Team Rebel obliterates Local Challenge with ease!

Today, feeling terribly homesick for the traditions of Xmas and the crisp, snowy weather of our beloved country our current guests decided we should uphold the important sporting customs associated with Boxing Day. Being such a team of talented anglers it made sense that fishing should be our elected sport for the day and that we should pit our talents against those who live here without fear of their obvious advantage of fishing on their Home Ground.

We faced a mixed teams of Americans, Canadians, Russians, Australiand and of course Thai but, within seconds, two of our 'chaps', Kannika Chokchai and Steve Thorne, were into hard fighting fish!

First catch went to Steve Thorne with the first of many manic Pacu brought to the nets throughout the day

Our rising star, Kaniika, presents her first fish of the day with a good catfish.

 

Ever dependable, Mark Butland shows off one of his catfish.

Pacu chomp through the tracelines with ease. Lake guide, Khun Ti Nung, shows Kannika Chokchai a better hook knot to prevent this happening.

It worked!! Next fish....a Pacu!!

And followed by a nice Siamese carp....the team were going great guns.

Mark Butland added to the variety with a Hovens carp....

And what with our latest addition to the team, England International, Dave Lovelock, what chance did the opposition have??

Note the calm assurance of the consumate competitive angler

Dave Lovelock with a lively Pacu

Star of the show, Steve Thorne, who caught non-stop throughout the day totalling 31 fish!!!!....Steve also caught the best fish of the event with a Siamese carp, best of eight carp,  estimated at a very impressive 25kg

And Mark Butland again with the day's best Pacu.

          

The fishing at Phuket Park was once again non-stop with plenty of variety. The team caught Redtail cats, Mekong cats, Asian Redtails, Amazon Redtails, Grass carp, Siamese Carp and Pacu.
Such was the team's total command of the lake that the opposition crumbled and then started to fade away so that by 1300 hours, opposition towels had been thrown in and defeat admitted....leaving our chaps to carry on regardless throughout the heat of the afternoon catching even more fish just for the sheer pleasure of it! 

Exotic Fishing Thailand...Tue 22nd Dec

 Two of our intrepid guests, Mark Butland and recently arrived Steve Thorne,  braved the early morning alarm call to head northwards at 0600 in order to break free of the attractions of Phuket and reach Mike Bailey's Exotic Fishing Thailand by 0800 on Tuesday 22nd Dec. Thoughts were with our colleague Richard Heasman who we knew would be half-way through his night shift after returning to  UK on Sunday.....poor chap!

Mark had a great start with his lam cage being crushed by an Arapaima on his very first cast and then latching into a 25kg Aligator Gar taking his lam bait and being coaxed to the net within the first hour.

A nice photo of Mark with his very impressive 25kg Alligator Gar.

Within the second hour Mark had latched into the lake's much prized  species, the Arapaima, with the fish taking a triple pellet bait. This fabulous fish was estimated to weigh in at 60kg, so was well over the magic 100lb mark.

Mark said the fight was amazing with the fish displaying its awesome fighting strength throughout the 30 minute fight.

Here's a shot of the Araipaima being released from the cage (obviously many of these fish are much too big for a landing net). Before every fish is released it is given time to recover with extra aerated water being pumped into the cage.

Every fish is checked for any damage with iodine applied if needed. These fish are in tip-top condition thanks to this constant care.

 Mark's early run of good fortune continued with an Asian Redtail taking a chicken bait and coming to the net by 1100. An Amazon Redtail followed this, again on the chicken bait to make this a four fish tally by midday.

 Then there followed a lull for nearly six hours with another Alligator Gar taking a lam bait at just after 1800 hours.










And lastly, to finish off a great day, Mark caught another Amazon Redtail on chicken bait just as night fell.








Our other explorer, Steve Thorne, had also got off to a brilliant start with an Arapaima taking his chicken bait and providing a lively fight for 30 minutes before it managed to take the line around one of the lake aerators. Undeterred, Steve's Gillie leapt into the lake and passed the rod around the obstruction allowing Steve to continue the fight. Unfortuately the Arapaima threw the hook just as it was being eased to the cage.

