Trout Species - Cutthroat Trout and Golden Trout

Cutthroat Trout: Cutthroat Trout are generally found only in high alpine lakes or in some selected areas of the Pacific Northwest.

The Cutthroat Trout is the original trout of the Rocky Mountains. Unlike Brown Trout which were originally introduced to the Eastern United States, Cutthroat Trout are originally from the
Western half of the United States.

What separates the Cutthroat Trout from other trout is that Cutthroat Trout are found primarily in remote and pristine locations. Unlike their larger cousins, the rainbows and the
browns, Cutthroat Trout tend to fare poorly in highly competitive environments – especially when predatory fish like Pike are introduced into their waters. As such, the range of the Cutthroat Trout has been driven back over the years.

While Cutthroat Trout are still found in good numbers in many of the rivers in Montana (such as the Yellowstone), the best Cutthroat Trout fishing will usually now be found deep in the backcountry - in isolated mountain lakes and streams. This requires lots of effort by the angler just to reach the Cutthroat Trout, because they are often found in very remote areas. Cutthroat Trout do not receive as much fly fishing pressure as their rainbow and Brown Trout cousins. As such, they are generally easier to catch and found in greater numbers. However, Cutthroat Trout do not get as large as rainbow or Brown Trout, and generally lack the aerial abilities that other trout display when hooked.

Cutthroat Trout can be easily identified by the two red slashes under and on the outside of its lower jaw. The sides of the Cutthroat Trout are brownish yellow and are highlighted with black spots. Other colorings of Cutthroat Trout can occur, but only as a result of crossbreeding between Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout, and are called cut-bow trout.

Golden Trout: Rare and elusive, the Golden Trout inhabit some of
the most remote lakes in the United States.

The Golden Trout is one elusive species of trout. Golden Trout have very limited range, as they are only found in high alpine lakes and streams found in the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades. Because of this, reaching good Golden Trout waters is no easy task – usually requiring a long hike or horse pack in.

Additionally, due to the environment in which the Golden Trout live in (very cold, low nutrient water), Golden Trout are generally quite small, as there is just not enough food to support larger trout.

Despite the relatively low fishing pressure they receive, Golden Trout can be somewhat difficult to catch, as they tend to be fickle about what they eat. Moreover, not all high alpine lakes and rivers contain these trout – so simply locating waters that have good Golden Trout populations can be an effort in and of itself.

That said, since Golden Trout live in the most beautiful scenery in the United States, a day spent looking for or fishing for Golden Trout can never be wasted – even if you don’t catch any. For an angler looking to catch trout in a splendid and scenic environment, chasing the Golden Trout is the way go.

It’s hard to miss a Golden Trout, as their name conveys. These beautiful trout are golden in color, so are hard to mistake for other types of fish. The Golden Trout also has a scattering of
black spots and a red striping along its lateral line, belly and gill plates.

Since Golden Trout are not very common, it is recommended that anglers who catch Golden Trout release them instead of eating them. If you’re looking for a fish you can eat, go hook some Brook Trout instead. Brookies are usually found in the same waters as Golden Trout are, but are not nearly as rare. Most agree they taste better too!

Mahseer, Stracheyi

	Common Name Mahseer, Stracheyi Local Name Pla Puang Scientific Name Neolissochilus stracheyi Family Cyprinidae - Minnows or carps Max. Size 60.0 cm SL. Current IGFA World Record 2.13 kg / Jean-Francois Helias, Thailand Jan. 10, 2009, Kanchanaburi, Thailand Fishing Season All Year Long

Kuala Marong, Endau rompin Pahang

Kelah Sanctuary at Kuala Marong, Endau Rompin


If you ever get the chance to visit Endau Rompin National Park, try to make a detour to the Kuala Marong Kelah sanctuary. This is yet another wonderful place in tropical rainforest Malaysia where you can witness first hand the famed Malaysian Mahseer in its natural habitat.

Visited Kuala Marong during a trip to Endau Rompin organized by the Nature Guide SIG from the Malaysia Nature Society. Kuala Marong was part of the itinerary and its one of the highlights (for me at least) of the whole trip. I rarely miss the chance to see the Kelah, even if they are in fish tanks!

Unlike the Sungai Petang Kelah sanctuary that is rather heavily guarded by park rangers, Kuala Marong seems to be a bit ‘easy’ for people to access to. There were people camping just beside the river when I was there. There were also quite many people trying to ‘swim’ with the fishes.

