This is another kelong situated along the Straits of Johore, it lies to the west of the second link. This Kelong is in Malaysia territory even though it is physically nearer to Singapore mainland then the Malaysia mainland. This is a commercial fishing kelong and they do culture fishes too.
The way to the kelong is the same as that to Tuas Kelong 5, so if you've read the write up on Kelong 5 you can skip the boarding and journey segment below and head directly to the section about the kelong itself.
Above are images of the Pendas jetty that we board the boat to the kelong from. This pier is just near the mouth of Sungai Pendas. To reach this place you have to cross the Second Link, turn left into the Tanjong Pelepas Highway, then turn into the J4 highway (Jalan Tanjong Kupang) which loops under the second link towards the Pendas Jetty. It's rather easy to find, just look at google map and look for J4 highway that loop under the second link, toward the left of the second link is the pier.
There are two main jetty that you can board the boat to the kelong. The first and the main jetty that you will probably use will be the jetty shown (2nd in the series of pictures above), and the other jetty will be the one that are shown in the pictures below.
But between the two jetties, there are also some make shift jetties which if you're unfortunate, you might need to use.
This is the second jetty that you might be ask to board the boat from. If you look the the picture immediately above you can see the main jetty structure, the yellowish building about 300 to 400 meters to the front. So the distant between both jetty is not far.
This is the place where we park our vehicle. There is a free public carpark where the main jetty is. There is no security to look after the vehicles, but so far I did not have any problem parking here.
Above are some shots from the mouth of Sungai Pendas. Once you exit from the river into the Johore Straits, you will see some floating fish farms.
To get to the kelong, you'll need to pass under the second link to get to the west side of the bridge.
If you notice, you also see people fishing on the base of the bridge. These people I see fishing, are on the Malaysia side of the straits, so I am not sure if you're allow to fish this way over at Singapore side. I assume these people caught a boat from the same jetty we came from and arrange for the boat to pick them up when they want to return. Much like in those days when we could fish under the base of the Shears Bridge by catching a bum boat from Clifford Pier.
The fishing platform is rather big but unfortunately there wasn't many rod holders. So we had to lean the rods against the makeshift railings or improvised. During one of such attempt to improvised we almost lost a rod to a big take, so do take care of your rods if you fish here. The platform is pretty neat, and under the platforms are cages and cages of fishes that the kelong keeps. The most interesting of the nets are their huge cobia and giant groupers. I was told the aquarium in Sentosa came here to get some of the giants for their tanks.
Some shots of the fish corral, this is one of the few better condition ones I've seen. The kelong trade by itself is a dying trade, so it is good to see some traditional kelong that are still in good operational state. In one of the picture you should be able to see the Tuas just behind, we are so close to Singapore we can pick up SingTel service with 3G too.
More shots of the kelong.
The sleeping quarters is the standard kelong fare, I did not sleep on the room with the bed as there wasn't much ventilation. Unfortunately I did not capture a picture of the room. Instead we just lay our sleeping bags on the fishing platform itself and slept under the stars. In case it rain there is this room shown in the picture above to seek shelter. You can sleep here too if you choose to.
This is not a place for children or ladies, they have simple "drop-in" toilets as shown in the picture above and rain water to flush, bath and brush. Do limit your expectation regarding facilities if you do come, people who have higher standards will be disappointed. This is a working kelong and we're here to utilize the place to fish and sleep. If you've this mentality you'll be fine here.
No food is provided on this kelong, you can bring your bottled water and instant noodles, there will be utensils provided that you can use to cook or boil water for coffee and tea. But since you're already here, why not make the best out of it. Just make sure you don't burn the kelong down.
A shot of the sunrise on the kelong.
If you encounter any biggies you can ask for a long scoop from the kelong hand, the scoop is very heavy so it takes some skill to handle it and scooping the fish. You can also ask the kelong hand if he could help you if you really cannot manage. Incidentally the kelong hand is a Singaporean.
As I mentioned at the start, this is a commercial fishing kelong and they will hoist their net about once every 2 hour when the tide is flowing in the right direction. The bait fishes and whatever they catch are generally used to feed the fishes that they raise. If something good land up in the net, they will sell it at the makeshift market at the jetty the next day.
The last few pictures shows some of the fishes you can catch from the kelong and also some of the fishes that they culture (eg. Golden and Diamond Trevally). Other fishes that's supposed to be present in the area are Mackerel, Grunter, Snapper (Finger Mark, Ang Kuay, etc), Catfish, Sting Ray, Trigger(Ayam Fish), Groupers, Gelama, Threadfin Salmon, Scats(Kim Khor), Spotted Rabbit fish(Pei Tor), Streaked Rabbit(Lai Mang), Bream (Ang KoLi), Tamban, Selar and other baitfish, big Whiting (Pasir Pasir)and pest like Kelong Chi, small eels, etc.
