Some flash in murky waters Part 2

Yesterday, I caught my first saltwater Malabar Grouper. Today, I caught my first freshwater Marble Goby aka Soon Hock.

I have learnt that these two species are considered delicacies and "premium" fish and could fetch a good price in the market or restaurant. But the funny thing is that I had caught and released these two fishes instead of bringing them home for some catch and cook. Instead, I had previously brought home and ate Peacock Bass, Tilapia and even a Walking Catfish!! What was I thinking!? Lolll

Anyway, fishing has been kind to me and I have been lucky these few days.

So what happened was that after yesterday's awesome saltwater shorejigging session at Kusu Island, it was back to freshwater fishing after work this evening.

Compared to the heavier setup I used yesterday, today was back to finesse fishing. Everything was downsized from rod, line to lure.

As soon as I reached Marina Reservoir, I saw that the water was extremely murky and there were debris everywhere. I had expected this condition after an afternoon worth of heavy rain, but I did not think that it would be so bad. The saving grace, however, was that the water was fairly calm and the wind was minimal.

I started fishing with a small profile 6cm popper at the right side of the legal ground in front of the public toilet.

Many parts of the legal ground were weedy. When I was fishing, I was expecting a Haruan to ambush my popper from the shallow depths of the weedy and murky water.

But there was no take.

I figured that given the water condition, some reflection in the water might attract the fish. I had lost the green Torpedo metal vib with the long tail spinner a few days when the stock split ring came off. Thankfully, I managed to find another small metal vib with a spinning tail in my tackle box. I got this as a gift from Bro Yeow Meng a few months ago, but I never got down to using it.

The good thing about using a tiny finesse setup is that I could get good distance even with a smaller lure. I fired the small metal vib into the distance and combed the area until I reached the other end of the legal ground.

The problem with using a sinking vib in a weedy terrain is that every cast would almost guarantee hooking up some rubbish or vegetation. But the good thing is that I could get accurate casts with this metal vib, which could also easily punch through any thick vegetation.

So during one of these casts and me alternating hopping the vib on the reservoir bed and doing slow and steady retrieves, I felt a couple of light tabs on the vib transmitted through the short finesse rod into my right palm.

I set hook out of reflex. Then, I felt a tug before I started to reel in the line. It felt heavy like I had snagged a plastic bag full of water. I wasn't 100% sure it was a fish until it made a splash about 5 metres away from me. I thought it looked like a Haruan but when I lifted the fish, I realised that it was a table-sized Marble Goby!

My first Marble Goby caught on a new lure at legal ground!!

You really never know what you gonna get! That's the fun part about fishing. One day it could be a Grouper or some monsters whacking your jigs and burst your line in the open sea at Southern Islands, and on another day, you could be hooking up a nice Marble Goby on a tiny metal vib with a spinner in a beautiful reservoir. But whichever the case, this could only happen if we never stop casting and always hit the water when the opportunity arises.

So tight lines everyone!