Following these comments from various anglers,I've always wanted to visit this place.My golden opportunity came one day when Marcus gave me a call and asked if I would like to head down to Bersia with him.I had been waiting for such offer for quite sometime and without hesitating,we started suggesting the dates for our Toman quest.
Before the trip,Marcus told me that he noticed the Tomans in Bersia will only be active around ten o'clock in the morning.Therefore,we were in no rush of heading Bersia too early in the morning.
We finally reached the jetty at 8.20 a.m.We got rigged up and off we went in search for Tomans.
The view from the launching area.
Me and the boatman,Poje.Real friendly guy.
Marcus a.k.a. Mlye in the MFN Forum.
Beautiful sceneries along the way.
Some parts of the lakes,the river were in Teh Tarik colour.
Some Water Buffaloes spotted from far.
Wild Orchids which can fetch a good price for the locals if sold.
We were using live baits the other day.Keli was the choice of bait.I at first wanted to try out lures but to cast out a lure and a live bait to the rises may not be a good strategy as it may cause a confusion towards the fish on which bait to take.Therefore,Marcus suggested to use the Keli instead as its cheap and if I do have a bust off,it wont be a heart breaking experience as lures these days are so expensive.It didn't take us long to spot the first Toman rises.Although we cast numerous times towards the fries,there were no willing takers.I guess both the Papa and Momma Tomans were away for shopping.
Two more hours into fishing,we spotted another one.This time,the fries were guarded by angry Tomans.I cast out my bait,and it didn't take long before bubbles were seen surfacing.This indicates that the Keli had been hit by the Toman.I struck with couple of short pumps but then the line were still slacking.By the time the line were under tension,I was still short pumping and when the Toman knew its life was at danger,it sprints and the next thing I knew was my FG knotted leader had just given way.Arghhh...Nervousness made me forget the basic steps of fishing for Tomans.
The correct way to fish for Tomans were :
1) Cast towards the rises.
2) Open bail arm of the reel and let the bait swim down to the bottom where the Tomans are waiting.
3) When you can see bubbles on the surface,reel in line until there is a certain tension,then STRIKE!
4) Give short pumps to prevent the Toman from heading straight into the snags.
To wrap the morning session up,we saw two fries.One hook up and none landed.That's a really bad ratio.Marcus suggested that we head towards the huts for a rest as Tomans will be less active during this time.We grabbed this opportunity to catch our forty winks as we didn't have much rest the night before.Now that I had a taste of how the Tomans in Bersia felt like,it was Marcus' turn to pick a fight with the Tomans.We went around potential spots before we saw a school of fries in the middle of the lake.
Cast and BOOM!Hook up!
Toman nearing the surface.
Toman up close.
Nicely hooked on the side of its mouth.
This one weighed 5 kilos.
Beautiful fish nice patterns around its body.
Marcus landed his fish,so it's my turn to give myself another shot at the Toman.We wandered around the lakes and not long after that we spotted another school of fries.I cast and was rewarded with a hook up too.
Brought the fish to the boat side and that's when disaster struck.The estimated 6kg Toman was just hooked at its soft lips and it got away when the boatman tried to lift it up by holding the wire trace.Lifted it only halfway through and that was the last time I saw the fish.It swam away and I even tried to grabbed it.I missed the tail and the boat shook as though the boat may capsized.Of course,I had a good sounding from Marcus for my dangerous and silly act.But I can't help it!It was my first ever Toman which weighs more than a kilo!Obviously now I'm disappointed at not having the opportunity to take pictures of my prized catch.Even the boatman was so sorry about the incident.Oh well,hopefully there were more Tomans that awaits me in the final two hours of fishing.
The Tomans were indeed obliging.I had two more hook ups and both I screwed up my chances.The first being not striking the fish hard enough to enable the hook to penetrate the fish.The second being the fish biting my wire as I didn't put a wire trace long enough.
The failure to land a fish was clearly disappointing for me.I had my chances but I was not able to capitalize it.Marcus gave me few words of encouragement that he was also like that when he started fishing for Tomans.His words sure did soothe my aching heart.To wrap things up,we were blessed with a beautiful sunset.
We left the lake soon afterwards for dinner and then we headed home.It was not a productive trip for me but I did learn a lot on Toman fishing.It was also nice to be fishing with Marcus and definitely there will be more trips together with him to his favorite Toman hunting ground.
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