Malaysia Fishing Trip: 12kg Stingray caught at Batu Layar Beach, Desaru | FishingAdvNHF ~ Fishing Adventure of NorthernHardcoreFisherman

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Batu Layar Beach is located at South-Eastern Coast of the Johor state in West Malaysia, it's around 15km away from the famous tourist place Desaru. A great fishing spot that produced many good catches and it is easier and faster to reach thanks to the new Senai-Desaru Highway.

The New Route via Senai-Desaru Highway

The Old Route via Kota Tinggi

In the past travelers who wished to visit Desaru or Pengerang they needed to en-routed the Jalan Kota Tinggi, the distance and the time consumed had stopped some, that included me as I didn't really pay much attention onto this spot in the past. When I learned about the new highway had been completed in 2011, I decided to find out how fast I could reach Desaru using this new highway. The Senai-Desaru Highway reduced the distance by a mere fourteen kilometer. However, the traveling time could be shorten as the speed limit is higher than the Jalan Kota Tinggi at 110km/h and of cause, I wouldn't waste the opportunity not to do some fishing at Desaru.

Colin was equally excited when I mentioned my plan to him. So on the night of 24th April 2011 we left Singapore and began our exploration cum fishing trip to Desaru. Entrance to the highway is at Ulu Tiram and the distance towards the Penawar is 51km, it is also where the highway ended. Fifteen minutes was all I needed on the highway as I was traveling slightly over the speed limit. : ) I was very impressed by the amount of time saved, the traveling time is being shorten almost by half! Back then almost two hours was required and the old route is not as user friendly as this new highway.

At around 2:30am Colin and I reached Bandar Penawar, a small town beside Desaru. We headed straight towards Desaru but were stopped by security personnel, we were told that due to some robbery cases reported recently, visitors were not allowed to enter the beach during the night. I tried to negotiate with them and even offered to pay for the access but to no avail. When we were making our way out I told Colin that on my previous trip here I was told by the locals about this place called Batu Layar, the locals said that the spot is more productive than the Desaru. I didn't visit the place back then as I was advised not to do it during the night. I suggested to explore the Batu Layar and find out if it is really live up to its name.

Colin didn't object my suggestion as he too like to try out new spot. I followed the direction given by the locals and entered to this pitch dark road at the first roundabout, we were traveling southward on this old coastal road. Fifteen minutes later we saw a signboard written "Batu Layar Beach Resort", we went into the place but to find out it doesn't match the description I was briefed by the locals. We continued further on the path and eventually we found the beach.

The Spot

The spot we went is accessible through a small narrow mud lane, it was quite windy that night but we were not deterred by it. It matched the description from the locals, long and wide stretch of sandy beach facing the mighty South China Sea. It was around 4am and it was really dark here, with the help of our headlamps we set-up our gears and we were ready for some action.

Some frozen bait were brought and after we had done on the long surf casting fishing rods, we shifted our focus on hooking up the small fishes here for bait. Many years ago when I was fishing at the Air Papan Beach, Mersing, I was taught by an angler there on a "Stingray Killer" tactic. According to him Stingrays love the Whitting, a common specie that can be found at most of the seaside. When the Stingrays roam around the shallow water near to the shore, they are searching for Whitting. He told me to prepare another fishing rod and hunt for the Whitting, a Sabiki multi hooks rig would do a good job. For quick result tiny bait such as shredded prawn meat or sea worms could be added. Once the Whitting was hooked up, cut it into half and cast it out immediately. This tactic was proven as a 8kg Stingray was landed back in 2009 at Air Papan Beach, Mersing.

The Whitting

It was no different here as the Whitting was hooked up as soon as the Sabaki Multi Hooks Set was cast out, within half an hour we managed to gather around twenty pieces of Whitting for bait. We figured that it should be sufficient for both of us throughout the trip and decided to pause the action.

Breaking Dawn

It was about to break dawn, both Colin and I sat down on the beach and waiting for the magnificent sunrise at this eastern coast of West Malaysia. The skyline gradually brighten up which signaled the beginning of the new day, this breath taking moment always gives some inspiration and motivation. While we embracing the warmth from the Sun we restarted our activities after the break.

