Fishing at sea
Saturday January 26, 2008
By ANTHONY GEOFFREY
fishingmasters_mymy@yahoo.com
With the monsoon season on the east coast in full swing, I was itching for some fishing. So when the opportunity arose to fish at a kelong, off the west coast, I jumped at the chance.
Kelong fishing has never been my cuppa tea ever since my experience fishing off a rickety platform, off the northeast coast of Johor, back in the mid-1990s.
Back then, we were allowed one bucket of water a day for bathing. If we needed extra, we had to pay RM2 per bucket. And we had to be careful walking around the kelong because of loose and rotten boards.
A family fishing platform: Many people bring their families to fish here.
So, for this trip to the Kelong Paradise Waterfront Resort, my expectations were not that high. A couple of days of sea air and some good fish talk were all I expected.
Our team consisted of International Game Fish Association representative Aziz Daud a. k. a. Aziz Presley, Lim Wai Kai (Ah Lek), Bob Chang, better known as Uncle Bob, fishing tackle shop owner Jeffrey Chan a. k. a. Kurau King and Kevin Kung.
We agreed to meet in Tanjong Karang (Selangor) at about 8am. Bob and Kevin were a in Port Klang at 5am to pick up Kurau King, who was supplying our bait of live prawns.
According to Sod’s Law, if something can go wrong, it will. And it did.
Kurau King overslept. So Bob and Kevin decided to head for Tanjong Karang, minus the live prawns. (Our host Teh Ewe Leng, Kelong Paradise Waterfront Resort business development manager assured us we could get live prawns at the jetty so we were not worried.)
Aziz, Ah Lek and I met Bob and Kevin at a Tanjong Karang coffee shop before heading for the jetty. In the meantime, Kurau King had woken up and after a few calls, was on his way.
As we were still early, we waited at the coffee shop, bought some ice from the ice factory and Aziz and Ah Lek went off to the fish market for fresh kembong bait.
All of a sudden, Kurau King’s car flew by. A quick call and a U-turn saw him joining us at the coffee shop with our treasured live prawns all dead.
More coffee and 10 minutes berating Kurau King (although it is impossible to remain angry with him for long) later, we set off for the jetty where Teh was on hand to meet us.
The side road to the jetty is well sign-posted and it takes less than half an hour to reach it.
All negative thoughts of the trip disappeared when we saw the jetty. Its offices, washrooms etc were all modern and clean.
Teh was astounded by the amount of gear we brought but another group, who had arrived just after us, had even more. We had a short wait for our live prawns before boarding the fibreglass speedboat for the 5km journey to the kelong.
You can see the structure in the distance. Up close, it is a magnificent three-storey, solid structure set on huge concrete pillars, a “terra firma†at sea.
After unloading the gear, our group commandeered the second floor verandah as our base. There were a good number of guests; some regulars and others like us – first-timers.
Before tackling up, we took our overnight bags to our air-conditioned dormitory which can sleep up to 40 persons on double-decker bunk beds.
There is another dormitory which can sleep about 20 people. The well-appointed bathrooms for both male and female are located just 3m away. There are also four suites with attached bathrooms and air-conditioning. A generator provides power in the early evening until first light.
And, best of all, water is plentiful. Rainwater is collected and channelled to large tanks, which only occasionally needs to be topped up with water from the mainland.
While the others were setting up their tackle, I took a walk around the facilities. The lower fishing deck was full with hardcore anglers and families. Mums and dads with their children, and even grandfathers and grandmothers, were also fishing. Fathers were teaching the kids how to set up the tackle and fish.
I had a chat with a couple of regulars who gave some tips.
“The senangin (threadfin) come to the left of the kelong while the jenahak (golden snapper) prefer the right,†they said.
Other fish such as the grouper and stingray are all around.
The structure was built by the Selangor state government to promote local tourism and angling. Built in 2000 at a cost of RM7mil, the kelong was taken over by Kelong Paradise Waterfront Resort in 2006 and has recently been refurbished.
Families, anglers, day trippers and even seminar groups are catered for. Apart from providing five meals a day, the kelong also offers an evening seafood barbeque upon request at reasonable rates.
Two kelong fishing packages, one to a local shipwreck about 5km away from the kelong (12-hour package for a maximum of eight anglers) and the other to the Pulau Sembilan area (a 24-hour package) are offered as extras, but they need to be booked in advance.
Actual fishing
On our first night, Aziz and Ah Lek tried fishing while the rest of us talked and joked. We had booked the shipwreck package for the following day and most of us wanted to rest that first night.
The next day, we missed the high tide but decided to go out on a boat for a few hours. We anchored as close to the wreck as we could but the best positions had already been taken by two boats carrying anglers who were catching tenggiri (narrow-barred mackerel).
We tried bottom fishing, drifting, live bait, live prawns, jigging and casting but still, couldn’t get a tenggiri. A few talang were attracted to the lures and a number of large garfish took drifting bait. As such, we looked with envy at the anglers on the two boats hauling in the tenggiri. Even with the traditional berley from Ah Lek, we still failed to catch them. We vowed to be early at the shipwreck site the next time around.
After a good shower back at the kelong, I went on my rounds again and met Ahmad Dacimin who came with his family. It was their first time on the kelong and they were enjoying themselves. They had caught a few decent stingrays and small senangin, which they proudly displayed.
Our own fishing took a back seat as we settled down after dinner for a chat and whisky.
All to soon, it was time for us to return. Back at the jetty, we looked at some photographs of catches from the kelong. There were some decent fish indeed. We agreed that this was the best kelong ever. And we would be back!
Kelong Paradise Waterfront Resort
Tel: 03-7625 7838 (HQ) or 016-2333 213/215/219 (Sabak Bernam)
Fax: 03-7625 7840
E-mail: elkelong07@gmail.com www.kelongparadise.com
