Borneo | Last Frontier (casting hampala, mahseer, snakehead)

Deep upper river,in the middle of the jungle of Borneo,where the last forest,the final frontier to deforestation,oil palm plantation and mega hidro electric dam project...the native enjoy the bless of their nature and spirits of their ancestor...while it last.
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Lure On Ear

Intense....nuts...maniac...you name it..
4am...hit the road...5am...surf the sea...fish on...fish off...another good day fishing..

"we left the studio around 4:15am to head out in darkness through Croc waters to the mouth of the ocean and across to the islands…"-Justin Patch

Sunrise in Paradise

Laps around the island

cast...

'Good things come to those who wait'-Jon Bon Jovi :)

Good day,mate!!!!

Mr. Barracuda early morning sprinting exercise..

The fish shook off the lure..off the lips, to the ear...

Don't try this at home...or anywhere else

second greeting,this time by Mr.Wahoo..

pretty grumpy early morning.. 

welcome on board...

Cheers,mate!!!

bleed it right away...our ritual

Happy campers...

*photos by Justin Patch, cast by Mother Nature
Watch the video HERE

Sebarau ( hampala barb ) on fly !

Yes..it's finally happened...fly fishing can catch fish in Borneo..the first species was hampala barb...well,actually it was a barracuda but it didn't landed so doesn't count.
We were back to Belong 2 days ago,to a place where sound system doesn't really matter in a karaoke bar,to a place where in the colonial days the tribes warriors had their last frontier against the intruders,to a place where you still can make peace and bond with the nature.
We leave Kuching around 3 in the morning and get to Belong around half past six.And later we reached at Nanga Spak ,where the Spak river meets the mighty Layar river.It was a big surprise and heartbreak to us,the water was like the coffee with milk that we had for breakfast that morning.
They told us there was a very heavy rain the night before and the road construction upper river made things worse.

Early morning view of the longhouse folks coming back from checking their fishing nets.

The murky water of Nanga Spak...

It's no harm trying...'Ni nemu!'

Layar river was a bit better,so we decided to go upriver hoping that it will be clearer upstream.Things didn't seem to get better,and make thing worse,one of our boats,lost its propeller!After searching for it with our legs in the cloudy water,we managed to find it and fixed it back to the engine with the classic Iban style,'main tanchang'..which means, you tie it!

Heading up river in hope for clearer water..

Still optimistic anglers..

We decided to go to another river,the legendary Skrang.Met some relatives of friend's there and they were kind enough to let us use two of their boats.Skrang,surprising,always murky,but this time around,it was clear enough for lure fishing.

Welcome to the new ground,Skrang river.

New river,new hope...

Preparing the weapons..

While waiting for the boats to be ready,we were casting at a smaller river near the longhouse and caught one 'runtu',the upper river snake head.

This activity get the attention of the longhouse folks...

Good introduction of the day,the ever friendly Runtu ( upper river snake head fish )

Thank you very much,see you again next time..

From Nanga Murat,we went down river,since the upper river was a bit busy with long house folks transporting the subsidized fertilizer from the government.

We stop for lunch..

Pork barbeque on the rock!

While waiting for the lunch,every second counts!

Fly it high..

Matan can fly too!

This was the first time we were fishing here,and contradict to its reputation for a heaven for fishermen,we were disappointed.There was no action at all.So,after our lunch barbeque by the river side,we headed to town and called it the day.But along the way,we stop at a swamp lake and did some casting for snake head.We caught four snake head fish.Not really satisfying,but at least not 'beluku',or zero catch.  

Again,we had problem with the propeller..so here we go,river towing..

The luxury floating hotel in the jungle...

The ever co-operative snake head fish.

We spend the night at the town and after dinner,we entertained ourselves at a local karaoke bar.But we get to much attention here so we leave not long after and called it the night.
The next morning,we decided to check the water situation at Layar and Spak.Layar was clear enough while Spak was still too murky.
So we drifted down river,but the water clarity get worse so we went up river...

Second day,back to Layar.

Here the water was better,and kind enough to give us some actions..and let us made it to 'Borneo Book of Records' to catch the first fish on fly..
Thank you very much....Adonger!.... :) 

They like spoon lure...

They like plastic frog too...

Also they like tail dancer...

And now..ladies and gentlemen...they like fly too!

Island trolling...some months ago.

Barracuda and spanish mackerel.

Long long kamalong..

Short hair Maton..

Prize catch..

Gila...!!!!

Guitar and fishing rod...

    Not sure about the common things between the both..but somehow,holding them give you some kind of adrenaline rush.
    The morning after the Gawai Show at Sri Aman,we shot up to Betong to meet our regular skippers,Empari  and the gang...
    Around 8 am,we were already on the long boats,drifting down the crystal clear water river...and just after a few casts,a decent size jungle perch(adong),strikes the spoon lure..a great start of the day..
   The lunch was luxurious ,barbeque on the pebble bank by the crystal clear water under the shad of the virgin rainforest canopy with the cool breeze from Mount Sadok,the last Iban frontier.
   Not much actions after the lunch..before dark,we said goodbye and headed back to the 'civilization'.

Band of friends

The moment

Gila!!!!

The trusted brand in fishing hook

Great start..

See you..grow bigger..fight better another day

Natural born skipper

Body building..

Incoming...take left

Pushhhh..

This is Borneo...

Monkey bridge

Maton..No..Matan..

Cheers!!

The Guidance

Relaxation