Borneo roadtrip

User avatar
Broomstick
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Mon May 26, 2014 10:43 am
Has liked: 2 times
Likes received: 37 times

Borneo roadtrip

Post by Broomstick » Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:59 pm

Hi mates,

I’ve just arrived home from Borneo and the best way to deal with post-holiday blues is to write a report ☺. So here it is:

Some of you may have seen from a previous report that I was in Sri Lanka recently with my extended family. I wasn’t quite ready to head home when our holiday came to an end, so I decided to pop in to Borneo on the way home. My dad and brother were keen too, and a bit over a week ago we arrived at our guesthouse in Kota Kinabalu (the capital of Malaysian Borneo), which was right next to a fish market:

Image

The cheap accommodation suddenly made sense – it stunk. But at least there was plenty of delicious street food nearby:

Image

I was keen to get out of the city asap, so first thing the next morning we hired a car and started driving. The plan was to head north along the eastern coast, cut through the central highlands to the west coast and explore a couple of national parks, then make our way back to Kota Kinabalu along the northern coast. I’d marked a couple of river mouths on google maps that looked pretty fishy, and that’s where we headed. The first spot required a bit of a walk along a pretty interesting beach:

Image

It was very rapidly eroding away – there were uprooted trees everywhere:

Image

Anyway after about an hours walk we finally arrived at the river mouth and were greeted with this:

Image

A huge mining operation, which had no doubt trashed the ecosystem there and would make fishing a waste of time – dang. So we made the long trek back to the car, disappointed but still hopeful the next spot would deliver. And luckily, after a bit of trial and error and another long walk, we came to this beautiful little inlet:

Image

This spot looked super fishy and I was sure it would hold fish, but two hours later all we had to show for our efforts was this little cod:

Image

There was life everywhere:

Image

But we couldn’t raise a scale. My dad decided to tie on a big stickbait and over the next half an hour he had three massive explosions behind his lure for no hookup - it just wasn’t our day. And when the sun started to set and these creepy cows started giving us some dirty looks:

Image

We decided to call it quits. I would have liked to fish this spot again, but we had lots of Borneo to explore and only a week to do it, so the next morning we started making our way inland towards south-east Asia’s largest peak – Mount Kinabalu. The drive through the mountains was beautiful and the views were insane:

Image
Image

I was super keen to explore some of the freshwater streams and rivers in this area as Borneo is home to some pretty incredible freshwater fish including golden mahseer and giant snakehead, but unfortunately heavy recent rain had turned all the larger rivers into late-coloured deluges:

Image

And all the smaller rainforest streams into raging torrents:

Image

With freshwater fishing off the cards, we decided to make our way to a little hostel at the base of Mount Kinabalu:

Image

It was pretty grotty:

Image

But the views from our balcony were unreal (when you could see through the mist):

Image

And the fresh local produce was a treat:

Image

The cool temperate rainforest at these higher elevations was a nice change from the heat and humidity of the lowlands, and it was home to some very cool invertebrates (that snail was the size of my palm):

Image
Image

And these cheeky silvery langurs:

Image
Image

After exploring Mount Kinabalu we continued on our way west to a coastal city called Sandakan, which is most well known for its floating shanty towns in the local bay:

Image

We based ourselves in Sandakan for a few days while we explored some of the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries nearby. The main reason I went to Borneo was to see orangutans, which are rapidly disappearing as a result of the palm oil industry. You can see the devastating effects of palm oil everywhere you go in Borneo (this is a recently cleared patch of rainforest):

Image

Luckily there are still a few patches of pristine rainforest:

Image

And we were lucky enough to see both orangutans and proboscis monkeys (which are endemic to Borneo):

Image
Image

We managed to get really close to a group of proboscis monkeys – they’re one of the weirdest animals I’ve ever seen:

Image
Image

From Sandakan we decided to head north to Borneo’s most northern tip. We checked into a little bungalow on this gorgeous beach:

