Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Jurong Hill Prawn Fishing

I haven't been prawn fishing since Ebi Culture closed early Dec last year. As I was in the West, it was either Jurong Hill or Westlake's prawn fishing venues. I decided on Jurong Hill primarily as it was nearer to where I was and I could fill my tummy there as well.

This is a picture of the prawn fishing venue located off the side of the restaurants at The Village (the prawn fishing venue shares the same carpark as the restaurants). There are 4 ponds, 3 of which are operational (2 small ones,1 larger deeper ones). Do note that the depths of each pond varies so you will have to measure first and then adjust your float accordingly. The rates are pretty standard: SGD 15 for 1 hr, 25 for 2 hrs and 30 for 3hrs. Take my advice and buy the 3hrs package if you are not sure whether you really want to stay for the whole 3 hrs. Firstly, you can come back and "finish" the unused mins. Secondly, you don't want to end up like me where I bought 1 hour first to try, and when I wanted to extend another hour, I was asked to pay another SGD 15 for that extra hour instead of SGD 25 for 2 hours. Apparently, or according to the guy operating the counter, he isn't allowed to amend what is keyed into the system. There are bbq facilities at the prawning venue as well as fridges with soft drinks cans for sale (rather pricy at SGD 1.80). Chicken liver is provided FOC and earthworms sold at SGD 4 (a bit pricy but if you are paying so much to go prawn fishing anyway, you might as well take the "better" bait).

The Slog Reviews: Again, using Ebi Culture as a basis for comparison, I would rate this place a 8.5/10. The pp prawn fishing as well as the server where I had lunch (Su Korean Cuisine), spoke well of Jurong Hill Prawn Fishing. I got my first prawn within the first 5 mins and another one in the next 10 mins. The bite rate (about 8-10 an hour) and catch rate (6 to 10 on average) was excellent but then again it was probably because there were few rods out when I went. I heard from a regular there that the place can get very crowded in the evenings and esp on weekends. The rods are decent although you should specifically request for an extendable rod or a long one (I wasn't given either) if you intend to go prawn fishing in the larger pond in the middle. Be warned though that there are many little fishes in the water which eat one's bait and I even hooked up a tiny fish at one point.

AND, LOOK AT MY HAUL! Okay, about 1/3 was mine only and the other 2/3 was given to me by one of the regulars, a nice old man who prawn fished like a pro (a prawn every 5-10mins). He had his own gear box, rod, hook and even bait! He said he had already so many prawns at home (and I should think so watching him prawn fish) and insisted on pouring his netful of prawns into my plastic bag. Oh yes, and one thing about the prawns, they are of fairly decent size but not really impressively big-big although I did note one pair of very large orange claws left on the ground. Maybe there are monster-sized prawns there, I don't know. I pulled off all the claws of each prawn before I unhooked each prawn (bring a pair of pliers/nailclippers if you don't wanna use fingers) which is why the prawns poured out in my kitchen sink look the way they do.

And here is a close up of the prawns which I put in a kitchen basket (note the depth) - I do think they weigh in total about a kilo and there was one with egg (orange) even! I can't wait to eat them tonight! :D I really can't see why anyone wouldn't love prawn fishing at all - one gets to meet new friends, test one's patience and have the thrill of catching edible fresh seafood.

Here are some of the prawns that my mum cooked for dinner. My mum is a really good cook and the prawns were great! :D I'm going prawning again soon! Time to check out new places :D

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