News - 2014/16 - Fishing Khao Lak

News.

Fishing Khaolak News 2014–2016

Thailand Fresh and Saltwater Fishing Report

Hi and welcome once again to our newsletter for the 2014 – 2016 seasons. Apologies
for being late as usual, but with the increased demand for our services it leaves me
almost no time to actually write one! I cannot stress enough that you try to make
your bookings as soon as possible, we are very heavily booked and we regularly have
to turn clients away.

In the middle of writing this report we had just finished filming for a new TV fishing
show called Fishing Impossible for the BBC and ITV with Tom Hird aka 'The Blowfish' and
Charlie Butcher. It will be shown on TV around September and October 2016. It was
great fun to make and the whole team was extremely friendly and professional and in a
very short period of time we managed to produce the results. I won?t tell you what
happens, so you will just have to watch it. To be shown on ITV, ITV4 and
BBC Earth channel in October 2016.

Here is a picture of me and Mike with Charlie and Blowfish, and
Here is a nice Cheow Phraya Catfish that was the other star of the show.

As usual Exotic Fishing Thailand has been fishing very well, the large number of massive
predators being caught is still incredible. Check out this amazing photo of the result of a
triple hook up and landing of my first simultaneous Arapaima catch for 3 lucky
fishermen from Liverpool. I regularly help achieve the Arapaima hatrick for clients, but
this is the only recorded instance I know of 3 landed all at the same time, incredible!

Now coming into our 4th season the lake is looking better and better as the plants and
gardens mature. As from November 2016, luxury bungalow accommodation will be
available at the lake, and a swimming pool will soon be added. Rooms cost 3,400 thb for
twin or double bed rooms which are priced at 3,400 thb including breakfast for 2
people. A large family sized suite is also available with a master bedroom, lounge area
and a separate bedroom for children or friends and family priced at 4,800 thb. This
room has the best view of the lake and mountain. Breakfast is included for 3 persons.

It was nice to welcome back Johan Broman the famous Swedish fishing guide and TV
star of many Swedish TV fishing shows. We made several films with Johan in the very
early days of Fishing–Khao Lak in 2004 which were very successful for us. We fished at
Exotic Fishing Thailand the first day, in the heat and humidity of mid April. Fortunately
the fishing gods were very good to us straight away with this first Arapaima of the day
coming on the first cast to the left hand predator rod. We had steady action throughout
the day landing Asian Redtail Catfish, several Amazon Redtail Catfish, Alligator Gar, Pacu
and losing 2 very large Cheow Phraya Catfish after long fights. We finished the day with
an incredible double hook up of Arapaima and Giant Siamese Carp. Luckily both fish
were landed just before the 7pm final whistle. What a great day with the stars Broman
and Jonas, sometimes in fishing everything goes right!

The next day we filmed an episode for the show at the jungle, jungle fishing for
Giant Snakehead. Mid April is not the best time to do this especially when you only have
1 day to film! However our luck was in and we managed to land several Giant
Snakeheads in very difficult conditions. Here is a picture of Jonas with a nice fish.

The TV show is called Fiskedestination and will be shown on Swedish TV12 on July 3rd
and 10th, with a lot of reruns on Swedish TV4 Sport over the next couple of years.

We have added several new fishing trips to our programme making it by far the largest
list of top class salt and freshwater fishing tours in Thailand!
Due to popular demand we have now added a new fly–fishing section to the website.
We have of course been successfully guiding many fly anglers for many years, so I
thought it was about time they got their own section. You can check out our fly–fishing
section here:

Legendary TV fishing pioneer and writer John Wilson has now settled in Thailand and
along with his brother Dave have created a wonderful freshwater fishery. This beautiful
4 acre lake is set in lovely gardens and is very well stocked with all the best species for
Thai fishing lakes. There are Giant Siamese Carp, Alligator Gar, Arapaima, Pacu, Indian
Carp, Amazon Redtail Catfish, Tiger Catfish, Giant Mekong Catfish, Striped Catfish,
Cheow Phraya Catfish and Ripsaw Catfish plus several other species. Early results are
very good with a high catch rate for anglers and also a good variety of species coming
out. John and Dave are usually around so you get to meet them and they are super
friendly and helpful.

