This is a hosted fly fishing trip that we do every year. Familiar faces regularly feature on this annual trip to Royal Belum, Temenggor lake.
The main target species is the hard-hitting sebarau (hampala barb) aka jungle perch. Not to be confused with the jungle perch of Australia. I’m not sure how the sebarau got tagged with the jungle perch name, the name often used in Malaysia and Thailand when referring to the hampala barb in English over here although the locals in Malaysia generally call them sebarau.
Related: Trip Video Fly Fishing for Sebarau – Hampala Barb and Houseboat Stay in Royal Belum
This trip sees seven people with two new faces, Faizal and Texan Chris.
Almost the entire drive is under the rain, typically monsoon weather. Thankfully, the journey is smooth although I cannot say the same for the back-to-the-city weekend traffic on the opposite direction.
It’s nice to hitch a ride in Eddie’s truck
Scenic scene at the Kinta Valley near Ipoh – Cloudy and rainy skies most of drive up north
Out of impulse, and hunger, we make a detour out to the town of Gopeng (incidentally a favourite peacock bass fishing ground of mine years ago) to look for some nice Chinese food for dinner.
With the help of Google maps and the helpful reviews, we end up at a small “hidden” Chinese restaurant that literally sent someone to catch a striped snakehead on order!
We stopped at a small town, Gopeng, for dinner. Haruan (striped snakehead) head and bone cooked in a soup.
This fried snakehead was literally caught to order!
Wild boar!
After a fulfilling meal, the drive was mostly in the dark and after traveling for 7-hour we arrive at the jetty to the pick up and transfer to our floating house for the next couple of days.
Surprise number 1 awaits us in the form of a mansion equivalent of a houseboat. Our usual 10-man houseboat is tiny in comparison to the two-storey behemoth we are being put in that can accommodate 40 people! Overdoing it but a welcome change and it gives us a good idea for future trips with large groups or those who prefer the luxury of extra space.
A little later that evening, newly wedded couple Paul Arden of Sexyloops fame and Ashley dropped in for a visit.
Belum – Temenggor is about 4 hours 30 minutes drive from Kuala Lumpur
Loading our belongings into boats for transfer to the houseboat
The Surprise Houseboat
Funky choice of colour combination in the living and dining area on level 1
The guys chatting about the planned fly fishing competition for 2018
Two toilets on the lower level
Two bedrooms with queenside beds on level 1
The corridor that divides the 8 bedrooms upstairs
Nick and JW shared this room made to sleep 6 but is should be for a maximum of 4 people
Looking out to see another room with similar layout
One of the four twin bunk bed rooms
Two of the four toilets upstairs
Let The Fishing Begin
Quick Recap Of The Fishing. The monsoon is the preferred period for targeting the hard hitting sebarau. Continuous heavy rainfall and rising water level potentially signal huge number of sebarau moving out of the main body of deeper water to swim up the rivers to spawn.
These sebarau will be in fairly narrow waterways and holding in the shallows under cover of freshly submerged vegetation and structures.
Getting the conditions just right can be tricky though. Whatever it is, we always look forward to being out there and enjoying the houseboat stay, camaraderie and the food.
In 2016, we got the rainfall we hoped for, too much non-stop rain in that instance, water level was too low to begin with and below average fishing results. Some fish was caught but nothing significant and everyone was pretty much drenched most of the time.
2017 however is a different story. Conditions are much better and more favourable action in comparison.
Enjoy the pictorial below.
American, Chris and his flies, join us for his first trip to Royal Belum.
David heading out for his first morning
Nick and his first sebarau
Fishing in front of a small waterfall
A bigger sebarau for Nick
Unexpected young giant snakehead on a hopper fly while casting near the vegetation for sebarau (hampala barb)
A small sebarau on a hopper
Discussing about the first International Royal Belum Fly fishing competition with the organiser and members of Selangor fly fishing association
Serious discussion
Chris showing some of the local boys how to tie flies
Nick with the prototype Yamaga fly rod
Nick with another sebarau
We take the opportunity to enjoy some freshly caught fish cooked in the houseboat
Our houseboat upgrade to this humongous unit is a welcome surprise
The sebarau is a hard hitting fish
Nick with a decent sebarau
Sebarau, like many other species lie in wait in front of this small waterfall.
Nick’s split tail fly is deadly on the sebarau
Fly fishing inside one of the many rivers in Royal Belum
Sebarau hideout. They love the snags.
Nick ready to cast from the bow
Another sebarau on a red split-tail
Aaah… rain in the rainforest. Monsoon season is the best time for sebarau fishing.
Bugs are common when you’re in the rainforest. Not sure what this is.
Juan with a standard sebarau
Nick with another
Sebarau have fairly big mouths and an appetite to match
Sebarau can display beautiful fins and nice silvery scales
Meeting up with and catch update with Nick Jungle and Faizal
Dusk is when the sebarau move to the shallows and casting poppers could be effective
Nick with two sebarau in succession from the same cove
Getting back late at the houseboat
Early morning rise and off to fish
Beautiful glow in the cool morning
Racing towards the fishing hole under the morning sun
This sebarau hit the popper so hard Juan thought it is a toman!
Some images shared by others:
Yup, that’s what fly fishers do during gatherings.
Bird’s eye view of the type of boats we fish in
Animated quite by Juan Wei during the discussion with the Royal Belum organiser for the upcoming giant snakehead fly fishing international competition in 2018
Another hearty meal in a small town (Tapah) halfway back to Kuala Lumpur
Awesome post Juan Wei!
Thanks, Tim. I just got back from a week of awesome time mahseer fishing 🙂