Sri Ganda, Kinabatangan, Sabah is one of Malaysia’s Black Bass fishing hotspots. Every year anglers visit from around the globe for a chance to go head-to-head with the Black bass. Also known as the Papuan Black Snapper (Lutjanus goldiei), the Black Bass is regarded among anglers as one of the hardest fighting freshwater fish in the world. Back in 2017, I planned a trip to Sri Ganda which had to be cancelled due to bad weather conditions. Since then fishing there became a mission I had to complete.
Quite A Journey
Fast forward to July 2019, I found myself at Sandakan airport to meet my fishing partner, Altaff Asmar. We stocked up on some basic needs and immediately began our five-hour drive to Sri Ganda. The journey was smooth except for the gravel and dirt road which made up the last two hours before reaching Kampung Sri Ganda. Upon arrival, we came upon Eping, the head guide of Sri Ganda at the jetty. He had a few freshly caught Mangrove Jacks for dinner that night. We also met another two groups of anglers who were on their second or third day of fishing. Over dinner, we were informed that conditions were tough following consistent rain upstream which flows down into the Kinabatangan River delta.
Fun With Archers
After a few casts the next morning, I realized how tough things were going to be. Lures that just came out of the water felt as if they were dipped in an icebox. Every spot we visited had cold, murky water with a lot of floating debris. Fishing is always unpredictable and as anglers, we marched through making casts and trolling with deep diving crankbaits along the endless banks of Nipa palms. The only action we had for the morning of Day 1 was a juvenile Barracuda for me and a nice Malabar Grouper for Altaff on a trolled Rapala Tail Dancer. During our lunch break, we bumped into David and Chan of Monstercraft Fishing. After some lunch and napping, we had a fishing competition targeting Archerfish. Altaff emerged champion thanks to the powerful scent of Berkley Gulp.