Ultralight Tackle Fun

A grudge match..

I was told by Ah Pan that Sin Poh Farm's Wan Yee (grass carp) would feed only after 5pm.
And based on previous experience, I would concur.
My personal record was a 6kg Wan Yee on a 6lb line. That was more than 20 years ago when I started fishing seriously.
So, to verify what Ah Pan had told me, I took a trip to Sin Poh Farm and stayed a night there.
The plan was to set out from Subang Jaya to the farm after lunch. 
This means, a real slow drive on a relaxed pace.

With Ah Pan at Sin Poh Farm

After driving for an hour, I reached the farm. 
Ah Pan was tending to some orders and had to make a delivery run.
I chilled out with his dog Bobby and waited a bit until it was time to head down to the pond.

My ultralight rig

The Shimano Nasci Ultralight spinning reel

Checking out the scene...

Clearing out the large tilapias

It seems that the larger tilapias in the pond would feed only later in the day.
This is roughly about twilight where the sun is over the horizon. They hate feeding in mid day or on a hot afternoon.
We tried out the small pond at the pumphouse and almost instantly, Ah Pan landed a good sized fish, about one kilogramme in weight.
On a 2lb line, the fight was tremendous. 
One must be really careful not to burst the line and the larger the tilapia gets, the harder the surge..

Rain over the horizon..

Ah Pan with a sizable catch

Strike! And a 20-minute straight fight...

The light was fading fast, I did a time-check and it was already past 06:30.
It didn't help as the day was really gloomy.
Ah Pan chummed the pond and I can see large water streaks heading to the pellets floating on the water surface.
I rigged up my line and hook with a piece of dog kibble and casted my line.
Slowly, the line became taut and when I held up my rod high, I had set the hook.
It was a solid strike and I began a fight with the fish at the end of the line.
With an ultralight tackle, I cannot afford to set the reel's drag tension too tight.
At the time I was fighting the fish, the drag setting was just right.
And I left the parabolic rod and the ultralight spinning reel to do the job of tiring the grass carp.
Ah Pan had estimate its weight to be around 3kgs.
With the rod on hand, I was controlling the grass carp, and each time I reeled it to the side of the pond, it made a surge.
This is when skill and patience meet.
If you are skittish, the line will snap.
But, throughout the 20-minutes, I had the upper hand.
And as the grass carp had shown signs of wear, I reeled it in slowly so that Ah Pan could scoop it up with both his hands.

Lifting the ultralight rod for extra leverage

The fight rages on.. 

Catch of the day..

Throughout the fight, I kept my rod straight and upright.
This is so that the hook remained on the fishes mouth and there's no slacking on the line.
My reel's drag did its job by providing enough tension to stop the fish from surging any further.
On the side of the pond, there are weeds. I need to keep the fish out of it and lead it around and all the grass carp did was surge and dive.
It's easy to lose the fish on a light line as it snaps off easily.
I held on as long as I could and by sunset, the fish was landed.
This was perhaps one of the best fight I had with a large fish on a 2lb line and I'm glad to have experienced it.
So, that said, I am geared for the larger 5kg carp that is still lurking in the pond...