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.

After a long dry spell....

Thanks to the mother nature for this special Christmas gift..:)
After about 2-3 months of zero catch of giant snake head,this morning,around 8 am,we both caught one each in between of about 10 minutes time.
At one stage,i was almost give up on lure casting.
Started at about 6am with X-rap walk the dog..i changed to popper,and then big skitter by French champion, Sebile...before i changed again to X-rap 'walk the dog'...while thinking,if this doesn't work,next time i'll 'walk the cat'!
Ernesto lost his brand new Yozuri popper to the grass...second time in 3 days time,last 2 days he lost his Yozuri pencil bait.So,he changed to Spinner Bait.
It was this X-rap 'walk the dog' and spinner bait that make our day.

When i was at the brink of giving up,i squatted by the lake side,stop casting and just watching the surface of the lake.And there,about 30m a bit to the left, i saw a small ripple of water.I though,this will be just another cast...and i cast a bit further and reel it in passing by the ripple about 2m away to the right.
And 'Pop!'...a big splash and my lure disappeared from my sight...for a while,the fish was fighting around the area,before it made a torpedo speed run to the right...and i can see its beautiful stripe in the water....

'my heart stop beating for a while...my system stop pumping oxygen to my brain..and for a while,i saw stars,maybe due to the lack of oxygen in the head'..
it was such an adrenalin rush.

When the fish starts to give up..it used its typical dirty tactic by rushing to the grass,the way it did last year to escape from my popper.
I shouted for help from Ernesto which was about 100m away behind the trees.
He was holding the rod while i was jumping to the lake to get my trophy that stuck in the grass...which i didn't do last year.This time,i must land you and take picture.

And it was so sweet...the moment.

About 10 minutes later,when i was smoking trying to calm down and do random casting (and rewarding myself)...Ernesto shouted for help.God...this can't be real...we broke the taboo this morning.
From far i can see him fighting the fish.
And i jump again,the fish using the same dirty tactic again.
Again,the beautiful purplish stripy python look alike scale fish,in my hand again,still struggling proving its reputation as the best fighter of the region's freshwater fish.

It was a great day...
thanks to Shimano long cast rods,Ryobi Fokamo reel,Abu Garcia Cardinal reel,Spiderwyre braided line,Rapala X-rap Extreme Walk,Spinner Bait...
'to the brands mentioned above,we don't mind to do product endorsement for you' :)
thanks to mother nature,thanks to the spirit of the lake,thanks to Lewis for proving that lure still works here,thanks to Ernesto for the early morning plan around 2am text message,and thanks to all our supporters and critics..:)

Spinner bait did the job.

Worth the wait...

It's the moment!

And yes...we did catch and release..fight another day..grow bigger,fight better!

The other side of the lake....

Yup....finally we made it to the other side of the lake...where the mega giant snakehead always splash and show off their majestic power and reputation as the best fighter of the fresh water fish.

Me,Ernesto,Dan from Victoria,Canada,Justin From Melbourne,Australia and Lewis as our 'local guide' went through the small jungle and reach the site(about 15 mins),safe,excited and amazed with the view and the imagination of what beneath the surface of the lake,giant snakehead colony and something else.(this is the place where the other group of anglers get greeted by a giant king cobra) !

Lewis and Ernesto walked a little bit further but came back since the jungle get thicker and 'unpenetrateable' without a macheti or chainsaw to clear your way.

New reel and new long cast rod...lure and life catfish...but zero.
There was hope until the thunderstorm chased us away.

And the way back is much more shorter in time since we just want to get back to civilization a.s.a.p before we get too wet..but we got really drenched anyway.

But anyway,as always..bad day fishing is better than a good day in the office.Cool! :)

Me and Justin

Ernesto

New reel,new rod,new site.

We made it out of the jungle....

Giant Snakehead @ Toman Mega Sungai Sarawak.

Our biggest snakehead so far.
You can estimate how heavy it is.
Caught in Sungai Sarawak but dead not long after landed,probably exhausted from the 1 hour and 30 minutes fight.

giant snakehead frenzy

Been catching a lot lately...the time we have done before now paid off.

Its time to catch the monster.

We caught 3 today.Another one is too small for the picture.:)

Synchronized pose.

Giant snakehead/Toman/Channa micropeltes.
Catch and release.
Maybe its hard to do,but its feel great when you did.

Lake Kenyir Toman Hunt

This trip was to hunt for one of the most wanted fresh water fish.It was at Lake Kenyir,Terengganu.

The preparation at the hotel room.

Tired with casting,we tried live bait,baby catfish.

When the waiting get too long...

Change location...and lets call it the day.

It's time to go home now.

The result of the trip?Look at our faces there....

Toman mega Sg. Sarawak (Giant Snakehead of Sarawak River)

3 caught in Batu Kawa area.Still alive for viewing!


The majestic Sarawak river with Mt. Serapi as background.The branches of this river are the home for mega size Toman/giant snakehead fish.

Hunting for the giant snakehead

We still can't get the giant snakehead by casting from the lakeshore.So,we decided to buy a small boat to navigate around the lake.Plus,we heard from a local guy around the lake that there are also another species in the lake,call 'Siong'...which are big and always swimming in a group of 5-7.
Anyway,we went to another place and caught the catfish...just to 'buang gian'.

The giant snakehead territory.

Some anglers trying their luck casting for the snakehead.3 snakeheads about 2-3kg big shown up but didn't catch their lure.

Another view of the lake.

The other part of the lake can be seen from here.But only can be reached by boat.

Sunset is nice here.

The regular catfish.

Patin again.

The ordinary day.

My friend went to Sabah last week and took this picture of the new sea creature at Pulau Manukan.Can anybody here tell me what species is this?

Since someone asked me how is a giant snakehead fish look like,below is the picture of the fish.This fish is one of the best fighter in the tropic fresh water.