Fishing Singapore

James Nishida tells us a great story of when he temporarily relocated to Singapore with his fiance one of James’ key considerations was to ensure that fishing was still on his agenda.

It had been a tough year back on the Gold Coast, my new fiancé and I had just finished building a house, extra study at university had taken its toll and amongst other things, I hadn’t found much time for fishing. We had just about had enough of the ever deepening rut we seemed to be in. So on some advice from a close friend, we decided we needed a change; a sea change. As the idea began to grow on us we had to consider possible locations. The fact that we had a lump of a mortgage and had not had the chance to travel extensively meant that we had to be able to earn a living as well as have easy access to travel. After some research and reasonable deliberation, we were able to get work in Singapore. Respectable pay checks and Singapore being a major hub for travel were a great start, and after some searching around the net, the fishing on offer in this small country appeared good for all intensive purposes, and that sold the deal. The Lion City Officially the Republic of Singapore is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malaysian Peninsula, lying 137 kilometers north of the equator. Its bustling metropolis CBD and population of approximately four million people often overshadows the relatively miniscule areas of primary forest and reservoirs on offer. Being smack bang in the middle of the tropics, one would expect a reasonable standard of fishing, both in the fresh and the salt. This is true to some extent, however the position of Singapore in relation to its neighboring countries in the South China Sea, prevents any substantial offshore current and therefore the pelagic action is not great, unlike the world class game fishing notorious in nearby regions such as Kula Rompin. The fresh water fishing hear in Singapore is a different kettle of fish, and that is what this article will focus on. In this area of the globe, the possibility of targeting a diverse range of freshwater fish on both lure and fly is a real prospect, and when I say diverse, I mean diverse. Many of the fish in these waters will respond to an array of presentations, from micro bream sized soft plastics and hard bodies to five inch rubbers and poppers more often reserved for queenfish and mid sized GTs. Fly anglers have a multitude of options too, from nymphing to fast striping big clousers. Targets The two main targets in the freshwater are the local Snakehead (Channidae), so named due to the most brutal set of fangs I have ever seen on any freshwater fish, and the introduced Peacock Bass (Cichla ocellaris), a native to such South American countries as Brazil, Guyana, and Peru. The Peacock Bass was illegally introduced into Singapore in the 1990’s by some of the local fly fishermen in the quest for an aggressive fly target. With a growth potential of 300mm and reaching sexual maturity within their first twelve months of life, as well as adult fish growing in excess of six kilograms, these fish could have posed a great risk to the local biodiversity. However despite there impressive breading and fast growth rate, they have only made minimal impact on Snakehead and other local fish numbers. These two fish make up the bulk of catches in Singapore, but if you get a little more tackle specific, there are many more options for you to explore. In Singapore there are a dedicated number of fly fisherman who use ultra light fly gear and nymphs to target the local Tilapia (of the Cichlidae family) population with good results. In Australia, the Tilapia is considered a noxious fish that has been introduced into some of our dams. In Singapore, these fish are held in much higher regard for their fighting ability on light lines and for their culinary attributes when sourced from clean flowing water. Not to be one that judges on first impressions, I had the opportunity to sample one of these fish at a dinner with some friends, and to my surprise, the simply cooked Tilapia was the best freshwater fish I have ever eaten. The flesh was white and reasonably firm and reminded me a little of grilled flathead filets. However, I think when I return home if I am offered the choice between Tilapia from Wivenhoe Dam or a few fresh snapper filets, I know which way I’ll be leaning. I have started fly fishing here in Singapore, and waving the wand has shown some amazing results. I am yet to give in to the world of nymphing, but I have fished with some locals who have had good results sight casting to these fish. Seeing any fish take a presentation off the top, be it fly or lure makes for exciting times, and these fish seem to be quiet willing to do so. The fish will often sit in relatively shallow water. Walking the banks and polarizing these areas will enable you to make presentations right to the fish. I’m told that the key to this form of fishing is to keep moving. Once a fish has been landed from a particular area, most if not all of the fish in the shallows will now be too spooky to cast to. Work further down the bank and find fish that were not disturbed from the last hook up. There is another fish that you could run into that could put a fair amount of line between you and their own leaping silhouette. The fish locally referred to as a Featherback (Chitala ornata) can grow in excess of a meter. With a head very similar to that of a Barramundi and a large ell-like tail, this fish can display some reasonable power, as well as surprising speed and Arial displays. My first encounter with a Featherback was on a midnight excursion to one of Singapore’s less known spots to chase Sebarau (Hampala macrolepidota), a fish resembling a mullet, that much unlike a mullet has the tendency to crash tackle lures worked deep around drop offs with unpredicted aggression. I was working my TN50 a little too high and fast when I got smacked by a reasonable fish. Within the first few seconds of the fight, the singing of my little threadline reel was almost deafening in comparison to the silence of the rural setting. Before the first turn of the handle the fish jumped clear of the water and could be seen against the city lights of downtown Singapore. With the same head shakes of our beloved Barra, the line went slack and the fish won its freedom. Upon closer inspection, my 20lb fluorocarbon leader had been clean cut, and I was later informed that the Featherback, with