Introduction to Sedili Fishing

The fishing in Sedili has seen a resurgence in recent years, quickly becoming one of the top ranked nearby destinations for anglers in Singapore. Located just 2 hours drive away from Singapore, and in the coastal region of Kota Tinggi district in Johor, stories of the legendary ‘red carpet’ have spread and with it, a growing demand for fishing charters in the region.

2 days of solid fishing in Sedili!

Fishing boat charters departing from the Sedili jetty usually do either a single day charter or at most, two days. Being just 2 hours away from Singapore (barring any traffic jams), it’s a great choice as a one day trip, though that would mean waking up around 3am to 4am to take the drive down. More on the typical itinerary later on in this article. 

A single day trip is typically enough for most, but if you want to be more certain of a good catch, two days gives you some leeway in case of bad weather or a slow bite.

Sedili Target Fishes

Fishing charters in Sedili focus on the nearby coastal areas of the South China Sea, venturing at most two to three hours out. Target fishes are typical of the South China Sea and similar to what you’d typically get fishing around Pulau Tioman and Kuala Rompin. The main standout though, is the schools of red snappers. 

Laying out the red carpet

Pelagic Target Fishes:

Spanish Mackerel (Tengiri), Diamond Trevally (Ebek), Cobias, False Albacore (Tongkol), and Hardtail scads.

Bottom Target Fishes:
Sweetlips, Groupers, Golden Snappers, Red Snappers and occasionally Coral Trouts.

Almost what everyone comes for though, is the Red Snapper or (Ang Kway). The wild red snappers of Sedili are soft and tender, perfect for steaming and simply delicious. 

Depending on whether your group hired a mini-bus, MPV or even self-driving, the departure time from Singapore is typically around 330am to 430am to try to avoid any possible peak hour traffic jams. After passing through customs, you’ll stop for a quick breakfast, either in Johor or an hour later in Kota Tinggi. There, you’ll also grab a takeaway lunch (don’t forget your captain and crew) for the day itself. All in, you should arrive at the Sedili jetty around 7am or so and have plenty of time to unload and prep your tackle for the day of fishing ahead.

Departing the jetty, the fishing boat will go through the estuary and head out to sea. It’s typically less than an hour from departure before you can drop lines. Depending on the season and if you’ve shared your fishing preferences with the fishing charter captain, most of the fishing is for bottom fishes, though if the Spanish Mackerel are in (May to August usually), you can also fast jig. 

If the Spanish Mackerel are in, you can usually fast jig for them in faster currents. The fishing charter captain will typically anchor for these spots and the anglers can either drop fast jigs in the current, or cast sinking minnows. We’ve seen great success with the Pure Passion Fishing Adventure (PPFA) tengiri jigs. These were made for jigging mackerels and other pelagics, and have proven success. 

Beautiful specimen of the Spanish Mackerel

Other pelagic fishes include queenfish, cobia and diamond trevallies. Cobia and diamond trevallies in Sedili are a little bit odd though. We’ve actually seen more cobia and diamond trevallies (ebeks) on live prawn baits rigged on running sinkers rigs or apollo rigs. If you do hit an ebek, trust us and tip the crew extra to have them sashimi it. Ebek sashimi is an incredible experience that needs to be tasted to be believed. 

Before picture of an Ebek

After picture of an Ebek

The depths in Sedili are usually start around 15m or so, and can go as deep as 30m in further out spots. For spots that are generic bottom spots, you can use pretty much any rig you want, though our recommendation is for the Apollo Rig (Paternoster), running sinker rig and the Tai Rubber / Madai lures. At these spots, you’ll get the typical orange spotted groupers and some sweetlips. Sedili sweetlips are tender and tasty (unlike those we usually get in Singapore waters), and are great for a ‘Caipo Steam’ later during dinner.

Fishing typically ends around 5pm and the charter captains will start to head back then.

