Snakehead hunting in Belum Rainforest, Perak! [Throwback trip]

When we talk about fishing in Malaysia, the first thing that comes to most people’s minds is the hunt for the giant snakeheads, also known as the ‘Toman.’ The Toman is known for their sheer brute force when they attack their prey with a mindblowing top-water explosion!

Record-breaking toman in Surabaya Indonesia.

We Malaysians can consider ourselves truly lucky because we have many different available styles of fishing. No matter the type of fishing you’re doing, the one fish that truly tops it all in Malaysia is the Toman. That’s because the infamous Toman is packed with amazing topwater action when they hunt. Also, their jaw-dropping force & strength to keep fighting has made the giant snakehead one of the most sought-after game fish in Malaysia. The IGFA record for the heaviest Toman caught is held by Malaysian angler Faizal Zainal, a whopping 13.6 Kilogram monster that he shortly released back into the waters off the Rawang district of Selangor. (refer pic 1.1)

(1.1)

Map of Rawang

There is an abundance of wild ponds/lakes located in the Rawang district. You never know where the record-breaking toman is currently residing!

The one thing that we truly love about these giant snakeheads is that it isn’t necessarily hard to look for them. Toman can be found from various locations leading from small ditches in between plantations or to small enclosed ponds, artificial lakes throughout the whole of Malaysia and Southeast Asia! 

One of the most famous spots to hunt for these fishes is in Royal Belum National Park, Gerik. A vast lake centered right smack in the middle of the rainforest. 

(Parit Ladang Kelapa Sawit / Oil palm plantations)

 (Wild lakes / ponds)

Royal Belum National Park

This magnificent spot is one of my personal favorites! It is located in Gerik on the northern side of Perak, and it takes about 3-4 hours by car from Kuala Lumpur. Royal Belum is not hard to find, especially in today’s time where WAZE is our co-pilot. I'm just going to share a little story about my trip to Royal Belum before the pandemic struck.

I started my journey at about 11:35 pm on a Saturday, making my way from Kota Damansara towards Gerik, Hulu Perak. According to Waze, my journey would have taken me about three and a half hours to get there. It was one of my FIRST times driving such a distance alone! I was on my way to meet my friends who were already in Gerik at that point, so I felt nothing but pure excitement to get there.

I arrived at Royal Belum Rainforest Resort at about 3:30 am, and I checked in immediately, did some minor prepping for the next day, and was off to bed.

Four hours later, the alarm started buzzing, and at that point, I jumped right out of bed and stormed to the cafe for a quick breakfast before hitting the waters! 

The first sight when you’re out on the water. This signage itself got me so stoked!

 Within the first 10 minutes, we saw a group of Toman Fry “boiling” on the surface. Without thinking further, CAST CAST CAST!

En route to our port, we passed by many settlements on small islands spread across Tasik Banding. According to our boat driver, Fad, these people are known as the Jarawa tribe. These are the same tribesmen of the people in Papua New Guinea! 

I spoke to Fad about how these people lived their daily lives, and I found out that the men from the tribe mainly worked on Fixing, Maintaining, and restoring shelters while the women focused on cleaning, washing, cooking, and laundry. Not to forget, the children played a vital role too by hunting/fishing for food. I kid you not; there were 6 - 8-year-olds on a bamboo raft fishing! Perghhh power!

Abang Fad, in his natural element educating us about the tribes while we were trolling for “Sebarau” or Hampala Barb.

As we approached a famous port towards Sg.Perak, I geared up with a 2-meter diving Crankbait, and we started trolling just to get the day started. I felt a strong pull on my line, and it caught me by surprise! It was a mixed feeling of feeling terkejut and excited gila altogether!  I panicked and tried setting the hook. Sadly because of my slow reaction, the Sebarau got away.

Good buddy of mine K.W, and Abang Fad.

The views on this trip was simply breathtaking. I never imagined it to be so close to home.

About 15 minutes later, we arrived at this river bank for lunch and some sight casting.

As I was walking down the riverbank, I couldn’t help but notice fresh elephant tracks.I went into ‘Jakun’ mode trying to look for elephants...

K.W’s MegaBass crankbait wedged between the rocks… R.I.P $

After lunch, we made our way to this river which was thick and dense with vegetation. Dense vegetation also meant more areas for Tomans to hide in! We managed to get a few bites here and there, but it wasn’t the Mama Toman we were looking for. 

Moments after that, K.W spots some boiling action and decides to go for it!

The Mama toman did not give in, managed to hook its baby instead.

After all the hard work and determination! It finally paid off!! K.W’s Mama Toman weighing about 6.05 K.G

Shortly after that, It was my turn, and I struck this Mama weighing about 5.5 K.G 

One of the biggest I ever caught and seen! Bapak Besar!!  

After a long day of fishing, we were blessed with a beautiful sunset. But all we could think about was the other Toman’s wandering under us.

Like….. Where else can you get views like these?? Cantik gila kan!?

As you can see, there is an abundance of rivers in Tasik Banding, just like veins in our body. We managed only to explore a handful of places this time around, which leaves room for many more in the next time to come!

We concluded our trip with feeling so much satisfaction, mainly because of the countless stories we heard about people visiting places. Even to Tasik Kenyir to only come back home with no action at all.. Sedih gila wei.

In conclusion, toman havens exist abundantly in Malaysia. It is difficult to take the first steps to explore a new spot, especially with no prior knowledge of the terrain. So, go, take the first step and explore, step out of the usual comfort zones, you never know what might be waiting for you in the next lake/pond or even ditch you explore! 

PSA: Always practice #CatchAndRelease if you are not planning to eat your catch!