BALI SPORT FISHING SCENE or Fishing to survive

Bali Sport Fishing Scene
4th December 2020

Hello everyone and due to necessity we have been fishing for survival this the year of the pandemic / corona virus. Normally my friends and I have a lot more fun when we go out fishing. but this year it’s been very serious in our approach, fishing to feed our families and what ever sellable fish we catch goes towards paying our bills and all the other daily, weekly and monthly family costs. So losing a big fish is heart breaking just about on any fishing trip, but that usually that can be laughed off with a few beers with the mates afterwards. But not so easily “washed off” or forgettable here in Bali through these hard times. Losing a big fish can mean the difference in survival. I know, I’ve had a few sleepless nights from losing “the big ones” the last few weeks. But no matter how much expertise and fine tuning you can put in your equipment, nature has very little respect for any of it.

Our last few trips out have been chasing Spaniards up in the Tanah Lot / Tabanan area, about 25kms up the coast but only 2-10kms off the coast. But before we can start fishing for the payday first we need to catch our bait, live pilchards or sardines are the go to bait. There are a few known places to search for these 10-15cm long fish, but the best way to find them is to find the birds diving into them. Then we put down a multi 6 hook jig type of rig and start fishing for the bait. We don’t have bait tanks in our boats either so we usually seal off one section and dedicate it to the bait.

Once we have enough (if we are lucky finding a good school of bait fish) we bee line it for the Spanish grounds and start a very slow live bait troll. Basically we put the motor in gear and that’s all. So if the current is strong we hardly move and when the wind is strong enough we drift or put the anchor down and let the current do the work.

The fishing we very hot on the 2nd of december. The word wasn’t out and we were only fishing with 5 other boats and everyone was boating fish. Just about all our friends in the other boats also had tails of broken wire trace, braided line snapped. I also had a 60lb wire trace snapped in the middle. There are a few photos of my fishing buddy Nyoman in this photo gallery fishing our first of the day. We ended up boating 3 nice fish for a total of 32.7kgs. Although by the time we payed out costs, fuel food, brokering and helpers I ended up with just enough to cover my electricity bill. Not to worry because we were confident we would do it again the very next day.

The following day I was up at 3am making new live bait rigs and changing fresh stainless spring steel wire leaders and fresh mono trace leaders. We had enough fuel and our lunch boxes were full. The only real luxury I have is that I take a thermos of hot coffee out with me. The bait fish were abundant and we soon had 40 baits swimming unknowingly in the bottom of the boat. The next 10 hours we spent changing baits and replacing snapped line, leaders and wire trace. Nothing but lost fish and broken dreams all day long. But that’s fishing right, mother nature sure knows how to let you know who the boss is.

Today the 4th and I thought I better giving my cramped and bruised body a rest from the small confined space of Nyoman’s boat and go shoot some surfing photos. But like I mentioned above, before I could get over to Keramas the wind had come up and blowing hard out of the WSW and crappy waves (for Bali’s high standard). Wave height was in the head to well over head high class and if the wind had of been right it would have been cranking. But like fishing there is always tomorrow right.

Please feel free to hit us up with any questions about Bali, fishing accommodation when and where to surf. We are always happy to help out with accurate on the ground information that can make your next holiday in Bali run much smoother.

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