THE AFRICAN (KELI) INVASION OF IPOH

  This article was published in the September 2000 issue of Rod And Line fishing magazine.

This is the place where the catfish fishing fever begun. The boys were playing more than they were fishing. Could be dangerous, as the river was quite swift and swollen after the rain.

 Of late freshwater fish farmers in Ipoh are turning to rearing African kelis (Clarias gariepinus). This fast growing species is much preferred over the local varieties as it is bigger and faster growing, thus giving faster returns.

   The kelis like the haruans can 'walk' quite a distance during the rainy seasons. As they possess a type of gill, which allow them to breathe air, thus enabling them to survive in the most trying conditions. Therefore, don't be surprise if you come across kelis migrating from one place to another by 'walking' and wriggling across land on some wet nights. The extensive stocking, coupled with the 'walking' ability provided a sure-fire way for many to escape into the local waterways and thus the African keli invasion of Ipoh City had begun.

   Recently, after a  few hours of torrential rain, several hundred African kelis escaped from, some ponds near Tambun. When news of this escape leaked out it created a stampede. The nearby residents had a gala time scooping up kelis with anything they could lay their hands on. Imagine, catching kelis in the middle of the main road and its surrounding areas! With these initial escapes, the catfish fever is on.

Mr. Chan hauling up another keli.

   Actually, keli fishing in Ipoh had being going on for a long time. It involves individuals catching one or two here and there.The actual keli fever was started by a group Indonesian workers fishing near the bridge connecting Taman Golf to Taman Ipoh Jaya. Specimens of 5 to 7 kilos were taken regularly. Soon news of this discovery spread like wild fire and the whole area along this stretch of the Pinji River looked as though it was the staging ground for Woodstock.

Look at the amount of rubbish being washed down. You won't even look twice at the Pinji River if you have never heard the 'big ones' stories.

   One of my friends invited me to fish with him there. Incidentally the J.E. scare was at its peak then. Well, with tales of carcasses of J.E. victims floating pass, I wasn't going to tempt faith, even though vaccinated. Luckily too, for it turned out to be the Nipah virus of which the  vaccine offered no protection at all.

   To be frank, I have a rather strong aversion towards catfish in general and keli in particular. The reasons for my prejudice towards them were due to their habitat and the food  that they preferred. My earliest encounter with the kelis were quite pleasant though. During those early 'fighting fish catching years' I used to watch the Malay padi planters drained the padi field of water. When the padi fields were drained, the kelis, sepats, puyus and haruans would have crowded into some holes dug at each corner of the padi fields. All the farmers got to do then was to scoop the fishes up with baskets. With the modern practice of multiple cultivation and uncontrolled use of chemical poison and fertilizers, the fish populations in the padi fields were wiped out. With it went my fighting fish too.

Mr. Wong with his catch. He is a regular figure along this stretch.

   Later I began to fish for kelis in dirty, smelly drains and streams. You could find them most underneath those open-air toilets hanging over waterways. When you were young, brash and fishing crazy, the word 'hygenic' was never in your vocabulary. The same can't be said when you grow up. Add on the fact that when the locals were first cultivated, the scenario was outright revolting! Boxes full of chicken entrails were placed strategically two feet above the water. With the help of the hot sun hastening the rot, hordes of flies and bluebottles would converge on this smelly mess. Huge populations of maggots were the result of the sex orgies that went on there. Beneath these horrid mess full of maggots were hundreds of bobbing keli heads with their gaping mouths, whiskers waving left to right and jostling each other for the unlucky maggots that drop down.

   Can you then blame me for keeping kelis at bamboo pole's length? (To be fair, the present method of feeding the African catfish are with chopped chicken entrails or fish pellets).

   News of huge kelis of 5 to 7 kilos being caught kept surfacing regularly. As a responsible (more for the money) writer of fishing stories, I decided throw my prejudice to the wind and investigate this phenomenon. So last Sunday (one of the rare Sundays that I didn't go fishing) I hopped onto my trusty EX5 and with my faithful Minolta 9000, went to watch other fish for a change. My first stop was the bank of the Kinta River where the big monsoon drain from Taman D. R. flows.

