Indo-Pacific Tarpon (Megalops cyprinodes) Of Malaysia.

There are two species of tarpons. The most prized fighter is the Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). Found mostly at the Western Atlantic coast bordering Virginia to Brazil. The coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, the Carribeans and also the Eastern Atlantic coast from Senegal to Angola too are good hunting grounds for this fish. The Atlantic tarpons are giants of around 5 to 8 feet and can reach weights of 80 to 150lbs.
Comparatively, the Indo-Pacific tarpons, or the ox-eye (Megalops cyprinodes) are very much smaller. Most are around 1 to 2 feet long and weight of a kilo is already considered good. Maximum weight of about 18kg have been recorded, but this bigger size one can only be found in the open sea.
The ox-eyes can be found along the tropical coastal regions of Eastern Africa, South East Asia, Japan, Tahiti and Australia. The ox-eyes look exactly like the Atlantic tarpons with olives green colour on top and silver on the side. The large mouths are turned upwards, and the jaws are quite hard and bony. Having the distinctive elongated last dorsal ray reaching to almost the tail, this fish is beautiful.They normally spawn at sea and the young larvae migrate inland to brackish water.
Fly-fishing for them can be very effective though tying small jigs, spinners and tiny spoons can catch fish too. When caught they are real acrobatic fighters.

This was taken on fly (shrimp fly).
Behind me can be seen rises
 denoting the presence of tarpons.

This irrigation canal is a good
hunting ground for tarpons.

A small specimen which is the common
 size in brackish water. Bigger fishes
can be found in the open sea.

Fly-fishing is very effective
 for the tarpons. But they can
 be taken on small jigs,
spinners and spoons too.

Normally, canals leading to some
river mouths near the sea will contain
good population of these tarpons.

GIANT SNAKEHEAD (Channa micropeltes)

The giant snakehead, toman as known in Malaysia, is the largest snakehead species found in Malaysia. As such, it is at the top of the freshwater predator chain. With a mouthfull of razor sharp teeth it practically has no enemies. Even their youngs are guarded all the time by their parents. This predator likes to hang around slow moving water with plenty of  underwater structures where they lay in ambush for preys. The places where angler hunt for them are old mining ponds, coves of rivers and the numerous dams in Malaysia.
As an air breather and one that guards its youngs, it is quite easy to locate them. Because of these charatistics, the tomans are facing a lot of fishing pressure. They are not only been hooked up, but are also targetted by the netters as well. With no conservation policies in place, I am not too optimistic about the survival of these great sportfish.
Lures such as crankbaits, poppers, spoons and soft plastics are all effective for catching the toman. Care must  be taken when handling this fish as the teeth can inflict some  terrible lacerations. The toman is not as hardy as its cousin, the haruan, so care must be taken when handling them so as not to cause undue stress and unrepairable harm to them.

The giant snakeheads usually
 hang around places with plenty
of underwater structures.

A colorful toman caught at Bersia,
 a hydro power man made lake.

Man made reservour lakes
contain good populations
 of giant snakeheads.

A closeup view of this toman's
 mouth. It attacked my lure even
 though the hook was still
 stuck to its mouth.

Giant snakeheads like
this can be caught in
 old mining ponds.

Another ex-mining pond
specimen caught with a
 red headed minnow lure.

Giant snakeheads, also known as
tomans in Malaysia, are really ferocious.
 This one attack my lure even though it
still had a hook dangling from its mouth.

A pair of ferocious juveniles
went for this Halco and
I had a double hookup.

COMMON SNAKEHEADS (Channa striatus).

The common snakehead or haruan as the Malaysians called it, is found almost everywhere, especially ponds, marshes, padifields, slow flowing rivers and other water ways. As an air-breather it can practically walk on land.
Being the most sought after sport fish in Malaysia, they are being hunted not only for their sport, but as a food and its medicinal value as well. The people believe that when steam with some herbs, the resulting soap is good in the healing of cuts and wounds.
The haraun practices monogamy and both male and female help to construct a nest out of water vegetation during breeding time. The eggs and the resulting fries are guarded by both parents. It is this parental instinct that results in the depletion of this fish. The orange fry ball can be seen coming up for air every few minutes. The unique characteristic of these fries is the archilles heel of the snakeheads as it gives away the location of the parents that are always found circling underneath in protection.
As a canivour, the haruan will attack lures of all kinds. They can be taken by fly fishing too. But the main method used is still the  live frogs. With the ever increasing fishing pressure, the size of the fish has been getting smaller (though they can grow up to a meter in length).

Other flies work too, like this charlie.

They also can be caught by
 flyfishing. This was taken with a gurgler.

Climbing up a tree allows
you to see into those weeds
 for signs of snakeheads.

Sometimes you have to look
for them in snaggy places.

This is considered as
easy place to get them.

Just like the American
large mouth bass,
the snakeheads do go
 for the plastic worms.

