Giant Grouper & Mangrove Snapper!

Our youth fishing programme on Saturday was growing at a pace we were comfortable with. An ideal number of kids were signing up which allowed us to customise it better, working on the strengths and weaknesses of each child accordingly. As weeks went by, parents began enquiring on the tours we offered that catered to them too, most of which involved bigger fish and gear.

We try our best to keep all our sessions family-friendly, and if the species being targeted is not suitable for the kids, we ensure the location is then family-friendly. Just as parents are highly encouraged to support their kids during the youth programme, kids are welcomed to cheer Mum & Dad on whilst they battle a feisty giant fish.

Unfortunately, our sessions run on weekends only and with the youth sessions on Saturday, we only have Sundays to offer. Without taking too much time on a Sunday, we introduced the Giant Grouper fishing trip. A high adrenaline trip which requires a lot of strength and muscle, landing very big Groupers, for just ONE hour. The question we get all the time… “Is one hour enough?”, and to that we say, join us to find out!

Over the years, the giant grouper trip is something one needs to experience to reward their curiosity. The best part? No prior experience is necessary. We have taken so many individuals for this trip who have yet to try fishing altogether, imagine telling friends and family that your first fish was a 60kg Giant Grouper!

Introducing this trip in June 2017 for parents to enjoy has been a great idea thus far. Have a look at the amazing families and friends that joined us in June, making it a month that did a little better than May 2017, with a total of 59 fish caught, 55 of which were released! What happened to four of those fish? Read on to find out!

We were fishing with siblings Myles and Colin,  Brian and Elizabeth along with their parents on our first youth session. The Barramundi of Jugra would have undergone a significant amount of “training” to understand the variety of lures tempting them underwater, most of all, ways of freeing themselves from the hook. Hooking on to one required a lot of tries and patience, however, hanging on to one long enough to land it was the real battle. Over the last few months, we have seen the Barramundi of Jugra ace their hook spitting skills, leaving even the best in luring scratching their heads.

Our challenge has been to keep the spirits up and keep as much disappointments at bay. Kids go into a zone of self-doubt almost instantly when a fish spits the hook. We do not work to shelter any of the kids from the emotions, because in it is a valuable lesson – one they discover and understand the moment they  land a fish… and land a fish they will, whether or not the Barramundi were tough to start with. Our goal remains that every child lands and release a fish safely by the end of the session.

What was tougher to adapt to on our first session was the weather changes, from cloudy to very warm, constantly. Weather changes affects fishing but thankfully, both families did not give up, especially when both mothers are around for support! The result? Barramundi of impressive sizes!

Siblings Brian and Elizabeth were supportive of each other throughout the session

Mum joined in the fun too!

Myles was one of the sweetest boys we have fished with, he was filled with so much joy finally landing his dad’s favourite fish, the Red Drum

Colin may only be 3 years old but it didn’t stop him from landing the largest Barramundi of the day!

The next day we were out bright and early for our very first Giant Grouper session, we had Adrian and Gary with us and what a day it was! As the location was family-family, Gary’s wife Susan and daughter Emma (one of our trained Youth Anglers) joined us to cheer them on! It never gets old, that first bite, that smile, that realisation of the angler that it is indeed a heavy fish, breaking into a sweat, working every muscle in ones body and finally, landing that Giant which makes it all worthwhile. As Adrian and Gary has joined us on many occasions, seeing them land their Giant Grouper is even more exciting…and hilarious! We know no better way to start a Sunday morning than with good company and big fish.

On our next session we were joined by Noel, his wife Sunitha and daughter Bella in Jugra. The weather in June was unpredictable, scorching sun to heavy rains, this session was wet and muddy but thoroughly exciting! Our team will continue a session if it is just a light drizzle with no thunderstorm, Noel and his family agreed to fish through it all! This was a special session, Noel would find the best fishing buddy in his wife and daughter on this trip. Despite landing the first two Barramundi quickly, his daughter Bella caught up and wife Sunitha landed not only the largest Barramundi of the day but also, the only Grouper of the day! Bella and Sunitha shared a special moment of landing a Red Drum each, together! Double hook-ups in Jugra’s Red Drum pond does not happen all too often, but Noel soon caught up!.

The next day, it was another Giant Grouper trip for us. This one was bittersweet. We were joined by the families that were most supportive of us early on into our business, families that believed in our sessions and hard work. They are no stranger to our social media pages, especially on our trip together to Kuala Rompin. This time, it would be our last fishing trip in Malaysia together as they all were getting ready to leave. As the kids were already trained in our sessions, everyone joined in for one last exciting fishing in LS.

June was also the month of Ramadhan, and yearly during this month our sponsors, PureFishing Malaysia would hold an Iftar (break-fast) event for anglers and supporters of their brands. It’s an event we look forward to as it brings the community of anglers in Malaysia together, loving the brands under PureFishing is all we need to bring us together regardless of our preferred body of water to fish in!

Eid (Hari Raya) was on the 24th of June, with it being a public holiday, we decided to put our celebrations off till’ later and instead take on a full day of tours!

We met the Weathers and who would’ve known it would be the first of many fishing sessions with this amazing family. Ross, the youngest boy in the family caught the first Barramundi of the trip and we soon learned in all other sessions with them that Ross would catch most of the FIRST FISH on our trips! His brother Alex and sister Kristina caught up with great sized Barramundi for the day.

Barramundi were proving to be tough under the hot sun so we moved to Red Drums and what an exciting day it was! Everyone caught a Red Drum each, and the drums were putting up a strong battle. Alex and mum Nicola ended the session by landing a Grouper each! Another double hook-up!

The day did not end there for our team. Right after lunch we met with Martin and Marek who wanted to try their hands at Catching and Cooking! Right next to the Catch & Release pond in Jugra, there are a variety of fish species to choose from. Barramundi, Golden Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, Pompano, Grouper and more! Each separated into their own pond and comes with a cost per kilogram, it is your choice and budget, which you prefer to catch and cook for the day!

Martin and Marek opted for Barramundi and Snappers, with live Prawns and cut Sardines for bait we headed out for a fun day fishing. The first Barramundi was so big, we focused on Snappers right after! Snappers are a lot of fun to catch, not just any Snapper, Martin and Marek caught on to Mangrove Snappers! Speedy, feisty fish! With enough fish for a week of dinner, we ended the day on a high!

We did take some time to celebrate Eid with family but got a call from Allen Vic, a friend of Gordon (The Weathers) who wanted to book a session for his boys. Despite it being a day off for us, we figured, a half day session wouldn’t hurt!

We were really glad we took that booking! A cool morning in Jugra with Allen’s boys James and Steven was filled with so much excitement and fun! Barramundi were biting, Red Drums were speeding and Groupers were wrestling! We could not have asked for a better session to end the exciting month, with trying weather conditions finally stabilising in the end!

We hope you have enjoyed reading about our June updates just as we have conducting all the tours and meeting amazing families and new friends.

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