Once you’ve reached back to the jetty, it's time to unload your tackle boxes, and head to the nearby showers to wash up, prepare for dinner and the trip back. *The toilets are rudimentary but functional.

Sedili is a small town and, depending on your dining requirements, has only a few options, all of which are less than 5 minutes drive away from the jetty.

Chinese Restaurant - Kedai Kopi Soon Seng
Highly recommended, the kitchen will happily prepare your catch for you. Recommendations here include Caipo Steamed Sweetlips (Kaci), Gong Bao Cobia, and the fried sotong.

Halal Seafood Restaurant - Restoran Kuala Sedili
The kitchen here will also prepare your catch. The best option is Ikan Bakar (Grilled) with Sambal (chilli paste). We’ve also tried the fried rice and it was ok.

If you are on a two day charter, accommodation is also nearby within a 5 minute drive and is either a homestay or small chalet. There’s hot water and air-conditioning. 

Bottom Fishing for Red Snappers in Sedili

Hitting a school of red snappers is one of the most fun you’ll have and is what most anglers who head to Sedili come for. The frenzy is incredibly fun and depending on your luck, can last minutes to even hours. Our best record was filling up the boat’s cold storage by 1130am. We counted over 100 individual red snappers landed, and that was in about an hour to an hour and a half of fishing. Take note though, it’s afterall fishing and the frenzy does not happen all the time.

1131, done with the day's fishing!

Typically, if the spot is a red snapper spot, you’ll notice the atmosphere tense up a little and the captain and crew will be more cautious. This is because the snappers are known to be easily spooked and the captain will let you know before you drop lines. Be careful not to drop your sinker on the deck of the boat, because sound travels better through solids and the fishes might actually be spooked. 

The red snapper spots are not deep, usually around 10m to 15m of water, but require pinpoint accuracy in dropping your line. Hence, boat captains will recommend using heavier than normal sinkers so that you are able to drop directly above the spot with no drift. See our tackle recommendations below. The boat captains strongly recommend using the tried and tested single arm Apollo rigs for red snappers. 

*Spooky Red Snappers*

Snappers are VERY VERY easily spooked. A single missed strike can sometimes be all it takes for the entire school to disappear. We aren’t kidding on this. We took it with a pinch of salt at first, but have seen it happen often enough that we try our very best to remind our anglers on board every single time. It’s a great challenge of your skill, but you have to try your best NOT to miss a strike. 

Snappers don’t often take hard right away. You’ll notice small nibbles and that’s your first sign to pay attention. DO NOT STRIKE AT A SMALL NIBBLE. It’s better to let the fish finish up your bait than miss a strike and have the school disperse. Take your time and let the fish fully commit by taking the bait and running. You can check by raising your rod tip and putting tension on the line. If the fish takes and runs, that’s the right time to strike. 

As any angler knows, finding the fishes isn’t easy. If you have the luck to hit a school of red snappers, make your strikes count and don’t miss. Your boat-mates might curse you out if you spook the school!

*Big point to note is that the red snapper spots are often artificially created Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), created at great cost and effort by the fishing charter captains themselves. Combining a deep understanding of the pathways of the schooling red snappers as well as the underwater terrain, these FADs are small spots, usually smaller than the size of the boat. The locations of these FADs are private and very sensitive to the charter captains, so be smart and DO NOT use GPS or any devices to mark them. Any behavior like that is an extreme breach of fishing etiquette and can lead to you being blacklisted across fishing charters in the region. 

Recommended Tackle for Sedili

Bottom Fishing

For most fishing charters, bring along a shared pool of leader line and hooks, and the deck crew will help to tie Apollo rigs for the boat to share.

• Apollo/Paternoster Rigs - single arm, 40lb to 50lb is typically sufficient, Fluorocarbon is recommended. The YGK X Braid Absorber Shock Leader (40lbs) is what we use.
  