Mr. Chan was kind enough to pose for this photograph.

   Mr Wong who was a regular keli fisherman was busy fishing here. His baits consisted of a mixture of earth worms and crickets. Using hand lines he pulled up a few kelis of respectable sizes right before my very eyes. A 6 kilo monster landed a few months ago was his personal record here. I politely declined his generous offer of his kelis. Nearly changed my mind though when he described how delicious kung poh kelis could be!

   Pushing on to the new bridge (behind Bank Islam), I found Mr. Chan from Jelapang sitting comfortably under the bridge fighting his fourth keli. One keli gave a good account of itself. The fight was really interesting. When the keli took his bait it swam out into the current. With the help of the swift current the fish managed to take quite an amount of line before being stopped. Pumping and cranking, Mr. Chan had it almost within netting range before it shot out again. Finally after the fourth run it was hoisted out of the water. After this the bites stopped and Mr. Chan left to look for another spot.

   Bidding him farewell,I headed for the Pinji River. This river with its source at the hills behind Tambun was a  small, shallow and rocky stream. You won't even look twice if you have never heard any of the 'big ones that got away and those that didn't get away' stories before. Only recently Chow Weng Lai (not the late Chinese premier) phoned me that one of his father's neighbour caught a 17 kilo patin just behind his house in Pasir Pinji. Pity though, he never took any photograph of the catch.

   Most of the fishes in these rivers were escapees from the various fish farms up river near Ampang, Tambun and the surrounding areas. Escapees or not, a fish caught in the wild is still considered a wild fish, Psychologically, more thrilling and challenging, I think. Stopping at the hot spot behind the Petronas gas station (Chan Yat Foo e-mailed me regarding this spot. Both he ands Chow were with me at the 'Kalui Kebab' spot, R and Line January Issue). I found only Encik Ismail and his friend here.

   According to En Ismail, his past catches here were a motley mob of kelis, haruans, rohu, lampams and patins. As there was no action here I decided to check out the area near the bridge spanning the river at Gopeng Road. Here En. Salim showed me his bagful of lampams. His record lampam was a 2 kilo specimen caught sometime back. As usual the baits were crickets.

   Keli fishing in Ipoh is usually ledgering with a small running sinker. Small lubuks or drain outlets are the most likely spots. It is very easy to see whether the kelis are around or not by sitting very quietly way back from the water edge. The kelis will come up for air waving their whiskers in the air. Most of the time when the keli take their bait, the line will tighten only slightly. A light firm strike is enough to  hook it and start the fight. Be very careful of the lateral fin spikes when handling the kelis.

En. Salim with his lampams, another popular quarry.

   Judging from the number of African kelis being taken from these two rivers, I am of the opinion that they might be multiplying themselves. Being scavengers they sure do contribute to keep our river clean.

   One thing my friends and I noticed was the slight drop in number of the dreaded sucker catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus), nicknamed the MBI catfish (they caused soil erosion by burrowing into the banks). With their armour plated Nautilus (20,000 Leagues under the sea, fame) looking shape seemed indestructible. Could it be the African are the biological pest controller of the sucker catfish? I leave it to those more qualify to look into it.

   With Ipoh City Council toying with the idea of making the stretch of Kinta River, which meanders through the city, into a tourist attraction, I guess the kelis are an  added bonus. Get rid of those ugly sucker catfish, clean up the river, stock more local fish and we are in business, man! At least to attract fishing crazy tourists.

BOTTOM SEA FISHING - Sharing Of Experience

   

This article was published in the October 2000 issue of Rod And Line Fishing magazine.

Bottom sea fishing is getting very popular nowadays. During my many trips out to sea, I have met a lot of beginners who were like sang kei chai (virgin boys) with not a clue as to what to do. Most of them never made a second trip. Therefore, I feel I should share some of my limited experiences with the freshies so they can enjoy the hobby of bottom sea fishing. As what is given here is only limited, I suggest that you try to learn as much as possible from the many articles found in Rod & Line as well as the sifus in your group.

Have a good learning attitude. Learn from the sifus in he group.

