Fishing with Nathan

Nathan and I used to fish Sydney harbour probably 2-4 times a week for many many years when we were kids. Fast forward 20 years and we found ourselves with the opportunity to head a few hours north to Rompin, Malaysia to try some proper fishing. Fishing for sailfish.


The first day was action packed with around 10 missed strikes, 3 fish that got away and 4 fish landed and safely released. This is by far the the biggest fish I have ever caught and the leaping and speed of the sailfish is incredible. They can reach over 100km/hr in speed and when hooked, leap spectacularly.

Day two was not so good. After our meal at a local restaurant, 6 out of 8 of the people involved with the two charter boats had severe food poisoning which required hospital treatment. Nathan and I escaped with a a nasty case of diarrhea and left everyone else behind as we set out for a second day fishing.

Despite the terrorist attack that took place in the bathroom throughout the night, I felt pretty good in the morning and was fit for fishing. However as the boat left the dock I deposited my breakfast over the side of the boat and spent the next 8 hours lying on my back moaning. I managed to get up for 10 minutes to land my second sailfish before collapsing again in exhaustion and pain.

Despite the great fishing, the trip really gave me the shits.