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Fishing Khaolak News 2018–2019
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Thailand Fresh and Saltwater Fishing Report
Hello and welcome to our annual newsletter for the 2018-2019 season and a big
call out to all our clients that made this one of the best seasons ever!
Freshwater Fishing News:
The season went particularly well, our Jungle fishing trips this season has
been one of our most productive ever. I'd say that most trips over the whole
season were averaging around 10 fish per day! Some days many more. The main
catch was our number one target, the Giant Snakehead, with most trips producing
some good sized fish. The next most common species being Jungle Perch
(Hampala Barb / Subaru). David Cheah from Malaysia returned again with his two
fishing buddies are caught them in huge numbers. One session resulting in over
25 good Jungle Perch and 2 nice sized Giant Snakeheads! Check out some photos
of the catch here: here: here: here: here:
Even the hotter months still fished consistently well. Max from Brisbane
Australia returned again and caught a huge amount of fish in February.
Photos: here: here: here: here: here:
Will and his 11 and 12 year old sons came for a 3 day 2 night trip which
produced an incredible 50 fish! All caught on lures, Whopper Ploppers
accounting for the most fish. Photos: here: here: here: here: here: here:
Josh from OnStrike Charters in Australia returned again with his friend and
accounted for 43 fish in 3 days. Photos: here: here: here: here: here:
here:
here: here: here: here: here:
Micro from Switzerland had a massive catch on his 3 day trip. Not many really
big fish, but around 70-80 fish between us. Jerkbaits performed really well on this
trip. Photos: here: here: here: here: here:
The water levels have been lower than usual, work is being carried out on the dam
wall, and although there was less weed around at the time, structure like tree
stumps, brush piles, points and any bits of weed beds seemed to hold fish.
Topwater lures accounted for most fish, mainly frog lures, walking baits, poppers
and Whopper Ploppers, but jerkbaits and crankbaits proved very effective as well.
Our main fishing areas at the lake, we still have to ourselves. Very few, if any
other anglers fish the same areas as we do. That's probably why we are achieving
consistent results whilst others struggle. We cover a massive amount of water each
day in search of our prize.
Here are some photos from the season:
Giant Snakehead: here:
here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here:
here:
here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here:
here:
here: here:
Striped Snakehead: here: here: here:
Cobra Snakehead: here: here:
Jungle Perch: here: here: here: here: here: here: here:
Our Jungle Fly Fishing is still proving very productive for Mahseer in the isolated
rivers and streams that we fish. This is quite easy fly fishing and the rivers hold
massive numbers of these super hard fighting fish. This trip is for adventurous
anglers only and you need to be in reasonably good health. You don't have to be super
fit, just capable of walking several kilometers per day over uneven terrain.
This trip is also productive for lure fishermen, Mahseer, Jungle Perch and Snakehead
being the main targets. Old fashioned spoons and spinners are great for this, but
ultra light crank baits and blade baits work very well too.
Mahseer photos: Here: Here: Here: Here: Here: Here: Here: Here:
Our new Multi Lake Fishing Tour now has its own webpage with all the information.
You can check it out here:
These trips offer excellent value and efficiency, with one of the most experienced
English speaking guides in Thailand. The guide will be with you at all times, even
staying in the same hotels. Transport, equipment, bait and accommodation is included.
Some of the trips include some meals. Please book this trip
well in advance as availability at some fisheries may be very limited. Don't book your
flights until availability is confirmed.
Andy from UK has been making these trips for many years now and he joined us once
again for one of his best trips yet. We started in
Krabi for a few days landing 21 fish,
made up of
Giant Siamese Carp, Asian and
Amazon Redtail Catfish, Amazon
Stingray and Giant Freshwater Stingray.
Photos:
Here: Here: Here: Here:
We then headed to the
jungle for a few days Giant Snakehead fishing which was
highly productive with lots of Snakeheads landed and released. Andy landed his
personal best Giant Snakehead which is one of the best of the season.
