Abang Handal...

Halo geng, cerite hari ni rekaan semata-mata tapi berkaitan dengan memancing. Kisah dongeng ni cerite cara Gorilla Fishan merekrut seorang manusia biasa menjadi seorang pemancing handalan...

Manusia biasa

Pada suatu hari ada satu abang yang duduk isap rokok dan buang karen kat kedai kopi sambil makan rambutan dan memikirkan masalah menjolok rambutan yang belum jatuh di rumah orang tuanya di kampung. Terus Man Toman bengang dan datang membetulkan tabiat buang karen abang tersebut sebab time tu ujan dan Man Toman pun tak bleh gi mancing. Man Toman memulakan operasi merekrut dengan memberi barang-barang pancing serta menerangkan kegunaannya pada manusia biasa tersebut sampai dia tak tahan dan terus jadi pemancing...

Nah abang, amik ni... ini benang besi untuk perambut pacu...

Abang pon blank apa benda perambut ni... Abang ni ingat rambut dia je guna perkataan rambut... Rupa-rupanya matakail yang siap dipasang tali dan ada gelung dihujungnya juga menggunakan kata terbitan "rambut"...

Nah abang, ni fly untuk tangkap ikan

Dulu abang ni ingat fly tu maknanya tertakluk kepada 2 bende aje iaitu fly yang bermakna lalat dan fly iaitu perkataan inggeris untuk terbang. Sekarang abang ni dah faham yang fly tu juga adalah sejenis umpan memancing yang mujarab di mana ianya adalah matakail yang dihiasi agar berupa makanan ikan seperti pellet, lalat, cengkerik, udang, rumpair, ketam, anak ikan dan macam-macam lagi makanan kegemaran ikan...

Nah abang, ni beg gi perang ni

Bila dapat beg perang abang ni terus faham yang dia kena gi medan perang yang berair. Kadang-kadang medan perang airnya masin dan kadang-kadang airnya payau dan ada kalanya airnya tawar. Kadang-kadang medan perangnya free, kadang-kadang kena bayar dan kadang-kadang free tapi tak bleh mancing... Tapi apa yang abang ni paling faham ialah musuhnya pandai dan walaupun perkakasan perang dah tip-top tapi musuhnya masih boleh menang walaupun ianya hanyalah seekor ikan yang telanjang...

Pacu abang handal

Geng abang handal...

Beberapa purnama kemudian abang buang karen yang diskolahkan dek Man Toman dah jadi seorang pemancing handalan dan dia terus hidup dengan dikenali sebagai "abang handal".

-ih-

Fly Fishing Lampam dan Kalui

geng fly-fat wrap, cengkerik, nenimfa dan adams irresistable kalkatu

Petang tadi saya berkesempatan membawa geng fly ke tasik di serdang. Memang pasang niat nak try tangkap ikan lampam. Ikan lampam ni biasanya dibuat umpan kalo memancing jenahak. Umpan untuk memancing lampam ni biasanya orang pakai cacing atau cengkerik... Tapi guna fly jenis nenimfa atau jentik-jentik pun okay... Bila dah naik, lampam ni memancutkan air putih keluar dari kemaluannya... stim lebih kot dia...

Lampam remaja...

Ramuan nenimfa ni adalah bulu merak, bulu angsa dan bulu pheasent... Mata kail pakai mestilah kecil sebab mulut si lampam ni kecil...

Yang hitam2 tu fly nenimfa...

Sekor lagi ikan yang makan nenimfa ni adalah ikan kalui... Cara main nenimfa untuk kedua-dua jenis ikan ni sama saja. Campak dan tarik sederhana slow, sederhana laju atau slow and steady... Biar nenimfa ni berenang kat bawak permukaan air...

Anak kalui telan nenimfa...

Jika dibandingkan syok tarik antara lampam dan kalui, syiok lagi kalui. Kalui ni pertama kali saya dapat, mata dia kuning... Mulut kecil... Mula2 saya ingat sepat, tapi nasib baik fahaman sesat saya dibetulkan oleh seorang lagi pemancing yang berada di sinun...