The lake is located in Chumpon which is approximately half way between Phuket and
Bangkok, so I will be offering it as a destination as part of one of our Road Trips, or
tagged onto one of our trips to either the jungle, Krabi or Exotic Lake. Please click here
to check out all the info.

Another new lake on the website is IT Monster Lake. This quite large highly productive
lake for monster fish really lives up to its name and is now available for day trips or as
part of a road trip. This is arguably the most productive lake in Thailand for big
predators, especially massive Amazon Redtail Catfish and huge Cheow Phraya Catfish.
This lake is also very good for lure fishing and also fly–fishing.
Please click here to check out all the info.

One more Lake we have added to our collection is Tepa Lake. This medium sized lake is
not commonly known by western anglers and receives little fishing pressure during the
week. It is one of the best lakes in Thailand to target very large Cheow Phraya Catfish.
The lake also holds Siamese Carp to around 40 kilos and huge Mekong Catfish over 90
kilos! This is a medium catch rate lake targeting huge Catfish with the possibility of a
good sized Carp. At the moment this destination is only available as part of our road
trips. Please click here to check out all the info. Coming soon.

We have been operating since 2004 and over that time have guided thousands of
satisfied anglers to some incredible fishing and some of the biggest freshwater fish in
the world. Its always nice to see our long term regular clients coming back year after
year. However the problem with long term regular clients is that as their species catch
lists and personal best fish weights get better it becomes more and more difficult to
beat them. David Pollock an old git (sorry I mean friend!) from Australia once again
made a road trip starting at Exotic Lake near Phuket. David was feeling a
little ill the first day, but still managed this incredibly beautiful Arapaima, one of the best
looking Arapaima I have ever seen. We were taking it easy so we didn't?t photograph
any of the other species we caught that day, Redtails, Carp etc. The next day David was
feeling really ill and I wanted to cancel the days fishing and get a Dr to take a look at
him. However David was having none of this and insisted on fishing. He was suffering
from cramp and after a quick Google I discovered the main reason for cramp is
dehydration. I made sure he had plenty to drink; orange juice and tonic water are
apparently very good for dehydration. We decided to try for small species which he had
never caught before, so I put a small sardines head in the left hand margin and after
about 30 seconds hooked this 50 kilo Arapaima! So much for taking it easy, it nearly
finished him off!

Our next destination was Palm Tree Lagoon, so the next day was spent traveling and
gave David time to recover from his dehydration. It was a good thing that he had
recovered because he went on to land this ginormous Siamese Carp! He hooked it just
before 7pm and it took around 50 minutes to bring to the net. At first I was convinced
that it was a good sized Giant Mekong Catfish, but the Thai guide who was helping with
the net called it correct after about 20 minutes. I disagreed and we had a 100 thb bet.
Thankfully I was wrong and quite happy to lose the bet! Before we knew it was a Carp
we fought the fish hard, luckily I had changed the hook to a stronger gage after an
earlier Siamese of around 35kgs had bent the last one!

Our next stop was IT Monster Lake and our target species Cheow Phraya Catfish. David
is up to nearly 40 different freshwater species caught in Thailand, but somehow Cheow
Phraya had so far avoided him. Cheow Phraya Catfish are not only very strong with
incredible stamina they are incredibly fast as well. IT Monsters is well stocked with
many different species so it can be quite difficult to fish for specific species. We decided
to fish at range with chicken after seeing a gang attack by Cheow Phraya on an
unlucky unknown fish. The tactic paid off with a decent Cheow Phraya and then this
gigantic one soon followed. Our last day was at Bangkok Predator Lake where I still
maintain my 100% record of every angler I have personally guided here has always
caught at least 1 Arapaima. The first day we landed a couple of nice Arapaima, some
Redtails and Alligator Gar. The next day I had to leave early and although David had
landed 2 large Alligator Gar, Redtails and a Pacu, at the point that I left still no Arapaima
had been landed. I told David he couldnt leave until he landed one! I set off in the car
on the long drive back to Phuket and after about 1 hour David sent the SMS text
message he had landed not one but two Arapaima maintaining my 100% record!

