Where The Party Never Stops...

Perfect Valentines Gift Feb 14th

2009-02-15T23:49:00.000-08:00

Senangin Casting 16th August

2009-01-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

The Final Casanova-ing Session 25th July

2008-07-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Enter the World of Peacock Bass 24th July

2008-07-31T08:17:00.001-07:00

It's the Eating That Is Fun,Not the Catching 19th July

2008-07-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

Sweet Moments from Kuala Gula 12th July

2008-07-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

Out of the blues,I received an SMS from Lannun whether I was interested in going for a recce trip to Kuala Gula whereby our target species will be the Sembilang(we nicknamed it The Ninth Fish) or the Jenahak(I first thought it was as big as Loban's but was told it was not afterwards ).As I was on a tight budget,I did ask on how much will the trip cost.Knowing it will not be that expensive,I then agreed to go for it since this place's fishing pressure was not that high which equates to greater catch rates.

We had breakfast together before heading towards the jetty as we were all starving having left Penang at 5.30a.m.We were supposed to leave Penang at 5a.m but yours truly could not wake up on time(actually my first time late for Lannun's trip) which certainly made the rest of the fishing crew a bit pissed.It turned out to be some sort of a blessing in disguise as Nasir himself came late for breakfast so time were not lost.The anglers were 2-Lan,Come-Lan,Roslan(it's the same person actually),Eddie a.k.a. Hairtail(Star Editor based in KL),Choo the Kerbau and Nasir(the famous boatman for Kuala Trong).

When we reached the jetty where will be boarding the boat,we were pretty surprised that it was not an ordinary jetty.

They even had a restaurant and it is situated across the mini bridge.

The jetty where we will hop onto the boat.Misai doing bottom fishing for Saiseng while waiting for the boat to arrive.Hehe.

Chalets were also available if you wish to stay over.You can actually fish right from the balcony as seen here by the resident of the chalet.Better be careful of where you were casting to if you were to fish from the balcony as boats will always be cruising here and there.

There were even stairs for you to board the boat which really helped us to load us the heavy stuffs.

The place was something like a fishing village with fishermen unloading can be seen unloading their catches to their designated unloading bay.I would estimate around 30 boats or more were parked there at that time.

During our journey to our fishing spot,we had to go through all these stilts that were constructed every now and then.I was puzzled on why these stilts were built and after few explanations from the guys,I finally knew why it were built.These stilts were built to function like the unjams in Yan to attract fishes to breed and gather around it.

The sky was pretty clear which means a really hot day ahead awaits us.Note that we had no shed or canopy to hide ourselves from the heat and sun as the boat was not equipped with it and to make things worst,there were no patches of clouds to be seen.

Choo with the customary Longkang Gang sign which signalled the start of the trip.

Seen here Nasir was performing his prayers for a good day of fishing.

He was opening the durians actually and not performing prayers.Hehe.

Misai tried to hide the durian in his mouth from the camera.

It accidentally came out from his mouth when I asked him to blow Choo a kiss.

After an hour of ear deafening boat ride(from the loud noise coming from the engine),we finally reached our fishing spot.OK...now which stilts should we start with?

The stilts that were constructed stretched to a few miles long.A really magnificent sight to behold.

The deckhand of the boat seen here tying the boat to the stilt so that we can begin our fishing.To my surprise,he was using a Berkeley Cherrywood as well unlike most boatman which will use lesser known brand products.

The weapon of choice for the day was the umpun-umpun.According to Nasir,this umpun-umpun were regarded as "drumsticks" to Sembilang and Jenahak.Just in case you were wondering how much would these slimy creatures cost,it was at a bargain price of RM40.BARGAIN?!If you don't know the price of these effective bait,let me give you a rough idea.In Penang,buying 4(ONLY FOUR) long umpuns will cost you RM10!Look at the amount that we had.Wasn't it a bargain?Hehe.

Choo again with the LKG sign with a bit of style incorporated.The umpun as his "accesories".

He caught the first fish(Gelama) of the day not long after he dropped his bait into the water.He was posing the Kurauking(fellow MFN forummer who always poses like this when he displays his fish) style.

It took me a little while(was not familiar with the use of Circle Hook.The way to use the Circle Hook is to not striking the fish but to let the fish hook onto it itself) before I landed my first fish(Gelama) of the day.Yahoo!I won't be going home fishless.Hahaha!

Me setting a good example to the fellow anglers out there.Please practice Catch and Release whenever possible.Hehe.

Nasir who was at the front of the boat,was quitely trying out the possible hideouts of the Sembilang.His efforts were then rewarded with the first Sembilang of the trip.By any means,it was a very good size to consume.We asked him where he landed the Sembilang and he stated that it was near the stilts.*Hints*

During my Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar with the great T.Harv Eker,I could remember him saying,"copy success from successful people".I followed suit of what Nasir did and so did Choo.Soon afterwards Choo had a Sembilang for his efforts in getting his bait presented near the stilts.In the picture above,Choo was removing the spikes of the Sembilang.You wouldn't want to get stung by this venomous species.Not only they are excruciatingly painful but they can also cause serious illness.

Kim Kor Fishing 8th July

2008-07-08T06:57:00.000-07:00

Bersiar-siar in Bersia 5th July

2008-07-06T07:53:00.000-07:00

Following reports from my fishing buddy,Marcus that Bersia had not been visited by ANYONE over the past one month(which equates to low fishing pressure) ever since the petrol price increase and babies are spotted everywhere(according to the boatman),I've been badly tempted to give this place a go.I was actually in a dilemma before this as I was unsure of going for this trip or to go for the Tenggiris in Yan(budget constraints which limits myself to only a 'major' trip for the month).After much considerations on the pros and cons of the two,I've finally decided to go Bersia as the temptation of hard pulling Tomans was too great to resist.

As usual in our previous two trips,we first met up at Recsam first before Marcus gave me a lift in the Pajero.I hopped into his jeep when he arrived at 5.45am.

The journey took us one and a half hours to get to the Bersia.Getting to Bersia could be a lot longer if it was not Marcus who drove.The road was covered with thick fog but Marcus drove with not much trouble as though he knew this place so well.He did know they place very well.To date,he visited Bersia close to twenty times!

