“Adrenalin coursed through me as I paddled stealthily to the spot. Closer, I realised they were juvenile tomans. Their parents were no longer looking after them. If they were small fries instead, I at least had the chance to catch a good-size toman for the home freezer.” Arnold Js Loh, A Kayak Fisher

Out of boredom I cast at them. As usual, all 200 over of juvenile tomans tried to eat the lure at once, resulting in a boiling frenzy. One of them inevitably caught the treble hook. I reeled the lure back to free the fish.

Not bad. Over 11 inches long. I sampled fried juvenile toman nearly 10 years ago, out of curiosity

“The fishing was so good the first time, we decided to revisit this ex-mining lake in Tronoh which we named The Mayan City or simply, T1 . Tronoh, like most ex-mining towns in Malaysia are pockmarked with ex-mining lakes. T1 is one of the largest lakes in the area…each of us has caught so many mayans that we had lost count.” Gerald K, A Kayak Fisher