You may have heard the song, The wind beneath my wings… this is fishing in the land below the wind, in Sabah.
When Sabah was known as North Borneo, life was very much different from today’s. Today, Sabah continues to be known as the “land below the wind”, a name given by seafarers in the past to describe all the lands south of the typhoon belt.
SPECTACULAR MOUNTAIN RANGES
Sabah is famous for its tropical rainforests and abundant animal and plant species. Long mountain ranges which form part of the Crocker Range National Park makes for majestic sceneries.
In Sabah, the Kinabatangan River is the second longest river in Malaysia and Mount Kinabalu is the highest point of Sabah as well as of Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
Related: Fishing for mahseer in Sabah Borneo
Now back to the fish! The hampala barb or local name, sebarau, is often wrongly referred to as “jungle perch”. It is a not a perch species at all, not sure how it got stuck with the jungle perch name. If you know, do let me know in the comment box below!
The sebarau is a hard hitting fish that is known for their speed and aggressive nature. Boiling feeding frenzies are not uncommon in areas with this schooling fish.
Seen in the video below is a two-barred sebarau (hampala bimaculata). Sebarau are found in jungle rivers and lakes that are fed by these rivers. They will take live bait, lures and spoon that are retrieved fast and even poppers! And this nice fish is taken on a fly popper.
Check out the video
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