The Pilot Project: Sport Fishing Workshops at the Marina Barrage

Dear Readers,

Thank you for your support for these months. As you have read and, some of you have been part of, GARS had a difficult birth right from the very start , and still continues to face obstacles (we rather call them goals) of a daunting scale. Nevertheless, thanks to not only the readers but the people we met along the way , I have a belief that the members of GARS will pull through.


All said and done, we finally made a milestone. PUB and GARS have been collaborating for some time to bring a series of sport fishing workshops to the Marina Barrage, where participants get to fish the barrage itself from the jetty. We just had a soft launch which proved to be a good success. It's a small step by us in tribute to the indomitable spirit of the Singaporean sport anglers, but it is more telling on how far we have gone since our inception in August.

Therefore, we would like to invite readers to participate in this pilot project, either by emailing us at GARS.SocietyInfo@gmail.com or contacting me at +6581862618

Tien Yun, Tan
President,
Executive Committee 2009,
Gamefish & Aquatic Rehabilitation Society (GARS)

The Boys In Khaki

There were alot of curious stares on the Friday morning. Men coming in khaki casting shirts , bermudas and boots. Carrying a paraphernalia of items ranging from fishing rods, books, videos to a fish tank. Tying mono lines, opening boxes displaying thin barbless hooks covered in colourful feathers and fur.

This was the morning of our soft launch. We were nervous, we didn't quite know what to expect, but sooner or later we have to meet the masses to spread our message. NEA was gracious enough to give us that chance during the Clean Green Singapore 2010.

How did it go?

The crowd gathers, even as we are busy setting up.
The president here is caught by surprise..

And the crowd never ends..

The response was overwhelming. For a while , the manning staff of GARS got overwhelmed, but thanks to the Fly fishing club Singapore, more khaki shirts join the fray to explain our cause, share our lifestyle and our art in the world of fly/lure fishing and habitat conservation.

Chee yung explaining about environmentally responsible fishing.

melvin explaining the purpose of a fly to anybody with a willing ear.

Yandi describing the various flies and equipment to a family

However, it is not enough to just verbally spread the message, so together with NUS, we have managed to deploy a living ecosystem fish tank with a full complement of dragon fly nymphs, fish, tadpoles and other aquatic fauna . It was a delight to see the family of both the young and old marvel at something that is sadly rarely seen in our waters. As a comparison, we have a tank full of trash to show them what will happen if the waters are taken for granted below.

What we strive for: Kids look in amazement at the assortment of life in the tank

A dragon fly nymph stalks...

And it is these aquatic fauna that we replicate using lures and flies. To the public amazement, GARS and FFC members open up a fly tying table, complete with feathers, fur and little tools to tie flies on the spot as giveaway gifts.

The fly tying table proves to be an immediate draw..

Huns showing off his skills, in minature.

The result of 5 minutes of quick work..

Some of our display flies . It was to our surprise that some members of the public were asking whether the lot of them are for sale! As a joke, some of the boys decided to give the president home address as a location for the shop. Needless to say, TY was abit worried over the next few days..

Saltwater bonefish flies for the mangroves, tied on biodegradable carbon steel hooks.

The display of flies on the table.

Overall, the our launch was a huge success to the point that all the booth staff were engaged throughout the day. One member could be speaking to up to 7 interested members of the public at one time, so it was with great gratitude that we would like to thank Billy, the VP of FFC for taking time to do photography for us.

And of course the interprid Karen Ng from Vibrant Moments Photography, who was there at the ready when we recieved a very surprising representative from climate project singapore :

Ladies and gentlemen, Denise Keller.

A firm handshake and a smile, as TY looks in shock.

With a smile, she came over much to the shock of both GARS and FFC members. She quickly made her way and spread her charm like a little spell, to the point that we almost had trouble trying to articulate what our society is all about. Nevertheless, she proved more than game to find out what is it we do, and how we are helping the environment as a whole. Thank you denise for being understanding when we boys are caught in our weakest moment!

Chee Yung sharing with denise a video of his son catching his first fish.

TY demonstrating to denise about fly tying

Unfortunately, TY isn't too good so denise generously lent a hand..

Last but not least, we would like to thank the unsung heroes in the form of the CGS officials who helped us during the 3 days, as well as our booth neighbours who made sure their visitors heard about us. With that, I'll like to give a photograph that sums it all:

The smile from melvin says it all in our mood.

