FROM a very young age, I love fishing. Many people find it boring and a total waste of time. Well, they don't know what they're missing! As a boy, I used to fish in the river. Later on, I tried fishing from the many beaches that we have in Sabah. Later on still, I ventured into deep-sea fishing. At one point, I became very obsessed with it. No, I am not going to tell you about the big ones that got away. This is about the time when I almost died at sea.
Four years ago, ten of us chartered a 70-foot trawler one weekend. It was an overnight trip. It normally takes between 3 to 5 hours to reach the fishing grounds. But one hour into the journey, the sea began to act up. Being the freak anglers that we were, we continued on anyway. We had intended to go to a place known as Karang-Karangan that day, but because of the rough sea, we ended up anchoring about one hour beyond Mengalum Island. Mengalum in turn is about 3 hours from KK.
We were all disappointed because the fish were not really biting that day. The night passed uneventfully. The next morning, we shifted a few times as we normally would. I was standing at the rear of the boat — something you wouldn't want to do during rough sea.
Suddenly, a huge wave came; the boat tilted; I lost my grip and fell down, landing onto the wooden railing. I heard my rib cracked. For a split second my vision became dark; and then the excrutiating pain kicked in. For a while I couldn't breath. My brother, Dennis, helped me up to a seated position. I leaned onto a short table holding my rib. I heard Eric saying "Oh shit!... Oh shit!". I managed to refrain from crying out in pain, but I just couldn't control the tears that kept coming. I felt like dying...
The skipper suggested that we take shelter in Mengalum, but I didn't think that was a good idea. So all of us voted to negotiate the rough sea back to KK. A journey that would normally take 3 hours, but we ended up reaching KK in 5 hours. In pain, I saw my girl, Jamie, and my wife, Euphemia, in my mind. Never before had I experienced such hopelessness — a sense of losing it all...
Well, we made it back to KK in the end. An x-ray revealed a fractured rib. Lots of pain killers and a few days rest. And then 2 months later I was out at sea again. Sometimes, we just never learn. What can I do, I just love to fish!
Four years ago, ten of us chartered a 70-foot trawler one weekend. It was an overnight trip. It normally takes between 3 to 5 hours to reach the fishing grounds. But one hour into the journey, the sea began to act up. Being the freak anglers that we were, we continued on anyway. We had intended to go to a place known as Karang-Karangan that day, but because of the rough sea, we ended up anchoring about one hour beyond Mengalum Island. Mengalum in turn is about 3 hours from KK.
We were all disappointed because the fish were not really biting that day. The night passed uneventfully. The next morning, we shifted a few times as we normally would. I was standing at the rear of the boat — something you wouldn't want to do during rough sea.
Suddenly, a huge wave came; the boat tilted; I lost my grip and fell down, landing onto the wooden railing. I heard my rib cracked. For a split second my vision became dark; and then the excrutiating pain kicked in. For a while I couldn't breath. My brother, Dennis, helped me up to a seated position. I leaned onto a short table holding my rib. I heard Eric saying "Oh shit!... Oh shit!". I managed to refrain from crying out in pain, but I just couldn't control the tears that kept coming. I felt like dying...
The skipper suggested that we take shelter in Mengalum, but I didn't think that was a good idea. So all of us voted to negotiate the rough sea back to KK. A journey that would normally take 3 hours, but we ended up reaching KK in 5 hours. In pain, I saw my girl, Jamie, and my wife, Euphemia, in my mind. Never before had I experienced such hopelessness — a sense of losing it all...
Well, we made it back to KK in the end. An x-ray revealed a fractured rib. Lots of pain killers and a few days rest. And then 2 months later I was out at sea again. Sometimes, we just never learn. What can I do, I just love to fish!
2 comments:
Hi CKoh,
Fishing kaki ah, I went fishing at Lumut during the Raya break but did not get anything.
My dad is also very keen in fishing. I used to follow him as a kid to old mining ponds, went to electrocute fishes in the river once with them as well. It was fun. it was fun, when you get the fish. His recent big catch was a 4.5 kg toman.
But there are certain places dad went he would not let me go. He usually goes with his group of guy friends. It's quite wild in the country side (somewhere in Perak) where you can see wild crocodiles, big monitor lizards, snakes around the area.
Any nice places in Sabah, maybe can plan a holiday there, bring my dad. And moreover I've never been to East Malaysia :)
cheers,
Ju
Ju,
Referring to myself as "fishing kaki" would almost be a big lie. Me and my friends are better known as "hantu pancing", because that's what we really are!
But I am not very keen with fresh-water fishing these days. We are more into deep-sea fishing. "deep" normally means 40 to 80 metres. We have quite a number of trawlers for charter -- up to a maximum of 12 passengers at a rate of about RM1,800 per 2d1n trip. That includes main meals onboard, although not 5-star hotel standard! Whenever there is a long stretch of holidays, some of them would go for 2 or even 3 nights!
If you can tahan sea-sickness, then it's quite fun. But bear in mind, if you get seasick while at sea, there is nothing you can do but sleep and try to withstand it. The rest would let you die, rather than go home!
Quite an expensive hobby -- budget about RM250 - RM300 per trip. But I haven't been very lucky with my catch, the biggest was a 7 kg tenggiri. Eric, if you are reading this, this is your cue to boast about you catch!
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