Does anyone have any idea of the
meaning of Angling Tourism? When I goggled under Angling, it states that “it is
a method of fishing by means of an angle (fish hook)”. Well, according to
Thesaurus, “Angling is fishing / casting / trawling / harpooning / whaling /
spinning / fly-fishing.” Of course, I know the meaning of Tourism because it is
my “bread and butter” since 1989, not counting the joy of travelling during my
student years. Put 2 and 2 together, to me the meaning of Angling Tourism is a
fishing trip, using whichever method of catching fish, either for novice or
die-hard angler, with a sole purpose of recreation.
Bearing that in mind, this will be
my first fishing trip and I am ever willing to take on any challenges at sea, I
gladly accept the invitation from Tourism Malaysia Perak and Gaya Travel
Magazine, as the official media, to go to Pulau Sembilan and Pulau Jarak from
22 – 23 April 2013.
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| Tourism Malaysia Perak's Angling Tourism 2013 |
When we arrived at “Lembaga Kemajuan
Ikan Malaysia” (LKIM) jetty at Kampung Acheh, Sitiawan, our 3 boats were ready.
Two boats are for the guys with very basic sleeping and toilet facilities.
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| 1st guy's boat |
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| 2nd guy's boat |
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| Front of the 2nd guy's boat |
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| Back and kitchen of 2nd guy's boat |
Fishing Vessel
However, my boat “Sea Gull” is a “leisure”
fishing vessel by comparison.
- Sleeping
arrangement – There are 5 double-decker individual sleeping space. Only pillows
are provided. As for the lower deck, an exhaust fan at the first bunk helps to
cool the area. At the side of each sleeping space, there is a small slot that
you can store your belongings such as book, digital camera, spectacles, face
towel, bottle water and medicated oil.
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| Sleeping space at "Sea Gull" boat |
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| Lower sleeping space of "Sea Gull" boat |
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| As comparison, sleeping space of the other boat |
My choice of
sleeping space
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| Me and my sleeping space on "Sea Gull" boat |
I slept on 1st bunk of the
upper deck. I remembered my husband’s tip to avoid sea sickness while onboard a
boat – ask for a cabin on the upper deck or toward the front of the boat. After
lunch at a local restaurant in Pulau Pangkor, I had a sound sleep when the boat
was heading towards Pulau Sembilan. The journey took about 1 hour. But once
the anchor was lowered at the fishing ground near Pulau Sembilan, whenever I
try to sleep, I feel queasy due to the sway motion of the sea current. So I had
to slide the window open and let the sea breeze in and also switch on the small
fan to improve the air ventilation.
- There
is a very neat and well-kept Indoor kitchen with drinking water. Even the
dishes, cups and utensils are kept in a covered dish drainer rack.
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| Kitchen of "Sea Gull" boat |
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| Kitchen of "Sea Gull" boat |
- The
toilet is spacious with sitting toilet bowl and cold shower and is only
operational when the boat is moving. I don’t have any photo of the toilet
because whenever I am in the toilet, the sea motion seems to be like tsunami
wave. That’s why my time spent in the toilet is very minimal. I confessed that
I didn’t take a shower but that’s okay because the fishy smell overpowered my
body odour!
However, I have a photo of the toilet of the other boat.
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| Toilet and kitchen of the other boat |
By comparison, “Sea Gull” toilet is double the size and is
indoor. According to the tour operator Mr Miezie, indoor toilet is safer
because if you are groggy and needs to throw up in the toilet, you would not go
overboard, especially at night.
- The
deck wood railing is knee high which enable you to sit comfortably and not
topple in the sea.
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| Deck of "Sea Gull" boat |
- There
is also a spacious multi-purpose area at the lower deck for praying, resting,
sleeping etc.
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| Lower deck of "Sea Gull" boat |
- There
are electrical sockets for you to charge your mobile phone or any other electrical
appliances. The power supply is on from 6.00pm to 6.00am
Enough
of the facilities of “Sea Gull” boat! Oh yeah, in the near future, owner Mr
Leong says the boat will be air-conditioned.
Sea sickness
Let me focus on motion sickness
and its prevention. I remembered the worst experience during my 1st
long haul flight to San Francisco when I vomited nonstop. I was dehydrated and
exhausted since I can’t sleep while throwing up, had sore throat from constant
vomiting and a general feeling of malaise as I am not able to keep down any food.