Photos:
here: here:
here: here: here:
We then headed up to
Jurassic for 3 days, however Andy could only manage to
fish 2 days because he burned himself out on the first 2 days mega catch! I
called the head guide Tom the night before the first day of fishing to ask about
available swims for the next day. He told me the lake was very busy and only 2
swims were available, swims 9 and 5. Swim 9 is a fantastic predator swim, however
Andy wanted to target the carp. Swim 5 I'm told is one of the more difficult swims,
but we decided to take a chance. Great decision, we smashed
it completely! At Jurassic there is a catch chart on each fishing bungalow with
26 spaces for writing your catch. We started fishing around 7.30am and filled the
chart by 16.40pm! We finished the day around 18.00pm with an amazing catch of
30 fish!
Photo of the catch chart is
here:
The next day we fished swim 16 which is a favorite of mine, we lost 2
Arapaima
but equalled the lake record catch of 36 fish in a day which was set when the lake
had only been open a few weeks!
Fish photos
here: here: here: here:
The third day Andy was too exhausted to fish, 66 big fish in two days would
take its toll on anyone, so I fished instead. I decided to experiment, checking
different rig arrangements and depths. Just playing around I managed 16 fish and
learned a few tricks in the process. Andy will only photograph huge fish because
he has caught huge numbers of them over the years and to prevent unnecessary
stress on the fish, so most were released without photos.
Photos:
here: here: here:
Our last fishing destination was
IT Monster Lake in the quest for
Cheow Phraya Catfish,
Andy's favourite Thai species for it's speed and power.
He was not to be disappointed..
We totally smashed it using a technique and rig we have been working on for a
couple of years. Its devastatingly effective! No one else is fishing like we do
at the lake and our catches are far surpassing any catches I have ever witnessed
there, or anywhere else in Thailand. It is common to catch one or 2 Cheow Phraya
Catfish per day at IT Monster Lake, but we were catching up to 8 giants per day
with a much bigger than average size. We caught so many massive fish, Andy actually
said he thought we had caught too many! So far we are still the
only anglers using the method so hopefully we can continue the success. We also
managed several huge Amazon Redtails which are some of the biggest in Thailand,
but mainly tried to avoid them preferring the Cheow Phrayas instead.
Photos:
here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here:
here: here: here:
Immediately after Andy's trip, it was back to
Jurassic with Cristoffer and his non
angling wife Carin. The first day couldn't have gone much better, Cristoffer
smashed the lake record catch with 41 fish! The catch was made up of several
catfish, many carp and a huge
Arapaima. We achieved the full house of 26 fish by 3pm!
Photo of the catch chart is
here:
Fish photos:
Arapaima: here: here: here: here: here: here: here:
Giant Siamese Carp: here: here: here: here: here: here: here:
here: here: here: here: here: here:
Salween Rita Catfish: here:
Amazon Redtail Catfish: here: here: here: here:
Tiger Catfish: here:
Tambaqui: here: here:
After the hectic first day's record breaking catch, we decided to go for targeted
species and Monster fish. Cristoffer has caught many huge Arapaima on our previous
fishing trips to EFT and Krabi so they were not on his hit list, but he seems to be
a bit of a magnet for huge Arapaima and he landed 5 of them without really targeting
them and lost several others as well! Giant Siamese Carp and Cutla Carp were feeding
like crazy, he caught over a hundred of them! Many were over 80lbs, the 2 biggest
going 130 lbs and 140lbs. The rarest catch was a Salween Rita Catfish, not many lakes
have them, and where they do they are an elusive catch.
Photo:
here:.
Exotic Lake has been fishing well again this season, the consistent huge
Arapaima catch being the main attraction, however the carp fishing is making a
welcome return to form as well. We have a special offer for extra fishing rods at the
moment, pay 1,500 thb and fish with 2 extra rods. This is a fantastic offer and gives
anglers the opportunity to try different baits and build up more feeding spots. This can
greatly improve your catch results. To take advantage of this great limited time offer, you
need to pre book your extra rods with us or they may not be available. It's first come first
served. The resort is adding some more luxury bungalows and a swimming pool that
has been built to incorporate a glass wall into a pool full of Monster fish! This is the
first of it's kind in the world and should prove to be an exhilarating experience.
This should be ready around mid December 2019.
