There was
never a dull moment when you were in the jungle. You could hear the birds and crickets chirping in the distance and they seemed so
near and yet so far because some might be perching high up on the top of the trees.
I looked
around and there Apollo was waiting for me . We made our way slowly to our favourite fishing ground which was
simply a small waterhole right under the roots of the rubber tree. The water was crystal clear. I could even see
layers of dead leaves underneath the water. We tried to keep quiet as noise
might frighten away the fish. We used earthworms as bait and after placing a
few lines and tying the other ends to the roots , we would leave the place. We
would normally come back to check later and so in the meantime, we would roam the jungle looking for fun. We looked for wood that
could be used for making catapults. We also collected rubber seeds and crumbs
of rubber which we would later use to start a fire.
The real
excitement came when we went back to check our lines. Once the fish were
baited, they would fight to be free. The lines would start to move and the
catfish would struggle and they were really strong fish. Sometimes the lines
got stuck and you needed an extra effort to catch them. At that time, it was
not unusual to catch a really big one which was about one and a half feet long.