If you have the virtue of patience, an hour or two of casting alone is plenty of time to review all you’ve learned about the grand themes of life.
– Carl Safina, American ecologist and author
Today, I will stay clear of politics or controversial topics and write on my favourite hobby – angling, or what is locally known as fishing and prawning.
My good friend, Dr Ashok Segar, woke me up from my sleep at 6 am something yesterday and invited me to a fishing date at his farm at Mile 16 Kuching-Serian Road. Without thinking twice I accepted his offer; it has been quite a while since I went fishing, and this is a great opportunity to touch base with my hobby.
Fishing has been my pastime ever since my childhood days in the 60s in Sibu. We were staying in government quarters in Rubber Road where there was a large ditch full of ikan puyu, sepat, keli and tilapia.
If my memory serves me correctly, I started catching fish even before I entered primary school. Back then I couldn’t afford to get a rod and line; I had to enter the waist-deep water ditch with a makeshift fishing net from poultry netting, without mum’s knowledge of course.
I had to hide from dad my craving for fishing or else I would get tight slaps, though on several occasions I was caught with my waist under the dirty ditch water. He would drag me out of the ditch and into the house; on top of the slaps I would be whipped with a belt as punishment.
Dad’s action was understandable because next to the ditch, opposite our quarters, was a dense forest infested with snakes.
But fishing as a form of recreation is so addictive that I was prepared to throw caution to the wind – and the slaps and whippings continued right up to primary 6.
Many people see recreational fishing as a form of escapism from everyday life; once it becomes a routine it can turn into an addiction.
In my primary and secondary school years, I avoided school activities and most extracurricular activities so that I could go out angling (I managed to save some money to buy a proper rod and line when I was in form 2) with my friends.
Taking about addiction, for many of those who take up recreational fishing, there’s something about a fish when it takes the bait which brings excitement and the satisfaction of having achieved something.
Fishing also turns strangers into friends in a few hours. I have made numerous friends.
Believe it or not, I can wait for hours upon hours patiently just for the fish to take the bait. I guess the years of angling must have taught me to be extremely patient which came in useful in my line of work as a journalist years later.
Fortunately, thanks to my family I was able to shrug off my fishing addiction in my later part of my life.
So what are the early signs of a fishing addiction? The tell-tale signs include staying away from other activities, participating in fishing competitions or going out on regular fishing trips alone or with friends, watching fishing shows on TV, purchasing expensive fishing gear, and engaging in conversations about fishing daily.
Anyway, back to my active angling days. I have even gone on deep-sea angling trips at the invitation of some of my affluent friends who could afford their own boats. One of them is true-blue angler Alaric Soh, a well-known local beauty pageant-fashion show organiser cum film producer/director.
Back in 2000, when I was with a local broadsheet newspaper, Alaric suggested that I follow him and his buddies on a day-long fishing trip out into the open sea. I was a bit apprehensive initially as I had never been on a boat.
But following some assurance from the man himself, I agreed. And I never regretted. I managed to net a few big fish and I was ecstatic. That was my first deep-sea angling experience.
Several years later I followed some Heng Hua fishermen from the fishing village in Bintawa, Kuching on two of their fishing trips and wrote some articles about how this fishing community made a living from fishing.
It was an experience that I still remember vividly. Maybe when I retire from journalism, I will be a fishermen.
I also love prawning and I have caught many huge udang galah (lobster prawns) in Sungei Antu and Rajang River in the 60s and 70s. But sadly they have almost disappeared now because of pollution.
A lit bit on Dr Segar, this retired medical practitioner who bought a mansion on a three-acre piece of land under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme has a river – Sungai Endap – running through his farm.
In it you can find several breeds of fish, including ‘golden’ tilapia, carp, sultan (ikan jelawat) and the much-sought after empurau.
You have to visit his farm to believe it. I am thankful to Dr Segar and his wonderful wife Tess for having me as a guest and giving me the chance to fish in ‘his’ river.
Incidentally, Dr Segar is an expert on diabetes – and a working encyclopaedia on COVID-19. And he’s an avid angler too; he caught a huge rare ‘golden’ tilapia last week.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
