A Once-a-Year Fishing Tradition in Royal Belum
Once a year, I make it a point to escape into the heart of Malaysia’s jungle for a Royal Belum houseboat fishing trip. Beyond my usual giant snakehead (toman) missions, this annual trip is about sharing long days on the water with friends, chasing toman and sebarau inside one of Southeast Asia’s most untouched freshwater fisheries.
This year, there were ten of us, which is actually quite a big group. Normally, we fish with six to eight anglers spread across three or four boats. But with ten people this time, we ended up running five boats.
There were plenty of familiar faces, as usual. Alongside the local boys, we were joined by Ganba, who traveled all the way from Mongolia, and Clive, who came in from Adelaide, Australia.
As always, we were hoping for rising water levels and a bit of rain during the trip. In the weeks leading up to it, almost the entire country was getting hammered by rain, with floods everywhere—except in Royal Belum. The water level only rose slightly.
To make things even tougher, it didn’t rain a single day while we were there. In fact, it was hotter than usual. Still, despite the conditions, we had a great time.
We fished for three and a half solid days. Nick from Tacklebox Adventures kindly sponsored prizes from MaxCatch for the biggest sebarau of the trip. You can watch the video to see who took home the prize.
Ganba also had a standout trip, landing a few really nice toman. I think everyone managed to catch toman, myself included, though all the truly big ones were lost—either due to straightened hooks or fish biting through the leader. That happened even when wire leaders were used.
To see how it all unfolded and what really went down on this year’s trip, make sure to watch the video.
This trip video above documents our 2025 Royal Belum houseboat fishing trip, including toman strikes, lost giants, and the challenges of fishing low water conditions inside the park.
Leave a Comment