its head not dissimilar to a Barra, has razor sharp edges on its gill plates. It was months before I had the opportunity to tangle with one of these fish again, but the second time I wore a satisfied smile on my face, instead of a look of disbelief and disappointment. In comparison to the Peacock Bass, the local Snakehead population is a harder nut to crack, but with the right lures, some local advice and a bit of hard work it is possible to hook a respectable number of these fierce fighting fish. Keeping the line tight on one long enough to get the camera out though, is easier said then done with a set of teeth straight out of the movie Alien. The most exciting technique and seemingly the most popular lure to use for big Snakehead are large fizzers in the four to six inch range. These big lures cause a lot of commotion and can draw fish in from some distance away. Often the key to entice a strike with Snakehead is speed! Now at first this might seem like a bit of an odd tactic for the fresh, but it has shown to be affective with one of Australia’s better known fish. The reasonably fast speed that the Boof Frog from Squigies is worked has yielded amazing results on Australia’s impoundment Barra and the little known technique of ‘mackerel trolling’ for Barra in the top end has also got a few minds thinking. When I say fast, I’m not talking high speed spinning reels worked so fast your arm falls off! It is more of a fast roll similar to how you might work metals for tailor. There is nothing finesse about this form of fishing, but with a lack of consistent saltwater targets these fish can deliver the kind of rough and tumble excitement associated with a hot blue water bite. The main show My first encounter with a peacock Bass was after some location recommendations from the local fly fishing shop, who had proven to be extremely willing to help a fellow fishing addict find his fix and just darn good blocks to boot. When I arrived to this dammed body of water, it took me by surprise how clear the water was. Fishing impoundments in Australia, you would expect the water to be of a dark greenish, brown colour with only a couple feet of visibility. The water clarity in this reservoir resembled that of a tidal tropical flat, with ten to fifteen feet of visibility down from the waters edge. Discovering this, I reached for my reel with two pound braid on it, tied on a six pound fluorocarbon leader and started to work some small soft plastics in natural colours off the banks second drop off. The stealth of the finesse gear payed off in only a few casts and after a short but hard fort battle, that surprisingly included a few jumps clear of the surface, I lip griped my first Peacock bass. A reasonable specimen weighing in at about three pounds in the old scale, I was quite pleased with the result, having only minimal local advice and interpreting the conditions to convert it into a hook up. The first thing that strikes you about these fish is their brilliant colouration, with an olive back fading into mustard yellow flanks and finishing in a snow white underbelly. On top of that run three vertical black bars, and topping that off with bright red staining the bottom jaw and vibrant dots, the Peacock Bass is one beautiful fish. In that short session, I landed another three bass and I went home with a sense of achievement I haven’t felt fishing for a long time. As time went on, I began to form a pattern on how to fish for the local Peacock Bass with both lure and fly. Surprising to me was the effectiveness of fly presentations on these fish. Having only caught one fish on fly in Australia before coming to Singapore, I now look back and think my fly casting must have resembled a four year old swatting a butterfly net around trying to catch one of those agile, two winged beauties. Now however, with a bit of practice I have been able to catch reasonable numbers with surprising regularity. On fly gear, one way of inducing a strike is to make long casts parallel to the shore and let the line sink a bit. Commencing a short sharp strip with the occasional pause imitates a little shrimp hanging around the rocks. This is a good way to introduce oneself to fly casting and will account for good numbers of fish, but most of the fish found in these areas are often in the ten to 35 centimetre range and lack the fighting prowess of the big mamas. The same technique could be done by casting small floating hard bodies out along the shore and slow rolling or twitching them back in a similar fashion to how you would work a rock wall for bream. Just like our beloved Australian Bass, structure equals fish and you will find reasonable numbers of Bass in and around sunken structure. The only problem here is the local waterways are somewhat devoid of structure. Internationally renowned for their cleanliness, Singapore’s ‘tidy up’ habit has continued into their waterways, with the council removing any fallen trees faster than you can say Bobs your uncle. If you do come across any substantial structure, work it over. The best way is to use an intermediate fly line and an unweighted or lightly weighted fly and sit it for a long time in and around different parts of the snag. Second to that is to cast in small to medium suspending hard bodies. On my local waterways back in Australia, suspending hard body lures are often over looked and overshadowed by soft plastics due to their realistic action. This is true to some extent but how many baitfish do you see sink to the bottom? Suspending lures do exactly what they say they do; they suspend and sit right in to face of snag dwelling predators like Bass, Barra, Jacks and the list goes on. In this region of the world, suspending lures seem to be the norm and results seem to reaffirm their effectiveness. I even got a few odd looks when I explained that most of the lures in my box are floating. In the same breath, many Singaporean fishermen are yet to realise the amazing potential of rubbers in their local waters. The first two techniques mentioned will catch you fish, but the most effective way to hook into some of the lump headed brutes in excess of four kilograms is to work the open water. Now it’s just not as simple as chucking out a lure as far as you can and hoping for the best, there are subtle and hidden targets you will need to find to capture one of these magical fish. The first of which are weed beds out in open water. In Australia working weed edges in our impoundments is a good way to