Often they can be
 caught in open water too.

Going for these snakeheads,
you normally have to wade
 through flooded undergrowth.

This one grabbed my surface popper.

Peacock Bass Of Malaysia.

A nice one from Batu Gajah area.
This took a fly.

Kota Bahru of Perak too
has many large ones.

This beautiful fish took a crankbait.

It went for a fly.

Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort
 at Batu Gajah, has a
 good population of them.

These are only a small sample
of the lures and flies effective
for catching peocock bass.

Another one from CWS.

A good and cooperative fish
for ladies to take up fishing.

Air Kuning of Perak is a place
 for whoppers. This is small
by comparision.

This snaggy pond is one of the most populated pond at CWS.

Minnow lures are
very effective producers.

Peacock bass is a misnomer. Actually this fish is a cichlid originating from South America's Amazon, Orinoco and the Rio Negro basins. With its bass like look and behaviour, it attracted a lot of attention from anglers the world over. There are many species of peacock bass in South America, of which the cichla monoculus is one of them.

It is this specie that was transplanted by the acquarium trade into Malaysia. Many years ago, an acquarium fish farmer spread the news that he had a few ponds full of the peacock bass and they possesed great fighting qualities when hooked. A fishing magazine took up the story and some pond and resort owners quickly stocked their ponds and lakes with these fighters.

Some of these fish escaped into the Kinta River system of Perak. As a fish that tend to occupy lentic (slow) moving water and dense underwater structures, they slowly found their ways into most of the ponds and lakes. And the rest is history.

Named as one of the greatest freshwater fighters around, they readily strike subsurface lures including jigs, flies and crankbaits. Poppers and gurglers are also known to be effective early in the morning.

Now many anglers specifically target these acrobatic fighters, which in my opinion is a great sport fish. As a word of caution though, I do hope they will not be release into places where there is no such fish as they are rather carnivorous and predatory.

Tackling the Giant Trevally of Malaysia.

A popping specimen.

Sometimes big one can
be caught at night.

Some can be caught by
random popping.

This nice fish was hooked
during one of the GT frenzies.

Another one from night popping.

The giant trevallies (Charanx ignobilis) are flat bodied fighters. They are normally found near reefs and islands. On the westcoast of Peninsular Malaysia, the methods used by sport anglers are usually popping and jigging. And the hotspots are Pulau Jarak and Tekun Perak. In the South China Sea, they are very common around oil rigs. Sometime trolling can also be an effective method to catch them.

When hooked, GTs would just bored down deep, using their flat bodies and the sea current to their fullest advantage.

All my GTs were released alive.

The Sailfish Of West Malaysia.

Sailfish can be found in the water of Peninsular Malaysia. On the west coast islands of Pulau Sembilan, Pulau Jarak and also the unjangs (FAD) off the Kedah coast, could be found concentrations of these fighters. The water off Kuala Rompin, in the South China Sea,  has been proven to be a good producer of sailfish so far. In fact lately, some juveniles have been caught and released. This could be the proof that we are looking for that the sails are breeding around this area.

My friends and I have been catching sailfish around Pulau Sembilan and Pulau Jarak for a number of years. We normally troll teasers with skirts bringing up the rear. Results were just like any other places where this method is used. I am really proud to say that ALL SAILFISH CAUGHT BY US WERE RELEASED ALIVE

My biggest sailfish caught by
trolling near the island of Jarak.
All our sailfish were released alive.

        

One of my sails with the skirt
still hanging from its mouth.

Another beautiful specimen.

                                     

.

All sails caught were revived by
dragging them along the boat.
When they start to struggle
 then only they were released.

I was one of those entrusted
 to help with the 'BILLFISH TAGGING PROGRAM
' and I am glad to say quite a number
 were caught, tagged and released
 successfully aroud the water of Perak.

HUNTING THE LARGEMOUTH BASS OF MALAYSIA

A view of the jungle pond.

It was a long hard climb.
Stumbling and falling
all the time.

Got cut all over too.

C S Fong (Editor Rod &Line, English),
Poh Chuan Maye (Editor Rod and Line, Chinese),
Jacky Loke and me.

My large mouth taken on shrimp fly.

Another one of my bass.

Fong proudly showing off
 his large mouth bass.

Finally reaching the top.

News of the existance of largemouth bass in Malaysia was stale news. Those bass were known to be not thriving well.

Recently some anglers discovered a colony of these bass in the jungles of Pahang. Quite a number of 2kg specimen were caught using lures. Plenty of juveniles were landed too. This proves, the bass are thriving healthily here in this God forsaken place. How they got here is anybody's guess.

C S Fong (editor of Rod and Line, English), Poh Chuan Maye (editor of Rod and Line, Chinese), Jacky Loke and I decided to explore this place in more detail.

The climbing through the jungle was rather tough, but we managed to catch quite a number of juveniles. Somehow the monsters have eluded us. Will I return? You bet.