Pond fishing has been an alternative for most Malaysian anglers ever since recreational fishing came into existence. Whether it’s due to the seasons or time restrictions, the inability to go fishing at lakes, rivers or sea has always been the reason anglers flock to nearby pay ponds (commercial fishing ponds). This in turn causes the fish, especially in catch-and-release or sports fishing ponds, to become smarter by the day. So, when the fishing gets tough and traditional lures such as pencils, minnows, crankbaits and soft plastics just don’t cut it; it’s time to break out the weird and unconventional lures and fish differently.
I recently started my degree in Veterinary Medicine, which means my fishing time has been drastically reduced. When a class got cancelled, I took it as an opportunity to go fishing with beginner angler; Nurul. She has never held a fishing rod before. Being a greenhorn I thought the best place for her to learn how to fish is at Jugra.
We arrived at one of the payponds in Jugra at approximately 7am and immediately got onto getting our lures wet. We started with soft plastics on a jighead with a straight retrieve but did not get as much as a nibble. We tried different retrieves such as bottom hops and dragging, but still nothing. Then I recalled my previous trip to Jugra with long time friend and angler Amirul Irfan. Back then we used swimbaits to coax the fish into biting. Then it dawned on me that these fishes have been seeing the same lures go over their heads every single day. With that, I decided that it was best if we tried using lures that the fishes here have probably never seen before, more specifically jointed swimbaits. I handed Nurul my Jackall Baby Giron and I used its bigger counterpart; the Giron.
The bites were instantaneous. Just as the lures hit the water they were taken and in this case by Barramundis. Ironically Nurul was doing way better than me. I assume it’s due to her lure having a smaller profile, or oerhaps it was beginner’s luck (or she could secretly be an expert angler playing the greenhorn). She managed to catch 2-3 barramundis before I managed to get a bite on my bigger Giron swimbait. We both had a blast reeling in fish after fish and releasing them until it was nearing noon and the bites started to die down. That was when we decided to call it a day and planned to return next week.