Are All Leaders The Same?
An accidental discovery in Jugra
Brandon Ho FFI CCI
On the 3rd day of the Chinese New Year, it was time for companies to start their business after the festive holidays and it is customary to do something related to the activity of the business. After doing some work in the office and overseeing some classes, Nic and Clevin came into my office and said, “ We are starting work today.” I looked at them and smiled. I knew what this meant. We were going fishing. To the two young men who are the team behind FTC, the local dealer for FTN Asia Distribution, to start work meant to go fly fishing or fly tying.
“Where are we going?” I asked innocently, my Vision XO wt6 set was already in my car and my fly box was filled with assorted saltwater patterns. “Somewhere near and a good catch can almost be guaranteed!” was the reply. It had to be Kolam Pancing Lepas (Catch &Release) in Jugra. Incidentally, the pond was also having a festive season promotion, RM25 for 3 hours of fishing, catch and release of course.
After lunch, with Clevin at the wheel and Nic dozing off in the back seat. Janice, Clevin and I were chatting excitedly on the way there; discussing about the flies and techniques we were going to use. Janice is an accomplished fly caster and could easily out fish us on a good day.
After a 45-minute drive from Sunway, we pulled up onto the dusty parking space next to the ponds. Despite the rain on the way in, this place was bone dry and in the heat, we could see the wind blowing up the dust. Reluctantly, we left the cool comfort of the air conditioned car and walked towards the hut which serves as the counter cum resting area and started to set up our gear. I spoke to the person in charge and asked him what fish were active that day and he said the red drums and barramundi were readily taking lures and flies the whole day. Not needing further invitation, we walked off to the barramundi ponds.
This pond is located next to a river estuary where the tides would help replenish the water, keeping the fish like barramundi, estuary grouper, red drum, mangrove jacks and GTs healthy and strong. The set up was basic enough, with 5 rectangular ponds open for fishing and two others for keeping juvenile fish to allow them to grow before releasing them to the C&R pond. Beautiful and picturesque are not the type of words to describe this place but hard fighting hungry fish is something most angler can relate to.
In less than 5 minutes, Nic was onto an acrobatic barramundi. “ That was fast!” I thought to myself and proceeded to cast into the tea coloured water and allowed the black and yellow baitfish pattern sink to the bottom of the pond. I was using a floating line connected to a 10 foot tapered leader, which should be enough to reach the bottom. With slow erratic retrieve and pauses, the fly was brought back unmolested. It was cast out again and the process repeated. The first hour went past without any take from the fish. It was going to be a very long hot day.
Suddenly, my fly line was stopped and I waited for the line to tighten and move but nothing. I cast in the general direction again and the same thing happened. What is happening? I was sure it was a fish but why was today so different. Normally the fish would just grab the fly and sped in the opposite direction. I was determined to give a good strip strike the next time the line stopped and I didn’t have to wait long for it. The moment the hook bite into the hard bony mouth, the line moved towards the centre of the pond and the silvery fish lifted itself out of the water did a somersault before landing with a splash. It would have scored a zero in a diving competition but in the fly fishing context, a perfect 10. The fish was landed unceremoniously and after a quick photo, gently released. This fly works very well in this pond, catching groupers and barramundis like clockwork.
Seeing the short fight from the opposite side of the pond, Nic and Clevin changed to a similar pattern and did the same cast and retrieved. Encouraged by the catch, I cast again at the well-known strike zone and slowly retrieved the fly through the strike zone and got hit again. Another feisty barra. After unhooking and releasing the fish, I threw the fly into the water before picking up my rod and stood up. Lifting my rod to cast, I felt a weight at the end of my line and instinctively gave a strike. The line shot out and the fish performed its usual acrobatic routine. Another barra! I laughed out loud only to be greeted by cold stares from the other anglers. I quietly landed the fish and moved on to another pond.
Nic and Clevin were not as successful. Same pattern, same retrieve and even same line weight but why the stark difference? They moved on to different ponds and Clevin became the mangrove jack champion by landing 5 of these critters in the span of 30 minutes. I cast to the same place but nothing. I changed flies and the way I retrieve, still nothing. What’s wrong?
Janice was still casting to the barras and she was enjoying herself with the fight. In the fading light, the mosquitoes were coming out in hordes. No matter how good the fishing was, the itch from these pesky sting can be unbearable. It’s time to pack up. Our 3 hours was almost up. In the dying evening light, Clevin landed another MJ.
On the way back, we were discussing the catch pattern and the equipment used. Later, it dawned on us that it was the leader we used. I was using a nylon tapered leader but the others were using fluorocarbon leader. With the higher density, the fluorocarbon leader sank faster and deeper while my nylon leader was pulled slowly down by the weight of the fly. The different density affected the sink rate and depth. The time the fly moved through the strike zone was also greatly affected. I hit the barra jackpot because my fly was able to stay the longest time in the fish holding depth and the action of the fly was also affected by the softer and more supple nylon leader.
Clevin, using the fluorocarbon leader managed to reach the bottom of the pond quicker and the slow figure retrieve he used imparted a more staccato action on his white shrimp pattern. This action drove the MJ crazy and he was onto fish after fish. I scored zero catch with the MJ. The type of leader material does play a big role in the action of the fly. In that action packed 3 hours, we scored 16 barramundis and 6 MJ, losing scores more. The bite rate was phenomenal! Not too bad for the first day at work!