Just a kilometer away from the jetty,we packed our lunch at a local Nasi Lemak shop.To our surprise,we will not be the only ones in Bersia for the day.We met Dolah and Takin at the same Nasi Lemak shop and how sneaky of them not letting us know that they were going Bersia.Not only the two of them that will be joining us for fishing that day,but FIVE of them.That also includes Akashah,Defender and Din Idola.Oh well,all the best to these lure casters.

After grabbing whatever we need,we soon headed off to the jetty.Poje was seen standing near his bike coolly and patiently waiting for our grand arrival.After parking the car and unloaded the stuffs into the boat,we began our fishing adventure for the day.

I was in an upbeat mood in facing the hard fighting Tomans of Bersia.

My fishing buddy,Marcus whenever I go Bersia.He's been there close to 20 times over the past 2 years!He told me Bersia is and will always be his favorite playground.I fully understand why with all the great species the lake has to offer.

Our really friendly and helpful boatman,Poje.He will always keep us updated with the number of babies spawned in the lake.Talking about customer relationship!

It was pretty misty that day with mist covering most part of the forest.

More beautiful sceneries to behold.

At 8.18am,I struck Jackpot!Marcus lost 2 Tomans earlier so he decided to let me cast(we took turns casting until had a hookup) which I made the best out of the chance given to me.A well over 6kg Toman was landed without much problems.The current catch will be my new personal record erasing my previous biggest at 5kg."Melvin,taruh itu ikan ke bawah.",Poje instructed.I asked Poje politely why."Itu ikan kencing!",Poje said.What the hell?!I put the fish down immediately.I must have scared the fish until it pissed onto...my pants.Gosh! Nevertheless,it was a good catch to start out the day.

Marcus posing with my fish.He couldn't resist handling a big one like this I guess.Hehe.

When I was releasing the fish,I was hoping that it would nicely swim away which I hoped to snap a few good pictures of it but it managed to break free from my grasp as it was still powerful.Oh well,at least I'm pretty darn sure it would survive!

At 8.35a.m.,we spotted another school of babies.Not wanting to lose another Toman after the previous two losses,Marcus struck hard and gave the Toman no chance of going into the snags.A few blistering runs,up came an estimated 3kg specimen.It was a beauty.It had apple green colored scales and surprisingly,it fought hard despite its small size.Like what Poje mentioned in the video,"dia kecik tapi dia gila".It was so true.

At 8.56a.m.,we spotted yet another school of babies.WOW!Things were getting really hot that day.In just less than an hour of fishing,we've already encountered 5 schools of babies.I wasted no time and cast towards the babies.As I saw bubbles emerging from the depths,I knew my offerings had been taken.I struck hard and was rewarded with a smaller specimen this time.It was estimated roughly 3kg as it was something like Marcus' size.

At 9.20a.m.,Marcus landed another Toman.This time,it was bigger compared to his last and it was even more beautiful.The apple green like scales on its upper part of its body were even brighter than his previous and what a catch!

This picture was taken during the release of the fish.Check out the Mohawk-styled fins.Looked badass and the fish sure was a badass with an attitude.

Note the rod in my mouth and the one Poje was holding.It WAS an Abu Conolon ONE PIECE which became TWO PIECES after landing this fish at 9.21a.m.It broke below the last guide while I was fighting the fish.Armed with a broken rod to fight a brutal fish was not an easy task at all.The reason why my rod broke was mainly because of my reel drag being locked too tight as I wasn't high rodding.I seriously underestimated the breaking strength of the 30lbs Stren braided line that I was using.Hmm...I think what you guys said about the breaking strength of Stren lines were very true indeed.I've proved(not proud at all in proving this point) that a PE1-3 rod breaks before the Stren line does.

When reality kicked in,I certainly wasn't too happy with the rod being broken.What a very expensive Bersia trip indeed.I looked towards the bright side soon afterwards and came to a conclusion that there was no point whining as what was over is over.5 fishes already caught in a mere one and a half hours of fishing.I began to visualize and daydream about how many will we end the day with?The numbers kept playing in our minds and off we went in search for more Tomans to keep ourselves entertained.

I had yet to take much pictures of the sceneries in Bersia ever since we started fishing as the fishing was just too good.When the fishing slowed down,I started to snap a few shots and I love this picture best.I don't think I could've taken a better picture than this.

We always kept our eyes open on the lookout for more babies.With the aid of three good pair of eyes,we just could not spot them.The wind picked up and this made the sightings even worst as waves formed around the lake which complicated our sightings for ball of ripples on the water whenever the Toman babies surface for air.

We met up with Choo(we nicknamed him Kerbau as he's so huge in size) in Bersia again.He popped out from the bush just to ask us how was the catch rate.I told him it was good and he then told me he's busy.My wild guess would be he was busy having an orgy with the Busty Buffys.

Time flied and soon it was already afternoon.We decided to take a break as our stomachs began growling for food and it was timely as it was scorching hot.My wish was granted when I prayed to God for a hot day ahead during our car journey.At that moment,I just wished it would rain as I was sweating profusely.I couldn't take the heat anymore and decided to take my clothes off to cool myself down.Poje on the other hand,opted the more traditional way of cooling himself down;by taking a piss to release the heat from his body.

We spent around half an hour to take a valuable rest.Soon afterwards,we were venturing everywhere in search of Tomans again.Our hopes for landing another Toman increased when we saw bubble trails leading into a disclosed area.We then knew the babies(remember that I mentioned they surface for air?) were inside so we headed in to check if our predictions were right.

Bubble trails were everywhere but where were the babies?

As we were searching for the babies,we saw a pair of Tomans circling each other it what appeared to be a mating ritual(sadly no pictures).It was an awesome sight as they were trying to reproduce more hard fighting Tomans for our fishing pleasure in the future but I had to admit that we did try to disturb them but the fact that they were so close to the snags,it would be 99.9% that we would snag so we decided not to even attempt our casts.Though we were a bit disappointed not being able to fish for them,I was still a happy guy.The fish did what they were supposed to;which was to ensure the survival of their species.They were very responsible parents indeed

Soon afterwards,we saw a ball of red little creatures submerging from the bottom.Yes,Babies(*Toman babies were red in color when they were first born and will slowly change in color to black,then brown and lastly the black+white/purplish black+white/green+black and white as it grow)!They were playing hide and seek with us actually and we spent 15 minutes or so in hope that they will be out from the snags.They eventually did after we applied our ninja(stealth and silence) approach as they probably would think that the boat that we were on was actually a floating log.

