Kuala  Rompin  Sailfishing.  

Did  a  trip  to  Kuala  Rompin  in  September  2014  with  7  mates  and  had  a  fabulous   time  with  a   lot  of   laughs,  a   lot  of   fish,  and   it  was  also  a  great  cultural  experience.  We  flew  to  Singapore  and  rendezvoused  at  a  hotel  near  the  old  quarter  of  the  city  (shop  here  for  Owner  hooks  and  Varivas  leader   material   -­‐   very   cheap).   There   was   Fish   Philliskirk   and   Notso  Bright   from   Weipa,   Noddy   Radford   and   Leon   Normore   from   Perth,  Hooky   from  Melbourne   and   from   Sydney   Rod   Van   Beek,  Mark   Joseph  and  myself.  It  was  a  great  crew  and  most  had  billfish  on  fly  experience.  

 

We   were   picked   up   from   our   hotel   in   a   couple   of   comfortable   air  conditioned  vans  and  made  the  helter  skelter  4  hour  drive  up  the  east  coast  of  Malaysia.   If  you  plug   in  your  ear-­‐phones,  pull  down  your  dark  glasses  and  pretend  to  go  to  sleep  it’s  a  lot  better  because  there  are  no  road  rules  in  Malaysia.  

Our  accommodation  was  a  large  new  house  in  a  secure  community  out  of   town   a   little  way.   Its   4   bedrooms   and   air-­‐conditioned  with   a   fridge  packed   with   beer   and   tonic   for   the   Gin   and   Tonics.   It   was   very  

comfortable   with   WiFi   and   a   big   lounge   and   was   cleaned   daily   with  laundry  done.  

 

Our   package   included   all   meals   and   all   fishing   and   we   were   ferried  around  by  the  operators  of  the  business  and  by  a  local  van.  We  ate  most  meals   in  a   town  restaurant  and  were  very,  very  well   looked  after  with  GREAT   Malay   curries,   wild   boar   and   endless   prawn,   squid   and   fish  dishes.  We  all  really  enjoyed  the  cultural  experience  and  had  no  hassles  what   so   ever-­‐   it   might   have   been   different   if   we’d   gone   into   the   Bin  Laden  café  over  the  road  but  we  chose  to  stay  away  from  there.  

 

We  had  booked  2  boats  with  the  best   fly  crews   in  the  region  (the  only  ones  really).  Notso  had  brought  along  10  kilos  of  salted  belly  flaps,  and  we   brought   extra   teaser   poles   that   were   not   really   required   as   these  guys  are  well  set  up  and  use  their  own  local  teasers.  The  first  day  was  a  weekend  so  we  headed  32  miles  out.  The  bottom  here  is  dead  flat  with  occasional   rubble   grounds,   and   those   grounds   are   plastered  with   fish  traps  under  floats.  Plenty  of  sails  there.  The  boats  stop  for  half  an  hour  for   lunch  each  day   and  on  day  one  we  had  a  pod   swim  past  while  we  were  munchin’.    

 

Every  day  was  different,  we  found  a  patch  of  tiny  sails  that  didn’t  even  push  6  kilos  and  it  was  out  with  the  10  weight,  and  we  had  days  where  they  averaged  25  kilos.  The  numbers  of  fish  here  is  something  to  behold  with   free   jumpers   and   free   swimmers   too   numerous   to   count   and  frequent  pods  raised  on  the  teasers.    

 

We  fished  4  to  a  boat  and  the  rotation  was  called  when  you’d  had  a  good  shot  even  if  the  fish  didn’t  eat.  With  so  many  shots  we  learned  lots,  but  fly   placement,   hook   selection,   and   striking   techniques   are   everything.  There  were  plenty  of  stuff  ups  too  but  with  the  numbers  of  fish  on  most  days   the   rotation   just   kept   moving.   On   one   memorable   afternoon   we  went   through  6  rotations   in  4  hours……..  hardly  even  gave  you  time  to  think  about  where  you’d  screwed  up  the  last  shot,  and  you  never  really  have   these   buggers   worked   out.   Just   when   you   think   you  might   have  cracked  it  you  miss  the  next  4  shots,  it  can  be  very  frustrating.  

 

Stats  for  our  best  day  were.  

58  raised  (most  in  the  afternoon)  32  cast  at,  24  takes  and  7  landed  with  3  jump  offs  and  1  break  off.  

Stats  for  the  week  were.  

478  raised  -­‐  205  cast  –  147  takes  and  35  landed.    

Not   a   great   conversion   rate   and   that’s   what   we’re   working   on.   There  were  many  jump  offs  and  more  than  a  few  bust  offs  as  well  but  most  are  missed  on  the  initial  take.  

 

Anyway  I’m  going  back  in  2015  and  have  2  back  to  back  trips  

planned.  

The   cost   ex   Singapore   is   $A3,400   for   7   days   fishing   and   includes   all  meals,  accommodation,  all  transfers  and  the  fishing  component.  

If  I  was  taking  one  rod,  it  would  be  a  12  weight  and  I  would  be  using  a  Rio  Leviathan  26ft  sinking  tip  in  500  grains.  

If   I   was   taking   a   second   rod   it   would   be   an   11   with   a   400   grain  Leviathan  26ft  sink  tip.  

If  you  wished  to   fish  poppers  you  would  want  a   floater  and  my   line  of  choice  would  be  Rio’s  GT  line.  

All  the  flies  used  are  tube  flies  rigged  with  tandem  5/0  hooks.  

The   locals   favor   popping   flies   on   floating   lines   –   Klingons   are   perfect,  tube  ties  are  best  and  hooks  4/0’s  or  5/0’s  –  I  like  offset  Octopus  hooks,  the  locals  like  the  Owner  version.  

I  prefer  sinking  lines  and  8-­‐9”  Klingons.    

We  mostly  fished  30lb  tippets  and  a  meter  of  80-­‐100lb  bite  tippet.    

Bookings  through  me.    

 

 

Dates  are;  

Trip  1    

18  September  depart  Singapore  –  fish  19  –  25th  Sept  –  return  Singapore  on  the  26th.  

Trip  2  

26th  depart  Singapore  -­‐  fish  –  27Sept  to  3rd  October,  return  to  Singapore  on  the  4th  October.  

I  will  book  accommodation  in  Singapore  (3  star  in  the  old  part  of  town).  It’s  best  that  everyone  is  staying  together  to  make  the  pick  up  easier.