Overnight Candat sotong trip a fulfilling one

Overnight Candat sotong trip a fulfilling one

COME rain or shine, I will never pass on an opportunity to Candat Sotong (squid jigging) off the coast of Terengganu.

And my favourite spot for squid is in Chukai, Kemaman, where I have been going almost every year.

Recently, I rounded up my sotong-kaki Ryota Hazishume, a Japanese expatriate from Osaka who have been living in Malaysia for nearly 15 years.

Hazishume-san has been fishing around the East Coast states of Peninsular Malaysia and is fond of trying out ika (squid) jigging in Terengganu.

“Hey Samo-san, I will get you some ika jigs from Osaka,” said the enthusiastic angler.

An avid angler, Hazishume is also a good cook.

For the trip to Chukai, he had prepared a special concoction to preserve fresh squid called okezuke.

“Ah, this recipe is a traditional way for preserving squid,” he said.

Apart from that, my Japanese friend also taught me a special technique on how to humanely put down a live squid.

Fuelled with enthusiasm, especially with a prospect of a sashimi and okezuke dinner, I made prior arrangment with my regular boatman Raduan who takes special charters for squid jiggers.

The drive to Kemaman is roughly about three hours from the Klang Valley via the East Coast highway and as soon as we got to Chukai, our boatman was already waiting.

We wasted no time by boarding the small vessel as the trip to the fishing holes would take more than three hours.

Squid jigging is done at night with spotlights aimed directly into the sea.

This attracts the cephalopods that are also mating in the depths.

With an artificial lure, an experienced angler can land as much as 50 -100 squids on a good day.

The variety of squids off the coast of Terengganu are the sotong Torak, mengabang and katak.

But with the unpredictable weather, we had to sit through a storm in the middle of night and made a call to head for shore as sea conditions were rough.

As a follow-up, Hazishume had organised a dinner treat in a Japanese restaurant in Subang Jaya and the menu consists squid sashimi, fresh okizuke and tempura.

Although the trip was short of an overnight affair, we were happy with the outcome as our ice boxes were filled with a fresh catch.

~News courtesy of The Star~