What comes to mind when someone says fishing or angling? Boring? Sports for retired people? That's what I thought too initially but ah, that perception is about to change.

I've never gone angling on my own before and previously only followed angling experts like Osbourne and Yau Keong to fishing ponds. It was only this semester that I registered myself to take up angling as an extra curricular activity.

The first 3 weeks involved stuff like identifying the different parts on a fishing rod, how to assemble the rod, knot tying, casting and more. If you were there, you'd probably be in stitches watching us practice casting our line in the field. Some ended up on trees while the more seasoned anglers reached their target. Thank God nobody got hooked!

4th week and beyond we were basically on our own. We used baits like earthworms, bread and chicken feed but I didn't seem to get anything for the first few weeks. It was frustrating but it all changed one magical evening when my fishing rod started twitching! Something was on the other end of the line! I jumped to my feet, ran to the rod and quickly started reeling! The fish didn't really give a fight and moments later it was on dry land. My first ever fish turned out to be a Peacock bass! Not a big one but not too small either. I carefully removed the hook, took a picture and released the fellow back into the pond. Casting the line back into the pond and within a minute or so another fish chomped on the bait! It was unbelievable! Haha. It was another Peacock bass and the same procedure all over again. Unhook, take pictures and then release. Angling just became more exciting! At the same time my throat was getting drier due to the scorching sun and I didn't have drinking water with me so I left my rod by the pond and drove out to get a drink. On returning to the pond, could you believe it? The rod was twitching again! And in came another Peacock bass haha. It was like magic that evening I tell you. This is only the beginning of BIGGER things.

Following weeks were Peacock bass after Peacock bass and it was getting mundane. Some of the seasoned anglers were getting big ones like the Pacu and Patin! I told myself I must catch one too before the class ends at the end of the semester. I usually stay on after class up to about 5pm in the evening. Class starts at 8.30am and ends at 11.30am, so that's an additional 5 hours. I was so engrossed that I sometimes missed my lunch. Big fishes have taken my bait before but it all ended up in broken lines or missing hooks due to my inferior skills.

On a Friday, I went to the pond to practice because there was going to be a tournament the next day. There was this guy by the name of Aiei who knows alot about angling and competes in tournaments regularly. He approached me and asked if I'd like to catch bigger fishes and I jumped at the opportunity right away! When he bit off the sinkers, swivel and hook, I was thinking 'What the heck was he doing to my line'? He then took out the a HUGE hook from his tackle box and tied it to my line! Producing a rubber seed from his pocket, he cracked the shell and hooked the soft contents. No sinkers, no swivel, just a hook and a bait. He produced another 3 or so rubber seed and flung it into the pond and lo and behold, 2 or 3 fishes almost immediately snapped the rubber seeds! Aiei then immediately cast the line and within a short moment, the line was being tugged strongly the we could see the line racing towards the other end of the pond! He quickly grabbed the rod and proceeded to reel the fish in. After reeling in a few times he handed me the rod to try it out for myself and boy, was the fish strong! My arm was getting tired and my lack of reeling experience contributed to the problem. A few minutes later the line broke! Argh! It was so close! We tried for another 3 times using my rod and all attempts ended with a broken line! My line was simply too weak to handle such a strong fish. So Aiei used his own rod and after waiting for an hour or so, he finally got the fish again and reeled in this 7kg Pacu:

During the tournament itself I only got a small 190g Peacock bass but it was good enough for 16th place and I got a fishing rod bag. There were more than 100 participants and 30 prizes were up for grabs but only 25 people caught fishes. The biggest fish, a 3kg Patin was caught by a lady, shame on the guys haha. All the bigger fishes were probably hiding haha.

My dream of a big fish hasn't been realised yet and the hunger was greater than ever! So yesterday I went hunting for rubber seeds next to the Chinese cemetery in UPM and got quite a number. After getting enough rubber seeds, I headed straight to the pond and set up my rig. Throwing a few rubber seeds into the pond, I didn't have to wait long before the fishes came to gobble it up. It was a good sign and I cast my line immediately, this time with a stronger line(12lbs) courtesy of Aiei. There were 2 weak attempts by the fish to bite my bait and only at the third attempt did the fish really chomp hard on the bait and my line started to race across the water! This was it I thought. So I quickly reeled the fish and kept the reeling tips by Aiei in mind. Slowly but surely the fish was reeled to the bank. After about 5 minutes, the fish was exhausted and it was lying on its side by the grass. Not having a net, I immediately called the pond caretaker for help and he rushed to the pond with a net. Slowly he climbed down along the bank with the net but as the net was about scoop the fellow, the fish suddenly flipped and swam back into the water, bringing the hook together. The line broke, again. Argh! It was frustrating but I didn't give up so I cast the line again and waited once more. An hour later, Aiei and Afiq(course mate) turned up at the pond. We were chatting away when suddenly the something tugged the line hard and fast again! This time I'll get it for sure! It was a long battle lasting about 10 hard minutes. It kept on swimming back to the middle of the pond as I reeled it to the bank but it got exhausted after a while and Aiei scooped the fish out of the water. The line didn't break this time and at last I got the elusive fish! It was a Pacu and was estimated to be 6kg. As usual, we carefully removed the hook, took some pictures and released the fish back into the pond. What an experience!

Broken lines, twisted lines, missing hooks but I didn't give up and it was worth the time and effort. All I can say is that the 13 weeks spent angling was indeed worthwhile. I got tanner but it's all worth it. Bigger biceps and triceps too? Haha. Aiei once told me that anglers are usually people without any partners because no lady wants to spend their time by the pond all day long! Haha.

Sports for only retired people? No way! :)

Au revoir!