  
• Remember not to use long rigs like ‘Ranggong Rigs’ as they will entangle other anglers’ lines and you will also not be able to react fast when the fish takes. Ranggong rigs are also designed to be used in high current situations and drifting. Sedili fishing tends to be spot specific.
  
  
• 3-way swivels are also good and offer more sensitivity than the traditional Apollo rigs.
  
  
• Hooks - sizes 3/0 to 4/0 is good, we prefer the BKK Red Octopus Beak hooks.
  
  
• Sinkers - cigar sinkers and/or casting sinkers, sizes 8 to 10 are most commonly used, 12 to 14 if the weather or wind is bad.
  
  
• Bait - Live prawns are usually provided, we like to bring along sotong (squid) to supplement the prawns in case of a frenzy or if the small fishes take too many prawns.

Bait Fish

Targeting Pelagics

Tongkol and hard tail scads are also great fun on light tackle and great tasting (hard tail scads)
You can get them on micro-jigs about 15g and above, or on sabiki rigs (but stronger ones)

Bottom Fishing Recommended Rods & Reels:

• PE 1 to 3 jigging rod or PE 2 to 4 jigging rod is sufficient for the bottom game in Sedili.
• Small overhead reels like a Shimano Ocea Conquest 300 or 301 is sufficient.
• Spinning reels like a Shimano size 3000 to 4000 is sufficient.
• Mainline 30lbs to 40lbs
• Leader line 30lbs to 50lbs, fluorocarbon recommended as red snappers spook easily.

Mackerel Fishing (Fast Jigging) Recommended Setup:  

• PE 1 to 2 jigging rod
• Spinning reel recommended - Shimano size 3000 to 4000
• Mainline 10lb to 30lbs
• Leader 20lbs to 40lbs
• Wire leader 20lbs to 40lbs

Casting Setup (Mackerel) Recommended Setup:

• PE 1 to 3 Casting Rod
• Spinning reel recommended - Shimano size 3000 to 5000
• Mainline 20lbs to 40lbs
• Leader line 30lbs to 50lbs
• Sinking minnows 40g to 60g
  

Other Things To Bring

• Raincoat
• Your passport
• Big plastic bags for fish. (Styrofoam boxes are usually provided, but please confirm with your trip organizer to be certain)
• Extra clothing to change after fishing
• Towel for showering
• Insect repellent if you are staying overnight
• Motion sickness medication
• Travel insurance

Fishing Season in Sedili

The fishing season in Sedili is typically from April till late November or early December. The NorthEast Monsoon brings heavy rain and storms, which make it extremely dangerous to go out to sea during December to March. Pocket windows do appear, so it’s sometimes possible to get your Chinese New Year fishes in mid-February too. Climate change does appear to be affecting the season, so do check in with your fishing organizers.

The spanish mackerels start coming into Sedili from May to August/September, while the squid do come in as well from August to September. Bottom or reef fishes are present all year, when it’s safe to fish.

Fishing Etiquette

Communicate with the captain and the other anglers on the boat. If you are on a shared trip with other anglers, do confirm with them on fishing preferences and reach a consensus. The fishing charter captains and crew need time to plan according to what your preferences are, and to find bait fish as well.

It’s a good practice to tip the captain and the crew if you enjoyed the trip. While it is of course up to your choice, a good tip for the captain and the crew is RM200 to RM300 each. 

If you are asking the captain or crew to do additional work. For example, gutting and cleaning your fish, please have the common sense to give a decent tip. I’ve seen cases where other anglers have asked the crew to butcher and portion a 10kg spanish mackerel, and tip the crew RM50. That is NOT a good tip for the amount of work. 

Fishing Trip Organizer

We first fished Sedili with Pure Passion Fishing Adventure (PPFA), a fishing trip organizer based in Singapore, and have enjoyed the trips so far. Costs for a single day charter average between SGD240 to SGD280 per person, depending on the number of anglers and other transportation charges.