Sebarau attack !!!

  When I was fishing this evening,I was thinking to write a blog title as,'Haruan pun jadilah'..means,'I'll settle for common snakehead'...since there was no strike at all at the first place we were casting.

   We almost call it the day until we decided to check on a river,whether the water visibility is possible for lure casting.And yes,it was clear enough for lure casting..

    And believe it or not,the first cast received a powerful strike from a decent size Adong (Hampala Barb)....and it was landed by the brand new rod on it's first trip.

   You can have all the best equipments,all the best skills and experiences,the best fishing holes,but luck is still what you need...and today,I think the lady luck was swimming with this fish.. :)

This forest has eyes,I swear it!

That's what I'm talking about...yearghhh!!!

Surprisingly,the water is clear in rainy season.

He ran fast and hard..

The water level is higher due to lots of rain.

You can estimate the size..

Upper river crytal clear water casting...

If you are into wild jungle fishing for upper river species like Masheer,Hampala Barb and the other species,this kind of river is such a paradise to be.Just being there,catching fish or not,is great enough to give you  the blessing of the nature.




Save our rivers, save our fish and save our souls !!!

Empurau / Kelah / Malaysian Masheer

When you catch a fish like this...it's like hitting a Jackpot !

Rod breaker Snakehead..

  Today we went out early in the morning,about 5:45 am.We headed to a small town outside of Kuching to a lake that used to be the heaven for giant snakehead.Things changed now,too much net fishing and water weed on the surface makes lure casting almost impossible at this lake.But couple of days ago,we were casting here and we saw a lot of big giant snake head chasing small fish at the other side of the lake,which was beyond the reach of our lure.They even jump out of the water to catch the birds that were diving down for the small fish on the surface!
  So today,we went with rubber dinghy and live catfish for bait.But while waiting for our friends to come with the pump,we did some lure casting with weedless frog lure,the only artificial lure that still works here,at least you still can get it back from the water safely without pulling out tonnes of weeds like other lures do.
  After bout half an hour,a decent size common snakehead strike the lure.This one is very angry and ran very hard until it broke the light action rod into two pieces.That was a good start to the day,broken rod is not a bad sign,it show that you caught a well fighting fish :) .
  And later,we pumped up the boat and down in the water toward the other side of the lake.Sun was shining bright,burning hot and sun block is necessary if you are not intend to get burned.After a couple of hours,still no bait.At one point point,we have to get back to the car to repair the boat that got poked by the hook.After repair,we went in again,now a bit further to the other side,chasing the sign of the fish submerge for air or catching their prey.Suddenly,there was a sound like a rush of strong air from beneath the boat.We hit a sharp wood under water.The wood was so small that we didn't notice it,but very sharp until it can puncture the boat.We made an emergency landing,for repair and to save ourselves from swimming back to the bank.
  After the second repair,the sun was too hot go out there again.So we did some small fishing and spear fishing for the tilapia by the lake side.And when our friends on the other boat came back,we went for lunch and call it the day,plus,the storm has arrived with thunderous heavy rain.....

The early morning view of the town.

This rod is retired today.

The angry bird...no..fish.

Welcome to Paradise !!!

  This evening,after a thunderous shower of heavy rain,we decided to go for a short evening fishing trip.We went to a Bidayuh village not far out of Kuching.
   Bidayuh,or Land Dayak according to the British,is the forth largest ethnic group in Sarawak.They inhabit high lands of the west Borneo, around the border of Malaysia and Indonesia.
 This village is famous for its waterfall,its a picnic area.So,all this while,we were not really interested to do fishing here.Plus,there are some cases of people drowned at the waterfall while swimming here!Sounds like not a good place for fishing...
  But we didn't know that just about half kilometer down the water fall,this small river meets a bigger river,the Semadang river,the upper part of the Sarawak river.We get this information from a friendly villager near the waterfall.
  This Semadang river is a big clear water river with fierce rapids,perfect home for Adong (single stripe Hampala Barb),Semah and Empurau(Masheers) and other upper river species like Runtu(upper river snakehead) and Juak(3 stripes Hampala Barb).
  Rainy season makes its harder to catch them since the water level is higher and abundant of food for them like jungle fruits flowing down the river.But we still manage to get some strikes.Couple of strikes received from Adong but none landed.Only Runtu landed,as co-operative as all its other Snakeheads cousins.
  Next time,we plan to rent a boat or kayak to go down or up the river.I have a very good feeling about this river.I'm very optimistic to get big strikes and hell of time fighting this Lamborghini of the upper river.. :)

The beautiful but mysterious waterfall.

A smaller waterfall.

This is the highway for the villagers.

Its also the source of their drinking water..

And also for bathing and cleaning.

Try to get a closer look at their daughters :)

The sign behind is not kidding,many lives has been taken by this fall !

Grow bigger,fight harder...

Today,only Runtu want to be on the camera.

Thank you very much,it was a nice game.See you next time.