We left for Mersing on Wednesday night ( 2100 hrs 07 Apr 1999 ).
Despite getting caught in a jam at the Causeway( next day was Johor Sultan's birthday we were told ), 3 hours later, still half asleep we were at Mersing town having supper.

 

 

Strangely, there were a few anglers at the jetty, never knew that Mersing Jetty was a fishing hotspot.
We eagerly loaded up our gear and were on our way.
The sea looked calm, the only noise was that of the old faithful engine chugging away.
Good maintenance work by Hisham( boatman ).
The ever enthusiastic few started rigging up while the rest tried to catch some sleep, it was to be another 4-6 hours of boat ride.

At 5.30 am the silhouette of Dayang and Aur peered through the darkness on the horizon.
As the boat approached the jetty, I noticed the waters was still clear and tranquil, as if nothing has changed over the past year.
Memories of that first trip to Dayang jogged back and I was all smiles.

 

 

 

We quickly unloaded our belongings and some tackle which might come in handy at the sandy white beach.
This time we will be staying at 2 chalets with its own toilet facilities, a slight improvement from last year, then we shared a common washroom.

The first major excitement occurred right after breakfast when Song Heng stepped on a bee which had apparently ambushed our poor friend by hiding in his slippers. The bee sting area on his feet swelled.
We applied some antiseptic lotion on the affected area thinking that would do the job and he would be up and kicking in no time ...

Boy, were we shocked when Song Heng turned pale and his face started to contort.
Our friend suddenly looked 20 years older. Thankfully we needn't heli-evacuate him, 2 panadol and lots of water later he certainly looked better.

 

After that 'eventful' start we finally got down to fishing, ( Song Heng was to be left at the chalet with Hock Chuan volunteering to 'take good care' of him ).
Jigging for bait at the unjangs produced tambans, selayang, selar and the occasional bonitos.
The bonitos were actually good fun on ultra light tackle, the tuna jigs were quite successful in this aspect.
We then proceeded to a spot where there was an abundance of juvenile dorados and everyone had an opportunity to catch a couple.
It was great fun on light tackle, we were experimenting with lures, fly and spoons etc.
Apparently these dorados still preferred the good ol' fillet bait.
We kept whatever we needed and released the rest.
Unfortunately the big mamas weren't around, these were the ones we're hoping to catch.
 

 

 

A little bottom fishing at another location, produced a few table fishes.
We then decided to head back to the island for lunch.

Back at Dayang island we found Song Heng in the pink of health.
He had even gone to the beach and tried his luck at the todaks and barracudas.

The second part of the day was spent doing some bottom fishing with mediocre results before heading back to the island for dinner and a good night's rest.
So much for the first day, everyone was snoring away well before 11pm.
Fishing at Dayang is pretty routine, we would jig for bait at the unjangs( most work done by the boatmen and our guide, Daniel ), then proceed for some bottom fishing, targetting tengirris or live baiting for marlins depending on the currents.
This was mainly the activities for the next 2 days.
The results from bottom fishing has been on a downward trend year after year.
The area's probably over fished, the fishing pressure on these spots is tremendous with the continuous arrivals of anglers throughout the year.

 

 

We attempted some light trolling with Tilsan Lures, Deception Lures and other deep divers from the fishing boat too.
The results weren't good as the boatman was unwilling to venture too near the reefs.
Nevertheless, we still managed a 2-3kg range bonito and a 6kg trevally.

Some of us had the opportunity to go on 2 outboards where we did another round of light trolling.
As these outboards were able to traverse just above the reefs the results were much better.
In 4 hours we managed to land some 20 groupers ( 2 excellent eating coral trout too, gave one away to the boatman 'accidentally' ), a trevally, a few other assorted fishes and a 'chey mak'!(green-eyed sotong).
The more effective lures seems to be the Tilsans and Deception Lures as they were able to 'swim' well at trolling speeds.
The Yo-zuris(CrankMax) gave a poor showing as they tend to skip at higher speeds.

 

 

 

So much for the fishing( or none of it ), the night on the eve of our departure we decided to try for some more 'chey maks' as they were great eating when taken raw dipped in wasabe and soy sauce.
We didn't do too badly, managed 2 small ones and a whopper!

 

 

After 3 days of great eating ( asam pedas, steam fish, fried fish, chicken curry, sotong sashimi and other mouth watering dishes ... ), 2 cartons of coke, 2 cartons of beer later we were ready to head for home.

Given the opportunity, I would be back again next year, never mind the poor catch, any time spent with friends and away from the mundane nature of work and city life is definitely rewarding.