２００６/８/２９〜９/４ マレーシア KOZO OKUBO
I went fishing for Sailfish in Rompin, Malaysia.
Usually, I am not too interested in Sailfish, and only try it while I’m at a certain spot where it can be targeted.
(I have however tried it fly-fishing and caught strap-marline and sailfish.)
However, as a friend from Singapore, Alvin informed me of a great spot where it can be targeted,
and as the CEO (Mr. Shitamura) from Humming bird Tsutenko has been dying to catch a sailfish on a fly,
I decided to go. The objective of the trip was to catch a sailfish on a fly.
First day, Mr. Shitamura caught one on a fly.
We got many bites on that day, but due to the difficulty hooking up, that was the only catch.
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Start fishing on the 2nd day.
As soon as we arrive at the fishing point,
we could see a decent amount of sailfishing feeding on the surface.
Approx 8~10 sailfish surround the school of sardines,
and with their sails fully open corner the bait and feed on the school.
We approach the school and cast our flies but it is a challenge to hook up.
The hookup ratio is very low.
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During which, Alvin was casting lures at the bow and caught a Wahoo.
It seems that the Sailfish react to lures as well.
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So I start casting lures. I got a number of bites, but no hookups.
And finally managed to hook one up, it was a Wahoo.
Caught on the “Chopper69” sardine color prototype.
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Finally, the hook was set on the fly tackle.
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The jumping sailfish.
With this many bites, we finally managed to hookup.
We needed to catch this one!!
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Finally managed to land one with the fly tackle.
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We slowly move forward with the boat to allow the fish to revive by putting water through its gills and release.
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The beauty of this fish takes our eyes.
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We take time to revive the fish, and wait for release until the fish can swim on its own.
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The next day, I managed to hookup early in the morning with the Sharapoa, but it was a Wahoo again.
We get numerous bites of the Sailfish, but cannot hookup.
I tried changing the hook setting, timing of the hooking, and many different techniques and finally managed to hookup.
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It was a bite on the “Chopper69” prototype developed for Tuna.
Allow it to tire and then land.
Compared to GTs which fight furiously,
I cannot say that Sailfish fight as hard, when considering its weight.
However, its agility and jumping ability is great. One most be careful when landing.
(The swimming speed of the sailfish is apparently the fastest)
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I land carefully after confirming that the hook is set nicely.
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The captain grabbed the bill and landed it. The triple hook was set nicely.
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Beautiful fish.
The beauty of the fish is also what is so attractive of this fishing.
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Finally I was able to catch one with a lure.
Considering the number of bites, the small number of fish being landed is a little concern.
As expected, it is not a style of fishing I prefer.
The catch with the lure was set with a triple hook.
In addition, being able to catch the fish with the prototype lure, “Chopper69”, I was even happier.
This “Chopper69” prototype produced bites on every cast,
and being able to catch a sailfish on this lure was very memorable for me.
As it is to enter my hall-of-fame, it was not casted after this.
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So, I changed the lure. Consecutive attack with the A-Cup long cast version (prototype).
With a little technique, I was able to find the effective hookup with the triple hook, and successfully hooked the fish.
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The key to this fishing is to not speed the process of landing the fish, and taking the time to let the fish to tire.
Even so, it takes less than 5 minutes.
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This time, the “Decoy Saltwater Big 4/0” was nicely hooked up.
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Like this.
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I did it.
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This is the A-Cup long cast (prototype).
With the usual A-Cup floating posture sustained, it has been loaded with additional rear weight.
The casting distance and controllability has improved.
However, as I only had one of this lure as well, and it going in to my hall-of-fame, further lure change!!
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I decided to change my tackle all together, and got the fly-tackle out.
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A decent size sailfish.
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As there were plenty of squid in the vicinity, I casted the A-Cup squid color.
I got results immediately.
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At the end, I was able to catch a beautiful sailfish.
Forb A-Cup squid color.
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Released successfully.
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Mr. Shitamura hooked up with the fly as well.
It took out the backing line at amazing seed. It looks big.
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The biggest sailfish of this trip successfully landed by Mr. Shitamura.
Congratulations.
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We caught enough fish so Alvin who had been guiding us tried live-bait fishing, and landed a nice one.
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