GTPopping.com - Giant Trevally, GTPopping, Topwater & GT Fly-Fishing Resource
General => General Topwater & Jigging Discussion => Topic started by: Johan Skou on November 12, 2011, 06:11:29 PM
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Hello Gentlemen,
My name is Johan, I'm Danish and I'm absolutely crazy about fishing!
I had planned to go fishing in Thailand on the 16'th of November, but due to the floods in Bangkok I have changed my ticket to Kuala Lumpur hoping there is some good fishing water on peninsular Malaysia. My problem is that I have never been fishing in Malaysia before, and have not had adequate time to seek out proper information, so any tips regarding fishing destinations from you guys will be hugely appreciated. I'm very interrested in any information about popping destinations, and also fresh water fishing has my interrest.
Best Regards,
Johan
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we have a number of Malaysian members on this forum but boy, you're not giving much notice!
With a bit of luck, one of them might be able to give you some advice.
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All of the abandoned flooded quarries on the way into town that have
have snakehead and peacock bass in them. Might have been a secret until now!
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Hi Johan, sorry for this late reply.
Some tips for you.
Saltwater:
As you notice, fishing in Peninsula Malaysia can be divided into East Coast i.e South China Sea and West Coast i.e Strait Of Malacca.
Currently the North East Monsoon havent fully blown (yet).
My suggestion, you can charter a boat in the district Pekan or Rompin, Pahang state. Target fish = popping/casting/livebait for sailfish (end season but they still there), GT (average 5 to 15kg class), spanish mackeral or jig (40-60g) for diamond trevally, golden trevally, cobia and few bottom dwellers. http://wanizhan.blogspot.com/2011/10/pekan-oct-8-9-2011.html (http://wanizhan.blogspot.com/2011/10/pekan-oct-8-9-2011.html)
Note that NE monsoon can hit East Coast at any time now where 35 footer fiberglass boat can be easily tumble by 3 meter 30-40 knot wave. but for me this GT season.
For West coast, there are few charter in Penang and Perak but you need to pay more or in group of 3-6 since the trip is live-on-board-on-wooden-boat for 2-4 days. 3 major islands that fishable are Tukun Perak Island, Jarak Island and Langkawi Island. Target fish = bottom dwellers, few GTs, spaniards.
Freshwater: Currently it is raining season here. Few fishable dam, namely Kenyir and Temenggor are fast filling. You can fish for snakehead and hampala (Hampala macrolepidota) http://sebarau.org/index.html (http://sebarau.org/index.html).
Or you can go to Clearwater Sanctuary Resort for peacock bass http://sportfishin.asia/2011/06/21/peacock-bass-fishing-clearwater-sanctuary-malaysia/ (http://sportfishin.asia/2011/06/21/peacock-bass-fishing-clearwater-sanctuary-malaysia/) or http://sportfishin.asia/2011/04/05/peacock-bass-fishing-60-fish-caught-and-release-in-one-day/ (http://sportfishin.asia/2011/04/05/peacock-bass-fishing-60-fish-caught-and-release-in-one-day/)
cheers
izhan
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we have a number of Malaysian members on this forum but boy, you're not giving much notice!
With a bit of luck, one of them might be able to give you some advice.
Sorry about the short notice, but it really wasn't my decision to flood Bangkok. I swear! ;D
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All of the abandoned flooded quarries on the way into town that have
have snakehead and peacock bass in them. Might have been a secret until now!
Thanks for the tip. I promise not to tell any one ;)
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Dear Izhan,
Thank you very much for your thorough reply! I'm sure some of the information will come in handy.
Nice blog you have, I can't wait to get a sailfish on the end of my line! The fresh water fishing looks mighty interresting also.
All I have to do now is to survive a few more days at work ;D
Johan
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Johan,
Change your flight again and fly to Phuket, or arrive in KL and take a cheap flight up there, great freshwater fishing and some GT's and stuff too.
If that isnt possible;
Pack a very light spinning rod and some soft plastics. do a net search for Haruan and go fish in any piece of water you find ! I was just in Rompin and after sailfishing, a friend and I drove along a main road and stopped and fished drains, flooded wood areas, just about anything with water in it and were getting strikes on small plastic frogs. We ended up catching a heap in a small lake near Rompin town.