Image

And started doing some exploring. It didn’t take long before we found this beautiful rock ledge:

Image

It dropped down into some very deep water and just screamed big pelagics, but we only had our 2-5kg travel sticks so we could only flick around little hards. And didn’t take long before I came up solid:

Image

A nice little grassy sweetlip – not a bad start. Over the next hour we pulled in a few nice little reefies:

Image
Image
Image

But when the heavens opened and I got drenched by a couple of massive waves, we decided to call it quits. We weren’t too phased – it was just nice to get a few fish on the board. The next morning was our penultimate day and I was keen to head to another river mouth that I’d found on google earth. So after a typical Malaysian breakfast:

Image

We made our way to our spot:

Image

This place was beautiful, and some heavy rain over night meant there was a really fishy dirty water line forming:

Image

I knew there would be predators lurking around this dirty water line, but it was just out of casting range, and limited bank access meant we could only cast into the dirty freshwater. I didn’t think there was much hope of catching a fish in there, but I thought maybe if we waited the tide would push that clean water within casting distance. And sure enough, as soon as we were able to work our lures between the dirty and fresh water, my dad had a hit:

Image

Only tiny, but if there was bait in the area, perhaps there were predators too. And it didn’t take long before I came up solid too, and up popped possibly the weirdest fish I’ve ever seen:

Image

I’ve never seen anything like it before - it looked a bit like a furry stone fish that could walk along the sand (using those strange feeler-like fins). It was bizarre. While I was trying to get him back into the water without spiking myself, dad yelled out that he was finally on to a decent fish:

Image

A beautiful jack – only small, but a nice fish. Things were finally starting to happen so I decided to put on a slightly larger lure in case there was something bigger lurking, and after a few casts it was hammered. This was a good fish and it was making my little 2500 stradic sing, and when I saw a big silver flank in the shallows I though I might have hooked something pretty special. But I was a little disappointed to see this guy pop up:

Image
Image

A dirty barracuda – still a cool fish, but not what I was hoping for. But I can’t complain, I was pretty lucky to land him with only a 10lb leader. Unfortunately by the time we had released this guy, the dirty water line was out of casting range again, so we decided to head home on a relative high. We didn’t land any trophies, but it had been a ripper day, and the sunset back at our beach bungalow was spectactular:

Image

The next morning we started the long trip back to Kota Kinabalu, where we were catching a flight home. We explored a couple of beautiful beaches on the way:

Image
Image

Drove through some pretty wild weather:

Image

And dropped off our faithful steed (this car was actually the biggest piece of sh!t, I can't believe it made it all the way around Borneo):

Image

And all too soon we were in a cab on the way to the airport. It was a brilliant trip, and I’d love to head back there with a bit more time to explore properly. Borneo has some serious fishing potential – black bass, spot tail bass, barramundi, jacks, threadfin salmon, mahseer, snakehead…not too mention all the pelagics and reefies. Just don’t make the same mistake as us and head during the wet season ha.

Cheers!

Image
Last edited by Broomstick on Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:34 pm, edited 4 times in total.

User avatar
VooDoo
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 4:42 pm
Location: Rain Forest Over The Rainbow
Has liked: 165 times
Likes received: 192 times

Re: Borneo roadtrip

Post by VooDoo » Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:26 pm

Bloody great read as always Pat!!!

Look like you definitely had a great trip in Sri Lanka and Borneo :thumbsup:

Now need to polish up on the poker skills to follow Shazzdog so i could follow yours and Scott's fishing adventures :)

Think it is easier said then done IMHO!!
___________________________

"VooDoo .... WhoDoo .... YouDoo .... VooDoo" The Bug (Bugatti) S.A. [2019]

User avatar
davek
Moderator
Moderator
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 7:59 am
Location: nagambie
Has liked: 268 times
Likes received: 211 times

Re: Borneo roadtrip

Post by davek » Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:33 pm

Magic, great report and pics again Broomy, thanks cheers davo
It's an exhilarating feeling catching a fish
But it's an even better feeling releasing them

User avatar
Broomstick
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Mon May 26, 2014 10:43 am
Has liked: 2 times
Likes received: 37 times

Re: Borneo roadtrip

Post by Broomstick » Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:41 pm

Cheers guys
VooDoo wrote:Bloody great read as always Pat!!!