   In Malaysia, there are a lot of places with boats for hire. A good place to start looking is the Rod & Line Fishing Directories. One drawback of hiring a boat is you must get a group of anglers to spread out the cost, unless of course you can afford to pay more. Most of the regular boats were already fully booked for all the weekends with tides suitable for fishing. Unless someone give up their booking at the last moment, getting one is quite difficult. The only way to get a chance to fish is to be place on the reserve list of any regular group (hang around any established tackle shop and you'll find them). The moment they have any last minute withdrawals, they'll call you. Don't give me the crab, "Who do they think they are? You think I am a spare tyre ah?" Well, I know of a guy who said that and he is still a spare tyre today, three years later! After a few trips, hopefully, you'll be promoted to being a regular. Of course, this will depend a lot on your public relation skill too.

The reel on the left has a star drag while the one on the right is a lever drag reel.

   Your basic armament is of course the boat rod (a stand-up, if possible) and multiplier reel with enough capacity to do the job. Normally 200m-300m should be quite comfortable. The argument between mono filament gang and the braided fans have being going on nonstop. Personally, I would prefer the braided lines for bottom fishing, as they are relatively non-stretch and thus more sensitive. Try to buy the best that you can afford. The premium braids will usually come with thinner diameters (do not use your bare hand to pull the braided line in case you are stuck as it will cut through your hand like knife through butter). That translate into less drag in the water, which will enable smaller sinkers to be used. Imagine yourself cranking a kilo-sized sinker in strong current over a distance of more than a 100m? How many time can you do it? That is why electric reels are getting more popular.

The braided is the one on top. Be careful as it can give you a pretty bad cut. The mono-filament is below the braided line.

   The battle between electric and rice powered reel also is a hot one. My personal choice is 'rice powered' as I can keep in personal contact with my quarry. Once while grunting and heaving with a 15kg grouper on, one of my friends remarked, "Serves you right for not buying an electric reel or else you'll be sitting down enjoying yourself while the fish is been winched up. How can I convince him that I was enjoying myself immensely fighting the fish? Well, that is what fishing is all about, isn't it?

Correct way to set the drag on a lever drag reel.

   Both these type of reels come in the star drag and the lever drag version. To set the proper drag, you have to adjust it to about 1/3 the breaking strain of your line. Try to get a friend to hold and read your scale for you while setting (ignore those taunts from the smart alecs). The lever drag even though set, enables you to adjust it while fighting the fish without fear of over tightening and exceeding the set poundage. Whereas a star drag reel, once set is difficult to adjust without the the danger of over tightening (I have seen many good size fish being lost this way).

   A pretty stiff rod is much preferred for this type of fishing. If you have one without any backbone, you'll be having problem pumping and controlling the fish. In my opinion it is better to get a stand-up rod for if you locked on to a big fellow, you'll have to fight it standing up. Have a gimbal belt on the stand by too. It will prevent the rod gimbal digging into your belly. At the same time it will stop the rod rocking from left to right. As for electric reels, I have seen friends who used 11 to 14 feet rods to get their terminals away from the crowd and tangles. A few even used their big toe to press the wind button. Easy life with no hassle, eh?

 

Example of an electric reel in the market.

   The main line must be attached to the spreader. There are many types and sizes on the market. Some good, others are bad and others are downright ugly. Their job is to prevent your bait from entangling with the main line, which will render it very unattractive to the fish. In days gone by when I used to fish around the Pulau Sembilan areas, I used to bend my own spreaders, as the corals and high rocks were real gluttons of terminals. No mercies were shown and in the end you'd find that it would burn a hole in your pocket. So if you are skillful with your hands do try this very satisfying branch of the hobby too. The spreader is tied to a trace, which is usually about 2 meters in length for me. The two hooks are normally set 1 meter apart. Whether to use steel trace or not  depends on what you are targeting. Without trace, the razor thugs will normally cut you off, sometime without you realizing it. With wire trace, I guessed the bites would not be so regular. So you have to make your own choice. If possible put a good swivel between the mainline and the spreader and from the spreader to the trace to prevent line twist.

The long and short of the spreaders. Their job is to prevent the trace from wrapping round the main line.

This diagram shows the terminal tackle.

