Kelong Fishing, Kelong Stay in Malaysia

Fishing spots in Malaysia for Kelong Fishing and Deep Sea Fishing, so many to be explored. Some fishing tips when going on a Kelong Fishing Trip and Stay, in Malaysia.

For your knowledge, a Kelong is a Malay word to describe a form of offshore platform or structure (about 50 metres square) built with tree trunks, wood and planks. They can be found in the waters off Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. They are built primarily to attract fish and haul in the fish as they swim into the nets neatly blended with the structure built by the fishermen. Today, Kelong owners are allowing their kelongs to be used for fishing enthusiasts, where very affordable room and board are included.

Everyday there are at least 20 visitors to this page.  There seems to be an increasing interest in Kelong and Fishing.  There are over 5,000 people who have visited and read this page. If you have any good kelongs to recommend or an experience that you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment at the end of the page.

There are good number of Kelongs in Malaysia where one can stay and fish for a few days. Hotboys Kelong is about half an hour boat ride from Tanjung Leman in Johor, West Malaysia. Othe Kelongs off the coast of Malaysia include Ah Yau, Ah Fatt and a few others. Check out on forums, as their packages vary from bathing water to condition of kelong.

You may want to check on the Kelong Packages. For Hotboys owned by Singaporeans, the package at the time I went was $125 for two nights stay. It included breakfast, lunch and dinners and suppers. Coffee and Tea and hot water is available round the clock. Biscuit is available also. Simple bait like Squids is free those residing there. Ice to keep your fish fresh is also free flow. Fresh water brought from the mainland is also free flow which is important as you may want to bathe 3 times a day depending on the heat and humidity level. Every meal will see a combination of sea food like fish, squids, clamps, prawns, and crabs also. Yes, there will be variation of chicken, duck. vegetable and egg dishes too, and every meal comes with wonderful tasty soups. You will never get hungry. So far no PORK dishes are served. They have both Chinese and Malay cooks helping on the Kelong. You can buy bottled water, soft drinks and some snacks on the kelong also, still at affordable prices. Bring your own cup noodles, drinks and bottled water if you need to depend on them. 

Sometimes I wonder with a Kelong that is stocked with fresh seafood, a reasonable kitchen and space for dining, they may want to offer some special seafood menu like some seafood restaurants do.

Depending on the Kelong facilities, such activities are available.

1. Visit to nearby islands - either complimentary or need to pay for the boat ride. Cs an go on the beach and have sun tan in the afternoon and play in the shallow waters.
2. Game of Mahjong with those interested parties.
3. Kelongs may have games like Pool, carrom, board games.
4. TVs and Karaoke sets available on board.
5. Hiring boat to go into the open sea to fish can be arranged.
6. Durian Season in June - tasty Durians at Hotboys from Pulau Tinggi nearby.

Enjoy God's creation of beautiful sunrises and sunsets from the Kelong. Every one of them is different. The one above was captured just after a windy and stormy night at the Kelong in May 2009. If was a very safe night despite the strong winds. The Kelong is sheltered from strong waves from the treacherous South China Sea by an island. Most of us were deep asleep in that cool environment. At the burst of dawn our lines were out into the waters again and we had a good catch but they were smaller fishes. Our best catch this round was the baby garoupa and the flathead which we had for supper. Other fishes can be viewed in the slide show (credits go to Hotboys Kelong).

Fishing rods are available for rent on the Kelong. For baits, the kelong supplies free flow of squids. Prawns are recommended, depending how many of you are going, better to get at least 2 Kgs of prawns for a 2 night stay there. We used 3 Kgs for the 3 of us for 2 nights stay. You may want to use some apollo hooks which has some bright colour threads at the end. They can be bought at fishing stores for about $2 per packet with a string of 5 to 6 decorated hooks. For fishing squids, ask the fishing store owner to recommend some special hooks for catching squids. Among the 3 of us, we had a total of about 10 rods with different lengths and strengths.