TENGAS OF SUNGAI RAYA

   This article was published in the February 2001 issue of Rod And Line fishing magazine.

My biggest tengas.

   The moment I set my eyes on him, I knew Wong Kai was having something up his sleeves. The unmistakable swaggering and the grin from ear to ear were his tell tale body language. Pushing a plastic bagful of fish right in front of my face, he announced proudly, " I caught all of them with rod and line." The six tengas of about 30cm long were real beauties. Back-lighted against the sun, their bodies gave off a translucent shin, while they swam desperately around looking for a way to escape. They were carrying a reddish brown tinge, which almost made me mistook them for kelahs.

This was the place we fished.

     Whether, tengas or kelah, they still were much sought after fish. Anything that smells or looks like one will get me all excited. Tengas (Acrossocheilus hexagonolepis) are mainly found in mountain streams. It is a large scaled barbel that gives first class sport on light rod and line. Tengas spook easily. catching them in clear mountain water is rather difficult. It involves a lot of stealth and patience when hunting them. Therefore many anglers fish for them at night. As they live among the fast flowing water of the rock-strewn streams, fighting one is never a gentleman affair. You have to bring out your whole repertoire of techniques and tricks including ear biting.

I caught 7 tengas of about 15 cm long here. How the fish could swim and survive in the fast current really surprised me.

      Well, as close friends, a cup of coffee was enough to work as the most effective jaw muscle relaxant. I began to grill Wong incessantly over the secret spot. What he told me was a real surprise. The Raya River, with its source at the mountains of Brinchang, Cameron Highlands, flows in a series of fast rapids down the Ulu Piah area before joining the Kinta River near Batu Gajah, was his hunting ground. Lately, due to development at its upper reaches, the water quality was real bad and turbid, thus enabling the catching of the weary tengas very much easier.

     After some arm twisting, Wong finally agreed to a trip the following Sunday. As the way up the river is by an old timber and Orang Asli track, we decided to go by motorbikes (luckily I had just changed to a new EX-5). Our rendezvous point was at Wong's 'Shangari-La'. Wong Kai is crazy about herbal medicine. He has a jack fruit orchard, with lots of herbal plants planted in between the trees. Among this tranquil set is built a small hut with all the basic amenities. Sometime, just to relieve stress, we would gather here for some jaw and tongue exercise.

     At 8.30 am we pushed off from here. The first kilometer was quite a pleasant ride.What followed was considered as scrambler country. As it was not used for along time, the track was in pretty bad shape. Together with the recent almost daily convectional rain, a lot of soil erosion  had taken place. Gullies were cut by the running water and we had to push our bikes many a time. At one bend, I nearly went over the edge, down a 40 foot vertical drop, into the river. I guessed it wasn't my time yet (luckily).

Nearly went over the edge here-a 40 feet vertical drop. Maybe, it was not my time yet.

At a small rivulet crossing our path,Wong pointed to a spot where he had seen pug marks before. It was as big as his outspread palm, he said. Seeing the disbelieving look on my face, he dismounted to look around. Suddenly he was gesturing and shouting. Rushing over, I was convinced when he pointed out some fresh pug marks on the soft ground. From the size of the pug marks that tiger smut be huge! Somehow, I acquired a knee-jerk nervous reaction  of looking over my shoulders after that, as I was bringing up the rear. Almost all man eating tigers attack from the back, you know. 

     Finally, we reached our destination, an old reservoir that diverted water to the numerous tin mines of days gone by. To go further upstream would demand a change of vehicles as it was considered as hard core scrambler territories. Climbing down the 20 foot high bank, I settled down near a rock directly below the cascading water. Here Wong took out his secret baits. Of all things in the world, chicken intestines!

     10 cm pieces were cut and threaded onto the leader with no. 10  prawn hook just emerging from the end. The other end was hooked and secured by the snap. A small piece of lead strip was rolled on to the main line as a running sinker. This whole setup was cast and allowed to drift into the cascading water. In less than 10 seconds, following a hard pull, a 15 cm tengas shot out of the water with scales glittering in the morning sun. it stayed suspended in the air for a few seconds before dropping back into the water. I caught 7 tengas of the same size just from this spot. Moving another 20 meters down stream, I let my bait drift down behind a boulder.

This was Wong's way of fishing for tengas. The turbid water made it easier to catch the weary fish.

     The tug was the strongest I felt on this trip. That fish shot up the fast current and managed to take off some line before it veered of to the other side of the stream. Two more short runs downstream later I had my remembrance photo taken before releasing it. Not big though, just 800gm. Fishing nearby with a bamboo rod and a line, Wong caught four 15 cm long tengas which he kept for his aquarium.

Being quite satiated with these small thrills, we decided to move down hill on our bikes to look for other spots. Along the way we fished a number of likely spots. As the river current was quite fast and shallow we got mostly 15 cm to 30 cm specimens. Small though they may be, but they were real fighters on very light tackles. The way they burst up the river taking lines against the current testified to that. Some of them even skimmed along the surface of the water like a speedboat.

Our way of rigging the bait.

     All too soon, we were back at relatively flat land. While fishing here, my bait was stolen six times before I changed tactic. The intestine was cut into small half cm pieces with the hook embedded inside. Four palm size lampam sungais and a small keli were caught and released using this method. Keli in mountain streams, what a surprise! Wong, fishing about 5 meters away was yelling excitedly to me about something. I just couldn't comprehend what he was saying over the din caused by the fast flowing water. Later when he came upstream carrying all his things did I found out. Something took his bait and his rod went flying into the river and disappeared into the distance. The split second that Wong's attention was diverted while washing his hands was time enough. Cold be a large tengas. No harm being optimistic, eh!

     Somehow we never encountered any tengas bigger than 800 gm. Maybe the river is too small and shallow. It also could be due to the lack of deep lubuks and pools for the fish to gorge themselves up and grow. Maybe the amount of energy expanded to swim in those fast water prevented obesity too. Better than going to the gymnasium, I supposed.

Wong's Shangri-La.

     As it was pointless to fish with no rod, we headed back to Wong's retreat to rest. Over a hot bowl of herbal instant mee, topped with aromatic wild cabai burung, we were already planning our next trip. A hiking, camping and fishing trip up the source of the Raya River!