   After baiting up make sure your trace and baits are straight out before lowering your rig. When you feel the sinker hit bottom, give a few turn of the handle to lift your terminals off the sea bed. Let out lines once in a while to keep your rig near the bottom in case of strong current. Some will use a meter or two of mono-filament to tie the sinker to the spreader so that the whole rid will be anchor off the sea bed (while the sinker will bury itself into the soft sea bed) even if the current is strong. Of course this method will not work if the bottom is rocky or full of corals. As for me I normally let my terminals ride with the current to cover more areas.

   There is no lost of face or any harm done if you take motion sickness pills. You are paying a lot of money for this, not to mention the fortune you spent on gears. Take it (the motion sickness medicine) half an hour before you board the boat. After a few times when you have acclimatised yourself, then you can stop it. Don't be like a kiasu friend of mine who answered, "I want to use my natural defenses, to prove that I can stand against the sea." He nearly regurgitated the content of his large intestine through his nose and mouth after emptying his stomach! That was the last time I heard of him. Recently he resurfaced as a member of the anti fishing lobby.

  The saying, 'while in Rome do as the Romans do', is a good policy to follow. Please do have some consideration for others in the group. Be actively involved with the loading and unloading of gears to and from the boat. Eat with an eye on the amount of food provided. A sharing and caring attitude will endear us to others. I have met two fellows who finished off half the amount of food meant for ten men! Now they don't even qualify as spare tyres. Do not encroach into others' places even though you are catching nothing. Be persistent and you'll be rewarded. If you embrace and follow what Confucius said - "Do not do unto others what you do not like done unto you" you will not go wrong. Otherwise don't ever complain when you find all your invitation cards to go fishing are being sent to the wrong address.

   Last but not least. Keep the fishing environment clean.

NORTH OF JARAK

A 4 kilo mangrove jack. This is the biggest MJ I have caught so far.
This article was published in the August 2000 issue of Rod And Line fishing magazine.

 "Ah Pek, either you don't know how to park the boat or else you must have being bribed before we boarded the boat", I teased the tekong. The reason for such a remark from me was, the three of us, Ah Pek, Ah San and I, sitting at the back of the boat, caught nothing at all, while those at the front and center just gaffed their sixth jenahak! Imagine? Picking the number one seat ( the seat at the back of the boat) was considered a good omen. I just couldn't contain my joy by jumping up and down with exaggerated glee. The overboard rejoicing was due to my picking mostly numbers 8 and 9 more times than I cared to remember. It was also more of a revenge rubbing of my friends who used to laugh, every time I get the last two numbers.

Phang and Ah Keong. Two very happy and satisfied anglers.

   With boat fishing (bottom fishing to be exact) the emperor's seats as we called the three back seats were always being sought for. Here you have more space to put your rods. You can also have a choice of using light or heavy sinkers to cover more fishing ground, as well as to send your bait further away with the current. Tangles, which are a common occurrence in bottom fishing, are real nuisance. Catching the much sought after squids from here is also easier as you just have to let your prawn jig drift back away from the boat. Balloon or drift fishing is very easy and convenient to execute at the back too. Not to mention trolling, which also can be done while the boat is moving from one place to another. So you know why they are called the emperor's seats now?

   The moment the signal for fishing to start sounded, Chong Hing pulled up a pair of groupers. For bottom fishing, it is mostly meat fishing. When the much-coveted groupers were landed, even though plate size, everyone clapped and shouted with excitement.After this pair, all the fish seemed to have gone on fast. We changed places a few times, mostly around the North of Jarak with no improvement. As it was still early in the evening we took this opportunity to freshen up and to fill up our bellies.

These two giants fought a battle royal. Well the winner is obvious.

   By evening, I changed to heavier tackles just in case some monsters develop an appetite. When the current showed signs of slowing down there was a hive of activities all around us. Grunts and shouts were heard everywhere behind us. "It is a jenahak again," shouted someone from the bow. "Wah, your jenahak is so big lah!" exclaimed another. Imagine our frustrations? Occupying the emperor's seats and not even a bite. How not to dig at Ah Pek lah?