Look like you definitely had a great trip in Sri Lanka and Borneo :thumbsup:

Now need to polish up on the poker skills to follow Shazzdog so i could follow yours and Scott's fishing adventures :)

Think it is easier said then done IMHO!!
Haha there's an easier way, just don't get a mortgage/girlfriend/wife/family and spend all your money on fishing and travel. It's working for me so far

User avatar
VooDoo
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 4:42 pm
Location: Rain Forest Over The Rainbow
Has liked: 165 times
Likes received: 192 times

Re: Borneo roadtrip

Post by VooDoo » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:14 pm

Broomstick wrote:Cheers guys
VooDoo wrote:Bloody great read as always Pat!!!

Look like you definitely had a great trip in Sri Lanka and Borneo :thumbsup:

Now need to polish up on the poker skills to follow Shazzdog so i could follow yours and Scott's fishing adventures :)

Think it is easier said then done IMHO!!
Haha there's an easier way, just don't get a mortgage/girlfriend/wife/family and spend all your money on fishing and travel. It's working for me so far
LOL ... Pat, you have just wiped out 95% of the FV forum members (if not higher!!)

Should really have listened to older and wiser men advice when I decided to pop the question to my better half!!!! :)
___________________________

"VooDoo .... WhoDoo .... YouDoo .... VooDoo" The Bug (Bugatti) S.A. [2019]

User avatar
Marty.A
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Sun May 31, 2015 3:51 pm
Likes received: 3 times

Re: Borneo roadtrip

Post by Marty.A » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:17 pm

Amazing trip and awesome pics congrats for posting mate, you've got a heap of pics there to make a legendary photo book or two :cheers:

User avatar
Broomstick
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Mon May 26, 2014 10:43 am
Has liked: 2 times
Likes received: 37 times

Re: Borneo roadtrip

Post by Broomstick » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:33 pm

VooDoo wrote:
Broomstick wrote:Cheers guys
VooDoo wrote:Bloody great read as always Pat!!!

Look like you definitely had a great trip in Sri Lanka and Borneo :thumbsup:

Now need to polish up on the poker skills to follow Shazzdog so i could follow yours and Scott's fishing adventures :)

Think it is easier said then done IMHO!!
Haha there's an easier way, just don't get a mortgage/girlfriend/wife/family and spend all your money on fishing and travel. It's working for me so far
LOL ... Pat, you have just wiped out 95% of the FV forum members (if not higher!!)

Should really have listened to older and wiser men advice when I decided to pop the question to my better half!!!! :)
Haha! Better dust off the poker cards then
Last edited by Broomstick on Mon Jan 30, 2017 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Lightningx
Bluefin
Bluefin
Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2014 4:21 pm
Has liked: 72 times
Likes received: 976 times

Re: Borneo roadtrip

Post by Lightningx » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:33 pm

Wow mate another amazing report! What a journey! love the pics :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

greggo
Rank: Silver Trevally
Rank: Silver Trevally
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:05 am
Location: Berwick
Has liked: 5 times
Likes received: 50 times

Re: Borneo roadtrip

Post by greggo » Mon Jan 30, 2017 8:05 pm

Wow, great story with fantastic pics. Well done.

User avatar
Boonanza
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 9:31 pm
Location: Gone Fishing
Has liked: 270 times
Likes received: 222 times

Re: Borneo roadtrip

Post by Boonanza » Mon Jan 30, 2017 9:03 pm

Great read mate :thumbsup:
A smart person knows what to say. A wise person knows whether to say it.

Post Reply

Return to “The Rest of the World”