Midnight Madness

Last weekend, Navin and myself decided to go fishing at an abandoned mining pond in Rawang. the plan was to start fishing around 10.00pm friday night, and continue till about 3.00 am saturday morning. This would be our fourth trip to this pond. The first few times were quite ok. Managed to get a PB and a few haruans. (read : Rawang part 1, Rawang part 2 and Rawang part 3).

As usual, plans never to go as planned. We had trouble looking for bait. Most of the shops we went to ran out of earthworms. We finally managed to get a few bags from the Taman Desa Paypond. We only arrived at the pond at around 10.45 pm. After setting up our base camp, we proceeded to rig our baits and fished. The night was eerily quiet. Could be because of the Hungry Ghost Festival. There was no one else fishing that night. Just the two of us.

We both used two rods each. I rigged both my bait with earthworms and Navin rigged one rod with earthworms and the other using dedak. After rigging and our baits we place in the water, we waiting for a bit.

I got the first bite. The bite was not too strong. I didn't have much problem reeling the fish in. Could be because the fish was small and my fishing set was meant for a heavy duty fishing. hehehhehe.... The fish I caught was a belida (featherback).

:::... Featherback aka Belida ...:::

:::... My belida caught using earthworms ...:::

About 20 minutes later, I had another bite. Same thing. fight was not that exceptional. It gave very minimum fight. Guess what surfaced..??? It was a marble gobi (ketutu, ikan hantu). Said to be a very good and sought after table fish. too bad it was too small to be consumed.

:::... Ketutu @ Ikan Hantu @ Marble Gobi ...:::

:::.. Cute eh ...:::

Navin was feeling the pressure to perform. He re-rigged his bait and waited patiently. His patience was rewarded. His rod gave a slight twitch and on the end of his line was a ketutu.

:::... Small but cute ...:::

The action died down after that. Our original plan of leaving the place at around 3.00am got postponed. Instead we decided to carry on fishing till daybreak. We just sat there waiting for a bite. Sadly, none came. Instead, we were being attacked by mosquitoes. Hugh, hungry mosquitoes.

When the sun finally showed itself, I quickly went for casting outfit. There were lots of waterplay all around. I was casting like mad, hoping for a bite. Halfway in my casting session, Navin called me over. He had a fish with him. Managed to get a juvenile haruan. Not bad...

:::... Juvenile Haruan ...:::

I continued casting and Navin was doing bottom fishing. Result came back zero. When the rays of the sun was getting more intense, we decided to pack up and leave. I would say that the result was quite ok. Wish we had more fish to show. Howver, the fun was not in the catching of fish, but the togetherness that we shared.

:::... The pond ...:::

:::... Different view of the pond ...:::

:::... Our base camp ...:::

Pak Uda, Sungai Buaya Paypond

Location : Pak Uda Paypond, Sungai Buaya, Rawang.
Date : 16 July 2006 & 22 July 2006
Time : Late Noon
Bait used : Earthworms
Number of rods : Sharma : 1 Rod, Navin : 1 Rod
Price : RM20.00 for 4 hour of fishing. (Per Rod)
Total Catch : Nothing big. Belida, tilapia, ketutu and pacu

It has been quite sometime since Navin and myself had gone fishing together. My sister's wedding is getting closer, and I am trying not to look like a baked human for her wedding. So I have been limiting my fishing to late evenings and night fishing.

We headed down to Sungai Buaya to this paypond that we had seen before. This would be our first time fishing there. The pond has lots of tilapia. The size of the tilapia is not that small either. Quite big. I would say more than a palm size.

:::... The Pond ...:::

We quickly rigged our rods and proceeded to fish. Navin got the first bite. We were talking and he didn't pay too much attention to his rod. Suddenly his rod took a dip and fell of the rod holder. Lucky his reflexes was quite quick. He managed to grab hold of just in time. After a short fight, he was rewarded with a handsome pacu.

:::... Navin with his pacu ...:::

The action died down after that. Small tilapia were constantly whacking our bait. Then it happened..!!! I got two strikes in a row. The fishes we not big and didn't put up much fight. But I must say that it was a good fish. Too bad there were quite small. They were quicly released after a quick photo session.

:::... Baby Belida caught by Krazie Fishie ...:::

:::... Baby ketutu caught by me ...:::

The action died down after that. We had minor incident that I would think is worth mentioning here. Sorry Navin. The story goes like this, the both of us were busy talking away and suddenly Navin's rod took a mighty dip. He leaped from his seat to grab his rod, but too late. His rod and reel had olready gone flying into the water. I was laughing so hard till tears started to roll down my cheeks. What a site that was. He looked at me and he was laughing as well. In all our years of fishing, this was the first time that the rod had gone flying into the water. Luckily the pond onwer was around, and we managed to get back the rod and reel. Boy.... I should have taken a picture of him. Too bad....

---End of Part 1---

The following week, we came back to the same pond. This time Navin had a strange contraption with him. Meant to secure the rod in case it decides to go flying again into the water.

Our return trip was not so productive. Yet again we caught a ketutu and a belida. Both were released with a photo taken. The only notable mention was a catfish by Navin.

:::... Catfish by Navin ...:::

This pond is still one of the better ponds that the both of us had gone to. It was quite clean and the fishing fight well. There could be another trip coming in the following weeks to come. Stay tuned folks.

Lure Galore

I have been bitten by the casting bug. Nowadays, I can't help from walking into a tackle shop and leaving it without purchasing anything that can be used for casting. Don't believe me? Take a look at the pictures below.

:::... Plano 4700 Box ...:::

:::... Top level ...:::

:::... Bottom level ...:::

:::... Open Wide ...:::

:::... View of the box after it has been filled up ...:::

:::... Top level, mostly small lures ...:::

:::... Bottom level, mostl bigger lures and accessories ...:::

:::... View of the box when it is filled up with lures ...:::

Replacement Killer

I got myself a new rod to replace my Shakespeare Connoisseur that I had retired recently. (read: retirement).

Here are the technical specifications of my new rod.

Technical Specifications
Abu Garcia “UltraCast”
Model : UCS602MH A
Action : Medium Heavy Action, Fast Action
Line Weight : 10 - 17 lb
Lure Weight : 6 - 15 g
Length : 6’ (2 pieces)

:::... Abu Garcia UltraCast ...:::

:::... Specs of the rod ...:::

:::... The latest addition to my arsenal of gears ...:::

Hopefully this rod would bring many fond memories to me. I can already vision myself hauling monster fishes with this rod. Wish me luck and stay posted on any updates regarding this rod.