KL has some excellent Snakehead (Toman) fishing, but it isnt easy, in fact its very hard fishing indeed. I'm not sure if now is the best season for snakehead hunting, I think that is past. Do a quick review of Francois's website in Thailand and get some tips. None of these are in KL itself, but many lakes exist within about 50 kms that have very large Toman in them. Air Kuning has peacock bass, as do many others. I cant for the life of me remember many of the lake names, and many of the lake names are informal too. I know there used to be a series of lakes out at Rawang which contained double figure Toman. I've chased them round the lakes in float tubes in quite a few occasions.
The lakes/old quarries near the airport are also excellent, but for some unknown reason security seems to throw a friend of mine off all the time !!
Lakes such as Kenyir ( A long trek from KL) are good for Sebarau, as are rivers in Taman Negara - catch them at the start of the rains I think.
Unlike Bangkok, you dont have decent guides and lots of lakes available stocked with fish for catch and release, so expect a tough time of it. I'm not resident but have fished there with a mate who is, so it might not be of much use.
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Hi Al,
Thanks a lot for all the info!
I had planned to go to Bung Samran and then perhaps to Kanchanaburi for some snakehead fishing, but I will totally give Thailand a miss this time.
My plan now is to hit up a tackle shop or two in KL (I will probably start with Kepong), and then either go for some fresh water fishing with the gear I already have in my suitcase, or buy some proper popping tackle and go see if I can catch me a sailfish or GT on the east coast.
Is there any chance you can direct me towards a guy/company with a boat that does popper fishing?
It puzzles me that there are only few fishing guides in Malaysia, as it surely must be one of the most enjoyable jobs on earth!
Johan
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Johan,
its monsoon season on the east coast and I believe it is just starting to rain, the boats are mostly narrow fibreglass "speed boats", so its unlikely anyone is fishing much. There are only a few islands with any kind of structure. The majority of the coast is shallow gently shelving sand and coral rubble with structure being 2m high bumps in 14m of water. now the popper casting for sailfish can be good, but you've missed the season by about 2-3 weeks. Wan gave a good summary.
As for the guide issue, tell me where in the world there are world class sailfish grounds within an hour and the skippers wont leave the dock until 8 am and like to be home by 5 pm .... usually the minute you arrive and fish are on the bite, but its a battle to get a guy to make the exception and leave 30 mins early !! Arghgghghg it does my head in, but the fishing can be so good you have to keep going back for more.
Good luck.
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Great sailfish off the East Coast. Everyone goes out of Kuala Rompin but it's certainly no secret.
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got local news just now, wave 3-5m in East Coast aka Rompin n Pekan....very dangerous for small boat :'( :'(
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3 to 5 metre swells? Bloody hell. Had no idea it got that frisky at Rompin.
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I can't imagine it like that either
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Guys, even the oil rigs in the S China Sea shut down and have to wait on weather occasionally as the supply boats cant operate. it certainly gets "frisky" alright through the monsoon. Usually in "season" you get glassy calm seas - which is what we all see pics of !
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Johan,
Before you go off gallivanting and flicking frogs and poppers in ponds far and wide around Malaysia, may I please warn you not to do it on your own. Even if you have a partner please exercise extreme caution and I strongly, strongly advise never to fish out at night in a secluded area.
Fishing is one thing, security is another. It is not uncommon to find a protected area that seems fishy and secluded, until you notice a couple of guys on a motorbike approaching you from the middle of no where carrying god-knows-what... They may have the policy of beat you first, rob you second and never ask questions ever.
If you are not local, you will stick out like a sore thumb and be an even easier target.
I would advise to stick to the pay-ponds, of which there are a few worth visiting and which are gated and more secure. Even then, they can be located obscurely and difficult to reach without a GPS/own car.
Getting out to sea on your own in this weather, given that Pekan or Rompin is a 4-5 hour trek by car and you need to find a crew and you need to be in the know to get a boat that won't rip you off and know what they are doing - these are conditions that will be too hard to fulfill on short notice without a local contact or in-depth research I'm afraid.
Sorry to say that fishing in Malaysia is not the same as Thailand.
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Fishing is one thing, security is another. It is not uncommon to find a protected area that seems fishy and secluded, until you notice a couple of guys on a motorbike approaching you from the middle of no where carrying god-knows-what... They may have the policy of beat you first, rob you second and never ask questions ever.
Kasey,
Do these guys carry 'Big Numbas' to carry out their Beatings..?
Pete
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You can contact me if its in southern malaysia.
If I can, I'll help in hooking you up.