False affiliation with a business interest

Dear all,

According to our attention, Bob at hampala creek fishing pond up in malaysia had been trying to affiliate himself with us and our work with FFC by calling himself the Home of The Gamefish & Aquatic Rehabilitation Society (GARS)

link

We would like to reiterate that Bob is not a registered member of our society or in any way having communicated to be affiliated with us.

Thank you!

By Order Of
Executive Committee 2009
Gamefish & Aquatic Rehabilitation Society

JP Ross Fly Rods Came To Town.

It was a typical day at springleaf, with lines floating like spiderwebs in the thick morning air, laying gently out as a small row of fly fishermen prospect the waters below.

Well, not quite. There's a slight clack of the taxi, with 3 blury americans lumbering out of the vehicle across the bridge, as a row of fly fishermen made their way across.

"Good morning to you gentlemen, how are you?" asked melvin, with a hand out.


One of the new arrivals returned with a firm handshake and a quick greeting in a tilting american accent:

"Hello, my name's Jordan's , owner of JP Ross Fly Rods. It's a great pleasure finally meeting you guys. How's the morning fishing goin'?"

Jordan P Ross, owner of JP Ross Flyrods

Our inteprid new anglers, John Fullem and David Recht

Billy, VP of Fly Fishing Club Singapore, checking out Jordan's business card.

JP Ross Fly Rods is a small fly rod company based in New York since 1994. A small fly rod company doesn't mean however a non descript company. Their specialty are quality built custom fly rods , and they have made 5000 of those in the hands from political figures to the hands of a nervous novice in the Orvis Fly Fishing School. Just to give a clue what their product looks like

Beaver meadow, for the Eagle Creek Brook Trout (Not found in Singapore)

Jordan and his 2 colleagues , John and David(both newly initiated into fly fishing) came down to Singapore on business, with a keen eye for the peacock bass and hopefully a tug on their line by one of these aquatic denizens. After a briefing by Melvin, Jordan and his friends got to work.

Where to fish, how to fish, and if there is fish.

A good luck photograph

A cast out.

Right into the holes. Accuracy is paramount in fly fishing.

Jordan got a hit right next to the bridge pylon as he drifted a hopper into the middle of those rises , however the fish just didn't want to commit today. David was in a more fustrating situations as he tried to tease a pair of chromides to take his nymph, but it seems as David say, "It's all love and no hunger down that hole ..."

Suddenly, there is a yell and a little grin by one of our new guys trying a fly on spin gear. Well, it isn't very big, but at least the americans got to see our very own local peacock bass, alien or not.

A baby peacock bass with its photograph taken before release.

As the sun rises and the temperature climbs to the high 30's (not farenheit but celsius), we threw ourselves into an entourage of cars and Billy's bus and went scooting off for a drink before heading to another area . As Jordan and his colleagues made the comment about the incredulous nature of our fishing..

"These guys are nuts..."

In the bus, out of the sun and hunting for food.

Squeezing in, with prata, bandung and a whole lot of fisherman talk.

While it doesn't seem important, the interim meal before and after a fish is the most important time in the fly/lure fishing lifestyle. It is the time where friends, father and sons get together and share the experiences of the day, and their observations of the future. In the case, our guests got to see with their own eyes the challenges of survival our aquatic wildlife have to face everyday, and how much of the battle our fauna is losing. They have however saw the potential of our waters as a sport fishery, as as Jordan put it:

"Heck, I'll pay for good quality fishing here. Its not everyday where you can get good fish in the morning and have a nice cool beer in the city by evening."

With that in mind, we went off to the next spot, but only to be greeted with grim reminders of why GARS was formed int the first place:

Algae bloom due to excess nutrients from run offs.

Illegal baiting using high nutrient baits such as chicken liver and set lines.

Nevertheless, our guests decided to give it one last shot. While we did see rises of fish, we didn't manage to hit any. However, David has got a nice surprise:

Set up on the car park.

First few casts.

And....a branch.

As it was too hot, we decided to call fishing off for a day, but we had plenty to talk. Jordan graciously offered his hand and expertise to be affiliated with us to help us save our waters, and hopefully raise some funds, so do expect to see JP ROSS on our blog as a big supporter in the near future.

Meanwhile till then, as our guests flies off to their next destination, the members of GARS and FFC dig down to carry on the dirty and ugly in order to save fishing in our little island.