I visited the river, thought about how to proceed and put forward a proposal. Today it has been accepted. I’m thrilled to be part of a project that both preserves and advances a wild jungle Mahseer fishery and creates guiding jobs and income for the local Orang Asli community.
My first task will be to teach fly fishing to four Orang Asli boys who will ultimately become the guides on this river. I also have to explore the river fully myself, name the pools (or find out what names that have been given!) and set up a jungle camp with a view to having our first guests in August. So that’s my next two months taken care of

I think this is going to be a very successful project. Mahseer are a fantastic fish to fish for, a lot like trout in behaviour but fight like a saltwater fish. The fish at the moment are up to around 1KG, but in not very many years to come, if this project is carefully managed, we should see 3 or even 4KG fish.
It’s great to be given the green light, because I can really get things moving now. I think this will be a great project to be a part of and I’m looking forward to making new friends in this community. I may even learn some new jungle skills!
I hope some of you, maybe even all of you, come and visit this place. It’s remote, it’s wild and it’s the Real Malaysia! It’s the northern part of the lake where I live and fish.
Cheers, Paul