I get to see them Kelah fishes from a specially built viewing platform. The water was crystal clear and the fishes can be seen gracefully swimming around waiting for food from human visitors. There wasn’t really that many Kelah but they were huge ones. I saw not only the Kelah but also Sebarau, Lampam and Tengas.


The fishes at Kuala Marong

Kuala Marong is a place where two rivers meet. Further down from where the fishes are is a place for visitors to swim. I didn’t hesitate of course. The place was teaming with fishes. No Kelah came near but there were definitely some curios Lampam and Sebarau. Some were even curious enough to nibble my toes! A few of my friends joined me in the water. They had some bread with them, which the fishes gladly ate up. I know it’s not a good thing to be feeding the fishes but sometimes people just can’t help it! Don’t blame them really.

The Kuala Marong Kelah sanctuary is most accessible via the eastern entrance to the park, often referred to as the Kampung Peta way. To enter via this entrance, it is best that you hire 4WD services from the Kahang town nearby. The access road is unpaved and winds through endless oil palm plantations.

Ragi - Top Bait For Mahseer Fishing in India

Ragi is a paste made from millet flour and water, and typically flavoured with yeast or cumin. That's the form eaten by the local humans anyway. The form used as a fishing bait has a different texture and a huge range of tastes.

A foodstuff becomes bait

Sometime in the fairly recent past someone decided that the Ragi eaten as a staple could serve as a fishing bait. Since it was too soft to stay on the hook for long it was boiled until rubbery. The resulting 'boilie' proved a useful bait and, as with all great innovations, has been taken from there into one of the top fishing baits used in India.

Most innovations revolve around the flavouring added to the basic paste to make the bait more attractive to fish.

Strong flavours are believed by many to pass through the water and attract fish. There are various scientific theories as to why this is. Since India is the home of spice there is no shortage of strong flavours, and most of these have been tried as Mahseer fishing bait at some point or other.

Curry powder, or more properly a masala (mix), can be mixed in before the boiling stage to create one strong flavour. Since few will actually know what spices have gone into the mix this is a bit of a haphazard approach - though, to be sure, it often works.

Garlic and ginger are both used regularly in curry recipes. Both have been tried and tested as mahseer fishing bait additives with some success. Some say that garlic salt works better than crushed garlic.

Some swear that the best of the best is fenugreek, easily found in a good cook shop and all over India.

There are various other commercial additives designed for carp fishing at home that would be worth taking along and investigating. Strong fishy smells should do the trick so anything from oily sea-fish has to be worth a shot.

It is difficult to be scientific about the flavourings thing. Every regular angler has their own favourite - and may hint at the contents but will keep the special components to themselves. Take the basic Ragi first time and then begin to experiment until you build up your own experience on the matter. Oh! and don't forget other methods too. Mahseer will take live and dead baits and lures - so you can have a great time experimenting with each of these too.

When Ragi is used as a Mahseer fishing bait, a piece, the size of which can be as large as a cricket ball, is wrapped around a large hook. In the past this would typically have been a 7/0 treble hook. Nowadays, as anglers become more aware of conservation measures, more and more choose to use a single large hook. Hooks have moved on too, and ones such as the Owner SSW Cutting Point series offer extra sharp points and carefully researched angles to make for easy penetration in better placements.

The right Ragi paste delivered in an appropriate size has proven highly successful for Mahseer fishing. The first time angler wanting to be sure of catching something can drop down to ping pong ball sized baits. Those seeking a specimen to test their mettle can go up to the cricket ball size and hope this dissuades all but the largest fish - assuming that there is at least one around big enough to do the business. Your local fishing guide should be able to advise - you just need to make sure you have a variety of good quality hooks, and the rest of the tackle to handle the battle that will follow a good take.

