Fishing - Paradise? Part 1

Fishing is like golf or as Forrest Gump said: "Life is a box of chocolate. You never know what you are going to get". Even if you are not at sea but at a river or pond. In the old days, the ponds will have tilapia, grass carps, big head carps, Japanese carps and even Soon Hock and eels. You don't know what is at the end of the line but you know it is going to be one of these and this is part of the fun especially when you got a fish and then the ensuing fight. I mentioned golf because the stalking of the bites, the fight and hauling the fish is like your chase for Eagles and Birdies.

Later, the business side of it began to spawn. The ponds got much smaller such that you don't have more fun of casting your line longer like hitting it off with a driver. Do you know how fun it is to cast your line long, look at hooks, line and sinker flying into the distance and final drop into the waters, listening to the sound of the fishing line with this action, reeling the line taut and then setting up your rod on its rod stands, putting on an indicator and then waiting for the bites?

And so we came to what appeared to be one of the biggest  if not the biggest pond today (still not big enough) but I think costs would escalate if it got any bigger. What is special about this pond is the variety of fish available and it is largely meant for "sport fishing". If you were to drive there, from the car park, you will have to pass through the main area where you can immediately see some very large fish swimming about in the pond near the toilets.

Just take a look at this Giant Siamese Carp!

You can see that it is a place for family where even the youngest members can have fun like catching small fish in the man-made drains.

Staffs can be identified by the blue T-shirt with their logo.

There was a big tank in the office shed where you will find fish like the Red Tail Catfish.

Temensis too.

Welcome to the pond. Haven't seen one like this for a long time. This is probably the closest I have gotten in finding a fishing pond that looked like those that we went to as children and youths. The blue containers are probably where they grew their plants and some "live' fish for baits.

We looked for and found a spot.

Then we set up our equipment.

We have some bites. I got a strong tug as the indicator was bouncing and I lifted the rod and gave it a good whack. The rod was bending and my son help to haul up the catch with the scoop net. Alas! It was a Walking Catfish.

I do not like Walking Cats. That is why I did not carry it up and hold it in my arms to pose for a shot.

It wasn't extremely huge but it was quite big. We released it.

Put in new baits and waited again.

The shelter is quite nice but I wish people take more care of the facilities like the table and benches and not make them dirty.

This was where we went.

Fishing can develop patience in us and build character. I hope this young man is benefitting from it.

While the old man suffered.

The scoop has been largely under-utilised.

If one is out in the desert all day you can get hallucination and think you found an oasis just like sailors out at sea thought they saw mermaids. Bored fishermen will find things to do like being reminded of these plants we used to play with when young and looking at the reflection of the clouds in the water.

Even a bullock cart on display looked interesting.

Then you imagine, hallucinate and ask when your photo will appear in this columns dedicated those who came and caught huge fishes.

Like this Big Head Carp (Song He). This was the most prized fighter of my time.

You'll be surprised that you can get Tememsis or Peacock Bass here.

An Alligator Gar.

Sea Bass.

Pacu.

They do not call this a Big Head Carp for nothing. The head is really huge in proportion to the body. Hmmm, a brainy fish.

Look! Arapaima!! Awesome!

Snakeheads and catfish.

Grass Carp, another great fighter of my time.

You want a big head carp then try using bread and "kng" and they say it can grow up to 50kg!

This is a more interesting catfish - the Red-Tailed Cat.

Patin too (another catfish family). Just two sheds away, a family of probably grandpa, dad and son were fishing and they were the most fortunate group there that day. They must have hauled at least 8 fish.

You can buy live baits if you wish.

As the day dragged on, got hotter with few bites in between you can only shake legs.

To Be Continued...