Sg Gadong, Tasik Banding – 30 Aug 2015
Day 2 of our Royal Belum Fishing trip. After a long sleep we wake up feeling refresh and powered up for another long day at the lake. We wake up as early as 5am in the morning for shower and breakfast. We have carefully planned for Day 2 schedule and we will begin our morning session at Sg. Kenarong – Teluk Y and Sg Gadong. We will work our way out from Royal Belum State Park and entered Tasik Banding. Our mothership,The Casarina will be heading back to the main jetty at 1.00pm thus we need to be back for lunch before that.
It was still dark and cold when we head out to Sg. Kenarong. and reach there by 6.30am. As we reach the entry point of the river, we started trolling upstream but none is interested with our trolling lure. He head up right to the very end, and it was all very quite. We can still spot several surface activity that could have been Sebarau or Toman. From 6.30am to 11.00am we end up with only 2 Sebarau and 2 Haruan. Since Sebarau is not taking our lure, we switch our attention to Haruan. Using rubber frog lure with blade works extremely well as it will not snag and can be cast further deeper near the banks that are covered with small branch and dried grass. Even if we can send it closer to where Haruan lurks but catching them is another matter. We only manage to catch small size Haruan but we didn’t catch any photo of it.
On our way back to the mother ship
We head out around 10.00 from Sg Kenarong as things are getting quite plus we only have one Rapala SSR GFR that has already been smashed by a Juvenile Toman last night. We are battling with Jungle Perch without the proper bullets makes it hard for us to deceive it. Along our pathway towards the main river system we do notice there is a lot of Toman surfacing for air and the sun was bright under the blue sky. Its a perfect condition for Toman fishing.
We head into the tall logs that are still standing and begin our Toman hunting. Sight cast Toman is the way to do it, cast towards surfacing Toman and hoping it will go for our lure. Deep crank lures like Rapala Risto Rap or Fatrap works well and the idea is to cast as accurate as possible in front of a Toman. TE showed his skill and cast towards a surfacing Toman. With several strong jerk and the Toman went for it. The battle was brief because the size was about to reach maturity. 2-3kg maybe, we didn’t weigh it but still it was the biggest Toman we caught on this trip
Finally a decent size Toman or Giant Snake Head were caught on Rapala Risto Rap, a killer lure for this species!
TE with a beautiful Giant Snake Head, although it can reach to a a bigger size like 5-20kg, this one qualifies to represent the largest sneakhead species in the world. Word of advise from TE, to all the haters #musanglebihbaikdarikau kekeke
Really wanted a huge to Toman to hit my lure but none seems to be interested with my crank bait haha. We moved on nearer towards the mothership and soon stop by at one of the fishing spot near the boathouse. We located a fallen tree and this time we use the Abu Island Spoon 7g Silver that are superior in day 1. Previously I thought we can simply use spoons at any location of the lake, irregardless of the water coloration and location. Well I was wrong. Abu Islands works well when the water coloration is greenish and Yozuri Altima works better in yellowish water condition.
With the proper lure selection we can ensure we increase the bite rate and catch rate. I’ve scored my first Sebarau right after Pown scored his. We thought we gonna end up empty handed in day 2 haha. Rezeki and luck was still on our side and we add a total tally of 4 Sebarau for the morning session. Our boatman was pretty worried and headed straight back to Casarina for our lunch break. He got us working hard all day to ensure all of us catch at least 1 fish and he succeeded.
Lunch break were delayed because lunch is only served at 1 hahaha. That gives enough time for shower and even power nap! Today was hot, as compared to last night. Over the mountains we can see dark cloud formation and it seems its gonna rain in the evening.
Pown aka MySedakan with his first catch of Day 2, a Sebarau! He thought he was going to go back empty handed in day 2 haha.
I though I’m going back with only 1 Sebarau, luckily I scored my first Sebarau in Day 2 🙂 got me worried haha
“I can sense a freakin huge Sebarau towards that area” 😀
The heart is a muscle.. and what do muscle do when they are torn? They grow stronger 🙂
So much for a short break haha.. but to stay from the sun was a welcoming treat
Times up! The Casarina is heading back to the main Tasik Banding jetty and we are off to our next spot! Sg. Gadong, Tasik Banding. I will take at least 15-20 minutes before we hit the spot. Since last night we manage to catch 5 Sebarau in Teluk Y, we stop by to have a look again at that spot. It was slightly quite with less surface activity. Skies are looking dark and will rain soon.
We ventured deeper into Teluk Y and we came across a rocky gorge that are extended into Teluk Y. TE drop his Abu Island 7g Spoon and once it hit bottom, he retrieve it quickly and soon a fish would go for it. This time is not a Sebarau, it fights harder than a Toman! Spilling lines as it tries to escape. We thought it could have been a very large Sebarau, that would be the cover of this post! As it slowly emerge from the depth, at first we thought it was a Haruan! Fairly big but then it has the distinctive spots on its body. A sign that can only be found on an Emperor Snakehead or Kerandang!! For the first time, I’ve seen this species live! They are strong and beautiful.
