Country Reviews: Fishing in Banda Aceh Pt 4

Nothing tells a story like a place's furniture and their decorations. At Pulau Weh in Banda Aceh, the chalets there are rustic and old, but do not mistake this as a place that is dirty. They have quaint lodgings there with a big bed that was nicely decorated with a cooling air conditioner for your disposal.
At night it was breezy; a polar opposite from Banda Aceh in the morning. The chalet even provided us with rooms equipped with a balcony and a hammock for anyone who wishes to sleep outdoors with the Banda Aceh wildlife. There wasn't much insects or pests, but the owners are kind enough to put a mosquito net above our beds. I slept on the hammock because what is better than to sleep naturally?

Tuna Fishing in Banda Aceh

With the many species of fishes prowling the seas of northern Sumatra, it will be wise for anyone who wants to come here to fish to know beforehand what types of fishes do they want. I had decided to catch tuna, those with big eyes as they are one of the rarest breeds of fishes in the world but are in abundance in Banda Aceh's waters. Here is a picture courtesy of the Oregon Department of Fishing:

We had equipped ourselves with butterfly jigs from Shimano. They comes in different sizes and shapes but most are shiny with a likeliness to real bait. We had metal jigs that weights around 20 grams where you will tie this bait with your hook and place it in the water at around 70-90 metres down. After that, you will need to jerk your fishing rod up a little bit to emulate how an injured fish will look like and all of the fishes nearby will be quick to "eat" your bait. That is when you will need to reel it up with much vigour as the fishes will put quite a fight. Another thing to note about fishing in Banda Aceh is that you will need to know how to tie your bait quickly and firmly so that it does not fall while the bait is in the water. You will also want to take less time doing each knots so that you can fish more.

You will need to arrive early in the seas in order to catch something. After all, the early bird gets the worm. It is evident to us that there were many breeds of fishes under the waters. From barracudas to tunas. It meant that it will hard for us to catch what we want and that there will be a lot of wasted jigs.

There were many coral trouts in the waters of Banda Aceh. The colourful fish exists in abundance in the Banda Aceh waters and the captain of the boat will chop these babies up to fry them for consumption. Coral trouts are considered a pest in the waters of Pulau Weh, but a prized catch if you are fishing in Malaysia or Singapore nearby. They turned out great with succulent meats and a crispy skin.

There were also a few skipjack tunas in Banda Aceh. They are called tongkols there and the deckhands cut those tunas up for frying. They taste great with a squeeze of lime which brings out the taste of the fish and the oil maintains the fish's freshness.