The stumbled upon a good article for the local Malaysia thestar newspaper giving a good detailed account of the fishing trip around kuala rompin fishing location.
The article is listed below:
Saturday May 3, 2008
Early season fishing in Kuala Rompin
By ANTHONY GEOFFREY
The catch at Kuala Rompin proves to be excellent.
Every March, I dust off my fishing tackle, service reels, check lines and see what needs to be bought for the new season.
The new season begins in early April. By this time, waves in the South China Sea would have subsided to acceptable levels after the monsoon rains, and the strong muddy run-off from Sungai Rompin would have receded.
This year, I received a request from a couple of South African anglers who wanted to fish the world-famous Rompin Sails in Malaysia. They were here before to import Koi and were suitably impressed with what they saw.
(Above) Frikkie Visser (left) got help holding up this 19kg barracuda. — ANTHONY GEOFFREY
On March 18, I met Frikkie Visser and Petrus Willers at KLIA and headed for Kuala Rompin, Pahang. That evening, James Ooi a. k. a. 001, Rompin Riverside Chalets and Restaurant proprietor, served us a scrumptious meal.
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, our captain, Chua Tien Siong (Ah Siong), arrived at the jetty just after 8am. We loaded up the gear and headed out to the open sea. The water was fairly choppy so we had to travel slower than usual. After about 35 minutes, we reached our bait stop. Within 15 minutes or so, we had more than enough bait to go in search of the sailfish
When we reached our first sailfish stop, the wave action had reduced somewhat and we tackled up drifting balloons with live bait.
Within about half an hour, we had our first take – a short run and then nothing. We reeled in to find the bait gone. We rebaited and tried again. We had three rods out and after two or three more short runs with the line cut clean, we knew we had Tenggiri. We reset two lines with wire trace and continued. Our next run was good and we hooked a sailfish – the first of the day.
Frikkie took the rod and eventually, after not too great a fight, landed his first sailfish. He was a happy man although he thought the fish had given up too easily. We lost a couple of fish after that before encountering a good sailfish fight.
“This is more like it,” Frikkie shouted.
After releasing it, we changed spots to try again. We had another few strikes but nothing landed.
The next morning, we journeyed to the FADs (fish attracting devices). The sea and sky looked good; all looked promising.
I have noticed many times that when the baitfish is easy to catch, the big fish are difficult, and vice versa. It took us a couple of stops to get just enough baitfish, but this time we had some nice Selar.
Petrus did not come with us this time. He went off to Mersing with my fishing kaki Ah Lek to book a few days’ holiday after the fishing trip.
The second day proved to be very successful indeed. It started quietly but after an hour or so, we were into our first sail. This was followed by Tenggiri. At this time, I casted big poppers and before long, the sails were chasing.
I hit one, but it didn’t hook up. In the meantime, Frikkie got another sailfish.
Within 10 minutes of its release, Ah Siong was casting the popper and hit a big barracuda. Frikkie was in action again. As the fish came to the bait, it dived, snapping my brand new popping rod, which was being used for the first time.
Between the three of us juggling bits of the rod and Frikkie holding the butt and reel, we managed to land the fish. It was an excellent 19kg barracuda.
Then, all of a sudden, the water, about 300m in front of us, was boiling and two other boats were heading for this bubbling cauldron. It was Giant Trevallys (GT) attacking the anchovies!
We also headed there, casting lures and poppers as we got closer. There were a few attacks but no hook-ups.
As things calmed down, we moved on and baited up again. We were halfway through eating a sandwich when one of the reels screamed and a Black Marlin leaped out of the water about 200m from the boat. Frikkie had another fight on! He took the rod, but alas, after a 10 to 15 minute fight, the fish slipped the circle hook. Well, at least Frikkie had the chance to feel the power of a marlin.
Another 15kg Barracuda was taken on live bait and two more sails also came up.
For the last hour or so, we trolled lures, one Rapala and one Halco eight-metre diver. The Halco proved the more successful with about four Tenggiri caught. The day had been excellent with almost non-stop action. Frikkie was looking forward to the third day even though his arms were tired. He had caught more fish on this day than he had ever caught before.
Day three also proved to be a good day with three more sails and a number of Tenggiri caught. Although we saw Giant Trevallys a few times, again with the surface water boiling with their activity, we didn’t manage to land any.
Petrus was quite happy just catching the baitfish. Frikkie was the real angler. He was happy that he had caught a good number of fish on his own rod and reel.
During dinner on the third night, Frikkie asked about another day fishing before he and Petrus went to Tioman. Unfortunately, Ah Siong was not available to take us out.
The next morning, I dropped them off in Mersing where they took the ferry to Tioman. I met them again two weeks later in KL, where they were staying for four days. They had visited Koi breeding farms before they returned to South Africa.
All in all, early season fishing at Kuala Rompin proved a great success.
The variety of the catch was excellent. I will not hesitate to try even earlier next season!