Though we managed to lure the babies into safer waters,we didn't had much luck with its guardian.The ball of red babies had no parents looking after them and my guess would be their parents must be the ones that we saw sharing intimate moments together near the snags.

With no parents around,Toman babies were easy targets for predators,local fishermen and poachers.You must be wondering why on earth people would take these cute little creatures as they don't have any meat or value?WRONG!Local fishermen use the babies as bait to fish for the Featherbacks or the Baung(known as Pak Suk Kung) while the poachers can sell a baby EACH for RM0.70 cents to aquarium shops.Now that's a lot of money involved.Thank God for these babies as we were Toman conservationist and mean to harm to these little ones.

Due to lack of sleep the night before,both me and Marcus felt really sleepy during our fishing.In fact,my back ached so bad that I asked Marcus to swap places with me as I needed a place to lie down.Instead of sleeping where Marcus was sleeping,I slept at the place where he placed his feet.It was scorching hot as mentioned earlier and yet I could doze off.Now just imagine how tired I was that day.I believe I was so tired that even with three more cans of Redbull,it would not help me much.

To make things worst,we had only 3 bites in the evening session and that sums up our day.Though we started the day brightly,8 hours without a fish landed and only 3 hookups between that period,it felt as bad as Mangkor(in Longkang Gang dictionary,it simply meant : fishless).

As we were heading back to the launch area,we saw some really heart drenching sceneries.Forests being chopped and burned down illegally to make way for rubber plantation as told by Poje.My prediction was it would not be long before Bersia being stripped of its beauty if no actions were taken by the Government anytime soon.Oh wait,the Government?They were so power crazy that they wouldn't want to waste their time and money in preserving nature but stamping their ground to gain the citizen's vote of confidence and left us anglers in the dark.Sigh...

The autopsy on Abu Cono-Gone.

OK?

Boooo!Usually rods will break at the upper section which led to some of my friends saying that it must've been a manufacturing defect.

Introducing the new product by ALABAI GARCIA(my fishing friends named my Singh friend this after I brought my friend to the tackle shop one day)...ABAI CONDELONG...

Summary : 5 fishes landed in first 1 and half hours of fishing.Zero landed after that.
Boboi : Landed 3 out of 4 hookups.Lost the only one during the evening session with a borrowed setup.Not performing under a different owner I supposed.
Marcus : Landed 2 out of 6 hookups.That included two bulldozers that were really unstoppable and made me having goosebumps.Shot straight to snags with lightning speed although drag was set at its maximum.
Bait : Geli Keli(live catfish)

Annyeong Ritchie! 24th June

2008-06-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

Fishing Legally at Air Itam Dam Fishing 22nd June

2008-06-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

Jom Layan Yan 21st June

2008-06-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

Lannun : Sabtu depan lu senang ka?
Boboi : Senang...apasai?
Lannun : Jom tuas?
Boboi : ON!

It took us only four sentences in our conversation to determine my participation for this trip.Following reports of boats still being able to haul up Tenggiris in double digits numbers,it made me want to pay this place another visit despite the fact that the Tenggiri season was way over.

So off we went to Yan the very next week.We first met up at Lannun's place at 3 in the morning(yes!that very early!) because we had to leave the jetty early as the water in Yan was fast receding for that particular day.After meeting up,we then headed down to Sungai Petani Selatan's Pelita Nasi Kandar for a quick heavy breakfast to prepare ourselves for a long day ahead.

We reached the Yan jetty pretty early and we loaded our weaponries quickly onto the boat.We left the jetty at 6.30 a.m. to be exact.

While we were on our way there,we spotted a few buoys with black flags as though it was waving at us.At first,I thought they were fish nets but when explained by Lannun,it was actually squid traps.That was when Lannun suggested to the boatman to check out the traps if there were any squids in it.Note that the traps were other fishermen's and not ours.

As we hauled up the first trap,we were utterly disappointed with what was in the trap.There was only a trapped fish and it was not what we were going after.

We then hauled up the second trap and we struck gold!There were seven yummy squids that awaits us for our takings.Hehe.

Once the Pirate looted the "treasure",we continued our journey towards the unjam to fill up our live bait tanks.

On our way there,we were greeted by beautiful sceneries.Ahhh...I love God's creations.

As usual,we will usually start out our trip with our customary LKG sign.The big guy is nicknamed Kerbau.His actual name is Choo.

Lannun with his alien sign which only his fellow Pirates would understand.

The beautiful sunrise.The actual thing was actually larger than the one in the picture.Sadly my camera's zoom ability was not that great to capture a more magnificent sunrise.

As we were approaching the unjam for bait fishing,we saw another boat had arrived earlier.

Seen here.Kerbau and Keown(a.k.a Ayaak.He got two nicknames which really confuse us) doing the apollo jigging for Kembungs.

The Cencarus were plenty and Talang Pandans were caught one after another.Sadly,the Kembungs were not around and that was bad news.Tenggiri's main diets were Kembungs and the failure to land any of this bait fish will greatly reduce our chances of landing a Tenggiri as the drifting technique was no longer applicable.

All the Talangs were released as they were too small to be made into what ever form of dish.The catch rate of these two species were so good that we even joked that we should just remain at the unjam as our fishing spot for the entire day.We had 30 Cencarus or so before we finally decided to leave for our Tenggiri hunt.Another half an hour boat ride and we were already there at the fishing spot(the furthest unjam in Yan waters).

It wasnt long before the action heats up.The boatman who quietly crept to the back of the boat had a vicious strike by Kembung casting and not long after that,he successfully landed a Tenggiri on his first cast.We at first wanted to appolo jig for Kembungs but we put our apollo setup aside to get a fair share of the Tenggiri actions.

