The Silver Cat of Kundang – Where the reel sings in joy
The Silver Cat of Kundang Where the reel sings in joy Brandon Ho FFI CCI “Ow! Ow! Owwwwwww!!!” I turned to the direction of the scream and I saw Otto grimacing in pain while palming the wt5 Nautilus Reel as line keep pouring out and his Sage rod bowing low towards the water, paying respect to the aquatic feline. Pulling like a freight train, it showed no sign of slowing down. Poor Otto could only hold on and pray. If he were not a religious person, this experience would have made him believe in a higher power. It was another supposedly quiet Sunday, but the few of us decided to add some spice to our lives. After a very delicious old fashion breakfast of noodles and ice coffee in a small village in Kundang, we drove to our fishing destination for the day: Kok Fishing Pond. It was a basic pay pond operation, 3 ponds stocked with a variety of fresh water fish: Patin, Tilapia, Milkfish and the ever presence lampan. Waiting for us there was Ben. Paying RM8 for a full day fishing, we headed to the smallest pond. The rises indicated that there were large fish there and by the frequency of the rises, the fish would number in the thousands. We walked to the other side of the pond where there were a few trees that offered some shade as we planned to fully used the RM8 we paid. Already, there were several anglers there. We were the only fly fishers on that day. During the short walk to our spot, I saw 2 fishes being landed and judging from the bend in the heavy rods used by the anglers, the fish here fight hard! I was beginning to doubt the adequacy of my equipment. These fish feed mainly on bean curd and every few hours, a worker would shovel some of the discarded bean curd into the pond on the opposite side of where we were fishing, creating a frenzy. We could only watch the frenzy from a distance. The fish would literally “climb on top of the bread” as described by Ben. You had to see it to believe it. To increase our chances of getting the fish closer to us, we created our own frenzy, with the help of bread, lots of bread. The amount we bought was more than all the bread I would consume in one year. The fish were skeptical in the beginning. The bread were left floating unmolested. We didn’t fish as the fish were boiling everywhere except near our flies. We gave up and retreated to the shade of a tree. As the frenzy got closer, we started to cast our flies towards them. The flies were designed to sink slowly in the green water. Floating flies and those that sank too quickly were not touched by these finicky fish. Later, we learnt that these fish are very smart, they have learnt to avoid flies that have shiny hooks and heavy wire. Only thin black hooks would fool these fish. Later in the afternoon, the fish began to be more active and would continue to become progressively so till the sun sets. I was casting to a piece of bread that was constantly been nibbled by some big fish. The swirl on the water was a tell-tale sign that the fish were swimming under the bread. Once the fly landed within inches of the bread, it was allowed to slowly sink to the fish under it. The fly would mimic the bits of broken bread sinking to the bottom. It is important to keep the line tight nut not too tight that it will affect the natural sinking of the bread. If you feel that the bread has sunk too deep, recast and allow the process to repeat. If there is no movement in that area, pull your fly away. The fish are smart enough to sense the line and avoid the area. They can only be fooled when they are in a frenzy. I was watching as my fly slowly sink into the green depths with my finger in contact with the fly line all the time when the line suddenly took off, burning my finger in the process. Despite the burn, I maintained pressure until the line cleared the rod and I could fight the fish on the reel. The scream of the drag was music and it momentarily made me forget about the heat from the burning sun. After a few hard runs , the fish was guided to be bank to be landed but at the sight of the landing net, it shot off. Many fish have been lost by this unexpected run. You can expect the fish to do this several times. Allow the fish to do its thing and gently guide the fish in. The fish was finally landed and gently removed from the net before lovingly cradling it for a few quick photos. The fish here is well built and judging by the full belly, they are in great condition and strong. Every fish we hook took between 5 to 10 minutes to land. We were using wt 6 and heavier fly rods with relatively strong reels to ensure the fish are landed quickly and released in the shortest time possible. Nic even fished with his Merisoula #10 paired with a matching Merisoula #9-10 sealed dragged reel designed for salt water fishing. Clevin, on the other hand, opted for his trusted Onki 11 feet switch rod attached to a Merisoula #10-12 reel meant for the likes of GTs, big tarpons and some jokingly mention cars. The number of fish here was incredible. While allowing our flies to sink, we could occasionally feel the fish brushing against our lines and on more than one occasion, a fish would be hooked while retrieving our flies. The foul hooked fish often gave the strongest fight as the angle allowed the fish to swim away…