Bob who hails from Sydney, Australia got in touch and he wants to do some fishing during his travels to Malaysia.
Bob is a very experienced fisherman having fished for a long time and have been to many parts of the world including some exotic ones.
I admire people like Bob. Traveling and fishing everywhere while you still can. That’s doing what you love, seeing the world, living life. No regrets.
Bob’s hit list
Among the fish on his wish list while in Malaysia are South American species such as the arapaima, pacu and peacock bass, native Asian freshwater sport fish such as the toman (giant snakehead) and haruan (stripped snakehead) plus catch some sailfish at Kuala Rompin.
Our first stop is the Natural Exotic Fish Pond. Not much was happening in the beginning. Even then, Bob’s first fish was no push over either. Though not a giant, the Mekong catfish never fails to put up a good fight, what more on fly gear.
Not often anglers get to tussle with the Mekong catfish here so it sure is a notable first catch.
So there you go folks. Bob comes to Malaysia to catch a South American fish and lands a Thai native!
The action started to pick up pace during the second part of the session and the bites started to come in quick successions. It is as if someone had just flicked the “on” switch. It was the same for Alan who was fishing with live bait on the other side of the pond.
Getting a Workout
The asian redtail catfish often comes out to give anglers a good workout. Bob remarked that he was surprised at how aggressive the takes are from these fish and how hard they run. He did not expect this from a species with a bottom-dwelling reputation.
This observation is quite accurate to describe the aggressive nature of the asian redial catfish. They can often be spotted looking for food on the surface and can be caught even with live bait dangled from a float.
Also landed was a couple of sultan fish which are also known as mad barb (jelawat). The sultan fish is always fun to catch as they like to hit the bait at high speed often during the drop. You will feel a sudden jolt if fly fishing and you never quite know which direction the jelawat will go.
Bob staring down his asian redtail catfish as it is being netted.
The woolly bugger from Russia that got the fish biting.
Yours truly holding up another asian redtail catfish by Bob.
A good sized jelawat or sultan fish, or mad barb! Such shiny scales they remind me of the bonefish a bit.
In the end, though he had fun, Bob did not get his arapaima or pacu. Maybe the next time.
We cut short the fishing here as Bob wants to fly fish for some snakeheads. So that concludes part 1 of fishing with Bob. Join us in part 2 and see how Bob tackles the infamous fishzilla!
Don’t forget to also be on the lookout for videos of Bob’s adventures. Catch you later!