There is also a tagged fish competition that will be running by the time this
newsletter goes online and ends on the 31st March 2020 at 7pm. 50 tagged fish have
been released in the lake, a mixture of Siamese Carp, Salween Rita Catfish, Amazon Redtail
Catfish, Cheow Phraya Catfish, Tiger Shovelnose Catfish, Ripsaw Catfish and Chinese
Black Carp. The prizes are for fishing holidays and range from 3 days - 2 weeks free
fishing. Claimed prizes must be more booked and used between
May 1st 2020 and October 1st 2020. The price is 1,000 thb to enter whilst using the 2
rod standard fishing package. For anglers taking advantage of the extra 2 rods offer,
the price is 2,000 thb for the 4 rods. The tagged fish competition does not have to
be pre booked, you can decide on your day of fishing if you want to enter.
Here are some nice catch photos from Exotic Lake:
here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here:
here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here:
Boon Mar Ponds were very popular again, the average size of the
fish being a bit bigger this last season. We are the cheapest around and can
provide lure and fly fishing equipment. So if you are interested in a day of
catching large amounts of large
Barramundi, drop me an
email. This fishery is not far from Bangkok Survanabhumi Airport, so if you
have a late afternoon or evening flight, why not squeeze one fishing trip in
before you leave Thailand? We are happy to take you to the airport after the fishing
at no extra charge.
Photos:
here: here: here: here: here: here: here: here:
Saltwater Fishing News:
Check out our new Saltwater fly–fishing page here:
We have added 3 more boats to our fleet!
We have 2 boats for jigging, popping and casting, one in Phuket and one in
Khao Lak. Our Khao Lak boat is suitable for up to 5 persons, our Phuket boat
3 persons.
Photos Khao Lak boat here: Price 18,000 thb.
Photos Phuket boat here, here, here: Price 18,500 thb.
Our 3rd new member of the team is M/V Sailfish 4. M/V "Sailfish 4 " is a 65 ft´
fully equipped sport fishing boat, with everything needed for Big Game fishing
and cruising. This is a very comfortable boat and is ideal for short to mid range
multi–day liveaboard trips. At the time of writing, this is the best performing
crew in Phuket with consistent results especially for Sailfish. With 14 Sails in
one day, it will take a lot to beat them. This boat fishes around Racha Islands,
Green Island and Drop off. Its priced at 27,000 thb for day trips and 32,000 thb
per day for multi day trips. You can check out all the detailed information here:
Our Budget Saltwater trips have been incredibly popular this season
and have been consistently productive. The only blank trip of the whole
season was a fly fishing trip and even then we had a few strikes that
didn't hook up. This trip really punches above its weight and is extremely
good value for money. Most clients tell me that the trips far exceeded their
expectations. We use quality equipment and have an English speaking
guide on board, transport, lunch, soft drinks, equipment, bait and lures are
all included. Beware of local operators offering sub standard trips with poor
equipment and no English speakers.
Many trips are producing 20+ fish per day! Dorado have been present in
huge numbers now for the last 2 years. This trip is a mix of casting, popping,
jigging and trolling and can produce many different species such as Dorado, GT,
Spanish Mackerel, Wahoo, Barracuda, Grouper, Queenfish, Cobia, Emperor,
Snapper etc. This trip is in high demand so please book early to avoid disappointment
during busy times. This trip is available usually between mid September till May.
Here are some great saltwater fishing pictures from the season:
Sailfish: here, here, here, here.
Dorado: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here,
here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here,
here, here, here, here, here, here. here.
Wahoo: here, here, here, here, here, here.
Spanish Mackerel: here, here, here, here, here.
Cobia: here, here, here, here.
Giant Trevally: here, here, here.
Barracuda: here, here,
Emperor: here, here, here, here,
Longtom: here, here, here,
Other Species: here, here, here, here,
Our Budget Saltwater Trip is the best option if you want to try saltwater
fly fishing. Unfortunately in Thailand we don't have good inshore flats fishing,
we do however have pretty good Dorado fishing out at the FADs which are around 8
miles offshore. Our main target is Dorado, but we occasionally catch Spanish
Mackerel, Tuna etc.
Check out some Saltwater Fly Fishing pics:
here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
Well, once again I’m out of time and this is all I have time to include on this
news letter. My apologies for anything I have missed out.
We look forward to seeing you, so until then,
Tight Lines!
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