CATCHING TILAPIA WITH BARE TREBLE

This article was published in the November 2003 issue of Rod and Line fishing magazine.

Lately I have been spending a lot of time in Taiping on some family errands. Like ants attracted to sugar, we anglers somehow will gravitate to some tackle shops whenever we have some time to kill. The shops that I normally hang around was none other than Syarikat Weng Hwa, which belongs to my friend Chong Peng Kuan.

Being the “thick skin” fellow that I am, I began to ask, beg and threaten for secret fishing spots from the anglers that came to the shop. Maybe he was scared that I would drive away all his customers, Peng Kwan introduced me to Tan. When Tan told me they have been catching tilapias with bare treble hooks, I was not impressed. In fact, I was quite contemptuous of all foul-hooking methods. Sensing my disdain, Tan immediately added their method was above board. All the tilapias were hooked in their mouths! Don’t tell me that they were using lures, I thought to myself.

Immediately my attitude changed from that of disinterest to that of an inquisitive angler. Instead of explaining to me the method of fishing, Tan gave me the direction to the pond where he and his gang normally fish with fantastic results.

This was one of the sheds built over the edge of the pond.

Luckily I was not booked by any traffic police for speeding, for I think I drove quite fast to that pond. Situated near Taman Kaya, this pond was fed by a tiny stream. Following the direction given to me by Tan, I headed to two sheds built over the water edge. Here, a number of anglers were already waiting patiently with rods in their hands. A few of them were seen leaving, struggling under the weight of their catches. I regretted that I did not bring my camera along.

While here, I was made to feel at home by all the friendly anglers. Their comradeship was very infectious. A seat was immediately vacated for me (Actually one must possess some good “jacking” skill). Making myself comfortable, I began to observe those friendly anglers in action.

Their method of fishing, in fact was very innovative. It took advantage of the unique characteristic of the cichlid family….that is their obsessive habit of keeping their nests clean.

A piece of strip lead was attached to the shank of the treble hook to add weight to it.

The tackle used was just rods, reels and lines or telescopic rods and lines with tiny treble hooks attached. The tiny trebles had tiny pieces of strip lead attached to add weight to the hooks. Above the trebles were attached small sliding floats. The distance of the sliding floats to the trebles were adjusted so that the floats would just be floating on the surface of the water when the trebles were resting on the bottom of the pond.

The hooks were lifted up a few centimeters occasionally and then allowed to drop on another spot. This procedure was repeated until the float sank below the surface of the water. They were then allowed to rest there for a few minutes, as the hooks should have dropped into the depressions of the tilapias’ nests.

A piece of colorful cloth was sometimes tied to the hook to make the 'debris' more attractive.

Yes, the tilapias always dig depressions into the sandy bottom of the pond as their nests. They then proceed to clean their nests of any debris so as to impress any prospective mates. This obsessive cleaning habit was fully taken advantage of by the anglers.

If there was a fish guarding the nest, sooner or later it would pick up the hook and deposit it some distance away. The moment the float pooped up to the surface or moves, the angler would strike, thus hooking the tilapia in its mouth. All fish caught this way were lip hooked. Some anglers would decorate their trebles with tiny pieces of colorful cloth to enhance the “piece of debris’, I presume.

Wong proudly displayed his very presentable catches.

Needless to say, my camera was by my side the next time I sojourned to the pond. A few of them were kind enough to pose for me with their catches. I found out too, that the sheds that were built over hanging the water were done the ‘gotong royong’ way.

Not to be outdone, En. Mohd Azlan too held up his trophy.

 One peculiar thing was the tilapias were normally caught around noon to 2.00pm. After 3.00pm the catches would taper off. According to the locals, the fish would have moved to the middle or the deeper part of the pond towards evening as the cast net kakis would come in droves after that time.

The water condition too must be right for a good catch. If it is too muddy, the fishing could not see the hook and the ‘debris’. If it is too clear, the fish could see the hook and line clearly and would shy away.

How the float works: a) Float adjusted to just float on the surface when the treble touches the bottom of the pond. b) Float sinks below the surface of the water when treble drops into the depression made by the fish. c) Float moves or floats to the surface when the fish picks up the hook.