5 minutes later,Latok and co's boat arrived.What the heck?Where they went?I thought they were behind us all these while and they should be reaching the unjam first as we had wasted quite sometime at the previous unjam for bait fishing.

The fact was,although they were travelling at full speed,they left the jetty an hour later because the boatman has a pretty bad eyesight which he can't see well in the dark.The delay coupled with lack of knowledge of the Yan waters made them reach the designated spot a lot longer than us.I guess it's just another case of the blind leading the blind.

So back to fishing.On my first cast as I was letting out lines,I could see that there was a sudden pull by the fish that made my line peeling out in a very fast speed.I shut my bail arm tight and gave it a good strike.Hook on!Moments later,I could see a slim profiled fish jumping off the water from far.It was a Singapore Marlin.Not the species we were targeting but at least it provided me some entertainment for the time being.The fish persistently jumped a couple of times before it broke free.There goes my fish!Oh well,it was just a Singapore Marlin so I couldn't give a crap about the loss.

Not long after that,Lannun followed suit but he had a bust off from a Tenggiri.How the Tenggiri managed to cut the wire trace remains a mystery.

A few more casts and again,I could see my line peeling out fast again.Not wanting to lose another fish,I struck hard after I closed to bail arm.Line were peeling out as though it was not going to stop and the sound of my Tica Taurus 4000 screaming were so melodious.After a couple of minutes of tug-of-war,I finally single handedly landed this beauty. My previous encounters with Tenggiris on my previous trip was more like someone had a hook up,then the person would just pass the rod to me to have a taste of the fight.Therefore,this was another first for me.

I held the fish in my hand and shouted,"LATOK!DONT ASK ME WHATS MY NAME!"(that was the favorite quote by Latok whenever he catches a fish). I remembered the look on his face so clearly.He could only smile to me as though he knew he was going to be owned by a kid by the end of the day.What a perfect way to start out the day with a Tenggiri of over the 5 kilos mark!

Two hours later after I landed my Tenggiri,it was Lannun's turn to get a hit.He struck hard and it was not long when the fish were brought to boatside.A good gaffing on the fish and the second Tenggiri of the day was landed.

The Tenggiris have razor sharp teeths.Despite the fact that they look vicious,they are really "weak" fishes.Once gaffed and boated,it will take less than 5 minutes before the fish will sleep forever.The gutting process of this fish is also the easiest.They have no scales and the flesh and bones can be easily cut using a knife.

The Tenggiri by Lannun.By this time,Latok could only count his luck on why was he still not landing Tenggiris.He often calls himself the Mr-Always-Catch-Fish so obviously he needs a few fishes landed to live up to his name.He resorted to fishing for Kerisis and mind u,it was not a bad catch for him!5kg of Kerisis!Not one Kerisi weighing 5kg but probably around 20 of them added up to make the figure.

Soon it was lunch time.The boatman washed the Sotongs with seawater(Everything were washed using seawater including kitchen utensils that were previously used by past customers of their services.Hygiene wise,it was at its worst) that were to be added into the instant noodles that he was going to cook.To make things more interesting,he'll be adding my Tenggiri's egg roes. We were slurping here and there and even offered Latok our nice and salivating meal.Of course,he again had lived up to his name which was the Lansi Latok.He was at his usual self which he didn't even look at us or accept/decline our kind and lucrative offer.He had his back facing us all the time while we were fishing and as though the whole world were against him(Actually it was.Me,Choo and Lannun were giving him a torrid hard time.Hehe.).Oh well,it was good that he didn't take up the offer nevertheless.The less men,more share isn't it?

The boatman slowly cut up the Sotongs into bite sizes before chucking it in into the cooking pot.As you can see from above,the boatman was removing the Sotongs' skin.

After removing the skin,he proceeded to removing the inks.You wouldn't want these inks in your mouth as they taste really horrible!

Though these Sotongs were not the biggest,it still packs loads of "ammunition".Check out the inks that were removed from only one of the Sotongs.Imagine all these inks explodes in your mouth and I think that will be the very last time you will dine these tentacled creatures.

To wrap up our trip,Choo's persistent finally paid off.He had six hookups which he only managed to land his first ever Tenggiri on his very last hook up.To make up a rather interesting day for him,he had been despooled by a Sailfish in under 5 seconds!He was using a Shimano Technium 2500 when the Sailfish gave him no chance of reeling in even a centimeter of line.Had the Sailfish hit on my setup,I should be able to land it as I was using a heavier setup for the day.Again,Latok was left wondering,"What went wrong today?".What went wrong today was not really a big problem.The fact that he will be facing the rest of the Longkangers the very next day for the Air Itam Dam fishing will be a great test for him to face all the criticisms and discriminations.Guess what,I had finally seen this old man getting an egg from a trip!

All in all,it was a very fun trip.The catch was not the best but the company was.We really enjoyed ourselves especially the humiliation that we gave Latok.That was the perfect revenge as we had suffered his criticisms whenever we go for a fishing trip with him.I guess God did the right thing to punish him for his naughty behaviors over the years.

How did we actually fared?We had 4 Tenggiris altogether and Barracuda coupled with tens of Cencarus to be divided among us four on the boat.A good Tenggiri meal awaits us and we had already started planning for a second round to Yan again

Cheating Death 16th June

2008-06-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

Ben & Yean Happily Ever After 14th June

2008-06-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

MPPP Activities at Sungai Pinang 12th June

2008-06-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

A Day As Fishing Guru at Kakilai 10th June

2008-06-18T10:21:00.001-07:00

Fishing LEGALLY in Mengkuang Dam 18th May

2008-06-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Beach Boys and Beach Girls 17th May

2008-06-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Taurus Horrors 15th May

2008-06-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

Makan-Makan 14th May

2008-06-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Tennis Gang At Japanese Wreck 13th May

2008-06-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Flyfishing Lesson at Kakilai 9th May

2008-06-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

Fishing/Accident At Sungai Pinang 8th May

2008-06-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Kakilai Oh!Lai La!Lai La! 3rd May

2008-06-08T11:59:00.001-07:00

We Were On Steroids! 1st May

2008-06-08T11:42:00.001-07:00

Baboon's B'day (Banana Day)! 28th April

2008-06-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Potato Goh's Big Day! 21st April

2008-06-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

Bon Voyage Pin Yee! 20th April

2008-06-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

My Most Beautiful and Ugliest 20th Birthday 18th April

2008-06-08T09:28:00.001-07:00

Pulau Kendi Trolling Trip 12th April

2008-06-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

I received a call from Koay Kao a.k.a. Kah Wai on one very fine day.He asked if I'm interested to go for a trolling trip at Pulau Kendi.It had been awhile since I visited my old playground(used to go there very often when I just started fishing) so I said yes.This trip was also joined by Choo who is also a fellow LKG member.