   Out of the blue Ah Hean was shouting very excitedly (which only a young boy could do) that he caught a giant. His electric reel didn't even break a sweat before the red emperoer of about 1.5kg was brought up. Ah Hean's father, Lim Ho Chiew sitting nearby was as please as a peacock. The two sons that  he trained up are real keen anglers. Well, at least he will have two sons to take over his tackles when he retires. Smart father! Ah Er (2nd brother) sitting just behind me landed a jenahak of 2 kilos and Ah Keong next to him got some pig face breams. Ah San sitting between Ah Pek and me seemed to be suffering from the same jinx that had being affecting us. The tekong jokingly announced that there were some pomelo leaves soaking in the bathtub (The Chinese believe that pomelo leaves do help to buang shuei).

Ah Er with his jenahak.

   Frustrated at not registering any single bite, I got up and made a survey of the whole boat. Everyone other than the three of us "emperors". had fish in their iceboxes. In fact, James had been quietly pulling up fusiliers after fusiliers. He had twenty in his box! Suddenly, Ah San jigged up a squid, which was quickly shared out among us. With the fresh squids he immediately broke his duck with a kilo size silver grunter. Ah Pek's luck changed for the better and he caught quite an assortment of plate size fishes. By now the current has slowly died down and many of the others reeled in and climbed into the cabin to rest. I prided myself as being an optimist. 'As long as your bait is in the water you stand a chance,' is my motto. To relieve the boredom, I concentrated more on squid jigging.The squids seemed to have a suicidal tendency when they saw the prawn like jig. When they wrapped their tentacles around the the jig they were goners. The numerous sharp hooks on the jig made sure of that. Care must be taken to allow these swimming 'ink jet printers' to exhaust their reservoirs or else you'd find your mug shot on some dental products.

This red emperor caused Ah Hean to shout with happiness. His father, Lim Ho Chiew, did a good job training his two sons to follow his footsteps. If more fathers were like him there won't be so many juvenile problems afflicting society.

 

   All  in all I caught ten squids of different sizes. "Well, no fish, squids also can  lah." I consoled myself. In the quiet of the night, broken only by the different octave of the sleeping orchestra, my mind began to form images of dining tables laid with  kung poh squids partnered with tasty squid soap. {My doctor will blow his top when he sees my lipid report later (squids are high in cholesterol)}.

   My appetizing images were pooped away by the sudden downpour. Cocooning myself in raincoat and huddling on my fishing chair I fought off drooping eyelids to continue my lonely vigil. The reason for my stubborn refusal to sleep was because I didn't want to miss the magical moment when the current started to move, which will in turn trigger a feeding frenzy among the fish. If you were not fishing at that very moment you might miss the sudden strikes. By the time you realized what was happening, and before your bait could reach the bottom it would have been all over.

Ah Keong caught these two pig face breams quite early.

   At around 5.00am my rod suddenly dipped down. Grabbing it, I started a steady pump and wind routine. This brute sure could fight, but in the end was still brought up. A mangrove jack of 4 kilos was my reward. What followed was vengeance time. Another jenahak of about 3 kilo was next on the list, followed by another six jenahaks of about 2 kilos. By this time the sun was peeking out of the horizon. Bleary-eyed James came staggering by to investigate the commotion I was creating. Grabbing one of my fresh squids he immediately hooked up a monster. When two giants fight, the dwarfs got to move aside. The battle royal lasted almost ten minutes before a 7 kilo grouper was pulled up. I immediately claimed that the head belonged to me, which triggered some @#$% from James. Somehow, groupers would bring out the worst in people.

   By now most of  the gang were fully awake and fishing. All of a sudden my kung poh and soap ala squids vanished as the squids were grabbed by everyone. Everyone was into fish except Chong Hing (he was the first to hook up the double). Poor guy, that was one of the reasons why we didn't like to be the first to land a fish. Somehow the first fish could be the last fish of that trip for you. It had happened too often to be coincidence, Overall, the trip could be listed as average.

The deck hand cum chef, Ah Thai, cleaning the sand worms.He pushed the sand worms inside out with the chopstick to remove the sand found inside the bodies. The remaining parts were fried with tow geh (bean sprouts). They were very tasty according to him.

