Rompin Sailfish’s Window To The World

Fishing International Rod & Line Article By C.S.Fong

Early October will witness another bach of foreigners at Kuala Rompin, a name which has gradually and steadily gained recognition in the regional sportfishing front as one of the best sailfish destinations in the world.

Their arrival is made possible by the effort of an Australian sportsfishing company, Ocean Blue, which has been very aggressive in discovering and promoting new sportsfishing destinations in the Pacific, one of which happens to be Kuala Rompin.

Given the increasing attention given by Tourism Malaysia, the complementary effort of Ocean Blue would be instrumental in “selling” the Rompin sailfish to the world at large, and thus placing Malaysia on the worldwide fishing map, and hopefully, will be of help to converse this rich marine resources, which is currently under threat from commercial fishermen.

Track Records

Ocean Blue was established in 1993 by Anthony Pisano who had operated Vanuatu’s first professional charter company for 13 years. He now runs the Ocean Blue office in Sydney, Australia, and has been instrumental in the company’s expension into new and exciting destinations. He is assisted by David Noble and Angele Pisano who handle marketing and communication matters in Ocean Blue’s Sydney office.

Its business in Asia, including various destinations in Malaysia, notably Kuala Rompin, is currently handled by Rob Chang who operates the Ocean Blue office in Singapore. Being multi-lingual, Rob is an asset when the customers comprise different nationals.

Ocean Blue’s other team members include established skippers and anglers such as Andrea Traverso, Juannick Laurent, Etienne Picquel, Olivier Quach, Mark Armistead, Piero Piva etc.

Fishing Destinations

The company specializes in all types of fishing throughout the Pacific, notably the following destinations:

• Vanuatu, renowned for its wild dogtooth tuna and most consistent game fishing for blue marlin
• New Caledonia, an all year round pelagic paradise renowned for its monster Giant Trevally, Bone Fish etc.
• Fiji, renowned for its world class sport & game fishing for a variety of species
• New Zealand, renowned for its yellow tail kingfish
• Malaysia, renowned for its sailfish double hook ups

Promoting Rompin Sailing

According to Rob Chang, he has been bringing customers to fish Sails in Rompin since 2005. Representing Ocean Blue Fishing in Asia, he has bought many customers from Australia over the years to fish rompin.

Of late, Ocean Blue has done a few magazine write ups and publications on Rompin Sailfshing in Australia with Bluewater Magazine and most recently on Modern Fishing Magazine. Much has been done by the company to make Rompin famous, which is well known now, he added.

Rob also hopes to bring local anglers to venture into exciting overseas destinations such as New Caledonia (for monster GT popping/Jigging), New Zealand (for topwater Yellowtail Kingfish) and Vanuatu (for popping, jigging and game fishing).

RL