1998 Fishing Safari Pulau Pangkor

Ching Neng Bin holding the 25 kg "haruan tasik" at Fishing Safari 1998 Pulau Pangkor.

A recent trip off the Pangkor Island confirmed the stories that I'd been hearing for the past months: The big fish are there.

For the past year, anglers have been complaining bitterly about greatly reduced catches. The big fish disappeared first followed by other smaller fish. Of course, some big fish have been landed, but the El Nino is the disruptive weather pattern that reduces the food sources for the fishes.

Three of us boarded "Half Moon", a speed boat which belongs to a friend, Mr. Hong and Rotarian Ong Chew Yet, headed for Pangkor Island from the Perak Yacht Club, at Kampong Acheh, Lumut. We stopped at Sungai Pinang Kechil to buy baits (Ikan Kembong & sotong) and ice for our ice-box.

It took us about 45 minuets to reach Pangkor Island. Within five minutes of casting our lines, the first fish was up, a 1kg "kerapu". Fish came fast and free - red snapper, granter, kerapu and kerisi. After 90 minutes, however, the spot went dead and we moved to another spot.

Our GPS (global positioning system) showed a fairly level rocky bottom at 65M as I dropped anchor again. During the night, it was the best time for fishing. I started with a nice red snapper of about 3KG. Many a time our lines were caught entangled between us due to the fast current.

By 3am my friends had both gone to sleep. Using a rod, I pulled and reel and suddenly there was something immense at the end of my line. Stuck on the bottom, I thought. At 3 or 4 in the morning, the eyes tend to play tricks on you, but I thought I'd got a monster and it came out to be a 25 KG "haruan tasik". It took us almost an hour to tackle the fish before we could pull it on board.

It was certainly my best haul off Pangkor Island for well over a year.