Sunrise at Batu Layar Beach

Bait was replaced with freshly caught Whitting every twenty minutes and Colin picked up his shorter rod and began to hunt for Whitting. I decided to change my rig onto the Apollo style Double Hook set and hook line was shorten to one feet, hook size was remained at size 0/3.

The Converted Pioneer 13 Footer Multiplier Surf Casting Fishing Rod

Busy Man

Waiting for Action

Long and Wide Beach

As the day gets brighter the temperature went higher too, our action were slowed down and Colin started to loose faith on his rig setting.

Preparing the Secret Weapon

I began to feel tired as I was working for the whole day before I came here. I decided to stroll around this spot and it was then I found out that beside having beautiful beach, this place has more natural beauties which were not visible during the dark night.

Selfie at Batu Layar Beach

Rocky Beach at the Far Left

Incoming Tide slowly Submerse those Rocks

Another Beach on the Left

The Tropical heat is unbearable even for the locals and we were wearing out faster than we could imagine. We hid ourselves under the shade of some large trees and we agreed to call it a day an hour later. The sea breeze cooled down my body temperature slightly and I slowly switched my sitting position into laying position. I found it difficult to maintain on the awaking mode and I could feel my eye lips were getting heavier too. The constant rhythm of the wave resembled Lullaby to my ears and I was slowly but surely fading into my la la land....

"Your fishing rod! It fall down!"

What?! My fishing rod fell down? The yelling from Colin was like a electric shock struck on me and I stood up immediately to search for my fishing rod.

Rod Holder Down

To my shocking, I couldn't see my fishing rod and the image of the fishing rod holder fallen was terrifying. Trail mark was spotted towards the sea and as I ran over I finally saw my fishing rod, it was being dragged on the beach and it was on it's way into the mighty South China Sea. The pace of my fishing rod was not very fast but as I was thirty feet away from my initial position, it outrun

me and I could see the first section of the fishing rod was already inside the sea.

Miraculously my fishing rod stopped while I was still ten feet away, the longer power handle which I replaced on my "Abu Garcia" saved the day. Not only it caused resistance as it was dragged on the beach, it jammed the movement of the fishing rod as the sand on the shore line is more solid.

The Fight is On!

I sprinted over and grabbed the fishing rod from the ground, when I lifted up the fishing rod immediately strong tug was felt. Without hesitation I whacked the fishing rod backward hard and strong to set in the hook, the creature over the other end panicked and dashed out vigorously. Man! She was strong!

Let It Run

By now I had found out why the fishing rod fell down and was being dragged away, the reel's drag tension was set to the maximum when I did the casting and I forgot to loosen it. The force over the end of my fishing line was so muscular that I needed to loosen the drag tension quickly to prevent this 18lbs fishing line from bursting. Almost instantly the spool of the "Abu Garcia" spun like a Gasing (Top), the fishing line was stripped off and within minutes the diameter of the winding lines was reduced significantly.

Recover Some Ground

"Abu Garcia" is a very good surf casting reel as it is light and easy to maintain. I am using the model 6600 C4 which is a birthday gift from my sister. The reel was modified with Mono Mag Braking System for better control, Tournament Brass Bullet and Rocket Bearing for smoother casting and the chassis was modified onto Open Cage or CT Cage to minimize resistance, Fishing line Guide and Clicker was removed as well. But it is quite weak on it's drag system and that is the area that I didn't pay much attention. I always thought that it should be capable of handling the monster fish found on the seaside, I never expect something as strong as a Blue Fin Tuna to be hooked up.

Although the creature that I hooked up was not into the category of Blue Fin Tuna but she is definitely the strongest that the "Abu Garcia" had faced. The Star drag tension was loosen by one and a half round, fishing line was stripped non stop. I had no choice but to carefully increase the Star Drag tension, the fishing rod was lifted up high and firmly held at around eighty degree. I needed to ensure the fishing line was tight so that the pressure could be applied onto that creature.

