So, after I parked, I got out my fishing pliers (which are very useful in taking the hook out of the prawn), rented a rod, bought worms (on top of the chicken heart bait) and found a spot to sit down at pond 1 which the uncle at the counter told me had more and bigger prawns. Unfortunately, there was this plumpish ah soh who had a mouth turned down at the corners with an old man there and she gave me a long dirty look for reasons I can only speculate at. So I moved to an empty spot at pond 2 instead. Within 5 mins of dropping line, I had a bite. I'd forgotten to take the net to put the prawns so I left the first victim on the ground, re-baited (remember - always have the hook in the water as often as possible to maximise time) and went to the counter to get the net. When I got back, the rod was bent and I had another prawn. The group next to me wasn't catching anything for some strange reason (maybe I had the right spot) so I got dirty looks from them too - that's the thing about prawn fishing I dislike most - one must be able to endure dirty looks from luckless chaps at the pond if one is lucky and one must learn to quell one's feeling of envy, exasperation and helplessness when one is luckless and the people around are reeling in prawns one after another. The pic below is a close up pic of my haul in 6 straight hours (I didn't go toilet once from 5am to 12noon) which cost SGD 60. I counted about 40 prawns in all which means I averaged about 6 prawns an hour. The last hour was really bad though (11am to 12 noon) and I was tired and too insensitive to the float movement or just plain unlucky for I only caught 1 prawn. If you ask me when the best hour to go prawn fishing is or when the bite rate is highest based on my this one-time 6 hours experience from 5am, I would say that would be between 7am to 9am.
In my earlier review of Bishan Prawn Fishing (click here to read) where I had observed the bite rate and catch rate in the afternoon (about 5pm), the place scored 8/10 in my books. This time, where I had actually gone prawn fishing there for 6 straight hours in the wee hours of the morning to 12 noon, I would still rate this place a 8/10 in terms of catch rate and bite rate. The operators/employees there, in particular the Indian dude who helps out around the place, are very friendly, or should I say, can be very friendly. Like everywhere else, if you are friendly, chances are high that people will be friendly back to u...and all the more so, if u are alone, female, not over the hill, appear relatively ignorant at prawn fishing and possess a face that not just your mother would love. I noticed 1 of the employees there giving 1/4 net of prawns to the group next to me who hadn't caught much - it was really decent I thought, given that the group were planning to bbq their catch and they really hadn't caught too many prawns.
For myself, per the earlier pics, I brought all my prawns back home. My mum cooked some of them in soup for dinner the next day. The pic above shows the cooked super large prawn, an average sized prawn and a small prawn out of the haul. And the pic below shows how large the super large prawn was - after I peeled it, I put it back in the saucepan used to cook the prawns. I wasn't the only one who had a super large prawn though - the ah soh with the mouth that turned down at the corners also caught one from pond 1. My super large prawn was from pond 2. So, I guess there is an even distribution of prawns in both ponds.
If you have gotten this far in my post, you probably like prawn fishing or you would like to try prawn fishing so I'll share what was taught to me by 1 of the employees there when it appeared that I was a newbie at prawn fishing (well, as I said, one should always appear ignorant instead of a know-it-all).1. Measure the depth of the pond using either a small sinker attached to the hook or using the rod itself by sticking the rod into the pond. Move the float to the level such that the hook will just touch the bottom of the pond.
2. Watch the float. As in, really watch it for movement. When a prawn starts to take the bait, the float will go down.
3. After the float goes down, extend / retract your rod so that the tip of the rod is directly above the float which has gone down in the water. The line from the end of the rod, and the rod should be at a 90 degrees angle.
4. Wait and count ten seconds
5. Flick your wrist (not arm or elbow) hard to set the hook in the prawn
If you want other prawn fishing tips which I have gathered from my own experiences and from the more friendly prawn fishing fellows around:
1. Bring a pair of pliers - it is easier to get the hook out of the prawn
2. Always position your float near the center of the pond (for Bishan prawn fishing center esp)
3. Sometimes, it helps to trawl ie drag the setup along the pond instead of waiting at one spot for prawns. Prawns aren't like fishes - they don't hunt for food actively.
4. Prawn fish at a time where there aren't many people so you can do number 3. above and there is less competition.
5. Always always be friendly with the operators as far as possible. Remember, they can tell you which pond is best for prawn fishing, give you some prawns if you have a luckless day and best of all, give you extra time for prawn fishing (though this wasn't the case at Bishan Prawn Fishing where they made sure you returned the rods on the dot. If not for this fact (that is, they wouldn't give an extra 10-15 mins), I would have rated this place a 9/10.
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