To start out the day,we went to the famous bread and egg coffee shop near airport for breakfast.The above picture showing Koay Kao posing with the lovely eggs.

I was somehow very hungry that morning and I walloped the Nasi Lemak and also the bread and egg set.I don't understand why was this place so famous when the bread was so salty.Perhaps there are no better place for factory workers to have their breakfast so they had to resort to this coffee shop.

Rules Were Meant to Be Broken 5th April

2008-06-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ben : You going Teluk Bahang Dam on Sunday?
Me : Nope.Got coaching lesson.
Ben : What about going tomorrow?

That was the conversation I had with Ben on Friday.The PMPP members were scheduled to fish LEGALLY on Sunday and Ben wanted to have a go at this place first following reports from Ben(Gold Marlin) that the Tomans were plenty and can be seen cruising along the banks in the early mornings.

Badly poisoned by Ben's words,I decided to give it a try since it was also FREE.We reached the dam at 6.45 in the morning.The surroundings were still dark and flash lights were needed to get us in.We didn't take the main entrance in as fishing in the dam was prohibited at all times.Instead,we took the back lane and it was rather creepy with all the hissings from the insects.Adrenalines were rushing too as we did not want to get caught for fishing.All sorts of emotions and fears were running in our head but the fishing must go on.

It took us quite some time to get to our first spot as there were two different paths to choose from.We first took the right path which brought us down all the way to the banks.There were no structures around which means there will be no predatory fish in it.Hence,we decided to walk back up and try the very next spot.

Upon reaching,the sceneries were beautiful and structures were plenty and my heart was pumping fast.It was as though that I could already sense the potential that the dam has to offer and its potentials awaiting to be unearthed by anglers.

Ben who invited me for this trip.Note the structures behind him.That was where he had a jumping Haruan/Toman(could not verify but it was either one of it) hook up.He was using a top water lure when the fish came from underneath and sky rocketed out of the water.As soon as the fish reaches the water surface,the fish was gone.We tried casting to the similar area again but did not result in anymore hook ups.

The beautiful morning sunrise and the fresh air that we had were something to look forward to if we were to visit here again.

Potential spots but cannot we reached by foot.If only the PBA allows fishing on boats,it would be a very productive spot as I could hear Toman splashes and frenzies every now and then.

If you do register a hook up,be prepared to lose your lures.We could only salivate at the possibility of hooking up a Toman but Mother Nature disallow us to do so.

We were casting for the past 2 hours at the same spot as space and spots were limited.Probably the spot Gold Marlin mentioned was true,just that we did not know how to get there as we could see the landmark from where we were.

Since there were no more hook ups after the loss of the fish,we decided to head down to Tarpon Gate instead.Haha.What desperate move to land a fish.

Upon reaching Balik Pulau,Ben suggested that we should try out Ah Soon's pond as the previous week Latok and co landed couple of Threadfins.However,we were unable to register any hook ups by this species or any other predatory fish with our beautiful flies.My guess will be these fish were so well fed with the Mullets in the pond as the supplies of this bait fish seems to be in the hundreds!

Half an hour or so,we decided that it's not worth casting in Ah Soon's place anymore as the fish were not receptive.We tried our hands on wild Tarpons instead.

Yeeehaaa...Tarpon and I'm no longer Mangkor!

Tarpon caught on my ET Fly.

There was once when I accidentally over cast my fly.I dragged it slowly back into the water and was instantly whacked by a fish.Really vicious for its size and I was so afraid to lose it.When brought to land,it was a Haruan.Officially,it was my second Haruan on fly.Hehe.I released it back to its habitat and the man behind me in the picture was bemused.I explained to him the importance of CnR and hopefully he would practice if he do fishes.

Both me and Ben went back home during noon.Though we had nothing to boast about from our catch in Teluk Bahang,at least we didn't get eggs for the day.Ben also landed a few Tarpons and that sums up our day.So will we be breaking rules again for fishing?OH HELL YEAH!That's the way of life for Longkang Gang and Sombong Gang.

Small Head's Birthday 3rd April

2008-06-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

It was a big day for a girl with a Small Head.She had just turned 20 and it was an honor to be invited for a dinner with her along with our fellow course mates.To make things sweeter,she invited only us college mates and not her personal friends.That clearly showed that how much we meant to her and we were very grateful to have such a friend.

To make things short,we started out the celebration with a seafood dinner at a restaurant located along Green Lane.There was nothing to shout about the food as it was rather pricey and not so delicious.Nevertheless,it was Lay Fang's birthday so our attendance for her celebration mattered most.

The birthday girl with her best friend.

As usual,Sophia had to be always emerge at the top.In this case,she whacked the whole Snapper that was prepared for the nine of us.

Whenever there's Chze Fern,there will be loads of pictures of her.

Three dudes went.Me,Boo Aik and Lino.

After a very filling dinner,the girls decided that we should head to E-gate for the cake cutting session.The place chosen was 3G Cafe.

The girls that came along to celebrate.

Lay Fang's birthday cake.

Looks extra delicious when the candles were lit.

We sang the Birthday song together and all of us had a jolly good time.

Lay Fang with boyfriend,Keak.He's actually the younger brother of my Thai friend,Kuang.

Once she made her wish,she blew off her candles.Picture taken at the very right time.Candle was about to be fully put out of flames.

The cake cutting.She looks really chip-munkish.

Ahhh...The camwhoring from Chze Fern starts again.She dragged Lay Fang into her camwhoring profession as well.

