KurauKing’s Fishing Journal

One Fathom Bank/Permatang Sedepa Lighthouse is a great place to visit if you are around Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia. A freedom away from the bustling city, the sea breeze and the wonderful scenery. There is two visible lighthouse at One Fathom Bank. The old lighthouse which is no more in use is built in 1907 and was replaced by the new lighthouse in 1999. One Fathom Bank is located on the shoal, about 30 km (20 mi) west southwest of the Klang Delta. Accessible only by boat.

The Old Lighthouse

In 1874, Screw Pile lighthouse was launched. The name Screw Pile was given to the design of the lighthouse being built on top of metal piles buried as deep as 11 feet 6 inches. In 1907 it was replaced with a new structure called the One Fathom Bank Lighthouse.
This particular lighthouse has its origin in a report by hydrography survey, General Thomson, who reported the existence of a sand bank at the coordinates of 03 10′N and 101 00′E, between North Sands and South Sands, in the Straits of Malacca. The sandbank emerges during low tide, with waters depth of not more than two and a half fathoms and is now being preserved as a memorial.

OFB Lighthouse: An aid for navigation and pilot at sea, a lighthouse is a tower building or framework sending out light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire. Lighthouses are used to mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, and safe entries to harbors and can also assist in aerial navigation. Because of modern electronic navigational aids, the number of operational lighthouses has declined to less than 1,500 worldwide. Situated 10 nautical miles west of Port Kelang. (Follow 170 when you are out from the west port entrance)

It takes about an hour to reach One Fathom Bank (OFB) with a speedboat and about 4hours with a fishing boat due to the rough sea. There are currently 2 lighthouses standing on this area with a sunken lighthouse house located about 500meter SW of the new lighthouse with a steel pole as the marker. A shipwreck is also located west of the new lighthouse with another steel post above the water level during low tide.

The New Lighthouse

Station : One Fathom Bank Lighthouse

Location : Selangor

Position : Lat. 02 53.3′ N
Long. 100 59.8′ E

Light Character : FI(4).W.20s

Range : 23 n.m

Elevation : 43 m

Structure Height : 43 m

Date Of Building : 1999

The Boatride to OFB

OFB Bedrooms and Kitchen

With a good chef, you can practically cook up a feast on OFB

Cooking your freshly caught fish at OFB is one experience that you’ll never forget

For more OFB pictures, please go to OFB Photos Gallery

 

 

Some tips on fishing at One Fathom Bank

From my experience, i can tell you that OFB has its unique way of fishing. This is due to the varieties of fishes found there and the lighthouse structure. It’s is very hard to predict what fish you”ll get at OFB. I’ve caught most of the spesis/ fishes found at the Straight of Malacca, from bottom dwellers to top feeders at One Fathom Bank. Bottom fish like snappers and groupers are abundant there as well as mid and top feeder like Queenfish, Barracudas, Batfish, Tripletail, Mackerel, Cobia etc.

Using the right fishing equipment is essential if you are serious in landing a big fish at OFB. This is due to the lighthouse structure where the fish will runs to if hook on. Those lighthouse structure is also the home to many predatory fishes. Beside the lighthouse structure, there is a sunken boat which is visible during lowtide not far away from the lighthouse. This sunken boat is also home to many snappers and groupers if you do bottom fishing. Drifting a live bait at OFB for mid to top water fishes is a must especially Queenfish, Barracudas and Batfish. Trippletails can be found around the lighthouse structure, the sunken ship area and floating debris on sea around OFB. Trolling around OFB with a Rapala CD18 Red Head or Halco Sorcerer is very rewarding too if those barracudas or queenfish is on feeding frenzy.

Baitfish like Tamban and Selar Kuning can be found around OFB by using apollo jigs, sometimes squid can be found around OFB too. Live baitfish and live squids is one of the best bait at OFB. So, keeping the baits alive will ensure you of getting a big ones during the night falls. We normally keep our baitfish alive inside a foldable baby swimming pool regulated with a battery operated air pump. Sometimes, it’s difficult to get baitfish during the night so it’s important to reserved some live baits for night fishing where sometimes, the really huge predatory fish will come out to hunt for food.

CHEERS AND HAPPY FISHING

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