Anglers queuing up at the Batu Uban jetty to board their boat on an early Saturday morning. Zuldanial (left pic, on the right) and a friend posing with their catches of sicklefish, catfish and juvenile snappers and groupers on the deck of one of the piers of Penang Bridge.
DESPITE being gazetted as a restricted area, the concrete decks of Penang Bridge’s columns are proving irresistible to anglers.
Scores can be seen at Batu Uban jetty every weekend for boatmen to ferry them to their favourite piers for a chance to land a whopper.
The appeal could be because the fare is affordable.
Chartering a boat costs hundreds of ringgit for a fishing trip. But for as low as RM10 a person, anglers can get a boat ride and fish in the middle of the sea below the bridge. The fare covers the return trip.
“Depending on how far out you want to fish, the boatman charges RM10, RM15 or RM20,” said angler Zuldanial Rullah Pawanchek, 26.
After they were done fishing, he said, anglers would phone the boatmen to fetch them back to shore.
Zuldanial said his friend landed a 4kg giant trevally last Thursday, with video footages of the catch as proof.
“The further out you go, the better your chances. There are threadfin salmon (senangin), mangrove jack (siakap merah), queenfish (talang-talang), golden snapper (jenahak) and grouper out there.”
Zuldanial said restricted area signs were visible on almost every deck.
“But we have been going there for as long as I remember. The boatmen told us people have been fishing below the bridge since it was built in 1985.
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