Andy Cartwright fishes with me so much these days on our road trips people think he is
part of the company! Andy is now my record holder for the most species with 50 species
now accounted for, overtaking my old friend Peter Langstraat from Holland who is on 47
species. With Andy it is now very difficult for new species so it’s mainly a case of trying
for PBs (personal bests). Krabi produced once again when it came to massive Arapaima,
this one coming at the end of a 4 day trip when we landed 7 Arapaima, Mekong Catfish,
Redtails, Siamese Carp and a rarely caught at this lake Ripsaw Catfish. Andy also
managed an astonishing 7 Arapaima hooked and 7 landed in one day on a later trip!
Palm Tree produced a new species for Andy in the shape of a Clown Featherback. IT
Monster Lake was our next stop again with the target Cheow Phraya Catfish, the species
the people who have caught everything still want to catch. Another PB came Andy’s
way in the shape of this lovely “dog eater” which Andy described as one of the most
exhilarating fights he has ever had. Here and here are two more nice Cheow Phraya pics
landed by Andy.

The jungle fishing has been performing consistently well the last few years and still in our main
fishing areas of this massive lake we have not seen any other anglers, we have had it all
to our self. Incredible in this day and age but the results speak for themselves.
My regular client Josh from On Strike Charters in Exmouth in Australia has now had very
many specimen sized Giant Snakeheads and Hampala Barb. Likewise Richard another
Australian based angler who loves the fishing at the jungle. Click the below links to see
some pics of some of our recent fish caught at Thailand?s most scenic lake.

Snakehead: Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic /

Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic /

Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic /

Hamapala Barb: Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic /

Pic / Pic / Pic / Pic /

The jungle fly–fishing at this lake is highly productive and great fun on light equipment. I
have personally released 50+fish in a session several times this season. Click here to
check out all the information.

Just as I come to finish this news letter I am happy to let you know that a new
freshwater fishing lake will be opening very soon in Phuket. All the details and a new
webpage will be available on this site as soon as possible.

Saltwater Fishing News:

We have now added M/V Sailfish 3 to our team of big game boats. At 65 ft (20m) she is
our biggest boat and is designed for 6 anglers. She is available for day trips as well as
multi-day liveabord trips to all our destinations. Click here to check out our fantastic
new boat including prices, fishing equipment, boat specifications and saftey equipment.

Due to popular demand we are now offering budget saltwater fishing using local Thai
boats targeting Dorado, Giant Trevally, Spanish Mackerel, Tuna, Wahoo and Barracuda.
On these trips we troll, popper cast, bottom fish and use jigging methods. These trips
are available from Either Phuket or Khao Lak and can also be an option as part of a road
trip. The trips have been hugely popular and successful, no trips this season have
produced a blank and we have landed some awesome fish. Dorado and Tuna are very
common, but we have had good results with Spanish Mackerel, Giant Trevally,
Barracuda, Wahoo and the occasional Sailfish and Cobia. Fly–fishing is also available on
this trip. Please click here to check out all the info.

Our trips to Burma Banks will commence again this year starting in late February
through to April. Places are selling fast so please contact us as soon as possible if you are
interested in booking a trip to this fantastic location. Our boats M/V Sailfish 1 and M/V
Sailfish 2 will both be going to Burma this year. This trip can be trolling, jigging, popper
casting and bottom fishing tailored to suit your personal requests. You can check out all
the info here:

The dates for the 3 day Phuket International Sport Fishing Tournament (P.I.S.T.) will be
the 23rd to the 26th November 2016. So far 9 international teams have registerd to
take part, but there are still places available. Registration will be on the evening of 23rd
November 2016 at 6pm at the Tamarind Bar and Grill in Chalong Phuket which will also
serve as the official weigh station. The final evening and prize giving will also be held
here. Email Us me for any further information.

Time has caught up with me once again so this is all I have time to write. Apologies to
anyone I have missed out and any links that are not working. I will fix them when I have
time. The saltwater report will be updated also.

We look forward to seeing you, so until then,

Tight Lines!

Previous News | Go to Top | Next News

Receive the News instantly!

Subscribe to www.fishing–khaolak.com's newsletters
and receive it "straight from our news–desk"
Sign up here

E–mail Us | Site Map | About Us