Then it was Tze Yin.

Then it was Boo Aik.

Soon,the Mona Lisa could not stand it anymore.She wanted to be in the limelight so she portrayed herself really well and showed the world that she's more than a lady with one smile and face expression.

Acting cute.

Acting sissy.

Ahhh...the familiar face.The original Mona Lisa portrait.

As usual,Lino was the King of Queens.

Wan Yu was also not spared by Chze Fern.

Lino trying to get close and personal with the B-Girl.

Hui Ming giving Lino a good nose pick.Like I've said earlier,Lino is the King and therefore,everything that he does got to have someone to help him do it.

X(both arms making an X) means she ain't the one?

Lino's very special Queen.Note the hand around her and not his other Queens.

More Queens as the night went on.The one in yellow was Lino's second most favorite Queen.

The Queens really get along well with one another.Lucky King as he got no worries about the possible arguments created.

Queen and her "Sister".

Mona Lisa was Lino's least favorite.What Lino did was leaving her on the wall while entertaining the rest of the Queens.

Every King must have their Princes.Prince Boo and Prince Mah.

I wasn't sure I was a product of which Queen.This one?

Or this?

DON'T TELL ME THIS?!?!?!

The Royals of the Linolicious Kingdom.

Another shot of the Royal Family.

Different hand signs to determine our ranks in the Monarchy.

We won't bite but we sure stings(not stinks)!

Group photo of the Linolicious Royals.We are a very big happy family.

Ng's Birthday Bash at the Beach 28th March

2008-06-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

It was Ng Chee Keong's big day but sadly I was not able to attend due to certain reasons.My fellow pictures contributor,Lee Chern did the photo takings and here they are,sharing with the world on my longest friend's(I knew Ng since Standard Two) birthday.

The choice of drink for the birthday bash,Jack Daniels.

They celebrated the birthday at Crown Jewel's beach.Picture shown was Copthorne Hotel's poolside.

As usual,every birthday has to have a birthday cake.

Ng getting excited to cut the cake.

The beautiful cake.

Bun looking very "Chiko".

Once cutting the cake,that's when the drinking starts.

Drinks kept pouring into the cups as the night went on.

The birthday boy was nicely asked to drink by each and everyone that attended.

Yeoh looks very kiddo here.Wonder what made him smile that way.

With people like us around,a person's birthday will not be an easy going outing.Most of the time you will either get pissed drunk or your face smashed into the cake.In this case,I'm just making a guess that Ng had a horrid hard time drinking with the boys.

Can't come up with nice captions for this particular post as I skipped the party.Will definitely be in the party next year and that means he will have to drink an extra glass.Hehe

Prom Morning 24th March

2008-06-05T06:15:00.000-07:00

It was the day to give our presentation for the Marketing subject.We were informed by Dr. Zahirul that we had to dress in formal during our presentation.Not only did we dressed up formally,we dressed to kill!

Chun a.k.a. Kean Chung with so called "Sister" Chze Fern.

Ming Yeow with Chze Fern.Ming Yeow is one funny guy and when I meant funny,I was not referring to his behavior or the way he speaks.More to like his actions.There was once when he was speeding on the highway and his rear mirror was adjusted to an angle which he can't see the rear view.When the cops alighted him to stop for his speeding act,he continued driving as he couldn't see the rear.Only when he adjusted the rear mirror that he realized that he was asked to pull over by the cops.At this time,the cops were definitely wary of him.They must've thought that he was a drug trafficker because he wasn't stopping after being asked to do so much much earlier.The cops got out of their patrol car and armer with MP5s to confront Ming Yeow.How many of you ever had cops pointing guns at you?Only the special ones have such privileges.

They look so lovely together.What a loving brother.

I was trying to look like those Dunhill advertisement models.Sadly,I could not contain my laughter and that made my eyes looked so small when the picture was taken.

Sexy ladies of my class.

Hot guys of the class.

Group One during the presentation.From left : Ching Tee,Hui Ming,Ming Yeow and Sophia.Lau Ee a.k.a Ching Tee on the far left.She's the eldest among all of us and was a former air stewardess.Now thats HOT!

Group Two.From left : Lay Fang,Chze Fern,Wan Yu and Tze Yin.

Dr. Zahirul feeling good among the sexy ladies.

He didn't look too happy when was with us boys.

A group photo together to mark the end of our beautiful day.

Nothing to Do In College = Camwhoring 21st March

2008-06-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

It was just another ordinary day in college and I had forgotten what was the reason why I brought my camera along for.The girls saw my camera and began cam whoring not long before the guys joined in the whoring.It was pretty fun actually and since I never had pictures of my course mates,may as well start taking pictures together for before each and everyone go separate ways after their studies.

To make things interesting,our course mates have their very own nicknames.Some where given by their parents while some were given by US

Sei Tao(Small Head) a.k.a. Lay Fang.

Small Head and Tua Tao(Big Head) a.k.a. Tze Yin.Lay Fang is a rather petite gal therefore she has a smaller head compared to Tze Yin who is rather _______(fill in the blanks).That was how they got their name.

Me with Char Koay Teow lover,Chze Fern

The cam whoring intensified when we returned to our CSC class.

Tua Pek Kong a.k.a Boo Aik.His huge physique earned him this nickname.

Chze Fern and Kari Kei(Curry Chicken) a.k.a. Hui Ming.I had no idea how she had that name from us.

Me and Kuang a.k.a. Sorasan.He's a Thai Chinese actually and the name Kuang was given by his parents.Really fun guy to chat with as he's really open minded.

Our CSC lecturer.Very good lecturer in terms of his attitude.Though the subject was pretty boring,his kind hearted personality made him a firm favorite among us.

Pong Pia a.k.a Wan Yu.While on a trip to Genting with the course mates,she had this nickname courtesy of Boo Aik and Lionel.

Mona Lisa a.k.a. Sophia.Need I explain more on the reason how she got her name?

Wan Yu caught singing the song Crawling from Linkin Park.

To wrap up the day for our major cam whoring session,Kuang willingly literally whored himself for any potential services that required his services.Damn he look cute like a Japanese pornstar!