No way, I want to relive the
same experience through this Pulau Sembilan fishing trip! Lucky for me, I am
quite okay. I only vomited twice in a small quantity and manage to control the
intensity of my sea sickness bearing in mind the few following pointers.
- I avoided
heavy, greasy meals and carbonated drinks before the trip. If I do vomit, I’ll
at least be able to expel something besides stomach bile, which hurts bad as it
comes through my throat by itself.
- I had small
portion of my meals; sumptuous buffet dinner of fresh fired fish, fried leafy “Sawi”
with salted fish, dried curried crabs, buttered prawns and omelette;
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| Dinner on "Sea Gull" boat |
tasty prawn fried rice for supper and “Cintan” Instant Noodle Soup with egg and
vegetable for breakfast.- Before I
vomited the second time, I managed to plug my nose before throwing up to
prevent the vomit from clogging and paining my nostrils. And it also keep the
smell of vomit out of my nose – that unlovely aroma can cause psychosomatic
vomiting!
- Whenever I
felt uneasy, I would sit at the front of the boat to let the sea breeze blow
toward my face.
- When on
deck, I kept my eyes focus at a distant horizon, trying very hard to avoid the
motion of the sea current. It helps to divert my attention on the flock of sea
gulls soaring to catch the fishes at the surface of the sea. The screaming sea
gulls are music to my ear, at the spur of the moment!
- When I am
inside, I try to restore my sense of balance. Sometimes it is very difficult,
so it is either lie down or go outside.
Enough of “Sea Gull” and Motion
Sickness, now back to the fundamental of my Pulau Sembilan Fishing trip. Being
a rookie, it is best I show the photos of its tackle, method and tips of Apollo
Fishing.
Apollo fishing tackle
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| An Apollo Fishing tackle |
It has a digital indicator of the
depth of the line in the sea. To reel in the line, you can either use the
manual spool or just press the automatic button. At the end of the line, a 7
Apollo hooks which has pieces of white / shiny paper / plastic near the hooks
are attached before the sinker.
Apollo fishing method
First I simply dropped the line using
the automatic button to a good depth whilst observing the digital indicator,
maybe between 25 to 30 meters. I touched the tip of my finger at the line spool
to ensure that the line doesn’t tangle.
At the same time, I let my right hand “feel” the rod and watch out if
the end of the rod sags when the fishes are “biting”.
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| 1st step - Cast line |
At my first attempt, the bait fish
hooked almost at once! I imagined the school of fishes is attacking these hooks
together, thinking that the shiny paper or plastic is food. When I reeled in
the line, I was ecstatic at sight of my 3 “ikan selar kuning” or yellow stripe trevally
fish. Not bad for a newbie like me!!
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| My 1st Apollo catch |
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| Next step - unhook the fishes |
If you ask me, this so-called
“Apollo fishing” is a joy in itself, especially for a beginner like me, because
I can hook a few fish at any one time –
or none at all – and likely with some luck, I will hook quite a few more as
well.
Tips of basic Fishing
After few successful tries. I learnt
a thing or two about basic fishing method – reeling in and unhooking.
A tip I learned from Mr Miezie is
once you feel the fishes tugging on your line, quickly reel them in. Otherwise,
your Apollo hooks will cluster, making it very difficult for you to entangle
them and end up disposing and replacing them with a new set of hooks. Another
tip is when reeling the line, first execute it automatically. Stop the line
when you see the first fish at sea level, at that instant you do it manually.
When the sinker is visible, gently pull the line towards you.
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| Unhooking the fishes |
I have to be extra careful that the hooks
doesn’t sting me, hence it is best to work upwards and lower the line to the
deck each time. Once the hook got stuck at the back fin of the fish, it is easy
to unhook! If stuck in the mouth – which is the normal case, I am always gentle
so that I don’t hurt the fish and myself so much. Once the hook is off, I have
to be quick to place it in the pail full of water or just let it squirm on the
deck. Once it squirm through the small hole and was safe in the sea again.
Fresh fish is very slimy and the smell on your hand is lasting.
Lastly, honestly I find this trip to
be refreshing and educational. I would love to go on another fishing trip,
somewhere else - maybe at Lake Kenyir, Langkawi or Terengganu - encountering
different water conditions, using any other fishing methods but on one
condition – it is a day or an overnight trip.
