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What happens when a guy who wants to fish all the time meets a guy who actually fish all the time – in the middle of the week? They go fishing!
Stefan and I decided to go to Empangan Air Kuning (Air Kuning Dam), literally translates as Yellowish Water Dam, on a Wednesday morning to catch us some fish.
The target will mainly be the pacu, the ball cutter of River Monsters, and we will be targeting them on fly.
After seeing Stefan’s #8 set up I wondered a little if I am under gunned with my #5 setup. We are going to have some dry fly fun so we spooled our reels with floating lines. I too happened to have come with a small crappy cheap fly reel. “Oh well, let’s see what happens” I thought knowing if I hooked onto a good fish it will probably see freedom pretty quick.
Row, row, row your boat…
It was a beautiful morning and we had the place all to ourselves. Empangan Air Kuning is arguably the most natural looking pay pond around. It is a small man made dam situated in a forest reserve. Anglers have a choice of either fishing the upper or lower dam.
This will also be part of the venue for the upcoming International Fly-fishing Festival scheduled to be held this 16-17 September 2012.
The way I will describe the bite rate that morning is they came on and off like some kid playing with a light bulb switch.
The fish here are often easily spooked as being a catch and release pond they have grown accustomed to our dirty tricks. We managed to get some bites both at the lower and upper dam but we also lost many fish either with the hooks coming off or getting our mono leader bitten off. At least they are biting.
We had to stop fishing at noon and in the end we lost a couple of fish to bite-offs and snags, and only managed to land one fish each and they are the smaller models.
Just don’t stick your finger in there
Unlike some fishes that suck (or swallow), pacu bites down on their food and that is why you can get away without using a wire. This way you get more bites and if you get lucky, land a couple of fish.
this place is in Shah Alam, right? Can i baitcast there?
Yes you can, James. Very early, late afternoon and evening are best.
Is the lake open daily? or weekend only?
What type of bait is best to fish in this lake?
hard or soft bait, spoon, spinner bait etc.
They are closed on Monday.
Many have had success with their own concoction of bottom fishing bait and also bread at times.
Small soft plastics or flies will be better for artificial.
The fish here are learned and it may take some visits to see success. Go on weekends and observe what other anglers are doing.
Is bait fishing allowed at EAK? i always thought that only artificial baits are allowed…
Anglers do bait fish there, though I would have preferred that the place stick to only allowing lure and fly-fishing. After all, they do call the place Lure casting and fly fishing centre.
You can also rent a boat and go casting around the edges and snags.
Wow sound great! How much is the boat rental?
It should be RM8/hr but please enquire at the hut.
what are the best flies that work there? And do woolly buggers work there?
Timothy, we’ve had success with flies such as nymphs, crickets, and woolly buggers too. The fish here are smart. No harm trying different things. Happy fishing!
Hi Admin,
How about the price per rod there ?
You’ll have to check with them when you get there. The road leading into EAK is currently closed to cars due to road works. You’ll have to park and walk for 5-10 mins to get to the spot for now till they fix the road.
Thanks for the info but can i know how can i get the direction to there ? seems empangan air kuning doesnt work in google map.