Is One Day Enough for Toman Fishing?
One-day fishing trips are always tricky. There’s no “let’s hope tomorrow will be better”, if you know what I mean. but sometimes, a single day is all you have. As long as we don’t set our expectations too high, there’s always enjoyment in simply being out on the water. And if we do manage to catch what we’re hoping for, that’s a bloody good day.
Find out more about Giant Snakehead (Toman) Fishing
A Short Window in Royal Belum
Jo reached out to me saying they could only squeeze in a single day of fishing for toman (giant snakehead) in Royal Belum. They were in the area for just two nights as part of a whirlwind self-drive tour around Malaysia — and to top it off, this was their very first trip to the country. I truly hope they had an amazing time exploring Malaysia.
We don’t often run one-day trips for giant snakehead, especially in Royal Belum. It’s a vast body of water, and toman are already one of the most challenging freshwater fish to target. Still, as I said before, if expectations are managed properly, a one-day trip can still be worthwhile.
Late October, Low Water
On this particular late-October day, water levels were extremely low due to months of minimal rainfall in the area — in fact, the lake was at an all-time low.
Does low water affect the fishing? It sure can if it’s too low. This is something we have no control over unfortunately even though October is usually a good time to fish for the giant snakehead.
Making the Most of the Day
There’s no contingency to fall back on when we fish for only one day and I’m super glad Jo and Kurt managed to still get a few toman although they were not very big ones. At least they got to see the giant snakehead up close!
A Bonus Fish the Next Morning
The next morning I decided to get out to the lake with Azi to have some fun and we caught this nice toman! Like what many say… “That’s fishing.”
Until the next adventure, get out there and do what you love.
— JW
