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.