a medium sized barracuda. Approx 4-5 kg.

Next stop was also a little bay up the wall of Nusa Penida in the channel between Penida and Cunningan. The spot was a bit similar to the previous bay and we didn’t see any big  or even smaller good eating fish. After a not to long stay we left and went to have a quick bite in the more quiet waters around Lembongan. It was quickly decided that we would try our luck in Nusa Dua as we wanted to catch the good time for the bigger fish between Tanjung Benoa and Nusa Dua.

Once back on the coast of Bali the visibility was a bit murky at the top but once diving under the layer of warm water the visibility on the bottom was fairly decent. It was an amazing spot and we all saw a different kind of nice and good eating fish. There where schools of medium sized dog tooth tunas, loads of different trevallys, mackerels and of course lots of medium sizes reef sharks.

It was once more a pleasure to see Eenk becoming one with the ocean and watch him diving 30m down and resting for minutes on the bottom waiting for the right catch. As you can see from the picture this tactic was a success and he shot what he calls a decent sized barracuda. Approx 22-24 kg. Apparently nothing compared to the 38 kg fish he shot in his home town in Java a few years ago but seeing him holding that fish (which btw is taller than him) with 4 cm long teeth lets you only imagine the fight this beast gave him before he could reel him in. This was obviously the catch of the day!

Other than that I shot a few trevallys, Pablo once again went for the beauty price as we can see from the fish on the left side and Rob added his sandal so he would also be represented on the catch of the day picture.

My last shot of the day was a fairly decent sized trevally that I had to share with some more or less uninvited friends. After seeing many small sharks all day I was aware that this could happen any time but I was shocked by the extend of the attack on my catch. Apparently I shot the fish just e few meters next to what seemed like a very well frequented shark cave. After reeling the fish in and almost holding the spear with my hands I realized that there where about 10-15 sharks following the shot trevaly and where asking for their cut of the catch. I figured it would be best to leave these boys what they came for as there were by far too many to battle. Even though we all regularly see some reef sharks while shooting it was a very frightening experience to be surrounded by a mass of fully grown grey reef sharks. It made me feel a little bit better when Eenk told me that he hasn’t seen so many sharks in a cave before. 

Other than that we had a great day out on the ocean and once we were all back on board we where waved good bye by a school of dolphins.

As we were all dead from too much sun and no one had the energy to start the bbq that night we did it the next day. As an appetizer we cut the bigger trevally into sashimi and made a Balinese style grill with the rest of the fish.

All in all a perfect weekend amongst friends and family out on the ocean and back at the BBQ. 

Keep our oceans clean and hunt with respect for mother nature!

"Spearfishing & Fishing superstition"

Local and worldwide superstition about fishing:

• First of all rules you should know if you want to go to the ocean in Indonesia you should know that wearing a green shirt or anything green on you is  a very bad omen and therefore bad luck for all the people with you.  Also google" Nyi Roro Kidul" she is the queen of the southern sea, its believe she attracted to men wearing green clothing.
  
• Bring ice inboard is considered bad luck (local believe in the North of Bali) That is why you should never buy fish from North Bali!!
• Bring a small coolbox catch big fish bring big coolbox catch small fish..  
• A Woman on Board is Bad Luck! It was traditionally believed that women were not as physically or emotionally capable as men. Therefore, they had no place at sea, sorry ladies. It was also observed that when women were aboard, men were prone to distraction or other vices that may distract them from their duties. Some experiences on our fishing trips proved this point, we men are just to easy distracted by the imagination of a beautiful girl sunbathing by the shore. The last time I remember I did that mistake I caught one small fish and all I wanted was to come back to shore and enjoy the views.. Well i guess you guys know what I am talking about..
• Bananas on board
1. This is one of the oldest superstitions and it started in the 16th century. Most of the ships that disappeared at sea where carrying bananas as cargo.
2. Another reason that caused the bananas superstition was that boats carrying bananas as cargo needed to most fast to avoid the bananas from spoiling. The crew on board could never catch fish because of the speed of the boat.
3. A bundle of bananas is a perfect hiding spot for dangerous spiders which where one of the causes of many mysterious death on board.

• Fishing on a Friday: Many fishermen tales state that various ships lost at sea disembarked on a Friday. While Friday is the worst day to begin your journey, Sunday is the best possible day to begin a voyage. This observation is due to Christ’s resurrection on a Sunday, a good omen. It has led to the adage, “Sunday sail, never fail”
• Black traveling bags are bad luck for seamen.
• Never say good luck or allow someone to say good luck to you unanswered. If someone says “good luck” to you, it is mostly considered as a bad omen. The only way this can be countered is by drawing blood. A swift punch in the nose is usually sufficient to reverse this curse.
• Pouring wine on the deck will bring good luck on a long voyage. An offering to the gods.
• Flowers are unlucky on board a ship. They could later be used to make a funeral wreath for the dead, therefore, becoming a symbol that someone could die on the voyage. Balinese fisherman always have flower on board because of their offerings before they start the journey. So i guess for your Indo boat trips make sure you get some flowers to spread over the ocean as this will tame the bad spirits of the ocean and the ocean will in return bless you with some nice big fish.
  
• Don’t look back once your ship has left the port as this can bring bad luck. Looking back to port implies that you are not truly ready to brave the seas and complete your voyage.




Dolphins = good luck: Dolphins are considered a sacred friend of fishermen, they have the good fortunes of man in mind and their presence indicates that you are under their protection.
• It is unlucky to kill a gull/albatross: They host the soul of dead sailors lost at sea and are considered to be an omen of bad luck at sea, especially if killed.
• A shark following the ship is a sign of inevitable death. A shark following you while spearfishing is usually a sign of a good catch.. Make sure you don't have to share it with the shark but get to enjoy it with your friends.