Fishing in fresh water

We come from a poor family and most days there was not much food at home especially during school holidays when my cousins also from poor families came visiting. But our house was located close to a mining pool which had plenty of fish. Most days we used to fish at the pool using hook and line. This was a slow process as the fish learnt to avoid food dangling from a line. We then cycled 12 miles to a town known as Batu Gajah. This was a mining area with a lot of disused mining pools and streams abound with fish.

Instead of baiting fish with hook and line, we blocked the flow of water by building barricades using pebbles, stones and mud. Once the barricade was up, it would stop the flow of water leaving the area behind the barricade with very little water. The fish behind the barricade would be gasping for air and it was easy to pick them up. We would throw the tiny ones back into the water and grab the larger ones into a wicker basket to cook them at home. Sometimes we did not realise that time had passed until one of our friends complained of hunger. We would then light a fire and roast the fish with spices and salt that we had brought from home. When fish is plentiful we would take them home for my mum to cook them into lovely dishes. The fish that we catch in the river were “Haruan, Keli, Sepat and Tilapia”. They are very tasty indeed.

After my marriage, I have seen these fish in the market and have bought them. However when cooked they emitted an odour that will put you off. It took me some time to realise that the fish sold in the market are not fresh water fish but raised in domestic ponds for the market. The food for the fish was left over food collected from restaurants and other trash, and this caused the smell.

All content (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana@blogspot.com

Picture (c) Lat, and is used for illustrative purpose only

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