simple man and sons 13day Thai fishing adventure day 2&3

[SIMPLE MAN]

Well Jules arrives on time as usual and even he asks if i am OK due to my lack of drinking and to be honest i don't really know whats wrong with me maybe its just jet lag,maybe its the worrying about my boy or maybe its a simple bug but i still only feel 80% so only time will tell
After 20 min we are back at Cha-Am and although there are not so many people there this morning and the swim that we would have liked to fish yesterday is vacant as we had put so much bait in yesterday and my lucky lucky son had caught a Gahore yesterday we decided to stay at the same swim and maybe today my luck would change,Again there wasn't a cloud in the sky and not a ounce of breeze so conditions were perfect for carp but not for mad Englishmen sitting in the mid-day sun and right from the start things looked very promising as we could see something stirring up the bottom creating big silt clouds in the swim so a good helping of ground bait and baits in and we are both on the edge of our seats in anticipation,sadly whatever was down there rooting around did a very good job of eluding our baits and it wasn't until just gone 1.00 before i had my first bite and fish which turned out to be a sucker fish of just over a pound and a couple of minutes later Brian was in to not a big fish but a fish all the same and 5 Min's later had a 10lb rohu in the net

About 3.00 Brian had a screaming run but it came off after a few seconds and the rest of the day we just got a few very tentative bites but no more fish so as the sun slid down it was time to pack up and head back for something to eat before we were eaten alive by the mozzies but at least i was feeling more like my normal self tonight and after a large steak dinner i was almost back to my best at the bar and also managed to get some much needed sleep

DAY 3

That's better although no hangover i seem to be back to myself this morning and today although we are back at Cha-Am today we are on the predator lake with arapaima being our target species for the day and at least the water level is up as last time i fished here it was 9ft lower and was a absolute nightmare to fish,the lake itself is not as big as the carp lake probably 40 yards shorter and 30 yards narrower but as we arrive my son just stood there gawping as he saw some of the big arapaima rising around the lake

And as you can see by the photo just to make a change there's not a cloud in the sky but very unusually the owner has set up a couple shelters around the lake so although not ideal its a start and beats trying to keep out of the sun by standing under the coconut trees and waiting for one to drop on your head
So today we are using small mackerel dead baits and you get the feeling it wont be too long before something takes a liking to our baits,and as with most predator lakes in Thailand for the first hour the margins seem to be the most productive and as the day moves on you find yourself fishing further out into the middle,so first cast i throw my bait down the right about 30 yards and about 2 foot from the bank and Brian does the same but to the left and after only 5 min bang fish on and by the way its tearing of i confidently predict a red tail a very hard fighting fish which originates from South America and has a natural talent for finding the nearest snag so trying not to let this devious blighter make a home run is really quite a arm wrenching task and after a further 10min i now have it safely in the net

And it comes in at about 10-11lb and now i am starting to feel like my old self again and my next three casts produce arapaima of 12-10-and 15lb

Now i know by Thai standards that these are not big fish but last time i was here i think i caught 6 or 7 fish over the two days and before the 30 min mark now Brian was in to a small arapaima and although it was only 8lb or so brought a massive grin to his face as this was one of the fish that he had set his heart on before coming on this trip

And if you guys are wondering why he always seems to be crouching so low in his photos he is 6ft 7-8 and if he kneeled down normally the fish just disappear into the back ground
So after this early morning mayhem the lake quietened down which was only to be expected and now the freshwater shrimps were the only thing taking a liking to our baits in the margins so its time to change tactics and launch our baits more into the centre and also when you are only fishing a smallish lake you often find that things go quiet for a while as the fish seem to vanish for a while and about a hour later i hooked into what felt and fought like a good red tail but this time it managed a home run into the snags and that was that 10 mins of hard slog and nothing to show but a sweaty brow and not long after i hooked another but no where near the same size as the last and soon had this one on the bank and it came in at 11lb

And for those of you that are wondering that red roofed building over my left shoulder are some of the motels rooms
Now at this point i said to Brian that it would more than likely go quiet again for a while and not a second later my line started peeling off at a steady rate and strike oh yes oh yes this wasn't no baby and it was now heading down the far end with that slow but sure speed that only a nice arapaima can do and this is a completely different ball game and not a nice feeling as it shakes its head violently from side to side trying to shed the hook and these fish have really bony mouths and are notoriously known for throwing the hook as i found out on my previous trip managing to lose my first seven so come on John concentrate and don't give this fish a chance and for the next ten minutes its out in the middle trying all the tricks in the book including a couple of low tail walks which has my heart in my mouth on more than one occasion and now its heading down the right hand margins but coming towards me and it just keeps coming churn my guide is now in the water with the cradle getting ready to try and steer the fish in but it has other ideas and goes back all the way up the right bank and then across into the middle so now i am back to square one and starting to get a bit of a sweat on as its bloody hot and the longer this fish stays out throwing its head the more chance it has of getting of and one thing that i have learnt is you cant bully these fish or they will always win,again its coming close to the near bank but seems to turn and head out three or four more times before churn my guide is now swimming in the lake trying to guide the fish into the cradle and thirty seconds later i have my prize a cracking fish about 120lbish

As you can see it makes sense to use a cradle as trying to get one of these into a landing net is madness and also when they get to this size and bigger if they are brought out of the water there shear weight crushes there organs and they die so we never weigh them but just guestimate and and get a quick photo before releasing them to fight another day

And OK i know that i am really here after the carp but these fish still manage to put a smile on my face and why not and still we had plenty of time left in the day and it wasn't long before again my line shot off and i had a pacu of 6lb which looks like a piranha and has large teeth which normally bite right through the line

I then had a couple of small arapaima of 8 and 11lb while Brian had 3 arapaima of 13-13 and 15lb and he also had a alligator gar of 4lb and plenty of teeth to match

Sorry about the gar being covered in grass but they are not the best fish to handle as i was to find out later on on the trip ouch
Churn was now of scouting around the lake and when he returned got Brian to follow him to another swim 50 yards around to my left and it wasn't long before he was in to a pacu of 6lb and much to his annoyance i told him to throw it back as it was to hot for me to walk around to get a photo and anyway i was pretty sure he would have another before the end of the holiday and around 4.30 Churn was shouting excitedly and it was quite obvious Brian was now in to a good fish and after 15min or so i took a walk round to where he was and to remind him to concentrate as these are devious fish and to be fair he did a real good job right up to where Churn was trying to guide what looked like a 140lb into the net and in a split second tail walked and was gone and at this point i just turned and walked back to my swim as the words i told you so would not have done Brian much good and i could only hope that he had learnt a valuable lesson and to be honest i did feel it for him and chances like that don't come along too often but there's nothing i can do now,here's a photo of him playing the fish before he lost it

About 5.15 Brian had another arapaima about 15lb and i had one about the same

But that was to be the last action of the day but we are back tomorrow for one last try to get my boy a big one and on the brighter side all things are back to normal and tonight i have my night on the beer proper
tight lines guys and part three to follow

[jasonh]

Good stuff again John, glad you had a great time out there with your lad. Keep it coming, your efforts are much appreciated.

[MRG2000]

More cracking fishing , well done both ........

[Spinner64]

Nice fishing John and the sunshine to go with it