Tim Kempton | Monday, 1 April 2019
I have fished with Paul Arden in Lake Temmengor in Malaysia for the past 5 years. His specialty is Giant Snakehead, and more recently Giant Gourami. Paul has caught more Snakehead and Gourami on fly than any one else on the planet. He has spent years developing and perfecting casts, flies, leaders and techniques. His passion for fly fishing is infectious. I have been fortunate that he would spend the time with me. My fishing for Snakehead has gone from hearing deep sighs from the back of the boat when I missed most shots, to actually being able to catch free risers. For some reason things have got slower, and the 1-2 seconds to make the shot seem longer.
The past 4 months have been extremely hot in Australia and Asia. There also has not been any significant rain in Northern Malaysia. As a result the Snakehead are behaving differently. They are arising slower and at times you can see them gulping air, possibly because the dissolved oxygen content is lower. The white inside of their mouths is obvious. They are also staying on the surface longer, but they are not always inspired to chase the fly.
So Paul the endless inventor. Not only has he invented the Pick Up and Lay Down cast with Torque Twist to place the fly in the zone, but he has added a new dimension...the Deep Throat...so called as only Paul would name it.
The aim is to place the fly into the mouth of the snakehead as it gulps air. Impossible I said..its hard enough getting the fly into the zone. Nope he says...I will show you how.
Paul had set mouse traps up on rubber thongs at various distances from the boat. He would cast, fly landing first to spring the trap. Don’t look at the rubber thong he said…zone in on the tongue on the mouse trap.
So now Pick and Laydown, slip line on the pick up, shoot line into the backcast, torque twist on the forward cast…plus land fly first onto a mouse trap.
Well...more deep sighs from both Paul, and me, but eventually I started to train my eye. It was made harder when the boat rocked, but slowly I started to set off the traps. Elation! Time for beers.
So off Snakehead fishing we set. Day 1..nothing.
Day 2..it must have been the Sexyloops shirt that did the trick. A snakehead rose towards us beside a tree...it opened its mouth...the white was showing…in went the fly…the snakehead closed its mouth and we had a hookup. Paul nearly jumped out of the boat with excitement...he mentioned something about kissing but with that new hairdo and beard I reckoned that would be an ugly experience and I would probably have night mares for the rest of my life.
Thanks Paul for persisting with me....I cant imagine what you will invent next.