Some purists might condemn this method of fishing. In my opinion, it could be considered as legitimate. After all, lure fishing take advantage of the aggressive nature of certain fish to protect their youngs or territories. Some were caught because the lures looked like some familiar food. Thus fooling the fish to pick up the hook is also the same.

To me, as long as it does not involve wild casting and wild jerking with trebles, it is ok with me. Well, I will leave it to the anglers to make their own judgment.

NIGHT POPPING AT TUKUN PERAK

This article was published in the July 2003 issue of Rod and Line magazine.

Once upon a time, spinning and trolling in Perak were mostly done around Pangkor Island. In fact, trevallies were quite easily caught by just doing spinning around the rocky shores of the island. Trolling past the area where the present naval repair dock is could catch whopper barracudas and queen fish. Yours truly caught quite a few good size barracudas trolling in front of the fishing village of Pangkor too. Due to over harvesting and pollution, we had to move out to Pulau Sembilan to get our thrills.

This giant 26 kg GT caught by Thang on a previous trip was the culprit for giving us the itch.

At Pulau Sembilan, we used mostly Abu and some self-made chrome lures (copies of some Australian lures). Catches were limited to the junior leagues as our tackles were more suitable for catching trevallies of between 2 to 3 kilos in size. Anything more than that meant busted lines and lost lures. We sure were enjoying ourselves back then. All good things must come to an end. Slowly but surely the netters, bombers and bubu layers moved in and our catches began to diminish.

Tales were heard of giant trevallies at Pulau Jarak then, but we could not muster up the courage to go there. Maybe it was because of the professionals’ way of keeping us sport anglers away. Stories of visitors coming to collect money, fishing gears and sometimes kidnapping some poor souls for ransom abound those days.

Thong straining proudly to display his 10kg plus GT.

Many years later when some of my old kakis were catching trevallies at Pulau Jarak, I had lost interest in fishing temporory because I found a more rewarding hobby (making money). When I finally could make the trip there, the catches from popping were limited to the occasional featherweight trevallies.

Recently when Thang invited me to go hunting for GTs at Tukun Perak, I balked at the idea. Being a pensioner financially handicapped and physically out of condition you would feel the same. I guessed that was the biggest mistake of my life for when Thang and Tan came back with photographs and tales of gargantuan GTs, I bent down and asked James to kick as hard as possible, on you know where.

However Thang informed me that another trip was been planned soon. This time I did not wait for an invitation. I just announced that I am going too (being pushy does help sometimes, correction: all the time).

Friday morning saw us at the jetty at “The End Of The World”. (There is this restaurant named “The End Of The World Restaurant”, so this place must be known as The end of the world). Actually it was the jetty at Teluk Bahang, Penang.

The hot sun drenched morning saw the seven of us unloading our gears onto tekong Lim Cheng Sia’s boat. When everything was stowed and the boat prepared for the journey, it was already about noon. I crawled into the cabin to sleep as soon as the boat headed to sea. Being rather excited and impatient, I woke up four times to inquire whether we had reached our destination of not.

At around 6.00pm we finally reached our destination. You guessed it, we immediately started popping. Out flew poppers of all shapes and colors. After a few trips round the island without any strikes we were losing our confidence. Suspicious glances were thrown at Thang and Tan. Our tekong kept encouraging us to carry on.

According to him a group of poppers skipping on the surface of the sea would trigger strikes sooner or later. Talking about experience, I think he was very right, for no sooner has he finished talking my popper was attacked. There was a sudden splash and a plop sound and my popper disappeared. Striking hard to make sure of the hook-up, my rod bent with the strain. Almost immediately it whipped back and I was a little poorer. 

Our tekong, Lim Cheng Sia, with his more than presentable GT.

That monster snapped my line just like that. Of course I took the opportunity to brag. Just like the “body count formula” used by the Americans during the Vietnam War, the practice was to add more bodies to everyone found. So my formula in fishing was to add 20kg to the estimated weight of any fish that broke my line or straighten the hook. Well, I guessed they were really mad with me for rubbing it into them.

Thang struggling with his GT. My poor friend was sweating profusely from the exertion. It was real hard work, you know.