Unfortuately, as happens in angling, that was Steve's only bite for the rest of the day.

Wild Fishing at Phuket Fishing Park

 Wow.....our latest trip to the Phuket Fishing Park on Friday was manic to say the least. Within seconds of his first cast, Mark Butland was into a crazy fighting Pacu and this set the tone for the whole day. It was non-stop fish after fish with Pacu, Siamese Carp, Grass Carp, Red Tail Catfish and Mekong Cats giving us a five species tally.

 We had come armed with two set-ups each but this was soon reduced to a single rod as the pace was simply too hot to keep two set-ups on the go. This was definitely one of those precious fishing days that we all dream of....and it was happening for us! Well, not just our group...the fish were coming in thick and fast all around the lake. It was extremely hectic and exciting with the guides and customers alike running around with landing nets to assist other anglers. Here is Steve Thorne with his first Pacu of the day.

 Pacu are fruit eating pirhana. They have the teeth that we have all seen in the silly horror movies when shoals of angry pirhana attack innocent folk swimming about in some highly dangerous part of the Amazon. They can chomp through the trace line with ease. We upped the traces to 45lb, we used the plaited fluro-carbon traces we had prepared for the Chaew Lan Lake snakeheads and even tried braid. Unless the Pacu was hooked in such a way that the traceline was clear of the teeth, there was no chance of bringing the pacu to the net. They never stop fighting. When they near the the net they seem to have an additional massive boost of energy and race off to the opposite side of the lake at unstoppable and uncontrollable speed. They are amazingly powerful fish and were all in the 3kg to 7kg range.

 Kannika, the latest addition to our team, presents her first ever Pacu from the Phuket Fishing Park. She was using a Shimano rod/Grauvell reel combination with 25lb mono mainline to a fixed legered cage with a 3 foot 30lb mono trace to size 4 hook baited with folded breadcrust.

What a cracker, eh?

 Mark, who has fished here several times now, landed no less than five Siamese Carp. It's good to catch one or two...but five! Plus a Grass Carp and numerous Pacu and Catfish.

Steve Thorne with another one of his Pacu. Steve had decided to keep a running tally of fish caught and lost. I see his own record shows 9 Pacu, one Redtail Cat, one Siamese Carp, 4 Mekong Cats including the day's biggest at 15kg. In addition his record shows he was bitten off 21 times!!!

 I have just taken Richard Heasman back to Phuket Airport. His holiday is over already. It has shot by and now he returns to a wet and windy Devizes and a 12 hour night shift starting on Monday.

But look what he has achieved in his two weeks here. Carp to 70lb! A Clown Featherback that was heavier than the current World Record. He has caught a giant freshwater stingray of over 200lb and achieved a Scuba dive which lasted over 70 minutes which is a remarkably long time on a single 12Lt tank which just shows how much he has improved since taking up Scuba with me three years ago. And now he was experiencing the best lake fishing of his life and was trashing the reels for a passtime. Here he is with one of his  Catfish. Richard's record shows 11 Pacu, 4 catfish, 2 carp and exactly 20 fish lost before the record taking stopped in the mid-afternoon with everyone rushing around flat out to keep up with the action.

Just look at Kannika's Pacu. It's a monster and the biggest of the day at 7kg. It took ages to coax to the net and had frayed the traceline to such an extent that another run or two would have allowed it to escape.

With so much fishing action, the photography took a back seat....but at least we managed a few nice shots of the fish.....and here's Mark again with another one of his Siamese Carp.

Snakehead Hunting in the Khao Sok National Park.

 After our two days of wonderful fishing in Mike Bailey's EFT, the plan was to head to the North to fish in the 173sq km Cheow Lan Lake situated within the 739 sq km Khao Sok National Park, a ''dense virgin jungle with towerlike limestone Karst formations and home to a fabulous array of rare creatures such as hornbills, gibbons and even tiger''.

