Northern Belum Adventure.

Koma with his sebarau.

C M Lam proudly
displaying his toman.

My toman taken with a Halco.

Our team led by Sesho Murakoshi.

A beautiful toman caught by Koma.

Ichinokawa with his kuang.

Another of my toman.

We normally fish in coves like this.

Leaving the Banding bridge
behind at dawn.

The team prepairing for battle the next day.

I was invited by C M Lam of Singapore to accompany him and his Sesho Murakoshi and friends for a fishing trip to the Northern Belum part of the Temengor Dam of Perak, Malaysia. The fishing there can be considered good as many tomans (giant snakeheads), kuangs and sebaraus (jungle perch) were landed. As with most man made dams, there were many sunken tree stumps below the surface of the water which made fishing rather challenging.

Jiro, Koma and I got into one boat, while Lam, Murakoshi and Ichinokawa were in the other. For a 3d2n trip, we spent our nights on the mother boat which could be considered as comfortable. A well rested body is rather important for anglers fishing in the hot tropical sun. An adequate supply of drinking water is very important to prevent dehydration.

IGFA-Rolex International Fishing Tournament, Spratly Islands.

My first wahoo from the Spratly.

Team Odyssey 2007

This big hammerhead shark was
cut loose as sharks were not
accepted for the tournament
(a very good move).

A map of the Spratly, where we
fished.

Team Odyssey 2006

One of my jigging trophies.

Not big, but fun on jigs.

A good one from jigging.

Better than nothing
when action is slow.

Team Odyssey 2004.
The champion team.

I was lucky to have attended the Rolex-IGFA International Fishing Competion in the years 2004, 2006 and 2007 with Team Odyssey. The whole experience could be sum up as a fantastic fishing experience, with a team of professionals (under Captain C M Lam), whose team spirit and friendliness is second to non. To all the team members of Odyssey through out the years, I would like to say a big 'Thanks You'.

The Spratly of Malaysia consist of Layang Layang Island, Dallas, Ardasier, Marivelas, Erica and the Investigator Reef. To reach the nearest, that is the Layang Layang, we have to travel non-stop for 18 hours. Many of the fish caught there could not be found in the waters of our peninsular. One thing for sure, the fish there are huge and can always put up a gutsy fight. People with lesser tackles will have a hard time handling them. To sum up, Spratly is Malaysia's last fishing frontier.

Sebaraus of Pergau.

An acceptable size.

CS Fong, Joe and I at the
Pergau office.

Just before turning off
from the N S Highway.

Joe caught the most sebaraus.

Fong with his toman

I only found out during
 this trip that Fong is
a really good cook.

My biggest sebarau
of this trip.

A map of the Pergau Dam.

Pergau boats are well built,
but will sink stern first
after a heavy downpour.

The first time I went to Pergau Dam in Kelantan was quite a number of years back. Then, the boat promised to us never appear and we were left stranded on one of the floating chalets (actually almost sinking huts). Needless to say, the trip was a total disaster.
The direct opposite was true on my second trip there recently. With C S Fong (Editor of Rod & Line) leading the way, Joe and I had a gala time fishing. If not for a tiny mishap, the whole trip was a roaring success. Well, actually mishap is rather too strong a word for that incident. let us just term it as a hiccup.
The fibreglass boats of Pergau were well built and strong. The only drawback was when fitted with a 25hp outboard, it was a disaster waiting to happen. Should there be a heavy downpour and the water not bail out, the boats will sink stern first.
It was on this trip too that C S Fong cut me down to size. All along I prided myself on my cooking, but on this trip I realised my shortcoming.

Why I blog.

Wow! I am a blogger now. Actually, blogging was never one of my interests... Well not until a nerd phoned me up one day. "Hello, may I know the height of the tide at Lumut two weeks from now?" he asked. "Huh!" was all I could utter in surprise. After laughing and taunting me he finally accused me of having a blog. Before I could defend myself, he cut me off. Confused, I consulted my children and they denied that a blog was created in my name without my knowledge. There was no response from anyone to the numerous calls and SMSes that I made to that number subsequently. Pondering over the whole episode, I felt only pity for that guy. Heh, this is the modern world, man. It is not like ancient China, where challenges were thrown whenever someone intends to open up a martial art school. The Chinese call it 'TEK POON'. My God! If having a blog elicited such a challenge, then that guy needs a shrink. If I have not forgotten some of the little psychology that I had learn, I think he is having 'SOMETHING' which he is rather ashamed of. Either that, or being dominated and suppressed at home is the other likely explaination for this type of behaviour. May God bless you my friend. My advice is to get 'IT' enlarged and have a life.