The Thrill of Baiting

Melvyn's been taking me to watch prawning and pole-fishing at East Coast Park. There's a prawning/pole-fishing business, which according to him, is relatively new. We've been there a couple of times, slotting visits between the plushie machines and there. The two places are about a 5 minute walk away from each other. I can't remember the name of the pond, but I'll be sure to take some pictures the next time we go there.

I'm not really an outdoorsy type of person but I'm game to try new things once in awhile. I was really intrigued by the fun the people were having - hooking prawns and running all over the pond to tire a fish out, so much so that I agreed to my brother's request of going fishing on Friday. Right now I look like a lobster, sunburnt everywhere.

I must have struck Melvyn, my brother, and his friend as a really strange person. While everyone was waiting around for their fishes, I abandoned my big rod for the others to watch and had my father fashion me a small line to hook tiny fishes. I caught a fair few! I even caught a baby mango jack! Imagine that. My tiny rod, meant to catch tiny fishes, caught a baby mango jack! I regret not taking a photo of it though. Had to throw it back because it had a little skin on the side ripped off, exposing some of its organs. That's probably why I was able to catch it; because it was injured.

However, I did manage to catch something that wasn't injured and wasn't at all weak - a baby catfish.

The photos aren't clear, but you get the general idea. Click on the second photo, the larger image shows the front of the catfish clearly. A real, genuine, baby catfish. It was pretty too, shimmering white. I wanted to keep it so badly, but Melvyn told me they sting and it would be quite inconvenient removing the hook and taking it back, so we had to cut the line and throw it back.

It was still a great day and we all had fun. We're already planning our next fishing trip, but this time I'll be prawning instead. Melvyn reckons I'll be good at it, seeing how good I am at catching tiny fishes. After all, it's a similar concept - just know when to pull and pull. He even says I'm going to be him and Mark's bait-catcher when they go to Bedok Jetty next. I look forward to it!