Regarding whether I am trustworthy or not, hiak hiak hiak, you be the judge.
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Fishing is one thing, security is another. It is not uncommon to find a protected area that seems fishy and secluded, until you notice a couple of guys on a motorbike approaching you from the middle of no where carrying god-knows-what... They may have the policy of beat you first, rob you second and never ask questions ever.
Kasey,
Do these guys carry 'Big Numbas' to carry out their Beatings..?
Pete
Like a Big Numbas beating a garfish mate :'(
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Fishing is one thing, security is another. It is not uncommon to find a protected area that seems fishy and secluded, until you notice a couple of guys on a motorbike approaching you from the middle of no where carrying god-knows-what... They may have the policy of beat you first, rob you second and never ask questions ever.
If you are not local, you will stick out like a sore thumb and be an even easier target.
I had no idea Malaysia was such a dodgy place. Who robs fishermen?!
I actually know a guy who got mugged in his bivvy while carp fishing. Rediculous...
Malaysia is not an easy place to fish for a stranger, and being from Denmark, I'm as strange as they come ;D
After realising this, I flew up to Krabi in Thailand and checked in to a fishing resort where I caught some nice saimese carp and cats.
Thank you for all your advice guys!
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You can contact me if its in southern malaysia.
If I can, I'll help in hooking you up.
Regarding whether I am trustworthy or not, hiak hiak hiak, you be the judge.
Thanks for your offer. I might take you up on it when the sailfish come back.
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http://redhotanglers.blog78.fc2.com/ (http://redhotanglers.blog78.fc2.com/)
Give these guys a call, the store is pretty hard to find bet they are a great bunch.
They will be more than happy to take you out to any of the local spots near KL.
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I have to concur with Kasey on the security aspect. A mate of mine was approached exactly as he described, by two blokes with a parang (machete) on the back of a motor bike at a secluded pond. Unfortunatley they were not professionals and made the mistake of taking one step too close with the Parang, wherein a swift jab to the nose left one of them bloodied and dazed on the floor and the other one wishing he had tried to rob someone else. My mate, now armed with the machete then chased them. he then proceeded to carry on fishing, reckoning that the robbers would be too embarrassed to come back for more, even with friends, as they would have to admit what happened. On recounting this story to his company HSSE (second S for Security) he had a number of mistakes he had made pointed out to him. The basic gist was dont fish alone, if attacked give them everything etc etc. he on the other hand prefers the memento machete !
We do fish together in some wild and woolly places, and yeah we are both 6ft 3 plus and yeah we both look over our shoulders these days ... be warned, it isnt perhaps as safe as we would all like.
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Thanks Al, sounds like I have been risking it a bit too much. I have fished around KL for years ( once of twice a year max ) by myself and have never had an issue. Being a giant "orang putih" they may have just given me a wide berth.
The boys from red hot anglers are great blokes and are very happy to show you around some of their local spots if you stop in and have a chat.
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I have to concur with Kasey on the security aspect. A mate of mine was approached exactly as he described, by two blokes with a parang (machete) on the back of a motor bike at a secluded pond. Unfortunatley they were not professionals and made the mistake of taking one step too close with the Parang, wherein a swift jab to the nose left one of them bloodied and dazed on the floor and the other one wishing he had tried to rob someone else. My mate, now armed with the machete then chased them. he then proceeded to carry on fishing, reckoning that the robbers would be too embarrassed to come back for more, even with friends, as they would have to admit what happened. On recounting this story to his company HSSE (second S for Security) he had a number of mistakes he had made pointed out to him. The basic gist was dont fish alone, if attacked give them everything etc etc. he on the other hand prefers the memento machete !
We do fish together in some wild and woolly places, and yeah we are both 6ft 3 plus and yeah we both look over our shoulders these days ... be warned, it isnt perhaps as safe as we would all like.
I would say that was a rather lucky encounter!
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Ben,
My mate falls into that category too, def an orang putish besar, I'm more the orang putih bizarre. its the only incident i have heard of personally, and it hasnt stopped us, just made us a little more aware of the locations and who is around. We havent camped out at any of these places recently though. Its been a year or two since i fished up there sadly. I miss the Toman hunting, and would gladly take my floaty tube up there for some more of that !!
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Guys, the rain is pissing like mad on the west coast (Penang, Perak). Not recommended for trips at the moment.
You can come back in January when the weather slows down for West Coast.
Also, can consider Pulau Jarak in the state of Perak.
Cheers.