The Kelah Action Group of Malaysia

Scientific name	Tor tambroides; Tor tambra
English name	Malaysian Red Mahseer; Thai Red Mahseer; Greater Brook Carp
Local names	Kelah (Peninsular Malaysia), Empurau/Semah (Sarawak), Pelian (Sabah)
Salient features	Large strong head, thick lips with median lobe lower lip. Body cylindrical with slight compression; large scales. Colour ranges from pale to bright red. Fins range from pink to red to blue. Large forked tail and rudder-like anal fin.
Distribution	Indian, Myanmar, Thailand, Borneo, Sumatra.
Habitat	Medium to large rivers with rocky, sandy and leafy bottom. Prefers highly oxygenated water and dark environment.
Habits	Stations itself in prime lies where its needs of security, shelter and food it readily served. May forage in shallow areas or close to rapids when it is assured of security. A very shy fish.
Diet	Jungle fruits, insects, crustaceans. When mature, it may forage on small baitfish.

Deep in our pristine jungle rivers swim a fish so majestic, so beautiful and so elusive, it has become a holy grail for Malaysian and international anglers. The kelah invariably represents the ultimate challenge for these sportsmen. To locate this fish is already a triumph. Then comes the challenge of enticing it to take a bait, lure or fly. Finally, the angler has to contend with its extreme strength and tenacity before it can be brought to the sandy river bank, to be lovingly photographed and released, none the worse for wear. In fact, many a time it’s the angler who is exhausted, albeit elated!

The kelah is one of Malaysia’s precious ecological heritage; a fish that is unique to the region. It is of very high economic value too. Anglers and eco-tourists are willing to pay significant sums of money to meet this fish! The kelah is essentially a carp, placed in the order of Cypriniformes, although it is loosely related to the European barbel (Barbus barbus).. It’s closer relatives are the mahseer species of India (Tor spp.) and several other countries in Asia. You could say that kelah is amember of Asia’s prime sport fishes.

Kelah can be found in the mighty rivers of our country: Sg Pahang and its tributaries (Tembeling, Jelai, Tanum, Tahan, Keniam, Sat etc), S. Perak and its tributaries (Kejar, Chiong, Singor, Temengor), Sg. Muda and its tributaries (Teliang, Gawi), the rivers feeding Lake Kenyir (Petuang, Cacing, Terenggan, Tembat), Sg. Kelantan and its tributaries (Galas, nenggiri, Lebir, Aring, Pertang), The Endau-Rompin rivers (Endau, Kincin, Kemapan, Jasin, Mas, Lemakuh), and the Batang Rajang and Sg Kinabatangan systems. In fact, almost all the major rivers in the country – with the exception of Perlis – used to have stocks of this beautiful fish.

However, factors like polluiton, river degradation due to silting, the straightening of rivers and deforestation have combined to destroy the habitat of this fish. Further aggravating the problem is the unscrupulous fishing activities like illegal netting, bombing, poisoning and electro-fishing that have severely decimated the stocks of kelah.

If you were to be a kelah today, these are the probable scenarios you would have to face in your now-shortened life:

•	Your home of deep, dark pool laced with rocks and sunken timber would now be covered with a thick layer of silt, since the clearing of vast tracts of forest would have resulted run-off due to rains.
•	Your spawned eggs would not hatch. The eggs would be smothered by the silt, depriving them of the much-needed oxygen.
•	You face on a daily basis a plethora of nets and humans with bombs, poisons, harpoons, and electrodes in their quest for a nice supper or a fast buck.
•	You choke on the chemicals from remote factories and run-offs from agricultural activities.
•	Your river gets straightened, the river becomes too fast and too shallow for you to survive. It’s like living on a walkalator.

With these scenarios, the kelah and other prime fishes like the temoleh, kelesa, kerai and tengas are doomed and heading for extinction. Ethical anglers were the first group to realise this issue. As fishermen, they are in a unique position to be able to see first hand what is happening in our rivers. Many have started the self-imposed practice of ‘catch-and-release’, preferring to go home with a cherished photo rather than a dead fish. Now, a group of concerned citizens have got together to help the authorities and the angling fraternity to conserve this precious fish. Eventually, it is hoped that it will be for the good of all – the eco-tourism industry, the recreational fishing groups, the country, and most importantly, the fish!

They call themselves KAGUM (The Kelah Action Group of Malaysia). Their activities will take a multi-pronged approach:

•	Building awareness of the plight of our rivers, their fishes and especially the kelah
•	Coordinating and participating in conservation activities eg. community-based fish conservation, river restoration
•	Promoting conservation-centric involvement among corporations and relevant organisations in Malaysia
•	Supporting the river- and fish-conservation programs spearheaded by the authorities
•	Establishing a knowledge portal for the community on the kelah, Malaysian fishes and rivers.