Sport Fishing Asia

Rompin sailfish fishing charter. Fly fishing Malaysia Borneo Mongolia Maldives Thailand

You are here: Home / Archives for Catch Report

Catch Report

Seeing Double

kuala rompin, Video

Here’s the edited video of Jamie and Michael’s sailfish double header in Kuala Rompin. You can read the post and view more photos in this post.

Gallery

Close quarter
Close quarter
Crossing swords. Can you guess which rod is that jumping sailfish on?
Crossing swords. Can you guess which rod is that jumping sailfish on?
Anglers who knows what they're doing makes it easier to land a double header
Anglers who knows what they’re doing makes it easier to land a double header
Seeing double
Seeing double
Leadering the sailfish
Leadering the sailfish
2 hooked sailfish breach the surface at the same time captured on film
2 hooked sailfish breach the surface at the same time captured on film

Sebarau on Popper Fly

Malaysia, Royal Belum, Video

FLY FISHING IN ROYAL BELUM STATE PARK TEMENGGOR MALAYSIA: Things don’t always go as planned. The popper fly has a short wire trace attached and was intended for the toman (giant snakehead) but a sebarau slammed on it instead.

Always trilling to catch fish on top-water
Always trilling to catch fish on top-water

On this very same trip, the split-tail fly I had tied on for sebarau with no wire-trace, was taken by a toman instead. Watch the video of that here. I love it!

Watch the video below of Nick of Tacklebox Adventures who also landed some decent sized sebarau.

Some fly fishing equipment tips for Royal Belum

  • Weight 5 or 6 is good for sebarau and smallish toman
  • Weight 7 to 10 more suited for bigger toman above 3kg

Arapaima Fly Fishing at AmazonBKK Bangkok Thailand

Catch Report, Thailand

Sunset in the horizon over the skies. Nice.
Sunset in the horizon over the skies. Nice.

I don’t know about Bob, but coming from the recent twin tragedies of the Malaysian Airline flights, namely MH370 and MH17, I am a little nervous taking another MH flight into Bangkok.

Having said that, the sunset scene from the skies over Bangkok city was breathtaking and took my mind off the jitters.

Our flight landed in the early evening hours in Bangkok from Kuala Lumpur with Bob having flown in straight from Sydney.

View of a section of Bangkok city from the skies in the evening
View of a section of Bangkok city from the skies in the evening

Understandably, Bob must be really tired from all that traveling. I know I would. Our plan was to check in straight into the hotel and will leave at 0400 hrs the next morning on a 2 hours drive to our first destination, AmazonBKK pond.

In hindsight, it may have been better for us to spend one extra day in Bangkok just hanging out so that Bob could be better rested and better prepared for the two days of fly-fishing sessions for mega-sized fishes.

A short wooden bridge divides the pond and this add to the challenge as big fish will make a dash across underneath
A short wooden bridge divides the pond and this add to the challenge as big fish will make a dash across underneath
We are not the only ones fishing
We are not the only ones fishing

If you want to catch arapaima in the wild (who doesn’t?), you need to either invest in a fair bit of time and spend a bundle of cash and head to the Amazon rivers of South America which would be quite an adventure.

One of the other good alternative is to head to Thailand where you can be quite certain to land at least one arapaima. Possibly more as there are quite a few around in the many ponds across the country. At last count this particular operator claimed there are more than 150 arapaima in their pond (very believable when you look at the place) with a good number of fish exceeding the 100kg (220 pounds) mark.

Bob onto a good sized arapaima early on
Bob onto a good sized arapaima early on
Arapaima are most active here early in the day. Many can be found at the edges of the pond.
Arapaima are most active here early in the day. Many can be found at the edges of the pond.
You can often see many arapaima rolling over the surface
You can often see many arapaima rolling over the surface
Roughly 2/3 of the pond is separated by a wooden bridge and yes, the big arapaima knows how to make use of it.
Roughly 2/3 of the pond is separated by a wooden bridge and yes, the big arapaima knows how to make use of it.
Always quite a sight to watch big fish rising
Always quite a sight to watch big fish rising

This trip is a prelude to Bob’s sailfish fishing trip at Kuala Rompin, the third consecutive year Bob’s fishing with JW.

