Bali Sport Fishing Scene, 29th August 2013 (Ketut 0 – Slim 3)

Bali Sport Fishing Scene
29th August 2013
Hello my fishing enthusiest friends and thanks for checking out our latest Bali sport fishing report. This session went down on the 29th of August. It was a spur of the moment trip with the swell dropping off, so not too many waves too be had. Ketut and I pushed the boat into the water around 10.30AM, not an ideal time to go fishing. The wind by this time was howling out of the SE in true Tradewind fashion and the water super clear and clean. Not too mention the sun was blazing down on us as well, terrible fishing conditions really.

We were the only boat from our group going out and appearing pretty stupid for even  thinking about going fishing. But Ketut and I are keen and love being out there on the ocean. We had 4 spinning outfits and 2 trolling set ups between us and thought we’d just do some trolling off Uluwatu, and that’s where we headed for. Conditions with the strong wind were pretty rough but we persisted and persisted and after a couple of hours of dragging Rapala lures we finally had a ratchet screaming. rod slamming strike.

But lady luck wasn’t with us, as before Ketut could wind in the second trolling lure and give me some clear fighting water behind the boat the Spanish Makerel had cheekily crossed, double and tripple crossed through the line of the other rod. As I noticed that, I started franticly to unwind the two lines by passing the hot rod under and over the other. All this while steering the boat with one foot. We were looking good and the fish close to the boat when the hooks finally pulled free from the fish. That’s it with big Spaniards, if you make one mistake they are gone.

So after another hour of circling around out the back of Uluwatu I told Ketut lets go back down towards Balangan and cut the engine, have some lunch and a rest and see what happens after that. It was a nice warm change under the shelter of the cliff outta the wind and spray putting some food in our belly’s. It was probably only 5 minutes after finishing eating that I spotted the birds circling around about a kilometer away, so it was action stations. Now the trolling rods were stowed and we were each armed with 2 light spinning rods all beefed up with gold Penn 950’s.

As we got closer to the birds the fist school of big fat golden Trevely or yellow Jacks busted the surface and the fun began. With me driving the boat I always try to put Ketut in a good position to make the first cast while I throw the motor back into nuetral before I cast. A bad driver or naughty captain will usually position the boat to favor his casting chances. Ketut made his cast and forgot to open the bail arm on his reel, this happens often with many fishermen due to the heat of the moment and just a bit to eager. So I cast and hooked straight up letting the fish peel 50 mtrs off my reel before starting the 20 minute fight.

So there we were out amoungst some solid schools of surface feeding fish and us being the only other boat, I couldn’t have asked for more. This scenerio went on and on with the schools continuing to feed on the small surface bait fish. Eventually a few more boats showed up, but they were friends of ours so it was all good fun. Some times the fish would bust up close by the boat but mostly a few hundred meters away so you would have to hit the throttle and try get to them before they went back down.

It was the last school of fish that came up that blew me away, in shear size and numbers I reckon this school of fish was boiling on the surface over at least a 400sq mtr patch and our boat was right there and on them. Ketut finally hooked one up and then I hooked up so there we were grinning at each other while fighting the fish. Bad luck for my mate as his line must have got nicked from a tail fin off another fish and after 10 minutes his line snapped and left me to fight and boat my 3rd fish for the session.

Today Ketut and I have pulled the bamboo outriggers off the boat to keep them out of the sun while we wait for a couple of big swells to hit Bali. Then for sure they’ll be going back on and we’ll be back out there fishing again.

Anytime at all if you want to try your luck with us for some Bali style sport fishing drop mye an email (contact us) and we’ll do our best to get you hooked up. The boys charge a minimum of Rp1,400.000. (around 140 dollars) for up to 2 guests. All rods, reels and fishing lures are supplied. All you need is a good hat and some sunscreen.

Ok until next time

Slim

This fishing page is dedicated to Bali’s best ever all round fisherman / surfer / waterman and all round good guy, my old best mate, Gede “Ondel” Miasa (1973 – 2012)