   On the way back, the deckhand was seen busy cleaning what I thought was chee cheong fun. Walking over to investigate why chee cheong fun needed to be wash, I saw to my horror that he was cleaning some sand worms. "To eat lah'" was his curt reply to my inquiry. I hope he didn't hurt his head like James did the last time he (James) mentioned it. (Anglers' Itch, R and L May 99 issue).

Of Wildboar And Haruan Country.

 

This article was published in the July 2000 issue of Rod and Line fishing magazine.

 Blah, blah, blah........malapambu. Blah, blah, blah........malapambu. That was Guna running towards us gesturing and yelling to Paul in Tamil. Other than  those X rated Tamil words (of which I am very good at), my vocabulary in that language is hopeless. Hopeless it is, I still could understand malapambu meant python. Pulling out my parang from its scabbard (almost like those sword-fighting movies, but not as cool as the hero), I was ready to do battle with any monster that dared to cross our path.

a. Gurdip Singh holding up his haruan.
He is the only fishing Singh that I know of.
 b. Gurdip pointing to the logged out haruan territory. 

     When Guna got back his breath, he laughingly explained in English that he mistook a giant haruan for a python. The monster's head was near the surface causing a commotion (going after prey maybe) attracting Guna's attention. In that split second his mind erroneously registered the head of a python (can't blame him as haruans are known as snake heads). Grabbing a branch, he threw it at the monster and found out too late that he made a mistake,when the fish flipped and dived into the depth. Desperately, he dug into his frog bag and discovered to his horror that it was empty. That was when he came running to us.

     The three of us immediately returned to his python spot with fresh frogs tied to our hooks. Though we tried jigging, casting and waiting the python haruan never returned (smart fellow or else it couldn't live so long to be a python haruan).

     We have passed this spot many a time without bothering to fish as we were targeting bigger quarries. Lately, because of the inter-monsoon season, the river that we were fishing in was swollen. With it debris of all shapes and sizes were washed down rendering river fishing impossible. It was during one of these trips when we couldn't fish that exploration in this area was made. Walking around, we discovered that along the left side of the unused timber track was marshy land. The whole stretch was covered by a layer of inter vining weed growing about half a meter above the water surface. Below this marsh was waist deep water. Who knows what monster lie below! On the right hand side of the track were fallen and abandoned logs below which were small pools of water. There were patches of clear water where some decent casting could be made.



The two haruan freshies from oversea.
 See how they fish.

     Luckily, Gurdip (the only fishing Singh that I know of) brought along five half-dead frogs from his previous haruan trip. Immediately, they were shared out among us. With us were two Mat Sallehs. One of them, Jackson, a New Zealander, who is the track manager of the Perak Turf Club and the other is Mark, his visiting Australian friend. Both of them were freshies in haruan fishing. Gurdip and I showed them how to attach the frogs and to cast to clear patch of water about the size of a basket ball court. From the way they were chattering among themselves we knew they were excited.

     Suddenly Jackson struck and a haruan of about 800gm came thrashing up. Mark's frog was chewed up by some juveniles and I had to sacrifice mine to him. Gurdip too gave up his to Jackson. Jackson yelled that he could see a haruan following his frog. When it lunged, he struck  too early and the haruan got its free lunch. Mark entangled his frog in some weed and was broken off. We all packed up and went looking for Guna. Sitting dejectedly on a log waiting for us, he related that something grabbed his frog and the hook came back empty. As we had no more frogs, we decided to leave for home in Jackson's van.

     The next trip we made only Gurdip, Guna, Paul and  I could make it. This time we were better prepared. Breakfast was roti canai and teh tarik at Batu Gajah. When we turned off into the jungle track, it suddenly dawned on me that my Sunny was not equipped for his type of road. Due to the daily conventional rain, the track was very soft. Add on the  many holes made by wallowing wild boars, the drive was a real torture for me. Most of he time the wheels would spin and the car would slide from left to right, which made me sweat in my pants. After the fourth time where we had to get down to push the car, we decided to abandon the car and walked on. The walk of about 2 kilometer was energy sapping, as the soft mud would stick to our shoes making them heavier with every step.




A proud Jackson holding up his first haruan.

