Sg Papan, Royal Belum – 12 May 2016
It has been almost a month since we produce some of the latest outing reports, issues arises when we decided to push our content both online and offline has created who should keep content exclusivity. Finally we reach common ground and understanding that we will keep posting our report on a timely manner and our offline journalist will keep on publishing our content on the same pace.
After, I would say a great outing in Jarak earlier May. We brought ourselves back to Royal Belum State Park and this time with Akbar Kamdar from South Africa. This has to be our furthest client that is on a holiday tour in Malaysia, travelling more than 5000km.
Right after reaching KL, we head off to Royal Belum on the early morning of Day 1 of our Tour. It was a straight forward 4.5 hours drive to Banding Public Jetty and we reached there around 10.00am. We board the Casuarina and quickly unload our stuff and set on to what is already a late morning start. Lebey will be our boatman for the next 2 day and Sg Gadong, Temenggor will be our first spot to try out.
As we reach our first spot, several surface activity can be seen close to the great granite wall of Sg Gadong. This section of the main Temenggor lake is extremely deep. A 7g spoon might not be feasible as it takes quite a while for it to reach the lake floor. Splashes of trophy size Sebarau can be seen, as usually way out off our lure effective range haha. After our first 1 hour, nothing is interested to hammer our metal spoon. It was already lunch hour, and we decided to head back to the Casuarina and had our lunch before starting our evening session.
Sg Kedah frenzy back in APR with Chris and Leann haven’t really settled in mind. This could be the best spot for Akbar to land his first Sebarau. As we reach Sg Kedah, Temenggor, the water level actually dropped significantly over the past 1 month and the furthest point that we can go was near the rocky wall. Last time Leann and I landed a trophy size Sebarau and I landed my record Toman.
This time it was a different scenario. The fish is definitely there but they are not interested to all the lure we throw at them. We can even see a guy actually setup up nets near the area, such a pitiful sight thus we decided to head back to the estuary of Sg Kedah.
Finally we had our break we needed to get our fishing outing going. Axz 7g Spoon finally were gunned down by a small Sebarau, same goes with Akbar who scored his first fish of the day. It was quite small, and safely released back to its habitat. That was it, first two fish of Day 1. Not the best start but at least we have another day to make amends.
After a long day, the cooling A/C inside the Casuarina is a welcome relief after a hard day out fishing, we had our dinner and went off to bed early to ensure that we are well rested for Day 2.
Day 2, we started our day as early as 6.30am and dash to our first spot, Sg Kenarong. It took us 30 minutes to reach our first spot and things are looking great. Several rises of Toman and numbers of Sebarau can be seen within Sg Kenarong. Akbar were all set to land his first fish of the day, equipped with Senses Kaido Shad while I am on XDeen pencil were out to ensure we out score our Day 1 result.
All the lure placing were done correctly and our position were within our lure effective range but they seems to be evading our presence in the area. I guess they are well aware that they are about to be caught haha. After fruitless first hour, we decided to switch our method from lure casting to trolling. We switch to mid diver lures to scout the whole stretch of Sg Kenarong. We let out close to 20m of line and started our trolling upstream. Our first run seems fruitless as nothing tapped our lure. Just when the boat was about to stop and begin run no 2. I receive a strong pull right down at the end of the line. It was strong and fast, sign of a good size Sebarau. My Megabass Zonda were spilling line easily thanks to the fearsome Sebarau first dash. What amazes me was the 5-10lb FC Factory Prototype rod were up to the test providing me with some stopping power to stop the fish from wrapping itself in underwater structure. The tide of battle has change, I fully locked my Zonda and quickly maneuver the fish for a clean landing. It still hasn’t gave up in its last few attempt to escape, finally Lebey pull the fish onboard and that was a trophy Sebarau!
We trolled all the way upstream right until the end of Sg Kenarong. We head down stream for our second run, and this time Akbar got his first taste of FW lure trolling. A beautiful Juvenile Giant Snakehead or Toman fallen for australian made lure, Predetak! What a way start our second day. After safely release the Toman, we continue on trolling downstream. Akbar got his second strike but due to late response, the fish manage to escape. It was another strong pull, it could have been a Toman or even another trophy Sebarau.
Our second spot we head out to Sg Papan, Royal Belum. The main central area or also known the main highway that connects all other small river intersection that forms a wide area call Belum. Lebey recommended us to use spoon as we are about to dropped our spoon inside underwater structure. Akbar did a fantastic job landing 3 Sebarau while I struggle to get the spoon spinning at the right pace. Morning session was great, and by 11, we all started to feel hungry and decided to head back to the jetty and have our lunch. Crispy fried chicken and curry is the perfect combination, a heartwarming lunch to boost our morale for our final session.
Sg Gadong is next on the list after seeing some good size Sebarau in the area, we decided to head back and try our luck. It was a bit too quite the first 30 minutes, and we only say one big splash 30m from the boat. After countless drop, we decided to move on, explore deeper into Sg Gadong. Still nothing.. We continue to explore other spot but fish is nowhere to be seen.
Finally at the last spot, Akbar scored another small Sebarau. That marks the end of our 2 day fishing tour. It was slightly late and we are on a tight schedule to reach back to KL by midnight. The journey home was a smooth ride, and too bad we did not see any wild life along the way down to Gerik. I really hope it was a great experience for Akbar Kamdar, being able to experience Royal Belum State Park and hopefully our 2 day outing is a memorable one.
