John Stadius has fished with the Fish Thailand Team previously for Mekong catfish & also barramundi. Fishing in Bangkok at Bungsamran Lake today was to be a well deserved 'red letter' day for John.
The Setup
We setup 1 rod for Siamese Carp and\or monster Mekong giant catfish and 1 rod setup for standard catfish 'rod benders.' The differences in rigs and baits between the two are subtle but the results obvious. The carp\monster cat setup is fished on the leger in the margins with the hook being popped up above the method feeder and it's contents of ground bait. This is opposed to the catfish rod which is setup for the standard 30lb-40lb 'tiddler's!'
Giant Siamese Carp
The double rod setup paid dividends for John today when the first belting run from the carp rod resulted in a tremendous fight from what we knew was a carp by it's fighting characteristics. John skillfully played the fish out all the way to the awaiting net. The scales showed 93lb! One hell of a carp! Read more about Siamese giant carp fishing Thailand.
Water shots were taken as seen in the above pictures, these fish are notoriously difficult to handle as John found out when he was slapped in the mouth by its' powerful tail fin! Read more about carp fishing in Thailand.
Monster Mekong Action
For the next couple of hours John was content with playing 30lb-40lb fish on the catfish rod; until the carp rod was off yet again. This time it was clear that a very large Mekong catfish had picked up the bait. A big Mekong catfish is more exhausting to fight than a big carp; at one point the beast had swam under 3 bungalows which is when Alley entered the water.
After 10 minutes of Alley chasing the fish through bungalow supports, weaving the rod through the maze as he went; the beast and John were back on fighting each other. Shrotly after the Mekong giant catfish was netted and weighed in at 84lb. Read more about Mekong giant catfish fishing Thailand. |
