Prawn Fishing

Okay, let me teach you the prawn fishing method.

Prawning is not all about luck. Seating at a spot and waiting will never get you THAT many prawns. And if the prawns are not biting, don't waste your time. Do something else, like read a book, etc. Or go to another pond.

So the 1st thing you do when you go to the pond, look at all the people there and observe the prawns they hook up, are the prawns kicking when they bring it up? If it is motionless... and it was sort of simply dragged up... well, there is always another time for you to fish. The prawns are not in the mood to eat.


So you've decided to fish, you see people bringing up prawns by the throes and you are excited. Select your prawning rod on the rack by choosing the one with a big hook and feel the tip of the hook, it must be sharp. Then unravel the line. See if the line has been reattached before or if there are any knots in it, if there are, the line may break, so choose another rod. Once you've selected your rod, pay up, collect your free bait and start fishing.

Set up your barang barang and test the water depth by using the rod. Plunge the rod into the pond, and take note of the depth, then put the same distance between your float and your hook. When you descend your bait to the pond bed, your float should be upright. Next, put a tiny piece of bait at the tip of the hook, exposing a bit of the sharp end. You are ready to fish!

Descend the bait at the center of the pond, and count to 10secs. Then you slowly drag your float towards yourself with minute movement, maybe 1cm per second. If a prawn notice your bait, things will get interesting.

Your float be submerged by the weight of the prawn pulling the bait and it will attempt to do one of the two things. Take your bait and run to somewhere safe to eat it, or eat it there and then. If you notice your float suddenly run off to some edge of the pond, follow it and wait for it to stop. Once it has decided to stop running, that means it is now preparing itself to consume the food. Now you can now attempt to strike the prawn.

The term striking means to move the rod upwards quickly, causing the hook to be embedded in the prawn.There are alot of pro wannabes who will strike the prawn with alot of strength,which most of the time ended with the hook embedded on the roof... -_-. And there are people who simply do not strike, but just lift the rod up, which means the prawn may get away with an improper hook set. The easiest way is to imagine there is a stone at the end of your line, and you wanna fling the stone just out of the water.

Striking the prawn will work best when you are using a big prawn hook, while a small one will most probably fail. Small hooks are good for newbies who simply let the prawn ingest the bait and hook, thus it simply hook itself. But by doing so, you will spend more time taking out the hook from its mouth and you must wait for the prawn to eat the bait in it entirety. Both which are a waste of time.

So your float is submerged and stationary, so the next step is position the tip of your rod directly above the float and slowly lift it up. If the prawn has began eating, you will see that the tip of your rod will bend a little. If it is just curious, the action of lifting your rod will make it wary and it will release your bait. If you find no resistance to your rod because the prawn has let go of the bait, simply lower your rod and resume hunting, more often than none, the same prawn will take the bait again.

Once you see that the tip of your rod bends a little as you lift your rod, give a upward flick of your wrist, and strike the prawn. There, you have caught a prawn! Now... as you bring your rod closer, you can see the size of the prawn.

If it is a small to medium prawn, just bring it in and dehook it. If it is a large one, let it tires itself before you bring it in. Never hold the line and pull the prawn in if it is a big one, the line may break if the prawn decides to make its retreat. You need the action of the rod to cushion any dash made by the prawn. Once you have the big prawn at the side of the pond, just use a net to scope it up or simply grab it by its body.

There, perhaps you may ask what bait is good for the prawns, I think the free bait works just as well, because I've outfish people using worms, catfish, fishmeat, cockles with the chicken heart at Bishan.

Enjoy the following videos. Bishan is no longer operating, but the skills can be applied to any prawn fishing ponds.

Prawn Fishing Tackles.

Prawn Fishing Tips and Tricks.

Prawn Fishing with worms.