Paul Arden | Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Since I’ve been back I’ve had one full day and two half says fishing. In this time I’ve seen 9 sets of babies. Which is not bad actually and I’m sure I’ll find more when the wind blows out. My first shot overshot the fish by about 10 feet! Which was as alarming as it was surprising. The next two sets spooked while trying to position the boat. The dynamics of positioning with the thruster motor has definitely changed now that the boat is lighter. I don’t know why and can’t think of the reason but it’s actually harder to go backwards. Which is a bummer because that’s the direction I normally travel when setting up shots for myself. I have managed one eat but I failed to set the hook. My fault for sure. So I’m rusty!! Man, one month and I feel like I have to climb back up the ladder again. I’ll tighten up my game again this week and hopefully put some fish in the boat. I believe that the fishing might be very good at the moment – when I get my act together!
Last week I mentioned that I had put on 9KG while in Europe. 9KG!!! That’s 320g per day!! I can only assume it’s the body needing some sort of insulation against the winter cold. Anyway I’m not very happy about that because I don’t want to be an old fat bastard. I have managed to lose three of those kilos since then. Unfortunately the only way I can lose weight nowadays is by fasting, so I’ve been fasting on alternate days. And will do so until I’m thin again! Hopefully I can lose it as quick or quicker than I put it on. Have to stay nimble to fish – apart from which I have some long distance triathlons to do this year.
Over the next months I plan to do a series of videos on drills and exercises for casting training. I have a lot of these I use in my Zoom teaching lessons and I think they would make an excellent addition to Sexyloops. I have a couple of free spots for Zoom lessons incidentally. A course of 12x1hr lessons costs 700USD. Email me if you are interested and would like to learn more.
We are still experiencing some rain but Sungai Tiang should be opening soon. Feb-April really are the prime months for this river and it should be crystal clear. (Fingers crossed!).
Fishing Sungai Tiang costs 400USD for one person and 600 for two per day. This includes getting in, an Orang Asli guide and two camp assistants to help carry your gear between locations, set up camp and cook. All meals provided. Ideally you should plan for 5 days fishing. Total 2000USD or 3000USD. The total trip duration is 7 days. Getting in and out all inclusive in the price from Banding Island which is close to where I live. It’s possible to make shorter trips too, just remember that the river is quite remote and it takes time to get in and out (it’s two boat rides, one up the Royal Belum lake for an hour and the other up the river for 45 minutes). The local Orang Asli will be your guides. All profits go to the local Orang Asli community who own and run this business.
You can also do some sort of combined trip fishing with me on the lake. With the Snakehead babies around at the moment I can certainly recommend visiting me now. This costs 600USD/day fully guided, with all meals and Battleship accommodation but you can also take the cheaper option of renting out the Ronan for $250 for one $350 for two sharing and again I’ll provide food and Battleship accommodation. Some sort of combination certainly works too. Minimum stay with me is 5 days but a week (or more) is certainly best.
So yep. Life is good. I hope to see many of you here this year. Ashly starts a new job tomorrow. She will manage both the Front Office and the Recreation department of the Belum Rainforest Resort (where I used to run the bar sometimes). So that’s fantastic. She is becoming quite nifty at driving boats too. Maybe not so good with my car and she managed to reverse into a wall while I was away :D It’s Ashly’s photo of a Hornbill today.
Have a great week.
Cheers, Paul
PS you can email me on paul@sexyloops.com but if that doesn't work or you don't hear from me my WhatsApp is +60198549552