Back in 2019, I went on a Black Bass trip to Sri Ganda, Sabah with my good friend Altaff Asmar. During the trip, we had bad weather and after two days of fishing, only one small Black Bass and a few groupers were landed. Our heavy gears were not given the battles they deserved so we decided to visit one battleground for big fish immediately after we left Sri Ganda. It is a pay pond but it meets the purpose, right?
Ko-Nelayan Mini Aquaculture Park
We found ourselves in Ko-Nelayan Mini Aquaculture Park in Tuaran, Sabah after a night’s rest in Kota Kinabalu. It was a gloomy morning with signs of incoming rain. After a quick registration and purchasing frozen sardines for bait, it was fishing time! We were the only anglers present at the time and our assumption was fishing would be easy. An hour went by with our baits being nipped halfway by the big groupers. The frozen sardines were slowly retrieved on the pond bottom as if they were lures in hopes of triggering a bite but we were unlucky. Better bites came as our technique was changed. Instead of slowly dragging the frozen sardines we cast them out and allowed them to slowly sink near structures. Every cast had a take from barramundi and groupers. The fun has finally begun.