AQUATIC LIF OF BELUM TEMENGGOR
Home to the World’s largest Snakehead fishes. The lake in the middle of the rainforest is a cradle of a rich population of freshwater fishes, a great destination for anglers.
The artificial lake of Temenggor is the second largest lake in Peninsula Malaysia. Home to 23 main species of freshwater fish, and 5 species of turtles, and several aquatic and amphibian species too. It’s made of 6,050 million cubic meters of water covering an area of 117,500 hectares. This man-made lake was created after the completion of the Temenggor dam in 1974. The now forty years old body of water holds hydro-electric importance for the local population in the northern Perak State. Moreover, it had an historic military strategic role in cutting supplies and communication to communist guerrilla groups that used the rainforest as a shelter.
Given the secluded and peaceful nature that imbues the whole area, a very rich and dense population of fishes and aquatic species has since developed in its lake and surrounding streams. There are no endangered species of fishes in Belum. Some type of fishing, as it happens in others areas too, is even encouraged in order to balance certain fish population. For anglers, many species of fish, like Toman (Giant Snakehead) and Sebarau (Hampala Barb – jungle perch) are the main target species. Other species like Lampam Sungai (Barboides), Kelah (Malaysian Mahseer), Kawan (Friendly Barb), Kalui (Giant Gouramy), Baung (Catfish) and many more are common in Belum-Temenggor area.
Fishing in Belum Temenggor is possible all year around. The best time being during the monsoon season from October till January. Check the proposed activities and book directly from our website fishing experiences in Belum.
The “catch and release” policy is practiced in the rainforest reserve. Four species of fish, known locally as sebarau, kelah, tengalan and temoleh cannot be carry out of Royal Belum. For other species, each individual angler can take a maximum of three fishes out of this protected area. All fishing boats leaving Royal Belum may be subject of inspection by the Perak State park ranger patrols. They may issue fines and other penalties to whomever is in breach of the Park rules.
The key attraction to fish in Temenggor lake is surely the Toman (also known as Giant Snakehead or Giant mudfish). The lake is home to the biggest and fiercest Channa micropeltes in the world. With few unpressed destinations remaining whereby, the snakehead thrive and grow to maximum twenty kilograms. National Geographic has referred to snakeheads such as those of Belum, as “Fishzilla”. Snakehead fishing in Temenggor is accessible to anglers of all skill levels. It offers greater chances of “monster snakehead” all year round because there are many fishes leading to more opportunities for a memorable catch. Snakeheads between two and three kilos are considered as small. Four to six kilos are very common. Seven to eight kilos are considered as big fish. Anything over that, up to twenty kilos, are a frightening possibility.
The visitors need permits to enter the protected areas of Belum by boat. They may also need fishing permits for recreational fishing activities. If you book fishing experiences in Belum straight from this website, all necessary permits are in the packages. You can rent the necessary fishing equipment as well. Furthermore, boatmen and support staff will not only get you and your group to the best spots for fishing, to fit your preferences and skill levels, but they will also provide assistance in case you need to tune your skills to get a better toman catch. Some of the most proven snakehead fishing techniques are summarized here, along with the recommended fishing tackle specifications:
Learn about the rich history, biodiversity, and what conservation & research efforts to preserve this 130 million year old rainforest.
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
Accept settingsHide notification onlySettingsWe may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.
Privacy Policy