Fishing with Zak..

Fulfilling a promise...

I told my buddy Zakri "Billy" Baharuddin that I will take him and his son Hidir to fish at my buddy's farm in Karak.
Our first outing was a flop as we failed to land any catch at a paypond in Rawang.
That's paying RM35 for a few hours wasted.
We learned that the modern way of pond fishing has evolved.
Reared fishes are no longer easily baited with the flour and dough.
Scented mixtures are used for "flavour" to attract the fish.
But at Sin Poh Farm, fishing is as basic as ever....

Having breakfast in Karak...

We drove from Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur to Karak town and had arrange to meet Ah Pan, my farmer friend at Sin Poh.
It was raining heavily and by the time things had settled down nicely, we found our way to the farm and started fishing.
At the main pond, the boys didn't have much luck.
It was my rod that hooked up two climbing perches where Hidir had helped in reeling in one.
The boy was very happy.

Father and son walking to the fishing pond

Zak and Hidir

Zak's catch

Hidir at work

Catch of the day!

Plan B

We didn't have much luck at the main ponds, so, we moved closer to Ah Pan's holding pond.
Here, there's at least six tonnes of Tilapias weighing at 400grammes on the average.
The guys had a blast fishing at the holding area and we called it a day after a few hours of good fishing.
The least I can say is that the boy is really happy with his catch as the earlier outing was a sheer disappointment..

A place called Gopeng

A cure for an itch..
Farmer Wong told me that he haven't been fishing for months.
The rainy season had brought along good fortune as demand for greens have been high.
Despite that, he invited me to tag along on a fishing trip to Gopeng, Perak.
For Wong, its an opportunity to pick up his motorized pump in Teluk Intan, which is an hour's drive away from the location.

The plan
After feeding the dogs, I drove to Karak.
There, I met up with Ah Pan and Wong. We set out towards Gohtong Jaya near Genting Highlands and rolled down towards Batang Kali.
From the Selangor border, we drove towards Sungkai where we had lunch at Choy Kee restaurant which is known for their pork trotters and slow-cooked ikan Terubuk.
Following that, we left for Gopeng.
That was where I met Farmer Chong, a friend of Ah Pan and Wong.
We left our luggage at his home where we spent a night and took off to a fishing pond.

An old article at the makan place

A story told through time and again...
My farmer friends told me about their massive haul from a pond in the Lawan Kuda farm near Gopeng.

Their usual catch would run into the dozens and each ikan Haruan (snakehead) would easily weigh-in above 2kgs.
I always take stories as such with a pinch of salt.
We only had a few hours at the pond.
I had a few nibbles and a strong bit on my bushwhacker lure.
That was it.
Ah Pan landed one fish, while the heavily-pressured Farmer Wong had a small catch.
We decided that it was best to release all the fish back to the pond and called it a day..

Trying my luck

Ah Pan at work...

Farmer Wong's catch of the day

Our good host
We left the pond at 7:30pm. 
It got dark and as soon as we reached Farmer Chong's home, most of us had freshened up.
I checked my phone which was flooded with missed calls and tonnes of messages.
It was work-related and when I returned an 'urgent' call, the voice on the other side of the line was rather frantic.
That's the problem when you deal with people who are afraid and completely in the dark about the present work situation.
Dealing with such ninkampoops raises my blood pressure. Nevertheless, I had it sorted out and dealt with the issue the following day.
The rest of the night, we caught up with Farmer Chong and his friends.
Chong hosted us to tea while Farmer Wong brought some durian to entertain his host.
Spare the meager catch, the night went down well...

Sunset

Our great host - Farmer Chong

 

Back to basic

Boredom...
My off days are coming to an end.
I spent the first two days doing my chores, cooking and some laundry.
Then, I had this inspiration of giving Ah Pan, my old buddy a call.
Later in the day, he rang me up and ask if I am coming over to Karak, which is about an hour's drive away from Subang Jaya.
I said 'yes' and went looking for my fishing gear.

The old faithful
I found my obsolete Shakespeare travel fishing rod and my Shakespeare Dimension ultralight reel which I had purchased many, many years ago.
Till now, they are in perfect working condition.
I packed these up and loaded it into my car.
"You going fishing?," Michelle asked.
"Yeah...," I responded.
I haven't been fishing for at least two years. 
Been busy with cycling and photography and had forsaken the most basic hobby.


On the road again...
I found myself on the East Coast Highway.
Destination: Bentong, Pahang.
Arrangements were made to meet Ah Pan at Aik Huat coffee shop in Bentong.
Now, this place is a favourite gathering spot for cyclists, and its also our meeting point.
Before I proceed, I had to drop him off at his mechanic's workshop in the outskirts of Bentong.
"Mr Sam! How are you?," asked Ah Hou, the mechanic.
This successful young man who runs a workshop had just invested in a Polygon Helios 900, and is a regular cycling kaki of Farmer Wong and Ah Pan.
I made my way to Farmer Wong's place in mukim Sertik and was surprised to find so much change has taken place.
The government is building a concrete bridge linking his farm to the outside world.
Farmer Wong's wife, Maggie, has moved out and is living in town with her son Wong Fei.
At the farmhouse, I found out that Ah Pan had inherited Farmer Wong's Colnago road bike, which is worth about RM20,000.
His room is full of bicycles now. I guess the cycling craze had gripped Farmer Wong.

Ah Pan and the bikes

Walking the dog and checking out the new fish pond

Plenty of catching up to do
Farmer Wong is a happy man.
His growing plot is the only Good Agricultural Practise (GAP) farm in Pahang.
Now, he is the prime example of hardwork.
I was also glad to see my article on his effort being pinned on his wall.
Wong told me that he had invested in freshwater fish aquaculture.
This is expected to generate about RM100K a year during harvest.
I am glad that things are working out for my friends..


A skill that will never go away.. 
I learned to fish at the age of 9.
And as far as I could remember, my first catch was a Tilapia (Tilapia mossambicus) landed on a handline at an abandoned housing project in Kampung Baru. 
I have fished in streams, lakes and the ocean. 
This outing is no different. 
I call it a refresher course..

My catch: A red Tilapia

The patience game

A decent lunch: Curry wild boar and a fried egg

Fishing is fun!
Ah Pan led me to a pond at the other side of the farm.
It was inhabited by an old farmer, who was paralyzed after a stroke some months back.
Today, he is in a great shape and to my surprise, the old dude speaks fluent English!
We spent a couple of hours fishing there, while the old farmer wanted some manure from Farmer Wong's place.
Ah Pan landed the most Tilapia which was released back to the pond.
I managed to land a few and before we knew it, the weather had ran foul.
We went back to the farm as I made my way back to Bentong to drop off Ah Pan at his mechanic's workshop.
Spent the evening in Bentong exploring some food stalls which I never knew existed and later head back out to the highway home.
To me, it was a weekend well-spent with friends. 
And Sunday, its back to the grind!