December 15, 2009 – Tronoh, Perak (by Gerald K).  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. This time we had five kayakers, Dr. Mah, Chris, Kenny, Arnold and myself.

Dr. Mah had arrived at my house at 3.45am. We quickly loaded our stuff and headed north by 4.00am. Next, we met Chris at the Rawang R&R and headed to Tanjung Malim to join up with Kenny. We had stopped at Tapah R&R for breakfast before continuing the rest our journey. Arnold, the fifth member of the team, would join us at T1. We finally arrived T1 at 7.30am.

T1 is about 1.5km x 1.0km in size. The deep end is about 100ft. For anglers, lake structures such as dropoffs, feeder creeks, shallow coves, lotus pads and side vegetation make good fishing spots.

We decided to launch our kayaks at Mayan Bay. The bay is shallow and covered with lush green vegetation. This bay is home to the Mayan cichlids. The Mayans are small. Averaging 6 inches in length. But, their small size belies their strength. I could feel my Mini-X move each time these feisty little cichlids burst to the side…unbelievable!

From Mayan Bay, we paddled north to the feeder creeks and were rewarded with even more and bigger mayans. Later, Dr. Mah decided to paddle further north to Sanctuary Cove. Arnold, Chris and Kenny headed east to Otter Bay. I stayed on at Feeder Creek 1 and continued catching those feisty little mayans. At about 11.0am, the belidas started to rise. They had rise at the same spot and time during my first trip. I knew better this time that they would not take my grubs and decided to just watch in contemplation instead.

The feisty little Mayan.

Later, I headed north-east to Lotus Cove. Arnold joined Dr. Mah at Belida Bay. Chris and Kenny were still combing the area around Otter Bay. The Lotus Cove is shallow and filled with lotus pads. The cove is definitely home to the haruans. Sure enough, I caught our first and only haruan for the day.

Haruan and Mayan Cichlids

My keep net

Arnold had plucked a few lotus pods for lunch. I have seen lotus pods being sold in markets but never eaten one, not raw anyway. Arnold had assured us they tasted very good and convinced us to try them. He taught us how to pick the right pods, remove the seeds and peel the skin. Indeed, the seeds tasted very good…and very fresh. It has a slight sweet and bitter taste. It tasted better than the sandwich I brought. I am glad to learn another survival skill…thanks Arnold.

The Lotus Pod

A slight crunch, sweet and better taste. Nothing rival its freshness.

 I decided to join Arnold and Dr. Mah at Belida Bay. Yes, the belidas were playing at the bay area and were not interested in what we had to offer. We continued to fish until 3.00pm before slowly heading back to our launch point. 

Kenny (left) and Arnold taking a short break before heading home.

The prize catch...1.5kg Haruan.

Each of us has caught so many mayans that we had lost count. We had released all the small ones and kept a few big ones for dinner. Yes, it has been a fun day at the Mayan city.