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.

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.

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!

Strikes after the storm....

The frustration with the mahseer i guess is reduced by these actions on snake head.
3 hooked in one spot and another one at the nearby spot after sundown says it all.
The 'hello kitty' frog is amazing... :)
But as usual,this place get famous and a lot of new caster came,make it like a fiesta site with noise and singing while casting..goshh..

Snake head..so far,is the most co-operative fish for lure casting in Borneo..:)
Till next time,see you.
*to Taku,your giant snakehead moment will come ! :)