The pace of the run slowed down after a minute, sizing the opportunity I rapidly turned the power handle clockwise to recover some fishing line, while retrieving the fishing line I lowered the fishing rod but kept the line tension high. When my fishing rod reached around thirty degree I pumped the creature back by lifting back the fishing rod to around eighty degree. I managed to pulled the creature closer to the shore and I was both excited and puzzled.

"It surrender so easily? The run earlier was so scary and I thought I had loss it." I told Colin who was just beside me

"Maybe the initial sprint exhausted it." Colin replied, he was using his Iphone's camera to record the footage.

"Maybe.... What the...! It stuck!" I was not able to lift my fishing rod and the resistance resemble the snagged line. The creature had resorted to the survival tactic of buried itself onto the seabed.

"Confirm is the Stingray! Hold on to it, don't let the fishing line slacked." Colin got excited as this should be the largest Stingray we landed judging from it's run. He kept walking up to the shore line and I had to remind him to point the Iphone camera on me.

Five minutes of eagerly waiting and withholding later the Stingray loss it's cool and began to maneuver. I kept my calm and waited for the run, my fishing rod was held at the same position and the fishing line was tight.

"Eh? It is gone? Why I can't feel it?" I tried to lift the fishing rod to a higher point and found there was almost zero resistance from the other end.

"Hurry! Reel back! It might be making a U-turn." Colin was almost shouting at me.

I thought I had loss it

Never heard before a Stingray would make a U-turn back to the shore line, what was happening? Or the Stingray had broke free? I asked myself.

No! It didn't! It was still there and it was not making the U-turn either. The Stingray was shifting itself towards the right side slowly, not sure if it was the wave or itself had loss it's direction, the Stingray was getting closer to the shore as it trying to move away towards the right. That explained why the line was slacked and luckily the Stingray was swimming rightward, the loss of tension on the fishing line was unnoticed and maybe it was too afraid to make another run.

The depth here is quite shallow and when the Stingray was around twenty meter away from shore, this shallow water level made my job easier. You see, the shape of the Stingray is like a pancake. When it is swimming in the deeper part of the sea, we will have to fight against not only the weight of the fish but also the pressure from the sea water. As a result of this the wide and flat body make the Stingray extremely difficult to be pumped up compare to fishes that has slim and round body.

Another element that assisted me in the fight against this creature was the wave. As the Stingray gets closer to the shore line, surging wave caused by the sandbar at the seabed pushed the fish. The initial run and the struggle made the Stingray somehow weaker, with the combination of the shallow sea and the wave, I firmly stood on the wining ground on this battle.

More and more fishing line was retrieved, the fish was tired. The Shock leader began to surface which tells me that the fight was about to end, the length of my Shock Leader is almost twenty feet. Colin started to shift his focus on the sea and not long after, he yelled.

"It's here! I can see it! It's humongous!" Colin reported back to me from the front line.

"Darn! This is heavy!" I could feel the sourness on my both arms, the "Low Rider" reel seating is good for casting but tiring for fighting the fish. When I rebuilt this "Pioneer" thirteen footer surf casting fishing rod, I removed the fixed reel seat and replaced a pair of Coaster to have the adjustable reel seating position. Most of the time or should I said all the while I fixed the "Abu Garcia" at the "Low Rider" position, it is much more powerful on casting and I could achieve greater distance with it, this tactic is also practiced by many Tournament Surf Casters around the globe. I did construct a Extension to be used for fighting the fish but most of the time it was left at home.

She weighed 12kg

I hung on for another two minutes and the Stingray was landed. She was a beauty which weighed twelve kilogram. The fight lasted around thirty minutes which exhausted both the angler and the fish.

The Trophy

The Trail

One of the best moment in my fishing adventures throughout the years, it is dramatic but it is definitely memorable for the rest of my life. I went back to the spot several times but to find the place contaminated, black oil stain could be spotted on the surface and the beach, it stained my feet too when I fished there. It is a shame for such a great fishing spot to be destroyed, poor governance holds the biggest responsibility for the disaster. Recently I returned to the spot but was chased away by some military personnel, the place is now a restricted zone and it is occupied by the Royal Johor Military Force.