Fish At Aranda: Ikan Puyu Fishing

Fish @ Aranda (or Fish At Aranda) is located at the Aranda Country Club near Wild Wild Wet in Pasir Ris, and the parent company has another outlet in Bugis, called Fish@Bugis+ where there is an indoor air-conditioned prawning venue (probably the only such venue in Singapore, where you don’t have to inhale second-hand cigarette smoke from fellow prawners). During the most recent ‘fishing’ trip at Aranda, we had a decent harvest, so this blogpost is basically just to record what I learnt from this session.

Just before we commenced fishing, there were two other boys with their mother. Not sure how long they were there fishing, but they caught just 1 fish. And they got the operator to release the fish back into the pond. This usually happens when people catch just a few prawns or fishes and can’t be bothered bringing this small catch home.

I like this ‘ikan puyu’ because they are very lively, very noisy fish which will come right up to the water surface and cause many splashes, especially near the edges of the pond. So you can easily tell, just by observing, the approximate number of fish in the pond.

Before we started, the operator (helpfully) suggested that the fish like bread. But there was no bread among the bait we had brought with us. Just fish, prawn, plus the ‘chicken heart’ provided by the operator.

I did bring my own portable fan though. Which was a good thing as the operator wouldn’t switch on the large fans on the pillars unless there are customers.

1. Prawns work very well as bait for the ikan puyu. Guppies (halved, not whole) are ok but not as good. Chicken heart cut into very small pieces by the operator works as well but requires much skill as the small pieces get ‘snatched’ away by the fish really quickly. If you’re someone who’s easily distracted, get slightly larger bait like the prawns (which you bring and slice up yourself).
2. Watch the float like a hawk. If there’s a ‘bobble’, get ready to ‘catch’ the fish by the second bobble. After the third, it’s likely the fish has gotten away… with your bait.
3. Place the bait at the tip of the hook.
4. Watch where the fish are (there’ll be splashes aplenty) and place your bait there. Leaving your line, hook and bait in a quiet corner would result in a long, long wait to land a catch.

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I’ve never tried using bread as bait so that’s something new for the next time we go fishing! 😀

D’Best Skill Fishing At Pasir Ris: Price, Catch Rate, Things To Note

Update: (1/3/18) Caught only 1 fish in the 3hours. So that’s a $50 fish ($45 for the 3 hours, $5 for the prawn bait) 😛 The water seemed very dirty and fish didn’t seem to want to bite.

Recently, we had a good harvest at D’Best Fishing in Pasir Ris Park, even though previous visits involved poor catch rates and ‘donations’ of fish from other fishing ‘shifus’. That day, we took home our very own catch of 3 ‘pomfrets’ and 5 larger fish (snapper and seabass, I believe). And he even caught one very small fish that he insisted on taking home (I would have released it back into the pond. LOL) And this was done within 3 hours and using just 1 rod which we shared. So I’m trying to wrap my head around this bountiful harvest and figure out just what it was that made this fishing ‘outing’ so different from the earlier ones.

*If you’re wondering, it costs $45 for 3 hours of ‘Skill Fishing’.

#1: The weather and day of the week

It was a rainy day so by the time we were done fishing, we were thoroughly drenched. We were so ill-prepared that besides an umbrella, we didn’t have much else to shield us from the rain. Meanwhile, other anglers had raincoats, boots, etc. Amateur much.

But the rain also meant that few people wanted to come fishing, and this means less competition. There’s obviously a limited number of fish in the pond so the fewer ‘experts’ there were fishing next to us, the better for us. 😀

And on the topic of quantity, this time round, we popped by on a Friday afternoon, right after lunch at the newly-opened Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre next door. I might be wrong but I’m guessing the operator releases more fish into the ponds on Fridays, since more people might pop by in the evening after work, and also early in the morning on Saturday.

#2: Ponds just got topped up with fish from the fish truck

There’s this truck carrying fish that will back into the park and offload lots of fish at a certain time of the day. But the new additions to the pond will take a while to get used to these unfamiliar surroundings. You’ll see the fish sink to the bottom like rocks once they hit the water. They don’t show signs of life till much later.

So if you spot the truck, it’s a good idea to wait a while before commencing fishing. We were prawning then, and since we had the entire place to ourselves, it was a really good prawn harvest too.

The corner where he’s standing has a death trap too. Lines usually get snagged here…

#3: Avoiding ‘death traps’ is key! Prevent fish from escaping or the line from snapping…

I’ve circled the wooden platform and the ‘structure’ you’ll find in the middle of ponds. If fish you’ve already got hooked swim under that platform in a desperate bid to escape, you can almost say goodbye to this catch already. He even broke a rod when that happened and had to pay the $10 penalty.

As for me, another fish I’d almost gotten swam round the circular structure in the middle of another pond and bye bye… I should have released my hold on the rod. 😛

I don’t know why but that circular structure in the middle of ponds gets fishing hooks stuck to it… and it’s almost impossible to release. So make sure you avoid it.

#4: Movement

I watched an ‘uncle’ fishing and noticed he dragged the line across the pond in a sort of ‘darting’ fashion, the way I’ve seen small fish move. I guess it makes the bait seem ‘alive’ and prompts the big fish to snap at it. Anyway, this technique appeared to really work for me. The bigger fish on this trip were caught by me but, of course, with his help as I’ll share in the next point…

#5: Teamwork

It’s best to work as a tag team. One person gets the fish hooked and brings it close to the surface, while the other person helps pull the line (and fish) out of the water. There are very few people (I’ve seen) who can do both tasks themselves and get the fish out successfully.

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Seafood prices tend to go up when CNY is approaching so it made a lot of sense to head out and catch our own prawns and fish. 😀

😀