connect to a few Bass or Barra, but is often reserved for people fishing from a boat due to the way much of the weed grows in the warmer shallower sections next to banks. Here it is seems to happen in reverse, possibly due to the warmer climate and relative lack of depth that many dams in my region of Australia posses. The result is the land angler has prime position in casting to the weed edges and therefore a good chance at some reasonable fish. I find the best way to find these mid water weed beds is to tie on a soft plastic with a medium sized jig head and do a bit of searching by spraying your casts around and making note of the areas that hold weed. This will give you a better understanding of the water you are fishing and you my just run into a few fish while you are looking around. The other way to fish the open water is a little less consistent, but often produces a better class of fish. Sometimes you may notice small areas of rippling water, only a meter or so wide that resembles a miniature bait ball. This rippling effect is actually caused by the Peacock Bass fry moving location in a condensed school. Just like our little ones at school, when crossing the road the beloved lollipop lady is there to guide children and make sure no cars hit them, the adult Bass are nearby guarding their young. If anything comes close enough to the schooling babies, these patrolling fish will use all their might to annihilate the intruder. If that is your lure, well hold on! These ‘lollipop Bass’ often can grow in excess of five kilograms, hit like Mike Tyson and pull just as hard. Tackle and drags need to be in prime condition because crushed trebles and opened split rings are a sad reality when attacked by these mean predators. Tackle There are many different ways and environments in which to catch fish in the waters of Singapore and that makes tackle selection a hard issue. It is up to the angler what number of setups they wish to use, however a couple of versatile combinations can have you covering much of the fishing scenarios on offer. The first of which is a light spinning outfit. Something about seven foot or longer in length and able to handle lines up to about 12 pounds, but tippy enough to throw lightly weighted plastics long distances is ideal. Matched up to a 2000 size reel, this would be my first choice because of it versatility in using both weighty hard bodies and light soft plastics. The drags on some of these small threadline reels are capable of landing some serious fish and often come with a spare spool which can be loaded up with a lighter line class of around two to four pounds for when a little finesse is needed. The ability of this set up to work over large areas of open water makes this set up my first pick. The second outfit would be a heavy baitcasting combo able to handle lines around the 20 pound range. This would be used to target the bigger fish that frequent these waters and will enable you to deliver the big lures required for these fish. Unlike the baitcasting rods used in Australia’s northern creeks, the rod length is much longer to enable extra distance in casting to the fish sitting in open water. With longer rods popular in targeting Australia’s impoundment Barra, there is no shortage of quality rods on the market, especially those coming out of Japan. With there superb finishes and tantalizing names, these rods catch as many fishermen as fish. When it comes to line selection, braid is the only way to go and there are many suitable brands on the market that will do the job nicely. However, these lines can have varying characteristics with thinner diameters or high abrasion resistance. With the lack of hard structure and fish sitting in open water, slick, thin lines are the pick of the bunch and will enable improved casting distance without the fear of getting rubbed off on a log or rocks. The use of fluorocarbon is of great benefit too, with a reasonable amount of fishing pressure the local fish can shy away from anything less. When it comes to fly tackle many of the locals love to use zero and one weight rods to fish for tilapia, Snakehead and Peacock Bass. This is purely to enhance the sporting side of fishing and gives little chance of landing good fish. Personally I feel that a five weight set up would put you in good position to land some respectable fish while still being sporting about your fishing. Lures All that is needed to effectively target the majortiy of the fish in Singapore is a small selection of hardbodies and soft plastics. Paddle tail shads are popular here but I have found minnow style stick baits in the three to five inch range more effective. The shads are often slow rolled and rely on their built in action to induce a strike, however the jerky, twitching style of stickbaits seem to draw a more aggressive reaction bite. Medium sizes shallow diving hard bodies, both slow floating and suspending will also put you in good position to catch a few fish. A good colour range is needed with fish smashing fluoro colours one day and only taking the most natural finishes the next day. Lastly a good selection a surface lures will enable you to experience intensely aggressive, visual strikes. Cup face poppers and fizzers in the three to six inch range dominate over ‘walk the dog’ type lures, but when the fish are shut down and looking for an easy meal, they are my go to lure. All in all Singapore is a bit of a surprise package that can deliver some outstanding fishing. With it being a port to some of the regions more desirable fishing locations, it could pay to spend a few nights hear and experience some truly interesting fishing. The peacock Bass population is a major drawcard and is by far the closest location for travelling Australian fishos to tangle with one of these truly amazing sports fish. On a less positive note, the local government has yet to recognise the potential of the fishing industry for tourism and in helping the local economy, and have little regulation to protect this small fishery. On the other hand, all the fishermen I have talked to here are very environmentally aware and are strong advocates for catch and release fishing. This forward thinking group of fishermen are doing what they can to influence the government into putting some form of fishing regulations in place to protect this valuable resource. They are also a shining example of sustainable self regulation, which is very relevant to Australia’s current fishing and political climte.