The first time I went boating along Sungai Manjung in Perak was on Thaipusam Day last year.
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It coincided with one of the year’s largest full moons, bringing a powerful spring tide with ultra-high and super-low water levels.
My buddy Gerald Khoo, a certified seaman, didn’t seem worried about the tidal conditions when he invited me on his 30-foot catamaran. Trusting his experience, I didn’t question him.
Only after launching the catamaran at low tide from the Perak Yacht Club did I understand why the spring tide mattered little here.
Sungai Manjung – also called Sungai Dinding – and its tributaries such as Sungai Segari and Sungai Raja Hitam, are relatively short compared to major rivers like Sungai Perak, the Sungai Muda in Kedah and the mighty Sungai Rajang in Sarawak.
According to Google Earth Pro, the river’s widest point stretches over 1.8km, about 5km from its mouth. This breadth allows the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Bridge to span an impressive 1.2km, making it Malaysia’s longest river bridge.
On such a wide estuary, the sea currents diffuse and the river rises and falls gently with the tide.
“Boating is about taking life easy,” Khoo remarked. “This is probably the only place in Malaysia where you can keep a large boat and cruise a wide, calm river.”
Along the Manjung basin, yacht clubs offer enthusiasts places to house their boats and sail whenever they like.
Near the river mouth, Marina Island hosts a large marina with yachts capable of ocean crossings.
The basin spans 600 sq km, providing over 40km of waterways to explore.
Villages, fish farms and shipyards dot the riverbanks, adding to its charm.
Khoo’s sonar shows depths reaching beyond 15m near the Lumut naval base and around 10m upriver.
“I’ve been boating here for years and still haven’t explored all the tributaries. The views are so different from those you see by car. Sometimes, I stop and just look around – it’s so peaceful,” he said.
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For those who are passionate about fishing, Sungai Manjung is a prime spot for giant sea perch, or siakap, because the basin is a massive breeding ground.
All juvenile siakap grow upriver in freshwater.
Initially, they are all males, making them known biologically as sequential hermaphrodites.
As they grow larger, they dwell ever further downriver where the brackish water contains more salt.
Eventually, when they reach a weight of roughly 3kg and a length of almost 100cm, instinct drives them out to sea, where they change sex; one and all become females and start growing eggs inside them.
Once their eggs are ready, they swim back to the estuary, searching for younger males to spawn with; the fries that hatch will race upriver to grow in freshwater to repeat this circle of life.
Brackish water siakap offer a wholly different culinary experience compared with their extra large saltwater counterparts; the flesh is lean and cottony soft, rather than firm and fatty of pure saltwater siakap.
“There must be tens of thousands of siakap here,” said Izwan Hafiezi Rosli, a seasoned fishing guide known as Udang Belanak.
He has fished the basin for eight years, landing a record siakap of 6.65kg using live prawns for bottom fishing.
His largest mangrove jack (siakap merah) weighed 3kg, and his best kurau (Indian threadfin), prized in markets for up to RM120 per kilo, was 1.2kg.
“If you want the big lunkers, use live prawns and bottom-fishing methods, but it’s a waiting game,” he advised.
For quicker action, anglers cast lures between mangrove trees to tempt mid-sized siakap under 3kg.
“You need a fast-action rod to haul the fish out before your line gets snagged in the roots.”
For a guided fishing adventure along Sungai Manjung, contact Izwan Hafiezi at 014-607-0146.
-TheStar