Pearly's Fishing Adventures 2012! (Updated 10 November 2012)

Post by **Pearly** » Sun Sep 30, 2012 2:34 am

30 September 2012

What?? Nearly October already?? Where does the time go these days?

I patched up the yak again with some "Flexible Vinyl Mender" from ACE Hardware. Good stuff and seems to have done the trick. The old girl may be ok for a while yet!

Went off in search of new water today, so after a bit of off-road adventure, found a small lake which looked quite promising. I did have a couple of hits - I believe they were both Haruan (another type of Snakehead), but no hook-up! Nice place though, so I shall be back with some new lures!

Oh yeah - also made some new rod holders (left my trust old ones on the boat in Rompin!! I wish I had done this from the beginning!! MUCH BETTER!!

Post by **Pearly** » Sun Sep 30, 2012 3:03 am

Oh yah! Nearly forgot:

Here's one of the vids from the last Rompin trip - Merv's pretty good at videos!

http://youtu.be/0Q4Nqm5DF2Y

Post by **Pearly** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:13 pm

07 October 2012

Tried a new lake today, but when I got there, tucked into the bushes, was a makeshift raft - complete with bags of nets! Result = no fish! Moved back onto my old pond, but when I got there, two guys on a small boat were already there. While I was setting up, one of the guys hooked into a big Toman, fought and landed it. I tried my best, but ended up with 3 about this size and a couple smaller. No biggie for me today!

Post by **Pearly** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:26 pm

October 8th 2012

Out again at Ulu Yam. As soon as I got about 20 m from the shore, I was casting small lures out to see if anything was around. A big SPLOSH! sound came from just behind the yak! Didn't see what it was, but whatever it was .... it was BIG! If I knew exactly what an Arapaima sounded like, gulping air down, I would swear that's what it was! SCHLOP!!!

I cast a big deep diver lure to the same spot, but nothing took.

Over to the other side, and cast a small rubber frog around a sunken tree......

At the entrance of this small inlet, a long net had been laid. I lifted it up to see what was caught, and counted about 20 palm-sized Tilapia. Some dead, some alive. Not my business, so left the net where it was - it may belong to one of the Orang Asli who live on the opposite bank, so I guess they rely on this for food or income.

The next bay had a family of 3 otters. Not close enough for a photo, I'm afraid, but I always like to see them. Around the trees, there is always a good selection of Kinfishers, Kites, Eagles and the occasional Hawk-Eagle. Just wish I had a better camera with me!

Moving on from here, the breeze died down and the water glassed over...

Shortly after, I saw another splash near a small sand bank, stretching out into the lake. I changed lure, cast over and BANG!

Getting bigger - bigger than yesterday - but still not the MAMA!!

Came across juvenile Toman rising for air too - LOTS of them!

http://youtu.be/0xo8yvDZYS4

Later on in the trip, the howling of Siamang Gibbons replaced the Agile Gibbons I heard last trip. Just wish I could see them.

Post by **Pearly** » Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:18 pm

The day started out with the sounds of Gibbons howling. As I moved through the lake, Spectacled Langur Monkeys, Pig-Tailed and Long-Tailed Macaques were picking fruits in the trees nearby and a family of Otters were busy catching all the fish! Really beautiful day to be on the water!

Turn the sound up and you can hear the Gibbons at the end!

http://youtu.be/vQS5_QGm_40

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 6:41 am

Great sightings Ian.

Have you ever had any problems with leeches in these waters?
If so, how do you deal with them?

Post by **Pearly** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 3:30 am

I haven't had leeches while kayaking, but I have had them bashing through the jungle on off-road adventures! I HATE LEECHES!!! The bites itch and itch for weeks! You have to burn the leech off so it releases it's mouthparts. If you pull it off, the mouth parts stay in your skin and get infected - then it itches even more!

Post by **Pearly** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 8:18 am

10 November 2012

Had a beautiful day at Seminyih today, kinda South-East of Kuala Lumpur. Non stop rains overnight had left a cool and misty morning. The lake was calm and a tranquil setting for a nice day on the water with my good friend, Amir.

We had just about finished setting up and some more fisho's came down, but they were waiting for their boats!!! So much for having the lake to ourselves today!

We paddled out before the boats and managed to get a bit of fishing in before they motored past.

No fish for us today, but I did have a few unusual visitors....

Post by **Pearly** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:11 am

Paradise lost.....
Went back to a pond in Rawang a couple of weeks ago. There has been a gradual decline in the number of Toman seen on the pond, but this day, I found out why. When I got to the launch site, another boat was already out on the water. I had seen these guys before and knew they were casting lures, so no worries. As the morning went on, I only managed to hook into one Toman on the only take of the morning. Good fight for a juvenile on light tackle.

As I was about to leave, the other guys were also on their way back, so I had a chat. Turns out there have been a lot of nets and long lines placed in the lake over the past few months, so a lot of Toman and big Catfish have been taken.

Looking in their boat, they had a large ice-box, but they said they hadn't caught any fish that day. "Do you eat the Toman?" I asked. "Oh yes, when I can catch them. There used to be a lot of big fish here, up to 15Kg. We could catch 4 or 5 in a day, but not many big ones over 3Kg now." was the answer!

So sad, but the same story in almost all the places I fish around KL.

Post by **Pearly** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:23 am

Caught this nice Toman with my new rod - Ryobi Reventon - Nice rod at a reasonable price!

Didn't wipe the water of the lens before I gave it to someone to take the photo! Doh! Had to paddle to the bank for the photo and then paddle back to release the fish - it was guarding its babies!!

Post by **Pearly** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:24 am

Click on the pic below to see him being released....