Looking for a New Spot

A place that I heard from a friend, saying a waste swamp land in Batu Arang has a lot of Haruans and Tomans in it..... After hearing what he mentioned....Well, I decided to give it a try in the weekend with Show-Chan and friends.....

The swamp is not so big, soon we have already covered half of the area..... and there was not much action around too. After a few casts at some places with more snags and structure... here comes my first fish in the morning, ha ha ha! A little Sebarau?!!.....

 Oooohh! My second fish....Nice Toman caught with my soft plastic fat shad swim-bait.....

 Close-up.....

 Show-Chan was not to be out done himself too........

Conclusion : Paradoxically, don't believe all you hear, and don't stop looking for new spots.......

French Attraction to Toman Fishing II

After the first French group came 5 days ago,.... here comes another 2 French guests for Toman challenge also....... As is the trip before, the water has dropped to a very low level, exposing many tree trunks creating snags every where, causing much difficulty to secure the fish succesfully after hooked up...... and it is even worst this time around.... Look at the water level at the jetty!

A beautiful sunrise engulfed the whole lake, welcoming us to Air Ganda Lake......

A pristine sight to behold.....

Different landscapes greet us all around.....

After many tries,... finally the first landing for our guest Nicolas - A Toman baby! Ha Ha Ha....!

Not bad! Nicolas caught his second fish soon after changing spots......

Wooo! Yeah! A decent sized Giant Snakehead for him..... Congrats man!

And the fight goes on.....

Not too many biggies landed, nevertheless the Tomans still gave him a good fight during the trip. Due to his dilligence and persistence, he was able to land a few fish albeit the few bites offered by the illusive Tomans.....

I have tried a few cast over the afternoon,.... and I was duly rewarded a succesful strike with my Buzz Bait too. Yeah.....!

Another Toman caught by Nicholas.....

We even tried at different locations too,....Peace and calmness at Temenggor Lake - quite invigorating to the heart and soul.....

Busy preparing for the next cast....

Walla..! Gerard caught himself a Sebarau.....

Just before noon time, we developed an engine problem. It just wouldn't start anymore.....

As there were no telco signals nearby, we resorted to rowing - with make shift planks for pedals. This was hard work indeed...... We pedalled for nearly 1 and a 1/2 hours and could hardly move 2km.....

Finally, a passing boat caught sight of us and the skipper offered to help tow us back to the jetty. What a relieve it was......

Succesfully back at the jetty. Thought of going out for another try later but it rained cats and dogs.... Sigh.......

Feeling undeterred, we head out much later that evening for yet another try.... Guess what happenned??? The engine died on us once again even on a different new boat. But luckily this time, there were telco signals around and we could call for help..... And the night just ended with us being towed back to jetty again. Aaarghhh....what luck we have??!!.....

Malaysian Food

Nicolas having a go at our lovely Nasi Lemak and he soon found himself gulping down water non-stop..... Ha Ha Ha.....! They just can't take hot and spicy food!

They tried many of our local cuisines,.... But Nicolas was happy to see something more familiar to him - French Fries.....

Still feeling the heat from the local food. These guys really can't take much chillies at all.....

After coming back to KL from the less succesful trip up North.... They want to give Paid Pond Fishing a try as a change.......

More catches from them....

Finally, a last night out at the local bar scene before paying them Bon Voyage the next day.... Cheers!

Hope they will come back soon for their fishing revenge on the Tomans.....

French Attraction to Toman Fishing I

Toman (Giant Snakehead) fishing is no longer just a popular activity in South East Asia but has actually attracted a lot of international attention as well. A French duo has taken up the challenge to come to Malaysia to have a hands on experience.....

We headed out at first light.....

During their maiden trip here, the water level was extremely low indeed.....

Many Tomans were sighted.... There were some bites but most of them eluded the French guys. Here's one that didn't get away..... OMG! Such a small baby Toman for Sebastian....

Ahhhh,.....The biggies were giving the Frenchman a hard time.... They were very elusive indeed....

To quench his thirst (.....for tomans probably), watermelon was a heaven in sight.....

His never say die attitude brought him out into the open again in the afternoon.....

A scene of calm and tranquility...... but where is the ripple created by the Tomans.....

Where are you guys......????

Yes, finally something decent out of the water......

Usually at this time of year, the water level is much higher than this. However, it was not to be during Manu and Sebastian's visit....

Another hit..... but, small guy....

The hot afternoon sun was just too much for everybody,... taking a quick nap under the tree shades after lunch break.....

..... please don't ask about the result..... Sighhhhh!!

The first 3 days was a disaster with zero catches,.... and yet zero big fish has landed so far was... is really driving them both crazy..... Well, we were at it again early in the morning.......

What a sight it was - the morning sun......

This time of the year is very hot and humid due to the El Nino effect.... Seems like local farmers are taking advantage of this situation to clear their farm land. This is a common sight each year along the Titiwangsa Ranges in Peninsular Malaysia.....

Yes! Finally a decent sized Toman is landed by Sebastian....

......and the fight didn't stop there.... But, over all it was not a good result for the both of them.... Hope they have better luck next time..........