Unpleasant Trip to Sandakan

Nice view of the tallest mountain in SEA - Mt.Kinabalu...........

Immediately after the monsoon season, I went to Sandakan for Black Bass fishing, which I had planned earlier on............... But, we were struck with bad news whereby the mother boat has an engine trouble and it is still in the midst of repair.........
Waiting for our boat at the Jetty near the fish market....... We waited and waited........ Finally we were able to move out in the night. But, when I woke up in the morning, the mother boat had stopped in the middle of the way to the fishing ground....... Aaargh!!! Not again!!! Look at the oil that has spilled out from the engine........And the leakage was traced to the engine part and it was not repairable on the spot........... BAD LUCK!!.................... The boatman called for spare parts, but it were only available 2 days later.......... We did not have any choice but to park the mother boat somewhere and changed plans using the small boats to fish nearby instead of our actual destination......... These are the only catches nearby area............ a baby jack...........

An Archer fish...........

And one table sized Grouper............. very SAD!!!After searching and searching for a better ground we had travelled quite a distance from the mother boat........... when time came for us to go back, our boat ran out of fuel....... after waving 30 minutes frantically with the life jackets, a fishing boat near by saw us and came to our help.......... Aaargh!! How much more bad luck to come???...........After the meal the next day, we decided to go back to Sandakan town using the small boat to get rest and wait for our flight back to KL...............It took us 2 hours plus with the small speed boat to come to town............... Everybody felt disappointed......... but we don't have any choice at all.......
We spend time around the market place..........

Blind lady selling some kind of seaweed............ Fish market...........

We even found this in town...... Try saying this in Hokkien........Ha Ha Ha!!!

Toman game at Air Ganda

Dennis' car broke down while picking up Gong Lei from Shanghai at the airport........ What a bad start to a trip, and it seems to happen to him often...... Anyway, we called in a toll truck to toll it to a workshop nearby my house and use my car instead for the trip to Air Ganda.........

We had late dinner at Ipoh on the way to Gerik town, where we had planned to stay for a few

days during our fishing at Air Ganda.......

First light at Air Ganda lake............

Off we go.......... Saw a monkey swimming across the lake........
The sight of our fishing ground.........This is Gong Lei's first challenge for Toman, but before the trip I had already advised him the way to fish Toman......Gong Lei's first Toman and Sebarau......... is a little bit small but memorable....... Here come his dream fish....... A good sized mama Toman. Congratulation man!!!
I also caught a small toman on Nories laydown minnow with my 16lb Daiwa Steez rod with the freshwater special Steez bait casting reel..........
I even caught a 2kgs+ Striped Snakehead (Haruan) in the afternoon with Nories brand Laydown Minnow...... it was given a good fight, at the beginning I was tought a Toman took my lure..... Really, a wild Haruan fight can be match with Toman indeed........

Look at the nice shape of this fish....... Amazing!!Normally we practice catch & release. But sometime we do keep some for eating too, just to let our guest taste some of the freshwater local fish..... One thing is for sure, it is worth trying...... Yummy!!

A Malay store open in the early morning at the Air Ganda village.....where we always buy our take-away packed lunch.......
Air Ganda lake in the morning...........Another day has begun.................. A shelter inside the lake where we can take a rest during our lunch break............

Some beer and Nasi Lemak is just perfect!........ Mine is beer with coconut said Dennis........ Yucks! I wonder how it taste like..........
More plentiful catches after lunch........

Everybody is in a frenzy with Toman Game..........

The wonderful part of this Toman Game is that you cannot imagine the power of this freshwater beast...... Look at the 3 X treble hooks that easily got straightened by the mighty Tomans.......... That is why everybody gets addicted to it........

Teeth marks.............Even a 50lb line can break too............ Oh my god!!Wow! Wonderful catches for our friend, Gong Lei......... Awesome!And it was also a fun game for Gong Lei's friend - Fei Fei too.......
Of couse, I enjoyed it too................ Overall it was a fine trip.......