     At last we reached the area where we could fish and the frogs were divided up among us. Paul was casting near the spot where Jackson got his first haruan a few days earlier. There were a few misses here due to the haruans being too small. As for me, I was flipping my frog up and letting it drop vertically between those weeds. When it landed in the water I would jig the frog intermittently hoping to attract the haruans below. With heavily vegetated area, the usual casting or spinning will not work. Most of the time your frog or weedless lure will get hang up dangling above the water surface. The most appropriate way is to flip the frog up vertically and let it drop down through the weeds as mentioned earlier. Maybe, I was unlucky or my heart was not in it as I was worried about my abandoned car, I did not even raise a strike. Occasionally, giants lunging and gulping down some unlucky creatures could be heard further away in the unreachable marsh. Those sounds never failed to trigger my adrenaline flow causing me to feel high. About forty-five minutes later Guna came running about his python haruan.

     Later, Guna and Paul each got two haruans of a bout 600gms, which were pulled up from some pools of water underneath some logs. Gurdip showed up from where he was fishing about half a kilometer away. His  catch of two reasonable size haruans was quite satisfying.

     Rain clouds were again forming over the horizon. Feeling rather worried, I pestered the others to leave, as I had no other way except to reverse the car out to the main road. The track was too narrow at that point to do any U-turn. On both sides were flooded marshes. Any slight mistakes would mean an expensive tow and repair job. Luckily by this time the ground was a lot drier compared to when we entered.

     After two tortuous kilometers of reversing I managed to turn my car around at a wider spot. Not too soon though as my neck was already stiff from looking at the back all the time. I swore I would never drive here again unless in a 4X4 or a motorbike.





Wallowing hole made by the wildboars.
After a few days of rain this place
 will be impossible to drive pass.


     Well, I think this place is still relatively untouched except for the former logging activities. It could be proven by the flocks of birds flying overhead every three minutes, heading to their feeding and nesting ground. This is birders' paradise! Let's hope the poachers will never find their way here as to them a good bird is a cooked bird.

THE FEATHERBACKS OF RABAN, CHENDEROH.

THE FEATHERBACKS OF RABAN, CHENDEROH.
Published in May 2000 issue of Rod and Line fishing magazine.

    


     Featherback is a very gentle looking fish. It moves slowly through the water by rippling its dorsal and ventral fins, which stretch from the center of the body to the tail in one unbroken piece. When observed through the aquarium, it sure looks graceful. My first encounter with this fish was at Lubuk Mat Anjing in Kuala Kangsar when I was just a kid. This victim was a small specimen of around a kilo, taken on worms. As a lad, I was quite ignorant of the names of fishes. Later my father told me that it was a "sai toh" or belida in Malay. Actually, Lubuk Mat Anjing was never famous for featherbacks. Maybe, this one lost its way. Lubuk Temoleh should be more appropriate as it was at this area that most of the famed temolehs were taken by my father and his contemporaries, the Ming Brothers. (Remember Ming Ah Man?). My real baptism in featherback fishing was around late 1960s to early 1970s.

     The hot spot then was just behind the Chenderoh Dam wall where most of the staff quarters were located. River prawns were the preferred baits, of which there were plenty along the grassy banks.

     Night fishing here was very exciting. While shinning a powerful torch into the water the featherbacks could sometime be seen cruising along the bank looking for prawns and small fish. The reflection from their eyes could be very unnerving to the beginners. Could be that the numerous stories of aquatic demons and devils originated from the featherbacks.

     Featherbacks can be taken on river prawns, small fish or even worms. When a featherback takes the bait, it was a gentle affair considering its size. The rod tip will only dip slightly before your bait is stolen. Curses were heaped on the poor terobols and lampams at first, before we finally wised up. As a result, soft tip rods are very much preferred by the Lenggong and Chenderoh folks.

James with his baung. The baungs
 here taste a lot sweeter. Maybe it is
 due to the unpolluted water here.

