Quick facts:
• Opened in 2022
• RM60 for 12 hours of fishing
• Usual suspects: chaophraya catfish, Amazon redtail catfish, pacu
• Less common catch: toman (giant snakehead), peacock bass, barramundi
• Catch and release only
WEDNESDAY, 10 DECEMBER 2025:
Every now and then, I go for a quick fix of fishing. I’m at the Batu Arang Exotic Fishing Park this morning with Nick and Alan. We rolled in around 7AM and stopped in the little town nearby for breakfast. Just a small roti canai shop—simple but solid. Alan said the kopi-o was pretty good. I just like visiting small towns every now and then; the people, the pace, the vibe… there’s something genuinely nice about it.
Where Is It?
Batu Arang is only about a 30-minute drive from KL, and the setup here is pretty decent. Quite a few anglers showed up this morning—probably because tomorrow’s a holiday.
You can use Waze or Google Maps to navigate to “Batu Arang Exotic Fishing Park”.
What It’s Like There
We reached the pond around 8AM, only to find out they were doing maintenance today. Clearly, we didn’t get the memo. Still, we decided to fish anyway.
There are plans for a small shop in the main building selling drinks, snack and fishing gear in the future. As for now, you better bring whatever you need with you such as snacks and sufficient drinking water.
First Catch
Started casting around 8:30, and about 25 minutes later I landed a small Amazon redtail using a modified black woolly bugger fly fashioned by David called David’s Devil.
Since the far side of the pond looked empty, I fished over there with Alan while most of the other anglers stayed on the opposite bank. About 20 minutes after the redtail, I had another take—felt heavier too—but the hook popped off after a short fight. No idea what went wrong.
At 10AM, I got my first chaophraya catfish (CPC) here. They may look a bit like giant Mekong catfish, but they’re very different—these guys are predators, they hit hard, and they can really run. A lot of people catch them on bait, but they’ll happily smash a lure or fly too.
The fish here come fairly close to the bank, so you don’t need long casts. The redtails hang around the edges—not my favourite species, but they do have some heft.
At 10:45AM, I hooked another CPC, slightly bigger this time, on a tiny white baitfish fly that David tied using polar fibre brush and small eyes. I was actually trying for pacu with that fly. After that fish, we called it a day and headed for a great lunch near Nick’s Tacklebox Adventures.
Nick and Alan caught their share of CPCs too, and Nick even had a pacu bite him off earlier in the session.
Compared to Similar Ponds in the Area
Overall, I’d say this is a solid place to fish. The bite rate is good, the fish are big, and there’s plenty of action. Compared to the similar parks in Batang Kali (D’Semarak Monster Pond) and Behrang Exotic Fishing Pond, the Batu Arang pond feels more natural, offers better value, has friendly staff, and it’s closer to the city.