Thang was the next to have a hit. He lost and gained line numerous times before that GT was finally subdued. At a little less than 11 kg, it was a real good start. Following Thang’s catch, everyone was landing fish one after another. The fish provided good fun, but not much satisfaction as they were rather small (Tukun Perak standard). When all action died down we settled down to freshen up and to wait for our GT porridge. Remi, the assistant to the tekong really could cook up a concoction of delicious porridge with the minimal ingredients. Of course nothing was left in the pot.

It was not all GTs. Sometimes we do hit the odd amberjacks and big eye trevallies too.

After dinner, our tekong was urging us to do more popping. According to him, the GTs would be attracted to the surface if all of us were more diligent in our popping. You know lah, after a good porridge dinner and with distended stomachs, most of us would rather have our cup of coffee. Those of us with that black hearted streak were actually giggling at someone curled up at the back of the boat chumming for fish with his half-digested meal.

Even these hooks got broken and bent out of shape.

“GT!”GT!” screamed Lim, our tekong immediately, everyone was scrambling all over the place to grab their rods. Those who were out of shaped and normally move like a snail suddenly became very fast and nimble.

In the dark, all we could see was our poppers creating some flashes on the surface of the water. When the fish struck, we could hear the plop sound and the sudden pulling of the GTs. Pandemonium reigned with our shouts and the screaming of the reels piercing through the darkness. Those with fish on would move to the back of the boat and the next guy moved up to the bow.

Our tekong managed to land a reasonable fish of about 11 kg in weight. He was followed by Thang, who after a tough fight managed to bring up a 12 kg plus GT. I was the next to lock on a 5.6 kg fish. Though it gave a good account of itself, I was not happy as I wanted one of at least 20 kg (The magic of thinking big). The action was so thick and fast that everytime I lock on to a fish that did not run like a locomotive, I would pray hard for it to throw the hook (Wasting time lah).There I go bragging again.

Proofs of the power of the GTs' jaws. These poppers belong to the tekong.

This frenzy action lasted until about 10.00pm, before tapering off. By now all of us were worn out from the exhausting encounter with the GTs of Tukun Perak. Over a hot cup of black coffee, we reminisced about the furious action that had just ended. Slowly, one by one, we crawled into the cabin to dream about the hard fights that we went through.

GT! GT! James’ screams were piercing through my mist cover mind. At first I thought I was dreaming. Or it could be him up to his pranks again. When the commotion became louder, I woke up and realized that everyone was scrambling to cast his popper. Doing the same but with clouded sleepy mind, I started to cast. At 4.30 in the morning, mind you! My wife always complains that when it comes to work I need a siren to wake up.

The guy on my left connected and moved to the back. The one to my right also moved to the back. They came and went came and went while I stayed put. Then I noticed Ah Piuh sitting nearby watching the action. “Are you alright now?” I asked. When he nodded, I asked him why he didn’t join in. At his first cast, he was hit by a GT and he went screaming to the back of the boat. How would you feel if you were in my shoes? Finally, because of divine pity maybe, I had my first strike that morning. Two more tough fights later I was nearing exhaustion.

When Thong’s popper was grabbed, we were thinking it was another of the usual size. All of us stopped fishing when his line kept on going out. After gaining some line Thong had to just hang on while the whopper took out more line. Finally he could not take it anymore and tried to stop the spool with his hand. You should be there to see it happened. His 60lbs braided line just snapped like a pistol going off with water droplets  from the bursting line looking like gun smoke too, whew!

Our tekong also lost a fish through busted line. At the end of the action, we lost count of the number of lost fish through broken lines, broken poppers and opened hooks. By 6.00am before daylight, all the action died down again.

The rest of the morning we went casting round the island but here was not much action. Maybe it was because we were exhausted from the action and from lack of sleep too. The whole afternoon and evening saw us lazing around and resting to prepare for the fight in the late evening. When evening came we went round the island again. Other than I catching a 2 kilo plus specimen, there was no strike. We finally anchored our boat at one hot spot and cast until sunset. When 9.00pm came we still could not raise any strike, we decided to leave for home as we had ran out of adrenaline.

Looking back, I feel that all the trebles on most of the poppers should be changed to 5X extra strong to prevent heartaches when you connect to a giant!