AIR KUNING, PERAK - 8 FEB 2014

Air Kuning, Perak – 8 FEB 2014

Fishyology Team head to Air Kuning, Perak for some fresh water angling. Lead by Badrul , Acap, Ezzul & Faroq. The team spend two days fishing in the area where there are countless fishing spot in the surrounding area. Air Kuning, Perak is situated 172 KM from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. It is one of the best fresh water fishing spot and hold 2 main trophy species. Giant Snake Head or Toman and Peacock Bass or Ikan Raja.

Team headed out to Air Kuning on the 7th and will spend the rest of the weekend fishing in the surrounding area. They have also schedule a day trip at one of the main lake in Air Kuning for some serious casting sessions. Apparently, I did not manage to join this trip as I have other errands to do. I will share all the pics and catches for this trip and will try my best to describe the outing experience as told by Badrul.

Begin the morning session. One of many lakes in the surrounding area.

As mentioned earlier, two of the main species that strives in this waters are Toman or Giant Snake Head and Peacock Bass or Ikan Raja. Both are considered as prized game fish for local anglers, although Peacock bass or Cichlids are a non-native species that thrive in this waters. They were introduced maybe by locals and Peacock Bass are able to adapt and strive in the environment which is similar to their origin, Brazil. There are arguments among local anglers about the potential threat of peacock bass brought upon native species. Maybe one day Fishyology will interview local marine biologist or fishery expert as part of an in-depth research in this never ending topic.

Giant Snake Head or Toman

The giant snakehead or giant mudfish (Channa micropeltes) is the largest species in the family Channidae, capable of growing to over 1 m in length (3.3 ft) and a weight of over 20 kg (44 lb). It is widely distributed in the fresh waters of Southeast Asia and some regions of India.

Other names include red snakehead, redline snakehead, and ikan toman (where ikan is “fish” in both Indonesian and Malay). The giant snakehead is known in Thai language as pla chado (Thai: ปลาชะโด). In the state of Kerala, India – it is called ‘Varal’.

Source Wikipedia

Peacock Bass or Ikan Raja

Peacock bass is the common name in English for a group of closely related species of tropical, freshwater fish of the genus Cichla, native to the Amazon River Basin, Orinoco River Basin, and coastal Atlantic drainage of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guyana, in South America.

Peacock bass have been introduced to Malaysia, southern Brazil, Dominican Republic, Panama, and some tropical regions the United States; these being Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the US Virgin Islands. Despite their name, these fish are cichlids, not basses.

Source Wikipedia

Badrul with his first Peacock Bass in 2014 using rapala jigging rap 🙂

Faroq manage to land one Peacock Bass using White SP Grub

Acap landed a larger Peacock Bass using minnow shaped lure

During this trip alone, out of three strikes, they manage to land only 2 Toman. Usually it lurks beneath the top water plants. We cast it on top of the weeds and slowly retrieve it towards the water. If there is one Toman beneath the floating plant, surely it will strike once the lure hit the water.

Badrul did not manage to land his Giant Snake Head as it manage to free it self by running into the weeds. It is a hard ball game, as anglers need to wrestle the fish as quickly as possible without giving them a chance to run into any underwater structure. A heavier rod is required to wrestle the fish but with delicate hand and precision control any medium rating rod would do the trick.