Bang! Spilling lines like hell! We thought it was a huge Sebarau!
First glimpse, erk “Haruan”?
Emperor Snakehead or Kerandang, one of 4 sakehead game species known to lived in Malaysia! A very rare trophy and it has the distinctive spots on its body! Catch and safely released!
We didn’t stay long in Teluk Y, on our way out I scored another Sebarau on Spoon and right after that it was raining. Heavy downpour! We continue to move on and stopped by at another spot. It was raining heavily and lighting! I didn’t wanna take the risk fishing but this guys continue on fishing. TE and Pown weren’t lucky enough as 2 massive Sebarau just skim off the surface missing their lure! It was huge and it stays fairly close the shallow part of the lake, waiting and hunting small fish. This is the first time I’m out on small boat with rain pouring down my head. I guess this what it feels like fishing during the monsoon season. Luckily the rain didn’t last that long, 30 minutes tops. All wet and cold!!
It was already 4pm and we have several more hours before we end our fishing trip. The hardest part under wet condition is when we travel 20 minutes in wet clothes! Freakin cold! Shaking and find it hard to keep warm! hahaha. We decided no to enter Sg. Gadong but will fish on the opposite side of Sg. Gadong. A small entry point with a small waterfall that enters the big lake.
Damp and cold, as we entered this area, we’ve seen a huge Sebarau and Toman surfaces for air. Such a magnificent site! We can see other boathouse in that area and several other fishing boat touring in Tasik Banding!
As we entered the area, we stopped by near the shore, on top of a fallen logs that forms an underwater structure. A safe haven for Sebarau, waiting and hunting their prays. This section was very deep and we only use deep diving cranks like Risto Rap, Fat Rap and Tail dancers that can submerge 6-9ft below the surface. I had no luck on lure on this trip. Caught 2 Toman both on Rapala SSR GFR and Ima Bta80 respectively.
I continue on to use Abu Island spoon and located a V shaped log that crossed one another. Send my spoon deep down and quickly retrieve it. It caught something on the way up but the boatman was good in retrieving back the lure. I send it down again but this time 1-2ft slightly further from log to form a 45 degree angler from bottom way up. It was straight up with no obstacle. Send it down again and again. Right after my 5th try, something took the spoon and it was a Sebarau! Yes!!! Fairly small one.
I continue on to fish at the same spot and this time a bigger fish took the bait. Using only my Daiko ULS SRS762 a 2.5-3lb rod. Suicidal setup! I can feel it went deep into the structure as the lines are scraping the trees. It was already on a heavy drag and and I pulled it up not giving it any chance at all to use the element against me. Soon it was clear and it surfaces! My biggest sebarau of the trip on UL! Hell yeah!! What a relief and that was my best battle in FW outing. Countless times the boatman wants me to use a heavy rod in the area, but it was on a light rod that gives life to the spoon as the movement of the spoon is more realistic.
I switched to a heavier setup to send down my spoon again as I know the size of sebarau will get bigger and bigger when the small sebarau were taken. Not even the small ones are interested haha. I switched back to my spinning setup and continue on to fish at the same spot. This time I got one huge take and the rod bends to the max! 7kg drag of my RCS Spool were spilling lines and now things get serious. Some how I need to stop it, I jerk the rod trying hard to stop it but this time the fish wins. I knew i didn’t get a good hookup as the spoon was still there when I reel in my line. I was pissed but that setup went over the limit, if go further on the power I could have snapped my rod.
Unlucky TE lost a Sebarau near the underwater log area, he cant pull it up as it was tangled.
If the fish ain’t takin my bait, might as well I eat something and enjoy the ride haha
After that incident, it spooked the other fish and no more fish are baiting. That was it, the ending of our 2 day trip here in Royal Belum. We head back for dinner and rested for a while before a 4 hours drive to KL. Such a great experience fishing for 2 days in Royal Belum and Tasik Banding. I learned a lot from the guys and The Casarina crew are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable!
A big thank you for Pown and TE for inviting me this time. Its about time actually for Fishyology are back in the FW game after a long streak of SW outing. If you guys ever got a chance to go fishing in Royal Belum, might as well go for it as the experience will definitely be one of the best fishing outing you’ll ever experienced. Can’t wait to be back here soon and once again a big thank you to all!!
The best of 2015, didn’t break my record in 2014 which is a 50cm speciemen, a day before we celebrate our 3rd year Anniversary. Thank you Pown and TE for this great trip and Royal Belum, I’ll be back soon!
