Burma Bank Nov 2010

1

Sorry for late posting, really busy until now.


Drove all the way from Penang to Ranong, took us about 12 hours
since it is first time and a convoy really takes a lot of time
as always waiting for somebody. Now that we know the route,
next time should be able to drive there below 8hours.

Advantage of driving there, you can carry back all your catches
without additional shipping cost.

Above scene may not look too legal, but in Thailand where pickup
rules the road (perhaps 90% of vehicles are pickups), they even
have stuff stacked as high as a lorry !


Filling up ice at Ranong


Pushing off from Ranong


Thai commercial fishcage fisherboat


Approaching Kaw Thaung, Myanmar border


Kaw Thaung


Union of Myanmar



Kaw Thaung jetty and Immigration checkpoint and border town


Open engine sampan, very very loud !


Myanmar girl peddling food stuff at the jetty


Polaris One, our fishing boat for the next 5D4N
80+ footer with twin engine, 24hours generators, watermaker (can bath many times every day), auto-pilot, fully air-condition bunks 24-hours a day.


Preparing for the battle… a bit overkill on our equipment…ha..ha..


Jig (and lots of jigs) or die trying…ha..ha..!


Fruits offering, not for us, but for the fishing Gods!


Kick off, mega bend on my mega long 15ft rod

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2


Ruby snapper


Double hookup ruby snapper is not uncommon.




Double hookup ruby snapper and black grouper, pun ada


A double-double hookups of ruby snapper and black grouper, also ada… you get the idea…


Fishing quickly piling up


Monster biggies pun ada, this one 18kg


If you have not had enough of Ruby Red Snapper, you can also have the
Myanmar brand cigarette, Red Ruby… pun ada


… and yet more rubies, Ruby biting day-n-night


… and fish keeps piling up. Night time many Yellowfin Tuna caught on
casting and jigging. Although mostly juvenile size upto 8kg.

YFT mostly used as bait, but took a few back, very tasty, white meat, better
than our local bonitos (dark meat).


Bored of Rubies ? Dogtooth pun ada… this one around 18kg


…and more dogtooth


…lagi dogtooth


oklah, change to Yellowfin Tuna


Malabar grouper…hey, we are close to India, in the Andaman Sea


Red kerisi, or jobfish.
Actually the Ruby snapper is not really a snapper, but rather a jobfish as well


Black kerisi (this fish is imported frequently from Thailand to Penang)
The fillet is very good for fish-n-chips.


This ugly looking Black grouper actually the tastiest species caught at
Burma Bank. Even better than our local orange-spotted grouper (jia kau).
A bit oily meat, like Cod.


This cute fish, unable to ID.
Any fish expert out there ?
Taste quite good though


Sharks too, this one took more than 45min to land. Mind you we
are fishing around 200m depth.

Myanmar law requires all sharks and rays to be released. There’s an
Immigration Officer onboard who will ensure that you do so.
Funny how a presumably backward county has better fishing rule enforcement.


The dreaded barracouta too, but not as numerous as in the Spratlys.
Hardly anybody got their line snipped.

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3

Regarding the service on board the Polaris One


Excellent Thai food, better than any Thai food you can get locally
or even HadYai.

The cook have changed, the previous cook is suppose to be even better,
but I’m already rather satisfied with current one.


Hardworking crew, even cut bait for you.
Note that is Yellowfin Tuna he is cutting, caught the night before.


Very important service, they also help you resolve your sangkut problem.
Mind you we are fishing with 100lb+ rigs.


Hardworking Taikong.


Only boat we encountered out there the whole fishing session.
Wonder why the fish is biting like crazy ?


Obligatory Salam 1Malaysia to end the trip !


Body count, estimated 1.2 tonnes


Another perspective, from the larger Rubies


Add a person for scale


Fishing was easy… wait till you have to cut all those fishes.


12kg Ruby as big as my youngest daughter.

Youngest member of the Longkang Gang (she is making the Longkang Gang sign… her version of the 'V’ictory sign…ha..ha.. !!)