New Toy In the House! 18th March

2008-05-27T02:08:00.000-07:00

Team Daiwa Luna baitcasting reel was awarded the Best Value Buy by Tackle Tour(http://www.tackletour.com/editorschoiceall.html).To make things sweeter,I didn't even have to buy it!A really nice gentleman(whom he wants to remain anonymous) gave me this reel as a Christmas gift.I wanted to pay half the amount but he didn't want it as he said a gift was meant to be given out for free.I then suggested that I will repay him by getting him something good on his wedding day.Finally,he accepted the deal that was offered.

The reel was given to me when it was 100% New!

The beautiful Team Daiwa Luna which was made in Japan.

Spooled in with 10lbs Power Pro Phantom Red line.

Star Drag.

To match the reel,the kind gentleman again gave me a great offer.He sold me his Fenwick HMG rod at a really bargain price after knowing that I was scouring for a baitcasting rod for months.5 foot 6 rod(8-20lbs) with a short butt for maximum fun when fighting a fish.

The Daiwa Luna and the HMG combo looks perfect when used together.

Once again,a very big thank you to the kind gentleman for the best Christmast gift that I've ever had!

Kuala Sungai Pinang Haruan Hunt 15th March

2008-05-27T02:02:00.000-07:00

Fellow forumer Looney wanted to pay Balik Pulau's famous Tarpon Gate a visit.I was pretty free on the particular Saturday so I volunteered to be their guide.

For this trip,it was participated by myself,Doraemon,Looney,David,Bitt,Mbax and Wei Yean.We reached Balik Pulau pretty early and we began casting for Tarpons and hopefully managing to get a few by-catches(Barramundi,Mangrove Jack).

After a few casts with my fly setup,I was already rewarded with a Tarpon.Phew...No more chance of getting an egg for the day.The other guys was using hard bodied lures except Doraemon who was using a flyfishing setup as well.

I didn't take pictures of the Tarpon because it was not a very big one.I kinda regretted for not taking pictures of it because that was the only Tarpon that I landed on that day.

However,I struck a better specimen on fly that's worth taking pictures of it.

My first ever Haruan on fly.I saw an empty opening among the snags and I somehow managed to cast my fly into where I wanted it to be.As soon as the fly landed,there was a take.It was rather easy landing this fish as the fly was stuck to its upper gums.I guess the fish was feeling the pain and willingly surrendered.

After a few pictures,I released the fish back into its very own habitat.Hopefully it will not be taken away as many of these kampung folks will put nets and etc along the water way.

Looney and co soon wanted to venture further down the water way.I followed them and when I reached,I've already saw Wei Yean landed a Barramundi.Wow!What a lucky guy.I had been here for so long and yet to land a Barramundi and he did it on his very first trip.According to Doraemon,the fish hooked itself at the throat and there was no way of reviving it.Wei Yean then decided to take it back as dish.

Not long after it landed the Barramundi,he landed a Mangrove Jack.It was just slightly bigger than the Baby Cima lure that he was using so it was nothing to shout about.Oh well,he managed to land those by-catches but not the commonly found Tarpons or Haruans.Pretty weird isn't it?

We stayed on for a couple of more hours before heading home.I learned a very valuable lesson that day.No,it was not how to land a Haruan.It was bring an empty spool when you want to change your fly line from sinking line to floating line and vice-versa.I learned the hard way when my brand new lines were entangled and it took me for more than an hour to untangle it under the hot sun.So anglers out there,take note!Do not repeat my silly mistake.

Swing-Swing 12th March

2008-05-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

It was the last night of Ivan's stay in Penang.The following day,he will be swinging to Kay-Ell so we decided to throw a farewell party for him.Where about?His place of course!

To send off Ivan in style,we brought in the Swing(the bottle was able to swing from the front and to the back hence getting the name,Swing) to get every into a swinging mood and hopefully they will swung left and right when they were on their way home.

Our mixtures for our Swing.Sprite and Coke.*Slurp Slurp*

Ivan promoting the Swing along with Bun.

Pin Yee the master drinker.What happened in year 2003 was the most unforgettable experience for both him and us.

The amount of liquor poured in the jug.It was just a cover up as the boys didn't want the world to know the actual amount that they were drinking(they finished the whole bottle in the end).

Mixing it with Coke.Finding ice at such time was a hassle.Had to resort to the ice from Seven Eleven which was ridiculously expensive.

Our gang's fellow photographer.

She was the one who always asked us to drink.Bun was the first victim.

Of course,the boys were pretty shy in front of the cameras to show their true nature.So they began talking about Ivan's plans in KL,when is he going to come back etc.In other words,they were just "turn rivering".

Ivan could not resist the temptation of the swing anymore.He got up from his seat and inched closer to the prized liquor.

The boys themselves couldn't control their temptation too.They were planning a sneak attack to snatch the Swing from the middle of the living room.

The prized liquor were taken!Look at how happy was Jian.

He was sitting at one corner and quietly downing the alcohol.No wonder we ran out so fast!

Yeoh the Hero.Hard to be knocked out by alcohol.

Finally,the host had a fair share of liquor after putting up with the heavy drinkers.

Lino the master mixer.

He decided not to mix for Keong.Keong was happily accepting his challenge.

They were rather hungry after quite sometime so they had burgers.

The burgers certainly helped them regain back some conciousness.

"After eating you,I'm gonna whack more liquor."

Check out my face before drinking.

And after.I'm naturally not a good drinker.

But not as bad as him.Totally Kay-Oed!

As usual,the heavy drinkers will always challenge others for a drink.

Bun had no choice to accept the challenge.

AND HE'S DOWN!

Not long afterwards,Bun went down too.

That remains only a bunch of drinkers.Pin Yee the master went on drinking.

Thumbs up showing he was still OK.

NOT!

2 + 2 = ?

4!!!

During lunch time the following day,Ivan left Penang for KL.We surely gonna miss him as he was the one that always comes up with good jokes and Penang will definitely be a much quieter place without his presence.All the best in KL Raja Lucut!

