SIBU: It may not be known outside of Bintulu, its birthplace, but Dayak Angler Club (DAC), is creating a lot of waves wherever its members go fishing.
Established just a year ago in Bintulu, DAC has attracted many anglers from the community.
The objective of the club is to promote fishing as a sporting activity among its members.
The 150-odd members of the club have been very active with the organisation of a number of fishing outings.
“So far, we have organised between six and eight deep sea fishing outings, 20 to 30 river trips using longboats and four to six trips to the upper reaches of rivers,” said club president Ting Hua Leong.
The club’s biggest ever fishing safari so far was held from May 24 to 26 off the coast of Bintulu which is famous among avid anglers from throughout the country and Brunei for its abundance of fish of all sizes and species.
An experienced skipper of a fishing boat, Awang Azman made the anglers’ trips even more memorable as it was his 30-year skill that enabled them to land bountiful harvests of fish from the sea.
“His service is well sought after by anglers far and near,” explained Ting.
“Known by his nickname ‘Cip’, Awang is like ‘cucur pisang panas’ (hot banana fritters) in the market as anglers look for him when they want to go out to the sea to fish.
“Awang is helped out by his two capable helpers, Mail and Aleng.
“Aleng, in particular, is a good chef. He served us with the most delicious dishes.”
Recalling the recent fishing safari held from May 24 to 26 off the coast of Bintulu, Ting added, “After five hours of journey, Awang, who knows where the fish is, sounded the horn, signalling to the anglers that could now start fishing.
“During the fishing trip, a member, Ovat Lani hauled the first catch with a medium size grouper which drew cheers among the anglers.”
Ting, who is of a mixed Iban-Chinese parentage, caught a grouper longer than an arm’s length.
“A teacher, Chester broke his own record with a haul of a 2kg red snapper while another member, Ovat Lani jumped for joy with his prized catch of a 8kg red snapper,” Ting revealed.
Patrick Gerijeh finally caught a 3kg bream locally known as ‘Ikan kerisi’ after being a spectator.
All in all, most members of the club did not go home empty-handed.
