A Sweet Start to 2021
Tarpon on Fly with PFFS Brandon Ho FFI CCI After driving for about two and a half hours, I pulled up at the parking lot at the Kuala Kangsar R&R. Sunrise is another 2.5 hours away. Sitting in my car, I noticed a car pulled up next to mine. 3 guys stepped out and from their outfit, they must be fly anglers. I looked closer and the initials PFFS was cleared stamped across the back of the shirt. PFFS is the acronym for Perak Fly Fishing Syndicate, one of the more active fly-fishing clubs that I know of. Every week will be a fishing weekend. Come rain or shine, you can bet your last dollar that the club members are out there on the water with a fly rod in hand. Shortly after, Janice’s car pulled up along our car and Clevin, Darell and Nic walked out. I was meeting the PFFS boys for the first time and today Asrul, Aizat and Khairul were our guides on our quest for the Indo-Pacific tarpon or locally known as the Ikan Bulan. From Kuala Kangsar, it is another one-hour drive to our fishing destination. Our first mission was to fill our growling stomach with the aromatic and spicy nasi lemak from the famed Mayfly Nasi Lemak stall. Unfortunately, the stall was closed and we had to seek for alternative. We stopped at a random stall selling nasi lemak and the local “kueh” or cakes. We bought a variety of nasi lemak with different accompaniments such as beef, chicken, prawn, salted fish… It seemed that we had hit the jackpot with this stall. At only RM1 per pack, it was a steal, considering the side that came with it. Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, we parked our cars and got down excitedly to set up our gear. From here, we will proceed on foot. The rain from the previous day made the trek difficult. The mud stuck to the bottom of our slippers like a remora fish sucking at the back of the ray. The further we walked, the heavier our slippers became. In this part of the world, slippers were the preferred footwear. It allowed you to inspect for the occasional leech that was waiting to feast on you. The open toed slippers also allowed your feet to dry quickly after wading through the marshy swamps. Well, when in Rome, it is best to follow what the Romans do. The occasional stop and photo session made the trek fun. We chatted like old friends and insights to the feeding behaviour was shared freely by the PFFS boys, a gesture of generosity and trust hard to come by in the modern fishing environment. We were fishing the canals along the river. The brackish water was the perfect habitat for the tarpon. In the early morning, we could see the rises that accentuated the calm surface, indicating that the tarpons were there. At every break in the bushes along the canals, one of us would walk towards the bank and cast our white #6 baitfish into the rises, hoping for a strike. The tarpons have hard bony mouths and the only way to get a secure hook-up is to strip strike. The hooks have to be extremely sharp. I was blind casting into the rises hoping for a take but it was futile. Every spot looked fishy and soon I was way behind the rest of the group. In one of the opening, the water was boiling. Without waiting for further invitation, I cast my white baitfish towards the opposite of the canal and waited for the fly to sink. Slowly I stripped the line in, pausing occasionally to let the fly sink. After the third strip, the line went tight and shot out of my hand. I certainly wasn’t expecting that and instinctively I stuck and started pulling line in. With a 16 lb tippet, I knew I could outgun the fish. In less than a minute, a gleaming slab of silver was pulled alongside the bank. My first ever Indo Pacific Tarpon! I rejoined the group and discovered that I was not the only one who struck the silver ingot. Both Asrul and Khairul managed to land one each in the deeper waters next to the palm trees. The water was calm and I was surprised it harboured large specimen there. Apparently, the fish were hiding deep in these waters. Roll cast the fly out and let it sink to the bottom before very slowly twitching and retrieving the line. Patience is key here. We walked further to try the other spots. We spread out and cast to all the likely spots. Rises could be seen everywhere but getting them to take the fly was next to impossible. In many spots, the fish seemed to be playing hide and seek with us. They were rising in front of our noses but as we cast, they just moved a little further, still rising continuously. With every subsequent cast, they just moved further until beyond out casting range. We were casting almost the entire fly line but to no avail. By mid-morning, the sun was getting too hot and we decided to take a break under some trees and enjoyed our pack Nasi Lemak. After the short break, we walked further until to come to an opening where we could get down to the bank to cast. I had walked stealthily to a bank to cast when Asrul mentioned that there was a large python in the area. Not wanting to end up as snack, Khairul and I backtracked to the path. From the higher position, we could see two trails in the grass leading to a thick bush by the canal. Judging from the width of the trial, it was almost two third of a foot wide. At another spot, there was a clearing that would allow a caster to cast. I was given the honour to cast first.…