Machaa Keong's Birthday Bash! 7th March

2008-05-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

Machaa Keong's big day has finally arrived!We held his birthday at the Planet Bistro where the place was situated very near to KOMTAR.Pretty surprisingly,the place was quite well equipped.Due to the big turnout,we were granted a room by the Bistro's Manager to celebrate Keong's birthday.

The following day,results from the recent election will be announced.Obviously,from the picture above,we were clearly seen showing where the "Rocket" will be heading.That's right!Coming out top in the elections!

The other dudes that attended Keong's birthday.

Loketttt!The birthday boy on the right.

It was raining cat and dogs as we were singing all night long.Hehe.

A party will never be called a "party" if there were no liquor or beer around.This time,we ordered two bottles of Martell.Slurp Slurp**

Kampai Brothers!

Brothers in arms.

Keong were drinking like a champ on his birthday.

The marriage of two gay couples.The one on the right always gets dominated.

On the bed,he's a wuss.But when there's liquor,he's the Queen!

Dj Best Buddies(minus the letter "E") made the crowd went wild.

Best singers on the night.Credit given just because Keong was the birthday boy.

Love their face expressions.They were singing their songs with so much emotions that the rain continued to pour even heavier.

Finally it was time for cake cutting.

Two candles indicated that Keong's now 20 years old.

There was never an easy moment during his birthday.He had to sing his very own birthday song if I was not mistaken.

When he failed to oblige the things that we wanted,he will obviously be abused by us.

Only when he fulfilled our wishes(not his),only then he can make his very own wishes and blow out the candles.

Chee Keng preparing the death penalty for Keong.

The executioner,Ivan slamming Keong's face into the Cake Pit.

Judge Jian indicated that another round of execution shall be made to further ensure there will be no chance of escaping for the suspect.

This time,4 executioners gave Keong the most horrid time of his life.

This dude just couldn't die!

Came the Witch Lady with a cup full of poison.

Keong drank the one with the poison.Therefore,no more pictures of him after the drinking session.The Witch Lady 1 - 0 Keong.

With Keong's death,we celebrated like there's no tomorrow.We no longer have to put up with his "Bird Talk"!

Toast to No More Bird Talk!!!

YAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SENGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that Keong's no longer in the singing group,Jian joined the IvanG(Ivan + Ng) Group.

Lino couldn't take the fact that Keong's dead so he took his own life too.

Instead of burying him with soil,we decided to bury him with our bodies.

In order to ensure that there will be constant bondings among the group members,dancing was a must.

The crazier your dance moves,the better bonded you are with the family.

It was definitely one of the most entertaining birthday parties that I've ever attended.I think many will agree with my opinion and my only hope will be such parties will be conducted again and again to further bond our friendships among one another.

Secret Haruan Fishing Pond 26th February

2008-05-26T04:10:00.000-07:00

Alex and Alan first brought me to this pond around 3 weeks ago and I made a promise not to reveal its location.During my first outing,I had plenty of fun with the Tilapias in the pond as I was using my ultra light tackle setup(Triforce 2-8lbs,Cetus 500,5lbs braided line).As I was leaving,I told Alex that the pond looks really good for the Haruans to live in as there were lily pads all over the place.

"Haruans ah?They have it in here.",said Alex.

There were mixed emotions when he told me.I was excited yet a little disappointed as he didn't tell me earlier if not I will be bringing my lures.Never mind then.I'll head over this place again.

A week later,I came back to this place right after college to try my hands on the Haruans.While Alex was busy entertaining the Tilapias,I was busy casting my spinner bait for Haruans.30 minutes into fishing,that's when I had a hit when I cast my spinner bait along the weedy areas.I struck and the fish was no match for my medium setup (Cherrywood 8-17lbs,Ryobi Zester 1000.15lbs braided line).

A few pictures using my handphone's camera,I released the fish to fight for another day.My quota of the day had been fulfilled.I packed up and watched Alex and Alan fishing instead and went home after that.

On the 26th,I was really convinced that the pond has many Haruans in it but just that they were still lure shy.I went back to the pond,armed with the same Haruan setup and spinnerbait to give it another go.This time around,I invited Melven along as we haven't been fishing together for a very long time already.

When I reached there,I stumbled upon a guy whom I met during my first trip.Apparently,this guy had been frequenting this place almost everyday for Tilapias ever since the first time I met him.

Tilapia landed using a light setup.He was using a heavy setup before but I guess I managed to brainwashed him the last time I had a chat with him about the pleasure that you get from ultra light fishing.

Tilapias this size can be commonly found in the pond.Note the background.The pond was partially covered with grasses and weeds.

With my proven-effective spinnerbait,I cast to potential spots that may have Haruans awaiting unsuspecting preys to wander across the strike zone.Casts after casts still no willing takers.I then proceeded to the place where I had a hookup during the last trip.I casted and retrieved my line slowly.

Out of nowhere,a Haruan jumped a foot out of the water with my spinnerbait in its mouth!Before I could strike,I could see my spinnerbait already out of the Haruan's mouth.Arghhh!!!Fish lost!But then again,this incident clearly shows that the Haruans in the pond were not totally wiped out by poachers yet.So I was not utterly disappointed by the outcome.I was pretty confident that I would have a Haruan landed on that day.

While I was still cursing about my lost fish,Alan who was 50 meters away shouted to me that he had a hook up.By the time I reached there,he had already landed the fish.

Haruan landed using Berkeley Lizard-Like Power Bait with Nitro Jigheads on a Daiwa Smak and Shimano rod.The size of his Haruan was like the one I landed during my first trip here.

Released to fight another day.

From the time we arrived which was around 5.30p.m.,Melven was standing or sitting at this spot until we left.He was using a weedless presented Berkeley White Grub Power Bait.I suggested that he has to constantly change spots but I guess he must be thinking that the fishes in this pond were dumb enough to take his bait at one designated spot.

After some time,we decided to call it a day.The Haruans were obliging but sometimes,you just need some good luck to land them.Hopefully in my next visit,the Haruans will instead jump onto the ground rather than back into the water.

Tomans On Steroids In Bersia 21st February

2008-02-25T21:39:00.000-08:00

Unstoppable runs,snapped leaders,hooks and split rings pried open,broken lures,best fighting Tomans in Malaysia...and the list goes on and on...

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.