We should have a couple more Pla Kaho too bad they belong to the stories of fishes that were hooked up but not landed. This is the one that got away.

We started the day by mixing our bait of rice bran (lum in thai) with additives for Pla Buek and landed the first one within minutes. However, we were all eagerly waiting in anticipation for the “Giant Siamese Carp” rod to go because we can see from the surface of the water that we have Giant Siamese Carps in the vicinity where we cast our bait.

We didn’t have to wait long before the drag on the setup went in a long run and upon hook up, we guess it was a Giant Siamese Carp from its run. We managed to land the Giant Siamese Carp after about 20 minutes of fight but it decided to take of before we could take any pictures.

I know some of you reading this will find this hard to believe without pictures to prove our catch. Anyway, we learn from our mistake, we didn’t bring the Giant Siamese Carp “in” far enough on the platform of the chalet. It decided to do a little dance on the platform before it slipped back into the water. Although the hook was still in the mouth, we were not fast enough to fight it out of the pillars of the next chalet and it ended up with a burst line!

Pictures tell a thousand words but sad to say we don’t have any to share. A price catch bundled with the facts that this is the first time without a guide, it’s a big achievement given the facts we are still considered “not so experienced”.

Anyway, that happened to be the only Giant Siamese Carp to be hook up that day. The rest of the day belonged to the Pla Buek and Pla Sawai and the rod that went flying into the water after it was pulled in by a Pla Buek because we got the drag setting wrong. The workers at Bungsamran spent an hour before a guy on a boat in the middle of the lake managed to retrieve it with the Pla Buek still on. They brought the whole setup back to us and we landed the Pla Buek too!

Guess it’s going to be sometime before I head back to fishing at Bungsamran for Giant Siamese Carp again. Some pictures to share with all during our trip.

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Some photos of his Giant Siamese Carp landed to share with all. They were caught with special bait mix prepared by the guide for the day.

Stay tuned Part 3 of the Fishing at Bungsamran for Giant Siamese Carp (Pla Kaho) saga when we (I made the trip this time) went there again on Dec 12th.

The bait mix for fishing them is a little wetter than those used for the giant Mekong catfish and striped catfish.
There are some who swear by their secret flavoring mix to go with the base mix of rice bran (larm), the choice is yours or dependant on who your guide is. Each has their own favorite and mixture… I will not go into details of what goes in to the mixture here.

Anyway, It was a long wait that day, we started at 9 and stopped at 5 because I have a flight to catch and we have had no luck. But not so for our neighbor who managed to land a giant Siamese carp.

 He had a hook up that afternoon and from the way the fish was pulling at the end of his line, we guess it was the giant Siamese carp because of the way it was fighting.

It fights differently from the giant Mekong and striped catfish, going from left to right in a zig-zag pattern.
The fight last about 20 minutes or more and had a huge crowd following because the Giant Siamese Carp is a prize catch at Bungsamran. 

For the first timer and those who have had no luck before fishing at Bungsamran, suggest you get a guide to show you the ropes and some of the tricks of fishing at Bungsamran and you won’t be disappointed.
Pay some school fees, learn from there so that you can have a fruitful trip. Of course if you want to fish in comfort and have everything prepared for you, then by all means, go for a guide.
Equipments are available for rental but you may want to bring your own. Tackles should be at least of 30lbs.

If you don’t know how to get to Bungsamran, your guide can arrange for transportation.
However, if you want to try to get to Bungsamran by yourself, by all means do so.
It’s not that difficult to find the place and you can easily get there by Taxi. It’s located at the end of Nawamin Soi 42, Bangkapi, Bangkok.

Well if you decide to go fishing at Bungsamran, good luck and tight lines!

For GPS coordinates, it’s at lat=13.508309426, lon=100.958586414

I have looked around the internet and found conflicting names with regards to Barramundi fishing ponds in the Bang Pakong area. Anyway, this place charges 100 baht per day per rod. Catch and Release is the order of the day and applies for lure and fly fishing. Of course you can choose to keep the fish if you want to. For baiting, you will have to keep and purchase the fish at 100baht/kilo. Fish cleaning service is available. Food and drinks are available and will be brought to you.

This is a good place for lure and fly fishing and is well known among the locals. Usually busy over the weekends and I heard that there are specimens up to 12kg inside but the biggest that I have personally seen is about 7kg caught by a fellow angler when I was there last Saturday.

Popper is quite popular here and is done with a fly attached about 1 – 2 feet behind. The fish here usually go for the fly rather than the popper. I was told that the fishes here even go for flies lying still in the water, was skeptical but I have to believe those words because I witness it myself on my setup. Was having lunch and decided to put those words to test and it resulted in a take but no hookup. Too bad, otherwise I will go into my own personal record book of amazing catch.

The barramundi were feeding that day because a truck came in the day and released the whole load of live tilapia into the pond. However the take and hook up rate was poor. Could it be due to the feeding? Hard to say because it was poor even before that but it did improve towards the evening.

Some pictures to share of that place and if you are looking for some spot of barramundi fishing when you are in Bangkok, you can check out this place.

Pulau Ketam

Otters sighted - 1

Otters sighted 1-1

Otters Sighted - 2

Otters sighted 2-2

Otters sighted 3

otters sighted 3-3

Otter sighted 4

otter sighted 4-4

It’s my first time seeing wild otters in Singapore. Took these photos near Pulau Ketam, a small longish island in front of Pulau Ubin facing Singapore.

I have fished this area countless time and it’s the first time I brought my family out on a boat fishing trip after constant pestering by my children to bring them out fishing on a boat.

Overall, an enjoyable trip and nice experience for them since it was their first time out. We caught quite a number of fishes, sighting of monitor lizards (didn’t take any photos) and this family of otters were sighted at Pulau Ketam too.

Some photos to share with all from my first time sighting of wild otters in Singapore. On hind sight, I should have switch to video mode.

Click on the photos to zoom in

I spent the last weekend in Bangkok and ended calling up an old friend; an angling enthusiast and fishing guide that I would like to do some freshwater fishing in Bangkok at Bungsamran over the weekend. Some pictures to share with all and for those who happens to be in Bangkok and thinking of alternative activity, here’s something that you may like to consider if angling is your passion.

Met up with my friend, Joseph and fishing guide, a.k.a K.Boy of www.fishsiam.com at Bungsamran. We rented some fishing equipment from Boy for the days’ trip because I didn’t bring any with me and Joseph’s stuff gave way before we even started.

Fishing a combination of sliding float tactics we caught numerous Striped Catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) weighing up to 15kg in addition to a large haul of Giant Mekong Catfish (Pangasianadon gigas) with weight over 30kg possibly the hardest fighting freshwater fish on the planet, from 9am till 5pm. Some pictures to share, click on the pictures to zoom in.

I know there are critics who have voiced out about the high price to pay for this over hyped, touristy Bungsamran lake. I have to disagree. It’s not everyday that you get to fight the Mekong catfish in such a deep pond. The depth of the lake makes a big difference. The place comes with chalets that you can rent by the day and night, restaurant, fishing tackle shop (also have tackles for rental), bait, all your basic needs are there.

First timer to Bungsamran, suggest that you get some fishing guide or friends who have fished there before to help you to land fish and learn a few tactics used at the pond. Also, my suggestion is to have a few friends along fishing one rod. Try casting to the same spot everytime. Once the Mekong Catfish starts feeding, it’s a frenzy and you can continue to get hook ups after hook ups. Taking turn to fight and keeping the same bait in the area is consistent to regular hook ups.

Anyone game for a round of freshwater fishing in Bangkok at Bungsamran, be prepared for a long hard day.

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