My thirteen day Thai fishing adventure (day nine)

[SIMPLE MAN]

Up early this morning,suitcase packed and down for breakfast which was very pleasant as the hotel restaurant is situated right above a river,after breakfast we are off and 10 min later i am back for my last day at IT monster lake,
The sun is out again in full so i decide to fish the same swim as yesterday,at least i will get some shade in the afternoon,as we do not have much bait left Jules asks in hope more than anything if they have any bait today but alas no they do not so after setting up the rods he gets one of the local guides to sit with me while he pops down to the local market to get some more,i bait up my two rods and put the baits out 30ft or so after just a couple of min one of my rods comes alive and line is leaving the reel at a alarming rate, i hit it and it runs three quarters of the way out and again decides to go left past the cafe and then hug the near bank some 80yrds down,red tail the guide says and for the next 6-7 min i just try to get the fish back into mid water,a further 5 min and i have a nice red tail of 30lb in the net,Before i can bait my rod the second one starts to go but this is no red tail as it is not running at any sort of speed,i pick it up and hit it and is very arapaima like and after 10 min shows it self to be one of 30lb a couple more min and its in the net



it seems a bit strange after losing 5 in the first two days that it is now John 6-arapaima 8. I cast my rod back out and before i can bait up the second one its off again and three min later i have a pacu of 4lb
Jules is now back with a big bag of bait and for the next hour it goes very quiet so Jules starts to cut some bait up and distribute it out in my swim 10 min later and the line again starts sceaming off the reel and after i hit it there is no way i can stop this one and in a flash is tight on the far bank and again heading left past the cafe but the problem now is i cannot get it away from the far bank and its still going right towards where the owner has just dug out to make the lake bigger and if it reaches that and turns right then i think i will of had it as the will be rubbing the bank and the fish going in another direction but for some reason it keeps on going straight to the far end (perhaps it didnt like the freshly dug part) and then headed for the near bank and tried to hug it all the way back after 10 min i managed to get it maybe 8-10ft away from the near bank and after another 10min i managed to get it in the net a nice red tail of 40lb and after what seemed like 2min i had another run and after a short fight had another red tail of 15lb and after a further 5min i was playing a pacu of 7lb which was quickly in the net after 30min i had another screaming run and when it reached the far bank showed itself to be another good size red tail and as all but one had done before it was heading left again past the cafe and try as i could i just could not turn it and this time when it reached the new part of the lake it turned into it so now Jules and me were passing the rod around the roof supports of the cafe until we were round the other side and this fish was still going like hell,two more min past and the rod just went solid i said to Jules its found a ******* snag he said it cant of done as they had all been removed (well theres still one in here mate),as it was so far away we decided to let the bail arm off and try to walk round to where the fish was holed up it took a good 10 min and because the ground was uneven i some how twisted my back which was now hurting like hell,We eventually made it round to the far side and i tried to get the damn thing out but it just wouldnt budge so in the end Jules said just point the rod at the fish and walk backwards until the line goes,I start to walk back and whoosh the blasted fish is out and is now up for round two,the only trouble is my back is very very sore and i start to wonder if i will be ok,A further ten min and Jules has found some firmish land where he might be able to reach land this fish and all i have to do is get it there which i did another cracking fish of 45lb



That fish must of taken 40 min to get to the net my back is really sore and if i must say i am knackered,We walk back to the cafe where a nice cold pepsi gives me some welcome relief. Jules said that he thought that he had seen a chao paraya cat fish yesterday and as the bait lorry had now turned up maybe we should put a float on and live bait right out in the middle to see if we could tempt one, i agreed but was still a bit worried about my back,a short while later my rod went of i struck Jules said red tail and i said no but i didnt know what it was ,it wasnt that big but was going great guns but it just felt a bit weird and a minute or two later i had a giant snakehead of 4lb in the net



a quick photo and just as its released Jules shouts that the other rod has gone and boy is this thing taking line its right down the far end in no time chao paraya Jules says,there is only one fish that takes a bait like that,To be honest i know it took me 15 min to get this thing in but after the first run was not what i would call a hard fighting fish but may be dorado like not that it jumped every where but just seemed to kite around the lake using its body to make you work hard but as though it was saving itself,i think i said this to Jules and he replied that all fish do not fight like tarpon mate,any way after 15 min i had my prize a 25lb chao paraya



The guides are again emptying the tilapia into the lake and as yesterday the lake is alive with fish rising every where(i think of my poor shoulders and my now not so sore back) and try to gear my self up for two hours of sport,not long after and my rod is going again and at first i think it is a small red tail but as its not hugging the bank it has us a bit puzzled a further 5min later and i have a Thai red tail of 12lb in the net



a tough little cookie and if they grow to any size will give you a good work out,
Its crazy again now and i have red tails of 45lb20lb35lb35lb16lb20lb and15lb as the day draws in and in all the places that i have been lucky enough to fish i can honestly say i have never had constant action like that,as i landed and was trying to put back the fish Jules was having to grab the other rod and as soon as the fish had been returned Jules was passing me the other rod which already had another fish on (what a day) and i am not sure if my shoulders will ever be the same again,its 6.30 now and time to pack up we now have a two hour drive ahead of us to Bangkok where if my shoulders allow i will going after the mighty mekong cat fish
ps sorry to you guys who have been following my adventures but i have just done 4x12hour shifts and was in no fit state to write these reports,tight lines all and day ten to follow asap

[MRG2000]

Another fabulous report John ,looking forward to the next installment already ....