     Sometimes they do attack lures, but must be dragged past their field of vision to entice a strike. My first lure taken featherback was at a small pond near Tanjung Tualang. To elicit a featherback to strike a lure, one must be very alert. The moment a featherback comes up for air, the lure must be cast beyond and dragged pass the spot of the swirl. Normally, you can see the featherback gulf the air, then turning and exposing its flat silvery body before diving. The telltale sign of a few bubbles floating up is a sure indication of the featherback. The dreaded DBI catfish will do the same thing, but it will suck the air in with a loud gulp, not unlike a giant toman. After tasting steamed featherback bellies and fish balls, I began to target it more specifically. The flesh of the featherback is rather firm, smooth and of course tasty. The only catch is the thousands of tiny bones, which can get stuck in your throat. Most of the time a lump of rice will dislodge it. Next on the arsenal list is a piece of banana swallowed whole. If both failed, then you are in trouble, mate.

     The next hot spot is the "Sek Pek" (The stone Wall) of Kota Tampan. If a boat is not available you can walk through some rubber estates (enduring thousands of hungry female mosquitoes) before facing another torturous climb down the cliff to reach the water edge. You will be in real trouble if you catch a few whoppers unless you practiced 'catch and release'. Since knowing Old Man Ho, I began to fish in relative comfort (discounting carrying the boat and outboard, that is). With our mobility, we began to explore and discover more places.

     At Raban, we got to know a real friendly towkay by the name of Ah Bong (The locals called him Awang). He collected fish from the local professionals for resale. Most of our spots around Raban were credited to his unselfish and gracious nature. At one of these spots, I tied on to two huge featherbacks of about seven kilos within half an hour. Try imagining that you were hooked onto a huge log, as that was how it felt. The first was lost at the boat side and the other , when it jumped and threw the hook. The upper jaw of the featherback is very hard and bony, so don't celebrate until you have it in the boat. Old Man Ho broke two of his fingers in a boating accident and thus ended our trips to Raban.

     While easing the boat out to the Perak River from Raban Lake, I kept on asking myself why in heaven did I agree to take Foo and James for featherback fishing? It had being years since I last came here and the feedback that I got was not that encouraging. Should we not catch anything, I might be branded as one of those"story telling anglers".

Foo and his tilan.
 I had seen specimens
 of about a kilo. Better
 tasting than chicken.

     Live fish and worms were our backup baits. The plan was to catch small river prawns found in abundance at some aquatic weed patches. Familiar sights were passed before we finally reached our prawn catching patch. My two young friends refused to get into the waist deep water so we had to forgo the prawns. Anchoring at one of my old spots, James immediately hooked a half kilo baung with live fish. We continued pulling up and throwing back juveniles.

     Suddenly Foo shouted that he got a featherback, but from the way he was reeling in the dead weight, I told him it must be a tilan. You should see how happy he was as this was the first time he ever caught one. Luckily for him that I shouted in time or else he would have got a nasty cut from grabbing the tilan with his bare hand (the tilan is not called the spiny eel for nothing, you know). "Try catching a few more and we can have a tilan feast, " I encouraged. "They are better tasting than chickens (tip from my Malay friends), mind you" I added.

Ah Wah and his featherback.
 Immediately after this photo
was taken my two friends
 became very well-mannered
and friendly towards
Ah Wah and his friend.

     After two hours of featherbackless fishing, my two friends began to add the very uncomplimentary adjectives 'cannon' to my name. Luckily for me, another boat anchored just next to ours and immediately pulled up a a kilo plus featherback. You should see how my two friends bodek! I had never seen them so well mannered and friendly before. Not to me but to Ah Leong and Ah Wah, the other guys in the other boat. They were the exemplary specimens of a mother-in-law's dream come true. Result spoke louder than words. The guys from Lenggong kept pulling up all species of fish with river prawns as baits. And as though to answer my prayers, two local professionals caught two very presentable featherbacks of about4 kilos each. This proved beyond reasonable doubt that I was not a "Tai Pow Yow" (liar). But the place where they cast their net was just a few meters from where we were fishing. Sigh! We decided to pack for home.

Ah Wah with another baung.
They were pulling up fish as though
 fishing in fish cage. It was so easy.

Another tilan caught by the Lenggong guys.
They were using only river prawns.
 Their past catches here included temolehs,
huge patins and of course the featherbacks.