It’ll work as a way to get a little bit more familiar to the new heavy tackle that he’ll be using. Bob managed to hook a couple of arapaima and landed an impressive variety of fish species at AmazonBKK. However, landing an arapaima eluded him this time.

bird-fly-fishing-arapaima-amazon-bkk-it-monster-lake-thailand_140821_0877

Ever popular pad thai
Ever popular pad thai
I love thai food. And a good cup of ice coffee.
I love thai food. And a good cup of ice coffee.
It can be quite difficult to get a good hook-up with the alligator gar
It can be quite difficult to get a good hook-up with the alligator gar
Bob managed to land a rare hybrid amazon redtail shovelnose tiger catfish
Bob managed to land a rare hybrid amazon redtail shovelnose tiger catfish

casting-fly-fishing-arapaima-amazon-bkk-it-monster-lake-thailand_140821_0941

Oh, deer!
Oh, deer!
Things that reminds you that you're not in the city
Things that remind you that you’re not in the city
Bob with a fat amazon retail catfish
Bob with a fat amazon retail catfish
Make that a very fat catfish. These guys can eat and eat and eat.
Make that a very fat catfish. These guys can eat and eat and eat.
fly-fishing-arapaima-amazon-bkk-it-monster-lake-thailand_140821_0987
Bob enjoying a good fight

fly-fishing-amazon-bkk-it-monster-lake-thailand_140821_1197

A nice giant snakehead (toman) on fly
A nice giant snakehead (toman) on fly
This arapaima is estimated to weigh between 40-50kg (88-110 pounds). Landed on a 10 weight. If you a better looking photo with your arapaima, you need to get into the water.
This arapaima is said to weigh between 40-50kg (88-110 pounds). Landed on a 10 weight. If you want a better looking photo with your arapaima, you need to get into the water. Big fish are not to be taken out of the water, it is at discretion of the pond operator and crew.
The arapaima being revived in the stretcher before release
The arapaima being revived in the stretcher before release

fly-fishing-amazon-bkk-it-monster-lake-thailand_140821_1171

Removing the fly from an arapaima
Removing the fly from an arapaima
How big are the arapaima in AmazonBKK? Just look at the size of the head.
How big are the arapaima in AmazonBKK? Just look at the size of the head.

Next stop, IT Monster Lake…

June July Signals Squid Fishing Season at Kuala Rompin

Squid Fishing

It is mid-year and we are seeing squids again.

June signals the arrival of squids to the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. By July they can number quite a few and it is time to whip-out those squid jigs and join in the egi fun.

Freshly caught squids taste nothing like what you get from the market. The smaller ones also make excellent sailfish and Spanish mackerel live bait.

Bottom dwellers such as groupers and groupers also find it hard to resist pieces of squids baited on hooks lowered to the bottom.

Using their sharp beaks, check out the damage squids did to this jig. And what does that tell you? Squids love this jig!

chewed-up-yamashita-squid-jig_-(3)
Attach the squid jig to the leader using a non-slip loop knot to give it more action
chewed-up-yamashita-squid-jig_-(6)
When you bring up a squid keep your hands away from it sharp beak

chewed-up-yamashita-squid-jig_-(1)

For tips on how to fish for squids, check out Squid Fishing How To – Squidding or Egi

Light to Ultra Light rods make good squid fishing rods, depending on the size of the sinker required for the tide at that moment. Some rods we currently use include:

  • Berkley Cherrywood CWJ C632M120A
  • Abu Garcia Vektor MJ VXS66 PE 0.8-1.8
  • Storm Gomoku Erito GOS601L PE 0.8-1.5

Off-peak season sailfish fishing at Kuala Rompin

kuala rompin, Video

June is an off-peak time for fishing in Kuala Rompin for sailfish. The bait fish schools are not as many and the sailfish will be scattered around a huge area.

Finding where they are in a given day is the challenge and if we are lucky to find them, getting them to bite and finding out what will turn them on will be the next task.

Morgan and Shane are two regular fishermen from the United States and we spend a day out fishing Kuala Rompin with two more of their office mates. Enjoy the video.