Before  entering this formidable fishing area we had spent plenty of dosh on artificial lures at Mr Moo's tackle emporium in Phuket in the vague hope we might have stumbled upon whatever lure was best for the particular day we happened to arrive.
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 Mr Moo has been based in Phuket for a long time now and has proved to be a great source of knowledge. On asking his opinion he looked at me with those wise, all-seeing Oriental eyes and said; 'I dunno. Never bin there'.

 Well....we HAD been there before but not to fish. Just to enjoy some truly wonderful scenery and to spend a night on one of the floating 'resorts' dotted about the massive lake.

This time though we had chartered a longtail boat to take us as far inland as the lake went....right into the furthest north-western reaches. 60 miles from the Ratchaprapha Dam; a two half hour journed on a 20 knot longtail boat.

 The scenery here is absolutely stunning. Mountains, Jungles, vast expanses of water....mist covered mountains

 Once we reached the upper limit of the lake we found many small bays with the remnants of ancient trees sticking out of the flood waters. This was snakehead country.

 Navigating our way through narrow waterways...this was a great trip to reach likely looking spots.

 This was all about accurate casting of the lures towards the banks but trying, often unsuccessfully, not to catch the undergrowth or submerged obstructions. Were using surface lures so we managed to retrieve everything.

 It was a bit tricky all balanced on the bow of the longtail....but, as long as we worked and cast together we were able to stay tangle free.

 As evening closed in we headed back out into open water to travel to our overnight accommodation.

 The accommodation consisted of little bamboo shacks floating on various support drums. There were no toilets or washing facilities in these little 'bungalows'. It was piddle direct into the lake or throw yourself in for a cooling-down dip (yep...it was hot) or wash. There was a toilet block. It was full of bees about the size of Weymouth beach deckchairs so we decided to be a bit wary. There was an en-site 'restuarant' with great food as always.

 Outside 'veranda'. Perfect for listening to the evening jungle sounds...and yes, it is just as loud as in the films!

 View from the bungalows.

 We were right on the water so easy for a quick dip!

Staying with us were a hardened and experienced trio of Malaysians who had been coming there twice a year for the past 10 years. They were seriously well prepared with jungle clothing and hefty boots. They were well armed with various rods and a massive array of lures. They explained that often the best places had to be reached on foot. They had charted a small, very fast longtail speedboat each with a guide (£30 per day) and were fishing all hours day and night. We also met a Canadian group who also had some degree of experience having been to the location a couple of times and who were stayng for 4 days.

Ours was just a one night/two day exploratory trip to see what we could learn. My conclusion is that you must have a knowledgeable guide and it is not easy to find one. It is easy to find people who say they are good...but, as ever, it takes time to find someone you believe in. We need to know a lot more about every aspect of spending time in the jungle and emerging bite-free and generally unscathed. If we do this trip again then I am going to have to ask a lot of questions in order to try and find a good guide who is willing to help and advise us.

However, it needs to be firmly pointed out that your illustrious  Dorset charter skipper, inceasingly know as The Old Scroat, won the biggest fish, best fish, most fish, best specimen and most species category. and here is the ONE snakehead that we managed to catch between the six of us which took all categories.

Wow...I feel proud to be the Champion of our first ever Jungle Fishing Expedition.

Exotic Fishing Thailand 9th and 10th Dec 2015

Our first trip to Mike Bailey's Exotic Fishing Thailand (EFT) took place on 9th and 10th Dec. EFT is located in the scenic Phang Gna district north of Phuket.

As always it is the stunning setting of the lake that first hits you. It really is magnificent.

 It's worth remembering that just four years ago we were watching the diggers at work when EFT was in its infancy. Mike is currently preparing ground set up from the lake for the first of three bungalows to be built. At the moment visiting anglers stay in a nice hotel in nearby Phang Gna but the plan is to provide quality accommodation with magnificent views to go with the beautiful restuarant that is completed and offering a full menu (first photo).


The contrast between the photo above and the completed gardens and grounds is immense. An array of plants and luxuriant vegetation make this a delight to just relax and admire what is truly an amazing achievement in such a short time.

