Search for legendary monsters in the Malaysian rainforest

Many players have to fumble deep into the Malaysian rainforest to search for Tapah catfish, an extremely rare type of monster.

Tapah catfish is called the mystical fish by locals, which can weigh up to 100kg. However, not many people succeed in the hunt for this fish, according to Star.

Partick Erler, a Zimbabwean who has lived in Malaysia for the past 12 years, took nearly a decade to catch a Tapah fish. He used to go to many places in Malaysia to search for this fish. During the fishing expedition in the rainforest in eastern Malaysia, Erler caught the 50kg Tapah fish.

Erler and Tapah fish weighs half a pound.(Photo: Star).

Tapah is a common species, but large Tapah fish are now very rare. They are almost extinct because of water pollution due to logging and overfishing.

Malaysians circulate many stories about the times when they caught the big Tapah fish. Some people shared that they witnessed Tapah fish jumping out of the water and throwing themselves into the high branches to bite the monkey. In Sabah and Sarawak, Tapah fish are rumored to be able to swallow children and adults bathing in the river. The legend of Tapah fish is transmitted from year to year by people living along the river.

Last month, a fisherman in Sarawak caught a Tapah fish weighing 56kg. Three years ago, a 93kg fish was also caught by Zeldifli fisherman Felda in Pekan, Pahang. Zulkifli took two hours to fight and pulled the fish ashore. In both cases, Tapah fish are sold.

However, Erler decided to drop the fish naturally, which he had a hard time catching. Earlier, Erler took 30 minutes to struggle to catch the fish with small fishing lines.

Erler jumped into the water to take photos with the fish, tagging the Malaysian freshwater management system and dropping it into the wild. Thus, the fish will have the opportunity to breed and maintain the breed, Erler said.