Spanish Mackerel anyone?

The tenggiri (other name for Mackerel in Malaysia) season is now open and anglers seeking excitement and challenge should head north to Yan, Kedah.

The sea off this small fishing village, some 37km from Alor Setar, is now teeming with many types of fish aside from tenggiri, or Spanish mackerel, which is one of the preferred game fish among local anglers.

Although the season started in late January and early February and will run until June, its peak is in March and April.

During these two months, the tenggiri cab be found here, they are much bigger and more aggressive, and the catch can be quite weighty, between six and eight kilogrammes.

Fishing  tenggiri in Yan evolves around the tukun — a man-made fish-aggregating device.

The many tukun found here are made from palm leaves, tied to the rope and long bamboo sticks on the top, and anchored to giant concrete sinkers on the seabed.

Concrete balls, old trawlers and unwanted car chassis are also sunk near the tukunfor the fish to shelter and breed, thus populating the spot.

Aside from tenggiri, which comes to feed on pelagic fish such as tambun, kembong and selar, other species like cencaru (torpedo scad), dorado, giant trevally, talang(queen fish), jenahak (golden snappers), grouper and gerut-gerut (sliver grunter) can also be found in abundance here.

What is beautiful about a Yan outing is that one can opt for bottom, casting, jigging and drifting methods.

The bottom fishing target is normally for species such as jenahak, gerut-gerut and grouper while jigging and casting with feather, pintail, spoon and macro jigs are effective for giant trevally, talang and tenggiri.

Jigging with the ready-made Apollo jigs is also good for the pelagic species while drifting is also suitable to catch tenggiri.

However, fishing tenggiri in Yan is very different from other places.

The fish here are choosy when it come to the presentation of the bait, lures and the main line used.

It will not take to those using braided lines while the best and most effective lure to use are white duck feathers wrapped around a small torpedo-shaped sinker attached to a hook.

This feather lure is peculiar to only this location.

The presentation using the selar and kembong bait must also be neat, with the hooks properly inserted into the flesh of the fish.

While the hooks can be exposed, the bait must be able to imitate a swimming fish, able to flex or “swim” when it is drifted or retrieve.

Therefore, to loosen up the fish while inserting hooks into it, one has to pull and flex the bait to “loosen” its bones.

I was told by the boatman Jan that no braided line can be used for tenggiri in Yan.

The Yan species have a preference for monofilament lines.

The rational behind this is that the braided line, when spooled, emits some kind of vibration as it expels water from the wet line.

When the sound gets amplified in the sea, it distracts the fish.

Although, the monofilament line also vibrates when reeled in, the frequency transmitted into the water produces lower decibel and the sound of the line “cutting” the water entices the fish indirectly.

For those who use spoon and feather lure, the retrieving speed has to be fast to lure the tenggiri.

Of course, a short leader is much better for catching tenggiri as it has sharp teeth.

For this outing, light setting is essential. A 2000 or 3000 series reel with a 20 or 25 pound line is recommended.

For the rod, a medium power, moderate fast or fast action rod is a good choice.

An outing to Yan promises plenty of thrills.

In my recent trip there with my fishing buddies Fire Tiger, Charlie Sun and his brother Sean on Wan’s boat, we caught sizable tenggiri and plenty of cencaru, weighing between 200g and 300g each.