The Royal Pahang Billfish International Challenge is an annual off-shore ‘Catch and Release’ fishing competition held at Kuala Rompin. Rompin’s waters are known as one of the natural migration routes for the Billfish. The concept of this competition is to create a healty activity while preserving the species.

The Royal Pahang Billfish International Challenge is an annual off-shore fishing competition under the auspices of the Pahang State Government. It is jointly organized by Tioman Development Authority and the Pahang office of Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, in collaboration with the Malaysian Angling Association.

The competition is only for catches of sailfish and marlins and contestants are guided by the rules of conduct based on international standards set by the Billfish Foundation and The International Game Fish Association. Catch and Release is compulsory whereby after capture the fish is unhooked photographed and returned to the sea before experiencing exhaustion or injury.
The event is held at Lanjut, Kuala Rompin about 125 kilometer south of Kuantan in the State of Pahang. It is aimed at showcasing the area as the “Billfish Capital of Asia’’ where sailfish and marlins would spend much of their time cruising the seas off Kuala Rompin during their active migration season in the months of March through September each year.

The billfish at Kuala Rompin are not big in size but you can’t deny its beauty, incredible fighting spirit, breath-taking high leaps, somersaults and tail dances that forces your fishing line to go off or arching at unbelievable speeds that make your andrenalin rush to unprecedented levels. Thus, the event is set to excite all level of anglers over two action-packed days of spectacular game fishing.

* The most important competition rule of course is that the competition is based on the concept of catch and release. * This means that when a sailfish is caught, it is measured, weighed, tagged (and photographed) and then released back to the sea. There is a strict time limit of 3 minutes to record and do all these acts so as not to harm or injure the fish. * Participants are allowed and given specific time duration of 16 or 17 hours to catch the sailfishes during the 2 days of competition. * Other rules to be followed by participants include the requirement that each team (each boat) must be at least 100 meters away from other competitors, meaning they cannot be too near fellow competitors as that may disrupt availability of the sailfishes or get their lines entangled. * The rules also provide that only authorised and appointed marshals approved by the Malaysian Fishing Association follow the teams on the boat, ensuring a professional approach to the competition.