Fish tales & bonding.....

Double hook up of ikan gelama papan...

As far as I could remember, fishing has always been my greatest hobby in life. The twitch of the fishing line to the ferocious tug at the end of the fishing line are the direct enjoyment for adrenaline fishing junkie like me.  However, with never ending work commitments and ever pressing deadline, work expectations and slavery to moronic management, the window of opportunity to do recreational fishing diminished slowly as time goes by. 

However, with careful planning, I was able to do some fishing during my holidays. Tanjong Tokong was the venue for my little pleasure in life together with my son, JWee and Darren, my son's friend. I guess, I must admit that I have never met a hardcore angler like Darren. That day, he travelled  by train from Alor Star, boarded the ferry to get to Penang and then we picked him up for a quick bite of McDonalds and we are off to Tanjong Tokong. Thereafter, upon completion of our little fishing pleasure, Darren would then board the ferry and leave for his home in Alor Star. That is hardcore,man. My utmost respect for such an angler.

JWee with his ikan kembong...

Coming to our fishing outing, SLing and my sister , Lee Lee was teasing us if we are going to get any fish that day. I guess, it was quite daunting as I have not seen the terrain of my fishing spot and the teasing was bothering me. What if we ended up empty handed? No! No! No! It will not happen on my watch. No way are we coming back empty -handed. 

After completing our pleasantries, the three of us, JWee,Darren and myself headed towards our fishing destination that day. Upon arrival at that quaint place, I realised that it was really a nice day for fishing. The breeze was good while the weather was even better. It wasn't a particularly hot day but you definitely can feel the heat. Heading towards the end of long walk to our fishing spot, I scouted out the area for a while before setting up my fishing gear. I brought out my trusty 5' light weight fishing rod and my trusty Surecatch small reel. I then rigged up my hooks and bait while the two young men got themselves ready. The previous days before our fishing trip, I had tied some hooks for JWee and I had offered the same special hooks to Darren. I had learnt from my colleague, Firdaus that the secret to getting good size fish lies in the hook used and the bait used. The rest is the grace of God! That is what I believe la........Thanks, Firdaus for the valuable insights on hooks and baits. 

JWee and Darren with their fish......

I must admit and give glory to God that before casting out my line and bait, I prayed for a good harvest of fish and that I may land a sizeable fish. As my hook and bait hit the waters, I was prayerful and hopeful for a fish. The two young men did the same and I knew from experience that each and everyone of us are hopeful whenever our hooks hit the waters. I remembered asking my son if he had caught any fish here. He told me that he had caught a fish here while some of his friends had been unlucky. I told my son confidently that we will catch some fish that day and he gave me a smirk. While speaking to him, I felt a nibble, then a tug and I yanked the line with a flicker of my wrist. Then I felt the line again and noted that the tug was still there. I got up and started to reel in my line; excitingly sure that I had a fish at the end of my line. The anticipation was really killing me as I reeled in and when I brought the line out of the water, there lies a healthy looking 7" ikan gelama papan!  

JWee with his puffer fish

Euphoria feeling of gladness, happiness, proudness and a sense of joy overwhelmed my body! It was a fantastic feeling. It was as though I had won the first prize of the social welfare lottery,man! I must tell you that all the line as my pointer finger was feeling the line, I had uttered, " Lord, give me one fish...gimme one fish....one fish, Lord.....one fish, Lord" for about 10 minutes when it actually happened. I am really thankful to the Lord for this, really. It wasn't my skills or the baits or the hooks - it was His blessings!

After turning in my fish into a plastic container I had brought, it was the turn of Darren to get a fish and it was a big ikan duri. ( catfish family ). Minutes later, it was JWee's turn to get a fish. It was like that throughout our entire fishing time there. We shared great laughter and fun as we hooked up fish after fish. The highlight was when JWee caught an ikan kembong and that was amazing indeed. We were terribly disappointed not to get more ikan kembong as usually these fishes travelled in a shoal.

We had our rough patch but amusing times too when we hooked up more ikan duri and puffer fish. Sometimes, we thought we had hooked up a big fish judging by the weight and the heavy tugging of the fishing line but it turned out to be ikan duri or puffer fish. I was glad too that I had the opportunity to teach the young men on how to handle the catfish which had stinging spike at the top and two sides. I count it a privilege and blessing to be able to pass on such knowledge to them. Now, they would be able to handle the catfish when they catch one with their friends. 

Another puffer fish.......

After a three hour fishing time, the dark cloud begun to gather rapidly signalling an imminent heavy downpour and thunderstorm. The fishes were still bitting as I noted a big school of fish were heading towards our fishing spot but I guess, safety comes first, no matter what.  All in all , we had about 20 fishes that day; a mixture of ikan kembong, gelama papan, ikan kapas and ikan duri. 

Yeah, I really enjoyed myself out there that day together with JWee and Darren. I thanked this two young men for making an old bloke like me one satisfied fishing enthusiast. I guess, I will treasure this moment very much as I get to spend time with my son and catch a bountiful of fishes too. 

It was a great day that day and I wanna thank the Lord for the bountiful blessings. I must admit that I can do this when I retire. I guess, what I am trying to say is that I can see myself catching fish when I retire some day... sooner or later.  Here, fish..fish...fish....come to papa!~