Set around the lake and in amidst ever increasing plant life are 16 chalets for the anglers set back a few feet from the swim which can easily support four rods set up on their electronic bite indicators.








This is a typical view from one of the swims.

 In every chalet is a chart detailing the 66 different types of exotic species from different parts of Asia and the Amazon available from the lake. Many of the larger fish are well over 100lb with a recently recorded Mekong Catfish weighing in at over 300lb!

 Guides are there to keep a watchful and expert eye on proceedings. Their assistance when bringing the fish into the net or cage is essential. They will also prepare the lam cage baits and cast for anglers if so required. Khun Ban is one of the latest guides to join the EFT. Here he is preparing the all important bait which will be moulded into a large ball and pressed into the bait cage.

 Mark, accompanied by EFT's friendly doggie,  awaiting the bites. Shimano Beastmaster Uptiders rods and Shimano baitrunners loaded with braid to a simple fixed leger rig presenting either fish or chicken baits, pellets and cage moulded lam according to the rod and targeted species.

Live baits are also available for the predator fish and it always helps to have a skilful assitant to provide a steady supply of fresh livebait as required. Here is Kannika who is a consumate angler and who may be joining us in UK for the 2016 season aboard Offshore Rebel.

 Mark Butland from Porchester, Hants, with Asian redtail catfish 15kg.

 Richard Heaseman from Devizes, Wiltshire, with a Siamese Carp....35lb Kg

 Mark with a Siamese Carp 30kg

 Richard Heaseman with a massive Freshwater giant stingray 100kg+ caught on live Thai boy bait.









 

 Mark with an Albino Pacu of 10kg

 Clown Featherback. Current record 6.1kg and estimated at 8kg. This makes Mr Richard Heaseman the unofficial world record holder for clown featherback. However, records are no longer accepted by IGFA from these Thai lakes even though the current record was set in Thailand....from a stocked lake just north of Bangkok. This does seem a pity as Richard's fish will not count and the smaller fish will continue to hold the record. Politics, eh? well, we will all know about Fishing Politics on Dec 16th/17th won't we????

The main river running through Bangkok is the Chao Praya or River of Kings. The river is alive with the Chao Praya catfish reknown for its demonic fighting prowess as experienced by Mark. This Chao Praya catfish  weighed in at 10kg

 This was an excellent sized Alligator Gar  estimated at 20kg. It has a long snout jammed packed with ferocious looking teeth...which Richard did his best to keep clear of when posing for this picture.

 A number of these hard fighting colourful Amazon redtail catfish were caught during the mad feeding hour 1800 to 1900. Here is Mark with a fine specimen of 25 kg.


These weights were all estimated by the Thai guides.

The new season's adventures begin.

Aha.....the Thai Blog for this winter's season begins here today. It's been a bit of a time to get going as  there was quite a lot of house type stuff and paperwork to sort out this year....but now all is in order and our first team of six explorers and adventurers is ready to go.

We leave for Mike Bailey's Exotic Fishing Thailand tomorrow, Dec 9th, hoping for arapaima, carp and catfish along with any of the other 60 different specices Mike has stocked the lake with. You may know, via Facebook, that the world record catfish of well over 300lb has just been landed at Exotic Fishing. I bet that was a struggle!!

Please take a look at the link below to give an update on what is  currently happening at the fishery.

https://www.facebook.com/Exotic-Fishing-Thailand


 On Saturday 11th we head off to the north for what promises to be a real adventure. Travelling at 20 knots on a longtailboat from the Khao Sok Ratchaprapa Dam, we are speeding 60 miles north west into the deepest and least visited part of the lake which is actually a massive flooded valley with stunning scenery.

We are in search of wild snakehead and we have hired a highly rated Thai guide to lead us to the fish.

What a prospect of adventure!!

Google Khao Sok Racthapara Dam and take a look at the maps....exciting or what!

We shall be far from technolgy and signals so I will attempt to write it all up next Monday 14th when we return to Phuket.