This article was published in the December 2001 issue of Rod And Line fishing magazine.
When I read about the big rush at the recent open house at the Prime Minister's residence, I just shook my head and put it down as pack mentality of the kiasu kind. All you need was one guy rushing forward and it would trigger adrenaline to flow, thus the mad rush.This type of behaviour is very common in the animal kingdom. Try tossing a handful of grated coconut into the river and watch what happened. Seldom you can find fish that feed with the finesse and table manners of guests at a gala dinner for VIPs.
The only fish that feed like that is the featherbacks of Chenderoh Lake. According to my limited experience, the featherbacks there will just mouth your bait, causing the rod tip to dip just a little. If you are holding it in your hand, you will just feel a slight pull. And if your nerve neurons are as rusty and old as mine, the bait will be long gone before you could react.
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| Their first three decent featherbacks. |
Imagine my surprise when I went fishing for feather backs at Kampung Gajah area. The featherbacks here were as rough as the pirates of days gone by. Their table manners could be describe as 'ngo kow chiong si' (hungry dogs fighting for sh... aaagh!). I had never seen feather backs feeding like that.
Gurdip and gang had found a lubuk near Kampung Gajah where the featherbacks were in plague proportion. The trouble was they only go on weekdays, while poor me could only fish on weekends. For almost three weeks I had to squirm and itch every time they showed me their catches. Squirmed that I did, until I got leave on one Monday. One week before that date, I had made Gurdip promised me a trip on that date. (It was easy when you have a sharp long parang in your hand).
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| Ganesan's three kg beauty. |
Along the way Joe picked up some oil palm fruits as baits (for jelawats and other herbivores. Reaching the secret spot my heart sank. The lubuk was covered by a few trees that had being felled and thrown into the river. After scouting around for an alternate spot further up river, I made myself comfortable under a tree some twenty meters away from the original spot. My baited hook flew out immediately after I was ready.
For river side fishing, one must come well prepared. A sharp parang in hand is very handy in defending yourself and also plenty of mosquito coils to drive away the 'dive bombers'. When these squadrons of blood sucking 'dive-bombers' homed in on you, man it was even worst than being sprinkled with itching powder. If you had ever fished past dinner time (between 6.00pm to 8.00pm) you would be lucky that you still have some blood left to stay alive.Those tiny blood suckers possessed some horribly strong and long probosces.They could even get to you through your thick trousers!
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| My two featherbacks of 1 kg each. |
There were plenty of actions, but not those that I was looking for. My bait was stolen many times by creatures still wearing napkins. Suddenly, Gurdip was blabbering excitedly away to Ganesan about some thing in Tamil ( I always miss the excitement as I can't comprehend what they were talking about). When the featherback broke the surface of the water, I knew what the excitement was all about. A few minutes later, they caught another fish. Both of them were sitting just 5 meters down river of me, but they monopolized all the actions.
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| Gurdip as usual with his 5 kg featherback caught during one of his earlier trips. |
Somehow in situation such as this, your confidence began to vane. First I smelt my hands, then checked my worms. I did a step by step checking to find out what I did wrong. Finding nothing wrong, I had to suffer silently as Gurdip and Ganesan landed their sixth featherbacks. Realizing good fishing manners were not going to do me any good, I barged in onto their spot. Well, both of them didn't utter a squeak and even made room for me (didn't I tell you a sharp parang is very useful tool to have around?).
I must have brought them bad luck for there was not a single bite since I joined them. Their message to me was loud and clear, when both of them shifted lock, stock and barrel to a place some 5 meters upriver of my position. Almost immediately Ganesan hooked up a 3 kg feather back which gave a fantastic display of its acrobatic skills before being subdued.
Well, I do believe in Feng Shui. I guessed the new place suited me as my rod suddenly bent into a perfect C. Luckily my rod holder held or else I would have lost some expensive (my standard) tackles. Thinking it to be a baung as these guys have terrible table manners, I struck. To my surprise the 'baung' shot through the surface and landed with a loud splash. A kilo plus featherback was my reward.
I made up for my lost time by landing three more fish. Two were released as they were still wearing napkins. The featherbacks here were a different lot when compared to their Chenderoh cousins. They lacked the finesse and gentleness typical of the Chenderoh species. Every take of the bait was a rough and crude affairs. If you were not careful, your tackle might get pulled into the river as what happened to Guna the week earlier.
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| This grass carp took Gurdip's worm bait and got into trouble. |
I don't know why, but I suspected it was because of the companies they kept. Those baungs, lampams and changka lulangs (a type of catfish) do not possess the word 'table manners' in their vocabulary. So what could you expect? Peer pressure, I presumed (that's what the psychologist termed it).
Gurdip and Guna continued to land and release featherbacks. Many were lost when they headed for the many sunken trees here. Gurdip lost a big one when an estimated 5 kg giant jumped and dislodged the hook. For those fish that fight deep and did not head for the surface, they were survivors. Making use of the many underwater obstacles, they were experts in hanging you up and thumbing their noses at you.
One of the most surprising things about the feather backs here was they relished worms instead of the usual river prawns or small fish. The worms that we used were known as cacing gerlang. They are normally found near dirty streams where the earth is black and rich in humus. When pricked with a hook they would exude a thick, yellowish liquid. Maybe it was this liquid that was attracting the feather backs.
Do not stint on your baits. "Big baits catches big fish" as the saying goes. Be generous, so that those worms covered the whole hook. Leave both ends of the worm free as they were very enticing when they wriggle in the water.
Most featherbacks will be lip hooked if you maintain a taut line. The straight taut line will ensure early warning if the fish picked up the bait. It will also cause the rod tip to bend down suddenly. If the line is left limp, there will be no alarm as the featherbacks here will just swallow and pull without hesitation. As such, they will be mostly gut hooked.
River fishing sometimes produces a lot of pleasant surprises. During one of the trips, Gurdip hooked on to a monster. The giant grass carp took the worm bait and was landed after a few powerful runs. Yes, being herbivorous they sometimes do relished the occasional worms. Luckily it didn't head into the sunken trees. It must be the escapees from some fish ponds. With their adaptability and the abundance of food, they grew to fantastic sizes.
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| These were the cacing gelangs used and the way we hooked up the worms on the hook. |
The folks here used to wait on top of some trees to shoot the carps when they come near the banks for food. The reason for the abundance of the featherbacks in this area could be due to the fact that the folks here do not like feather backs.
According to Pn. Rohaya (one of my colleagues, whose husband hails from Kampung Gajah area), the locals got an aversion to consuming featherbacks. It was handed down by words of mouth from the village elders that the featherbacks were transform from cats. As a result, they cannot eat featherbacks without feeling nauseated. My sympathies go to them but I am not complaining.
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