simple man and sons 13day Thai fishing adventure day 7

[SIMPLE MAN]

Well sorry guys but due to work commitments and yet again changing shifts i didn't get time to post yesterday and i will try to get them all done before i head up to Edinburgh next Friday for a 4 day jolly on the pee and a bit of rugger too (swing low)
Well after our now got used to fantastically cold breakfast this morning (i have had warmer salads) i am not moaning in-fact i find it some what amusing and anyway we are here for the fishing not the food,good old Thailand we are now heading hangover free again back to palmtree for our third days fishing at this crazy but unique fishery,warts an all and today its swap over day so i should be predator fishing and Brian on the carp rods but as Brian has still not managed a big arapaima and me just going soft in my old age i say to Brian would he like one more bash at the arapaima as i know how much he really would like a trophy shot,not that he doesn't have many already but i know the chances are slim at I T Monster lake and i am certainly not forking out £400 at BSR in Bangkok for him to have a bash and after all its not just about me and my holiday and to be honest i do love the carp fishing but tell him that what ever happens today i am going predator fishing tomorrow as i wouldn't mind a bash at one of the chao phrayas myself,so that's settled then and after only 10 mins i have my first fish of the day a 6lb rohu not a monster but still nice to have landed something early on and this morning the margins are not producing any predators so after 45 mins Brian and Bear are on the move to the left hand side of the lake but even further up than they have previously fished before and after 15 mins or so we here those words fish on and look up to see the line screaming across the lake again chao phraya style and i say to Jules bloody hell don't tell me he is into another monster already but the way its now coming in its quite obvious its not a big fish and 10 mins later he lands yet another chao phraya but this one comes in at 8lb but still a nice fish and a nice way to open his account

Also today its quite noticeable that the clouds are out and distinctly cooler and my carp rods are sitting very quiet indeed but some how it really doesn't seem to matter as its just nice to sit back and relax and as we have learnt this lake can throw up some big surprises and nearly always when you are least expecting it and a little while later Brian has another take and by the way this fish is charging up and down the margins myself and Jules confidently predict a redtail and 15 mins later Brian has banked his prize in the way of a 40lber

And if you look closely in the background under the far hut you can just spot me having a coke relaxing watching the world go by oh and if you look in the bottom right of this photo you can just spot some blue things these are aerators which are fixed to the bank and jot out 25feet or so and when its really hot they turn them on and the paddles rotate putting valuable oxygen in the lake the reason i mention them is they have a big part to play in tomorrows post hhhhhhmmmmmm watch this space
Any way my rods are still doing diddly squat and Brian has now moved even further up the left and is now near the top end fishing very close to an enormous clump of water hyacinths and if i read my notes right has a 12lb redtail first cast and 20 mins later has had another cracking take but this things made a bee line straight under the hyacinths and again Jules and myself confidently predict a redtail and with us just sitting back chuckling we watch poor Brian trying to get this cunning blighter out into open water and after 25 mins of heaving and humping it eventually comes out and a further 10 min later and a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get back in the hyacinths he finally gets his fish and a nice 45lb redtail is now on the bank

And as you have probably noticed by now that plastic on Brian's arm is like a condom its elasticated at the open end and the hospital gave it to him so he can hold his fish and also shower without getting the two pins that are sticking out of his wrist wet
As mid-day passes now i have a take and although not a big big fish its certainly giving a good account of itself and after 7-8 mins out in the middle now fires of towards me down the right but i cant bloody stop it and its now buried itself deep in the roots the other side of my shelter and around two trees as well and although the guides did there best i bloody lost it and when we got the line back but no fish there was slime all over the line and the guide said Julians carp lol i would love to have seen it but there really was nothing i could do but curse my bloody luck but hey ho that's fishing folks
And today was just not going to be my day about thirty mins later i get a cracking run and 20 seconds later its gone and a nice fish too and pretty well straight after Brian had what we think was another redtail on but this time the hyacinths won and the fish shed the hook so he upped sticks and was now going to try down the right hand side of the lake with the sun on his back,in the mean while over the next hour i had a rohu of 5lb followed by another of 7lb and i don't know if it was the cooler conditions or whether the fish who had not seen any angling pressure for two months had just wised up and gone to ground but my carp rods were very very quiet indeed and although Brian had caught some nice fish his dream of catching a large arapaima seemed to be getting slimmer by the hour and speaking of Brian he wasn't having a lot of luck either about 2 ish he had a chao phraya run which as normal steamed across the lake at great speed and ten mins later and a guestimate of 40lb or so shed the hook and left him cursing but not for too long as he now had another run and by the way this was flying around the lake very pacu style and 6 mins later he had it on the bank a nice pacu which by the way you are never confident of landing until its in the net as these things if not lip hooked nearly always bit straight through your line and it tipped the scales at just over 19lb

Its 3.30 now and for crying out loud i hook and lose a nice carp before landing a 4lb rohu and then manage to lose yet another nice fish after 30 seconds or so,its really not my day today and neither is it going to be Jules day either you see around 4 ish Brian had a redtail about 20lb or so and while Jules was walking round to get a photo of Brian's fish all of a sudden the was a very loud aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhh wtf i looked round to see Jules on the floor and shouting lots and lots and lots (get the picture)of rude words which is not at all like him he really is a placid guy you see as he had walked past a tree with what looked like a blackbirds nest (about that size) in it placed about 8 foot above the ground the trouble was it wasn't a birds nest at all but Mr and Mrs honey bees home and for some reason they took a dislike to poor Jules who ended up with two rather large bumps on his head where Mr and Mrs bee stung him,thankfully Jules apart from his two large bumps was OK but as try as i might for the rest of the day every time i tried to speak or even look at Jules i ended up in fits of laughter which thankfully Jules did (eventually )see the funny side of and as the sun started to go down Brian managed a brace of arapaima weighing 30lb and 60lb with Jules now taking a different route around to get Brian's photos

And still we are all in fits of laughter is that a BEE Jules!!!!! and at last knockings Brian had one last redtail of 40lb but felt sorry for Jules and shouted that he need not bother coming round to take a photo and me well i did manage another rohu of 6lb followed by a sawai of 12lb which i didn't even know i had a bite as was reeling in my last rod but a nice way to end the day and find myself trying not to take the pee out of poor Jules anymore (after all he has got to get us to the bar tonight)
So that's it for another day folks and thank you to all who have added your comments under my posts as you all know by now it takes me between 3-4-1/2 hours to write each one and you feed back is really appreciated tight lines and will try to post day eight tomorrow

[jasonh]

Great stuff again John, I don't know how you manage to keep so many notes !!! You must have been knackered after catching all these fish !!

I wish my lad was into fishing as well, god knows I've tried but he's not having any of it !! Must be good to share your experiences with him.

Keep it coming :)

[MRG2000]

Another amazing days fishing ,well done chaps ,just proves thailand is famous for all the wrong reasons

[apak692000]

I love reading your reports, there so detailed and interesting it makes me want to book a flight. keep it up chaps, well done.

Andy