INDIANANGLER

Since there's no real mention of that infamous lake by the name of "Bung Sam Lan" I shall fill you chappies on my 5 days there last November. All the sordid details and methods! My first impressions of this lake were very promising; resembling a giant fish farm of 20 acres.. of which I thought the tide was coming in due to lots surfacing fish and incessant tail patterns on the water seen all over. Strictly catch and release with hut, bait, tackle shop, nets and sustenance provided. Dreamy!

Species: Pacu
Method Used: Light spinning rod and reel, 20lb braided mainline, float, 8in braided hook-link, size 4 hook.
Bait: Small chunk of banana with skin to thread on hook.



Species: Gurami (delicasy)
Method Used: Light spinning rod and reel, 20lb braided mainline, float, 8in braided hook-link, size 4 hook.
Bait: Bread skin.



Species: Striped Catfish - 14lb
Method Used: 7ft boat rod - 20-50lb (castable) and baitrunner, method feeder (float optional), 80lb - 8in braided hook-link, heavy-duty wide gape size 4/0 hook.
Bait: Bread with coconut milk and local powder enhancer. Or caught on rye or "lum" on a pop-up hook.



Species: Siamese Giant Carp - 28lb
Method Used: 7ft boat rod - 20-50lb (castable) and baitrunner, method feeder, 80lb - 8in braided hook-link, heavy-duty wide gape size 4/0 hook on small poly-ball.
Bait: Mainly caught on rye or "lum" on a pop-up hook. Sometimes caught on bread with coconut milk and local powder enhancer.



Species: Mekong Giant Catfish - 59lb
Method Used: 7ft boat rod - 20-50lb (castable) and baitrunner, method feeder (float optional), 80lb - 8in braided hook-link, heavy-duty wide gape size 4/0 hook.
Bait: Bread with coconut milk and local powder enhancer.



Plenty of other species to be caught like that elusive arapaima that surfaced twice in my whole time there. Looked like some alien with red scales coming out from the depths. Wets the appetite somewhat.

I rather overdid it my first day and was grateful for the fighting belt as seen with the striped cat. The cats have some real strength and stamina, had me panting like a woof-woof dog.. although the real skill is navigating these beasties around your pontoons once you have the fish in close. So if any of you are in or planning to go to the land of the , do yourself a favour huh? I went through the lines on my first jaunt, with the assistance of that cheeky-chappy Francois. Rather pricey but I went the whole hog wanting expertise and a world record so.. who's coming next time?!

Hi Carpernicus....great show. You seem to have had a great time.

wow...wow...wow....

Dare I ask what it costs these days ?
and did you fish any of the alternative venues that seem to be springing up around Thailand ?

My question, too?
Fished any wild waters? North Thailand? Upper Mekong?

Cheers

V.

Hi Ken. For a guided one you would be looking around 4000 baht (£45)upwards - per day at this lake. On your own you would be paying for the pontoon (500+), buckets of bait etc (100+), net hire and rod charge (1000?). These prices may have increased but I'm basing this on foreigner prices at the time.. The owners have been putting up the prices I've heard. BUT knowing what I do now I would take my own gear and get the bait there if I wanted a longer stay. The fishery is self-sufficient.

There are countless commercial lakes, ponds, reservoirs and rivers you can fish. Venues have also been set up in the islands of Phuket and Ko Samui! Depends on what you want: plugging for giant snakehead or maybe waiting it out in Chiang Mai on the Mekong. The Mekong River has potentially the best specimens though fish numbers are dwindling right now due to similar problems of overfishing, much like India. This lake I fished is the oldest and one of the largest.

I carry my own kit so that wouldn't be a problem.
On a ready reckon, it sounds like it'd cost me between £20 and £30 for the day at BSL based on your figures.
I did some checks last year and found packages charging upwards of £80 a day, so what you're saying sounds a bit more reasonable.

That was my first fishing experience in Thailand Vedan so I'm unsure about wild fishing on the Mekong River and it's tributaries. The prospects and feedback sound amazing though. I'm sure Francois on here will fill you in on wild fishing since he's been there many a year with a whole wealth of knowledge on the area.

I take it you see the article on the 600+ catfish caught there? Giant freshwater rays have also been caught but I wonder how one would play such a beast that just hugs the bottom, with a surface area of several meters.

simple..get a totem pole with an electirc winch to reel it out..

Like pulling the plug out of the bath! And I thought sliding tobacco down the line to "snuff" it out was genius..

Great going.........