Reporting from North Borneo, Sabah, east Malaysia

[Izhizm_Zwoots]

finally a decent catch from Sutera Harbour, Sabah North Borneo Malaysia



Location: Sutera Harbour



Woke upfrom slumber and clock read 8:00 A.M, quite abruptly the skies have myattention. As I gaze out of the window, the sky was just ashen white. Drats... now that did not look too promising,it was blazing yesterday! No please please don't let it rain! Needed to check the weather forecast just tobe sure but google was not being so stupidlylazy telling me that Kota Kinabalu will 'pour' the whole week but I am adamantabout going anyway.



Lefthome at about 9:00 Am for Jesselton Point and yes I am aware that this 'adventure' is going to cost me but I just wanted a decent fishing platform tofish in for a change and where is more comfortable rather than the pain ofhaving to manoeuvre around, wrestling in the rocks. But you can't find a decentfishing platform in KK without needing to pay for it, I think it sucks thatprivately-owned seaside locations iskicking the public off their turf unless you can pay for it. It does bother mealot how KK seem so unfriendly to everyday Sabahans whose favourite past-time passion is fishing, andyou can see anglers every week, the many hopefuls camping out at any seasidelocations in KK waiting for the next big one but then again, us anglers havebeen ' wrestling in the rocks ' for too long, when can we enjoy a decentfishing platform without burning our pockets just to enjoy the sea, and thebreeze, and the tentative wait..., the bite and the strike.



ReachingJesselton point only managed to confirmed my disappointment, when the securityguards told me the jetty is closed for a competition scheduled at the 12[sup]th[/sup]July. Great... so they closed off the entire jetty from the public just to holdone competition? I can't help but muddle myself in cynicism, "Takut ikan habiska ? but if you ask me, it is reallyselfish but hey at least i managed to save a few bucks and so i set forth tohunt for other hot-spots where squids may be lurking.



Arrivedat Suria Sabah, at the parking bay facing the sea near the marine policestation. Well it wasn't long until I got told off by the security guard, heardthe whistle and I knew I had to go away but i cannot help but notice what aperfect fishing spot Suria Sabah is especially near the marine police jetty.The dark aquamarine waters are just so inviting, it has this hidden chasm oozing with appealand mystery.. what secrets might lurk here? The area is quite sheltered fromwild weather where I'm sure bait-fish frequent, moreover its ' ambush-central'for squids. Unfortunately, there's already that stupid ' dilarang memancingsign ' by the electric pillbox and so Ileft.



I wasreluctant to do casting at Sutera Harbour because I was there yesterday, and Ireturned home with a big fat zero. The waves are too rough at the time to ekeout any real reward after flogging the water for a good four good hours but Ihad to go again to test my new outfit as I have spooled on some new Simago fast sinking monofilament 10 lbline ( u can get them at Karamunsing folks, the top shop: ground floor). So Iarrived at Sutera Harbour and made my way down to the beach, towards the rockyoutcrop facing the sea where right ahead in the background is Pulau Gaya. Thebeach is a sad reflection of public apathy, bottles, unwanted tile pieces,plastic, littering the view, polluting her hidden lustre and appeal. Thepublic frequent this beach for its breath-taking sunsets, and also a meetingplace for forlorn hearts who dedicate verses for their beloved on the rocks facing the sunset. Cannot help but hope, one day the resort management realise its publicappeal and restore this beautiful beachwith a proper jetty or pier for public leisure, but it looks like I have towrestle in the rocks for now.



Set mystuff up quick, and cast out my pink 2.5 Kogu Yamashita into the lashing bluetongues of the ocean, and it disappeared into the sea, diving somewhere, tosomeplace where only the creatures of the deep bear witness of its descent intothe unknown-its lifeline being only my fishing line. Waited ,counted to ten, I'm going to let thelittle thing dive down. 14 seconds, 15... and I ripped two sharp jerks.. andlet it dive again. Twitch, twitch wait... twitch.. wait... nothing, and nothingfor a good one hour. Not that I mind too much though, the weather held up ( nothanks to google weather forecast !) andI'm lucky I'm not Frying under the tropical sun here as I flog the water. Then,just as I was busy talking to myself, I felt something teasingly tugged myline! Alas , I was too slow to apply tension and i suppose my drag was tooloose and whatever that was disappeared. I tried to no avail trying to enticeit to come out but there were no takers. Thats it, time to switch colours.



Iswitched to an creamy orange 2.5 Kogu Yamashita and cast out into the seaagain. It must be the orange prawn dancing zig-zag in the water like a stupidflirt was when a powerful strike ensued,and I was completely surprised whatever this is, and it was bending my NaorySquidding rod but it only manage to ekeout a bit of line as I reeled him. It was a decent catch and it was furious,spluttering dark inky plumes in the water as I slowly reeled him in, raising my road to apply tension but just as I wasthinking of taking a photo of the guy, I saw another one following closely,eyeing the yamashita greedily. After that, I really couldn't think anymore! Ilanded the first one quickly but he made sure he messed up my jig real good, staining it completely black with ink.



I mustlook for that dissatisfied friend of his ! I swear I could see that transientshadow in the water, just waiting there. I cast out again, waited andripped the rod and waited. At the third twitch, it was an instant simultaneousstrike and this was even bigger and stronger than the last one! It peeled a bit of line from my shimano reelas I reeled in And there she is, agood catch nonetheless. What a relief ! and it's a beautiful feeling, havingtwo beautiful calamari shimmering in the sun. I did not spend much time there after that, wrapped up and headed home.



finally a decent catch from Sutera Harbour, Sabah North Borneo Malaysia







size comparison







fortunately they are there