TUCKED snugly between Klang and Kuala Selangor, Sasaran is a small and quiet fishing village in Selangor that is worth exploring by city anglers who are keen for a day of fishing.
From the town’s fishing jetty, which is accessible via a slip road next to the bridge near the main road, there are a few chartered operators who regulary ferry fishos out to fish along the coastline.
I have been making this day trip, with my regular boatman Ah Lim, for the many years and I find each trip to be rewarding.
On the hunt: Fishermen dredging for cockles near the river mouth. Although the fishing is not as plentiful as it used to be, what I like most about this day trip out with my buddies, is that apart from being relaxing, it give me the opportunity to wet my line and brush up on my fishing skills.
Sasaran gives anglers the option to use live or sliced bait to catch a variety of species like tetanda (one-spot perch), jenahak (golden snapper), gelama (croaker), pari (stingray), bolus (whiting) and grouper, all found along the coast and near Pulau Angsa, a small island with a light house to guide ships heading to Port Klang.
Fishing at this location is easy and one does not need sophisticated gear to do the job.
A typical fishing day normally starts at 8am with the boatman picking up the anglers at the fishing jetty near the Sungai Buloh river mouth.
The journey out to the sea would normally take an hour or so, with Ah Lim stopping a while in the middle of the sea to get some live prawns and bait from his fishermen friends.
The prawns are kept alive in a big container using an aerated pump. Fresh sardines or kembong could also be the ideal bait for this fishing trip.
I normally use light action rods and reels, fitted to a 20lb or so line, to do the job.
Easy catch: One-Spot Perch and a Croaker caught near Pulau Angsa using light tackle. In my years of fishing off this coast, I have tried many different rigs to catch the fish but have found the running sinker and 1-up-1-down rig with a light sinker attached to it as the best set up.
The running rig with a oval sinker attached to the main line that is stopped by a snap swivel, which is fixed to a short leader, would be ideal for baiting the live prawns.
However, the trick here is to hook the prawns on the lower part of the abdomen, nearer the tail, in order to keep it alive to attract the fish.
The running sinker would allow the live prawns to manoeuvre freely, increasing its chances of being taken.
This set up has been proven effective for jenahak, tetanda, silver snapper, tiger-toothed croakers and stingray.
The 1-up-1-down rig is also effective if one decides to use sliced kembong or sardine meat. This is a perfect bottom rig for fishing on flat and sandy waters.
It also catches the gelama, tiger-toothed croakers and silver snapper.
This rig can also be handy if the boatman decides to anchor nearer to the rocky outcrops near Pulau Angsa where groupers can be found.
The best fishing time in Sasaran is during the spring or neap tide and an hour before and after the tides raised.
Apart from fishing, one could also observe plenty of on-going activities at the Sungai Buloh river mouth, which is surrounded by mangroves trees on both sides of the banks, in the morning and evening.
Fishing trawlers would be returning with their catches and the wooden jetty, which had been in operation for more than hive decades, would be a hive of activities with fishermen and labourers busy unloading their catches that were sold to fishmongers and whole sellers.
The mangroves swamp that dominates the site is also full of life.
For the table: An angler holding up a silver snapper caught off Sasaran. One could observe many species of birds, some of which are migratory, and silver-tail monkeys perching on the mangroves trees.
Sea otters and their pups can also be seen playing around the banks while monitor lizards basked on the mudflat in the sun.
Anglers can also see how fishermen manoeuvring their wooden sampans with one leg on the outbound motor and use both hands to hold a specially designed metal scoop to dredge and harvest the cockles buried in the mud.
The colourful life and ecosystem that found on the river mouth not only give a beautiful and lasting impression of the place, it makes the fishing experience at Sasaran a memorable outing.
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