Adams irresistable kalkatu fly...

Adams irresistable adalah sejenis fly mat saleh. Tapi boleh dimodify bagi sayap dia panjang lebih... Nampak macam kalkatu... Nak bikin ni pakai bulu ayam, bulu rusa dan bulu burung pheasent... Juga dicuba untuk menangkap lampam, tapi tak dapat...

Fly Fishing for Snakeheads Bangi Style

Fishing for snakeheads (haruan) has always captivated me for no reason. I've got these buggers using worms, spinner-baits, frog lures, slash-baits, pencils and poppers. I've caught them in ponds, lakes, rivers, plantation irrigation water ways and even drains. Lately I've been catching them using home-tied flies fashioned as poppers and crickets...

The cricket

There's a guy out there somewhere in Malaysia who has been described as "an asset" to an international fly fishing forum who goes by the nickname Dron.fly. This guy is a genius. I see that he specializes in foam fly tying and he posted a tutorial on how to tie a foam cricket fly. He got 3 versions of his cricket flies and each new version looks a lot better than the latter... Well, since snakeheads eat crickets and I love catching snakeheads, I gave Mr. Dron.fly's recipe a try... Of course with minor modifications. Here's what I did...

Materials: black 2mm foam, brown 1mm foam, leftover foam, goose feathers glazed with head cement, a hook, Rembau goose biots and 2 fibres from a pheasent tail...

1. Wrapped leftover foam on a hook
2. Tie in the glazed goose feathers to form the hind feelers
3. Tie in the brown foam bottom and the black foam top
4. Create the segmented body
5. Bottom view of segmented body
6. Split the head open with a pair of scissors
7. Tie in 2 legs prepared from the Rembau goose biots and 2 antennas from the pheasent tail fibres
8. Tie in more brown foam as wings
9. Fold back black foam and tie to form head... Finished cricket fly...

Do this a bunch of times and you come up with a family of cricket flies. Do this a bunch of times and you also have an arsenal of snakehead lures. Look at this bunch a bunch of times and you get the shivers to fly-cast for snakeheads...

Brown foam bellied cricket bottom view

A family of cricket flies

Red bellied and black bellied cricket flies

To quickly and surely know whether these babies are snakehead attractors, one has to cast them in waters teaming with snakeheads. If no strikes occur, I'm better of casting them in a swimming pool at a hotel... Here in Bangi, this drain is the place.

Fly-testing drain...

Just step to the banks and you see them swimming and striking at dragon flies flying near the surface. Step a bit closer and the water ripples as they run for cover in deeper and darker parts of the drain.

Red bellied cricket to be tested

I started casting approximately 6.30pm today just to see if the crickets were any good. After 10 minutes this happened...

Kapaw!!!! Fly rod went bent, fly reel went screeching...

People passing paused to see the fight. It lasted a few minutes as the fish took the cricket for a joy-ride. The cricket took me for a joy-ride as well...

A good size female haruan
Proof of the good cricket

Upon inspecting the fish, I found out that it was a she and that she was pregnant. Yep, some fish out there is her husband. So the only thing to do is release the wife back... Man was she happy to be released.

See the belly, full of haruan eggs...

After giving her back her freedom, I stayed on and caught a juvenile snakehead. This fish was half her size but fought just as hard as her. But I didn't get a good hook up and the teen snakehead got away after being hooked for about a minute or two...

The red bellied cricket

After fishing, I went to a grocery store in front of the drain. I was there earlier to see the butcher to have a snapper and baramundi cut for my wife. I put the fish cuts down on the ground beside my trusty car and enjoyed a drink I picked up at the store while gazing at the drain. As dusk approached, I drove back home forgetting the snapper and baramundi cuts on the ground. At home, as I stepped out of the car, I realized what happened and like a mad snakehead, I rushed back to the drain to get my fish cuts. Once again at home, I inspected the cricket and saw that one leg was a bit broken... Heheh... Washed it up, put it on a fridge magnet and am planning to put it in the hall of cricket fame... Funny thing is that I went fishing for snakeheads and came back with a bag of barramundi and snapper...