I’m not sure how many people actually recall fishing in Singapore some 30 to 35 years ago. Back then, bait fishing was all the rage and lures were heard of but hardly popular. Fishing ponds exists over different parts of Singapore, mostly in the more remote areas. Some of the more well known ones include Tampines, Ocean and Yio Chu Kang fishing pond. These were stocked with Grass Carp, Big Head Carps and several other species of carps.

Recently, I was introduced to Pond Fishing again in Malaysia by some kakis from Coho Sport Fishing. This time, the location was Nanyang Fishing Pond in Kulai, Johor Bahru, a one and a half hour car ride from Singapore. While there were lots of similarities with the old style pond fishing in Singapore (including using Chicken Feed as bait, Rod Stands and bite indicators), some major changes were obvious. For starters, while the traditional Carp species were available, the pond was also stocked with Pacu and Patin, two species which are even less particular about their food and fight alot harder than carps do. Secondly, this was a catch and release pond. Thirdly, being Catch & Release, there are alot more fishes which means that you rarely have to wait 15mins before your first bite.

So, how strong were these Patins and Pacus? Well, there’s a joke going around that this is a differnt kind of “fly fishing”. If you were not careful and keeping a watch on the indicator, your rod could literally “fly” into the pond when a Patin takes. It seems this is an everyday affair here and I had the honor to witness Han’s rod taking flight during our trip!

The fishing was awesome! Gone were the 4-5 gang hooks of the past. Instead, we used single or double hooks, which means there are less hooks to meddle with and get caught in the landing nets when landing a fish. How awesome? Well, I see a fish landed every 10 minutes or so and these average 2-3kg with bigger ones going to 4-5kgs or so. But I can certainly say they fought alot harder than the usual carp species.

Some of the guys who got there earlier were even landing Pacu’s on flies. However, care must be taken to set the hooks fast as Pacu’s have very sharp and powerful jaws that will break the line should it ever get in the way. More got away than landed on fly, mostly due to the small size of the flies, allowing the fish to get to the leader easily!

The fishing was easy enough that almost everyone caught something. I even managed to land 5 fishes, just using a simple one hook rig, a small telescopic rod (Shimano Bass 1) and 6 pound line. Pole fishing was a real prospect here, as witnessed by the Grass Carp taken on a pole rod by Edwin in the last picture below.

Cost of fishing here is also very “economical”. Each rod was only RM18 (S$8) and you bring your own bait.  This entitles you to a whole night of fishing. If you are lazy to mix your own “chicken feed”, bread will do just fine. You are encouraged to use barbless hooks for ease of release so that the fishes will not be hurt too badly. Should you land a good catch and you want to keep the fish, the pond attendant will weigh the fish and you pay for the fish according to the weight.

Did we have fun? You bet! We left Coho at 5pm and made our way to the site. Despite a heavy jam at the causeway (thanks to Mas Salamat!), we made it to the pond by about 7.30pm. This includes stopping along the way to buy dinner!

Fishing started at about 8pm and we fished for about 4 hours till midnight before making our way back home. In this short 4 hours, we must have landed about 30 to 40 fishes or so, averaging about 4 fishes each. This was definitely fruitful fishing compared to the old days when a whole night of dusk to dawn fishing may bag you two fishes on a good day and nothing on a bad day! And not to mention, that’s usually fishing with 2 rods each!

Would I recommend this place? Absolutely! If you’ve had experience pond fishing in Singapore in the past, this is definitely recommended. It’ll definitely evoke a strong sense of nostalgia… If you have not tried the old pond fishing ways, you owe it to yourself to try out a different and exciting way of fishing. While the technique may be back to basics, the fishes are a new, hungrier and stronger breed, giving the traditional pond fishing a new sense of excitement never before experienced. And if you are a real traditionalist, you can even try a pole rod… nothing can be more exciting than having a 2-3kg fish, zipping in and out at the end of your whippy pole rod. Try it… you’ll not regret it! This much I can guarantee!

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