My husband grew up in Malacca and though we now settle in Kuala Lumpur, his parents still call Malacca home. We visit as often as we can on weekends that we are not out fishing, even so, we have spent quite a bit of time going around Malacca looking for areas to fish, or to do anything associated (or as close to) fishing.
One of the activities we enjoy doing in Malacca is prawning (fishing for prawns). Naturally, we steered towards saltwater prawning for Giant Tiger Prawns instead of the more famous Giant Freshwater Prawn.
When we first started, we frequent a prawning pay pond on Jalan Melaka Raya which was beside a fishing pond. Unfortunately,both the prawning and fishing pond has been torn down to give way to upgrading works being done in that area.
Recently, we have found another prawning pond nearby the old one we frequent, however, it is located in a shop lot and much smaller than what we were used to. Nonetheless, we were really glad we could continue doing the activity we enjoy most in Malacca as Saltwater Fishing ponds were located much further away from Malacca town.
The art of prawning, is rather simple, a tiny extendable rod, line & weighted hook with tiny pieces of chicken liver as bait. All of these are usually provided in prawning ponds. Prawning is an activity for everyone, the young and old, something to enjoy as a family
Once the line is in the water, the take from a prawn is unmissable, your line might suddenly “run” in the water, or your rod could twitch and bend all so suddenly, or if its truly the giant of all giant tiger prawns in the pond, it could pull your tiny rod in with it. The trick is in paying attention to the tip of the rod, and as i’ve mentioned, the take from the prawn is unmissable, almost as soon the tip of the rod moves, it’s essential to lift the rod and with a swift motion of flicking one’s wrist, the hook shall set into the prawn. Lifting the prawn out of the water brings out an adrenaline like no other, especially when it’s a fighter.
Different prawn ponds will be stocked with different sizes of prawns. Though the larger tiger prawns are a joy to lift out of the water, its the smaller ones that are a little tougher to hook & would put up a fight during the lift; its a win-win situation, either a large prawn at the end of the line, or a tiny one that puts up one hell of a fight.
The prawning pond in the Melaka Raya shop lot is known as Malacca Tiger Prawn Fishing. Though a small shop lot that does not accommodate much people, the staff is friendly and the fun is all the same. If you’re new, they are kind enough to share a few tips and will ensure that you leave with at least one, if not more prawns. If you’re wondering what to do with the prawns you’ve caught, for a small fee, you could barbecue your catch right there. I must say, the tiger prawns tastes Uh-Mazing! Add on a garlic butter marinate and say hello to seafood heaven!
Do take note, that when we started prawning, we spent 5 hours and caught only 11 prawns. It isn’t as easy as it seems but getting the feel together quick ensures more hook ups, unfortunately, we had to learn it all on our own. We have spent a year prawning and our record stands at 25 prawns per hour in a well stocked prawning pond.
If you’re in Malacca, enjoying our favourite Malaysian state, do check out the Malacca Tiger Prawn Fishing pond.
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