Finally the reward… Ruby Fish Head Curry !! Yummy !!

Cooked by Zealand Nite Seafood at Gurney Drive, Penang.
This restaurant run by a local fishing personality, Cam Yeoh, try it !

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4

Wow Pete those photo makes my hand even gatal…Ah Kong did ask me to join but i told him i cant take too much days off…Seems like the size of those fish has shrink…i remember seeing much bigger size fishes in BB…

Anyway thanks for those photo’s.

5

sounds like and adventure. Getting there is half the fun

Carry a rod and speak softly.

6

Nice trip and photos pete. 1 trip of this is better than 5 trips locally! Thanks for sharing. leow nuar liow!

7

Yalor, compared to fishing the Malacca Straits nowadays, just go BB once a year
more than makes up for many disappointing trips locally.

One thing I learn from BB is the value of circle hooks, which is especially
effective for paternoster rigs.

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8

Well done Pete, no need to buy fish for a few weeks.

Practice Bag limit, catch & relocate

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9

jolly good show, chaps … [8]

Pete, is that milt running down the ruby’s side being held up by the elderly gentleman in shorts?

10

Pete i notice that u have a string attach the the rod tip for easy handling of the main line when u reel it in…how do u atatch it?

11

acheong, not sure if it is milt, but seen the same thing on ang choh’s
caught some times.

foo bro, just use a swivel and tie to cheap 200lb Thai blue line, pass
the mainline through the swivel. Normally I don’t need to use this,
since local fishes are relatively small and I just lift the rod.
But over there you potentially hook up biggies such as sharks or dogtooth
tuna, that you will have trouble getting in to unhook or gaff.

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12

Thanks Pete for the tips…

13

Nice haul pete , how many fishes that is brought back and the tonnage - Thanks for the sharing of great photos

14

Walau Pet, what a trip!

May I know what is the COI aka cost of investment to BB?

Caranx Ignobilis loves Popper!
15

When would be the best time going to Burma bank? If I am interested, how can I arrange or may I tag along with you guys the next time?

16

My trip is RM2,900 per pax for the charter inclusive one night hotel stay.
Basically 11 pax paying, organiser go for free (he has to run up to Thailand
to process the permits, etc, prior to the trip).

As for the fish, all can take back, drive in your own pickup and as many icebox
that you can physically and legally squeeze in. No issue with Thai custom,
they don’t even bother to check. MY custom will look-see-look-see, but normally
no problem.

Burma Bank fishing is closed for half year, season opens late Oct until late March.

Obviously early in the season is best, but at risk of bad weather end of Oct,
like when we go in mid Nov, it was just after a major flooding in Thailand.

Limited space on the trips though, as most kakis booked annually, since it was
so much more productive fishing there. Some kakis rather do one such trip a year,
than the many disappointing trips locally.

It also beats going to the Spratlys, as my last trip there during the Labuan
competition, average one person catch only 2 fish for 5D4N fishing, and
still we can get 2nd and 4th placing. Go figure !

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17

Sounds great! People like us probably have to wait for last min drop out mainly due to work schedule. How to book 1 yr ahead?

Wat Da Fish! 5D4N 2 fishes per pax and can still win top price?! 1Malaysia boleh liaw!

Burma rules!

Caranx Ignobilis loves Popper!
18

By the way, how many nautical miles did you guys travel from the shores? How long it takes?

Caranx Ignobilis loves Popper!
19

PC bro,

We went all the way to Investigator Reef which is about 172 nautical mile or 320km
(more than twice the distance to Pulau Perak).

Although fish are few in between, but mostly are giants.
We got couple of huge anchor fish: 65kg, 39kg groupers, 33kg escolars, which makes
it a relatively easy win

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20

Hi Pete bro,

Sorry I was referring to Burma Bank, how far did you guys travel from the shore?

Wow, 2x the distance of Tukun Perak. Tat’s nearly 2 days gone to and back.

Caranx Ignobilis loves Popper!