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.
Subscribe,rate and share this cry of the Kangkaput to the world :)

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 !!!

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.

The Return of Adong...

  Since most rivers are murky due to the raining season,and the sea is choppy,so,this evening we went to a lake.It was an ex-gold mine,many years ago,and now it's become a home to many species of fish that we are not sure how they get there,except for some hundreds of giant snake head fish that we released there couple of months ago.Now they have grown up to more than a feet long,and start chasing lure,but no hook up so far. 

  The weather was okay,it was just after a heavy rain.The water is clear as always,the scenery was fantastic as always,with lime stone hills as the back drop,shame that I didn't take any photo of the surrounding. 

Mr.Matan got a big strike from a decent size Adong but it didn't get the hook of the plastic frog lure.Another strike he got was from the giant snake head,end up the same story. 

 I changed spot and start casting at a nearer place to where we park the car.After more than 20 casts,I noticed a series of small bubble about 3 meters away from me.I cast a bit further than the bubble and start reeling in at a medium speed.And suddenly I get a strike on my golden color spoon lure.It fight for a while before it went to the grass.It was a decent size juvenile Adong. I brought it to the car to take some pictures of it and then keep it in a plastic bag with water to let the other guys see it before I let it go again.

  Ernesto came back with a Runtu,an upper river snake head fish! The first one we caught in this lake after fishing here for more than three years now.I never know that they are exist in this lake.That's actually very nice to know,now we have more options in this lake.

 We fished until it was dark.And we headed to the nearby town for dinner at a coffee shop and chit chat with the waitress and playing with the dogs. It was a well spent evening after the rain.... :)

If we can't catch you in the river,we catch you in the lake..

Not a bad size for a short evening session.

The golden spoon that fooled this guy..

The first Runtu caught in this lake..more and bigger to come.

Between those hills ,there's a home for King Kong.

In the quest for a new fishing heaven...

Weather is not really friendly for fishing lately..it's almost impossible to go out fishing to the sea.Couple of days ago,we were almost crash to the rock by an island by two big freak waves.And made things worse,the engine died on us,and took us quite sometime to start it in a panic situation. This afternoon,we went out driving out of the town to try a new river that according to a source,is a territory for the jungle perch.The rain was a bit heavy on our way to the area.But there was hope since the sky toward the area was clear. We get there with a fairly nice weather for fishing,not sunny,slightly cloudy,but not pouring.After calling the source for a detail direction,we park our car by the road side and walk down along the river bank from a bridge. The water was slightly murky...but it didn't stop us from keep going and casting. Not so far down,2 strikes were received,one from Runtu (snake head fish) and another one was probably Adong,the jungle perch. A loud sound from a bird,a kind of a hornbill, followed us from the bridge down the river.It was a big lonely black bird,sounds like it was telling us something,but we didn't understand or just ignorance. Along the way down the river,we found a durian fruit with no durian tree around the area..weird! And then a close encounter with a king cobra that just changed its scale.You still can see the old scale left on the ground. And then a water snake swimming across the river.Strange signs that as seem as telling you to go back. And the final one,a sudden down pour of heavy rain.So we rushed back to the car,drive back home and called it the day. And the rain continued all the way till we get home,with heavy vehicles on the road made the journey back felt so long... Another bad day fishing...

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!

Fishing trip to Batang Ai

Been thinking about this trip for so many years,been reading and listening to stories about this place for many times...and yesterday,we made it after a call to someone we know there and he arranged the trip for us.
Departed at 4 am from Kuching,four of us made it to the reception jetty of Hilton Batang Ai around 7.30 am after a breakfast stop at Jelukong.
The boatman took us to the resort where his 'co-pilot' waiting for us.
About 2 hours journey,we reached our first stop at the almost crystal clear water rapid,where some of Sarawak Forestry workers collecting sand for some paving work at their office by the dam lake.
The water was a little bit cloudy after the rain the night before but the water level is still very low.
Casting for a couple of hundred times here before we heading upper river.Got few strikes but no hook on until a couple of stops later...when the boat almost docking at the river bank,a cast near a dead tree received a strike from a 'Sergeant'..the three stripes jungle perch,locally named Juak.The new ultra light Shimano rod bended to the max.And the best part,it was the oldest,the cheapest,and the worst spoon lure in the collection,the treble hook only have 2 hooks,one is broken from the previous trip and never been changed !
Couple of local boats passed us,they went upriver for net fishing...after that,it became quite,no more strike..probably because the fish are spooked(hehe)..in Iban we call it 'regu'.
After the lunch with baby fish cooked in the bamboo,we drifted down river again,and where the river water meets the lake water,here we received more strikes from Juak and their cousin,Adong,the single stripe Hampala Barb,some hooked on and some just chasing the lure.Spoon lure,spinner,shad rap and jointed rap worked equally the same.
About 5.30pm,we headed back to Hilton Batang Ai,and by sunset,we reached the reception jetty.
One of us get addicted and still don't get enough..did some casting here and get a strike but didn't hook on.
After the bath in the lake,we say goodbye to the boat man and drove back home...
We'll be back...

The Captain

Heading up the dam

The team

Optimistic

Calm...

Sun coming up..

The glory in front..

Approaching Hilton Batang Ai

Jetty at Hilton Batang Ai

Longhouse folks going down the dam

Rural clinic

SK Nanga Delok

Sarawak Forestry office

Entering the river...

Approaching the first casting point

The Forestry staff collecting sand for some paving work...

Underwater view of slight cloudy river

And the action begins...

The 3 stripes..

Jungle perch have no teeth,they swallow their preys and crunch them with their sharp parts inside their mouths.

Juak have three stripes,while their cousins,Adong,have only one.

The tips to success is...keep on trying

Borneo wildcat on the sponsor boat,Marlboro..

Keep casting

This is the source of Sarawak energy..

Wild kittens can become earings too...

'I am too hungry that I have to eat Matan's cat'

Pansoh Ikan...baby fish cooked in the bamboo

Our special custom made table for lunch..

Sunset on our way back  through the dam

Satisfaction guaranteed

Bliss for the blessed ones..

Happiness..

Half peace..

The sun goes down...

...feel the light betray me

back to the reception...

Adong (top) and Juak (bottom)

Till next time around...

Bujang...bujang...

This is all we took..the rest,we let them stay where they belong, for the food of the longhouse folks and for the other anglers to enjoy their thrills.