Paul Arden | Saturday, 4 December 2021
This week I’m heading into Sungai Tiang (River Tiang) with the Aslis. We are finalising the planning of two FFing campsites on the river, as well as routing the walking track on the True Right bank. Im taking a couple of rods with me, just in case (you know how it is!)… although in all likelihood the river will be the colour of milk chocolate at this time of year, however I am very interested to see if there is a Jungle Perch spawning run — and whether they might be inclined to eat a surface popper on the way up.
It’s funny, I used to spend half my year exploring rivers with a backpack, particularly all over New Zealand, and could head off at the drop of a hat. For some reason planning these things seems to take longer nowadays. Maybe that’s because I have to pack up the boat first and then head to town for supplies, before taking off back to the boat again for the trip in. It seems like a lot of work. Still I won’t have to run or cycle train these days because I’ll be carrying a pack on my back. Mine will be heavier than everyone else’s too of course, because I’m carrying extra fishing tackle and wine! (Normally I’d carry whisky of course but this is impossible to buy locally!).
But I do love my time up there. It’s a very beautiful place, remote, the Aslis are great company and anywhere where these is potential fishing is always good! I’m not so keen on the leeches at this time of year but you get used to them… they’re better than sandflies and mosquitoes anyway, and there are neither of those bastards! I always find it interesting that “paradise” always has to have inverted commas.
The plan is for Sungai Tiang to open as soon as the rains are over. We are currently in Wet Season in these parts of Malaysia and the rain usually ceases around the end of January. The last years the Wet has been inconsistent. Finishing early, sometimes coming in late, or coming in unexpectedly heavy or light.
But the bigger unknown at the moment, is Omnicron. The question is, will this be a version of the virus that gives you a mild cold and borders can reopen and life gets back to normal, or will it be more or worse of the same? Malaysia still has no International travel at the moment and obviously this is preventing the Sungai Tiang project from taking bookings —and from me helping by doing some massive promotion for the forthcoming season!!
The Sungai Tiang plan at the moment is for the trip to initially be around 1000MYR/ fishing day (about 250USD). This includes a Porter who will carry your gear to camp while you fish, a guide to make sure you don’t get lost and eaten by tigers, all meals and transfer to and from Banding Island. My plan is for them to put this up to around 500USD/day for the prime season (Feb-May) but with all the current unknowns this introductory price seems like the logical place for them to begin.
After this trip, I’m going fishing for a month! These past weeks I’ve been helping Ashly with editing her Business Admin papers, I’ve been working on the Battleship, and I’ve been organising my Visa. It’s time for a break from all this stuff and to get back to doing serous fishing again.
As well as chasing adult snakehead with babies, I want to explore sunk line fishing for Jungle Perch. That was one of the main reasons for floating the Battleship in the first place. :)))
Have a great week!
Cheers, Paul