Toman (giant snakehead) Fishing Malaysia – Mark and Warren’s Rainforest Escapade 2020

This trip with Mark and Warren was postponed a couple of times due to travel restrictions. We were all very happy when it finally was able to take place and frankly, it was quite a relief for me with all the craziness taking place this year.

Everyone’s tired of 2020 and a trip into one of the world’s oldest rainforest might as well be the perfect getaway

We arrived in the small town of Gerik the day before and had a good dinner and rest before the upcoming fishing days ahead.

You Know Why They Call It The Rainforest Right?

If it doesn’t rain every day, it rains all day in the rainforest, and so it rained heavily around midnight and continued raining much into our first fishing day.

December is the wet season and three days prior to our arrival the rain had been falling non-stop resulting in the water level in Temenggor lake rising some 3 to 4 meters (9 to 12 feet).

Stopping at the checkpoint to have our temperature checked before fishing commence!
Stopping at the checkpoint to have our temperature checked before fishing commence!

Strange New Normal

It’s funny and yet not really funny when you now have to have your temperature checked everyday before entering the jungle to fish!

Warren hits a nice sebarau (hampala barb) early in the day
Warren hits a nice sebarau (hampala barb) early in the day

Active Sebarau (Hampala Barb)

With rain jackets on, Warren was soon into fish with just his first few casts. A decent sebarau (hampala barb) was landed followed shortly by a small toman (giant snakehead) at 8:30am.

The sebarau, also often wrongly called jungle perch by some, was active throughout much of the day with hits and misses. Mark and Warren landed four sebarau with spoons and crankbaits. 

Most of the our time was spent on hunting down toman (giant snakehead) and casting for sebarau in between.

Mark with a small toman (giant snakehead) that came quickly after the sebarau also taking a spoon cast near the edges
Mark with a small toman (giant snakehead) that came quickly after the sebarau also taking a spoon casted near the edges

Sighting rising toman is much easier on calm days without too much wind or rain. The incessant rainfall on the first day did not help us but we were lucky to score four fish by the end of the day.

The first big toman was landed by Mark at 11am.

Mark with the first big toman (giant snakehead)
Mark with the first big toman (giant snakehead)
Mark with a nice sebarau shortly after - this one taken with a crankbait
Mark with a nice sebarau shortly after – this one taken with a crankbait
Warren's pre-lunch toman
Warren’s pre-lunch toman

And just before we broke for lunch, Warren landed another nice toman.

Lunch was had at a visitor center that’s void of visitors (which is usually the case thankfully). Water level here was visibly high with water almost halfway up the steps.

Lunch break spot with our special enamel mug
Lunch break spot with our special edition enamel mug

We had our simple lunch while watching fish swim by. Close to 4pm Mark scored his second nice toman.

Watch out for our trip video in the SFA YouTube channel.

Drier Day

The following day was quite different with the threat of rain early in the morning but it never quite came. The sky remained cloudy much of the morning until we saw a bit of sun in the afternoon. The first sign of sun rays in days.

Mark had some fun with a topwater frog casted into heavy cover with a few hit but not getting any solid hookup.

Looked like another wet day on the lake
Looked like another wet day on the lake
Sight for sore eyes, I meant the scenery :) and the fresh air are priceless!
Sight for sore eyes, I meant the scenery :) and the fresh air are priceless!
Warren waiting attentively for the next snakehead rise
Warren waiting attentively for the next snakehead rise

The pace of action appeared slower although we actually saw more toman (giant snakehead) activity overall through the day.

The first big toman was caught by Warren at 11am
The first big toman was caught by Warren at 11am
A nice fish with beautiful markings
A nice fish with beautiful markings
Mark scored his at just before 1pm
Mark scored his at just before 1pm

Mark scored his at just before 1pm and we subsequently took a break and for lunch.

It started to look like we may end up with two toman for the day when Warren got his second fish of the day at 4.30pm and another at 5pm.

A nice big giant snakehead for Warren
A nice big giant snakehead for Warren
The shark-like teeth of the giant snakehead in a cavernous mouth
The shark-like teeth of the giant snakehead in a cavernous mouth
Final fish at the last moment makes a happy ending
Final fish at the last moment makes a happy ending

No sebarau came out to play today and we had a wonderful dinner with some drinks back in the evening before driving back to Kuala Lumpur the next morning.

A stopover for an early lunch on the way home
A stopover for an early lunch on the way home
The famous "roti ayam" or chicken bread in Kampar
The famous “roti ayam” or chicken bread in Kampar
 Some of the Abu Garcia rods used on this trip
Some of the Abu Garcia rods used on this trip

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