Catch Report
Jurassic Night session

James had mentioned in conversations leading up to the session that he wanted to target the arapaima so we discussed in which swim we would start the session. After listening for signs of arapaima prior to the session it was clear that there were several fish striking prey near the surface in the right-hand margin of swim 1 so this was where headed for the start of the session.

With ambient lighting in place, a mosquito coil lit and the fan on full throttle the mosquitos soon departed which often dissuade anglers away from night sessions but with Fish Thailand we come prepared. The cool box was filled with ice and a selection of drinks and fresh rigs and bait had been prepared. Shortly after 8pm we met James and got the rods into position.

A mixture of chopped mackerel mixed with broken pellet was soaked in tuna oil and had fermented throughout the day producing a pungent aroma for the predators to home in on. Following a generous scoop over each rod we allowed the lines to settle before sitting back in anticipation.

After around half an hour, the bobbin on the right-hand rod pulled up tight as braid slowly began ticking from the spool. A quick flash of the headtorch on the rod tip and we were confident it was a take as opposed to a liner so disengaged the baitrunner and lifted into something substantial leaving a big bow wave in its wake. The other was quickly retrieved to avoid crossed lines and battle began resulting in the first arapaima of the evening.

 The fish was photographed in the adjacent swim and left to rest prior to its release. In the meantime, another good helping of chum was applied along the margins. The hook points were checked and tweaked before James got the rods back into position. No sooner had the second rod hit the bottom it was away in an instant leading to his second arapaima.

Once again the fish was rested and released. The traps were set once more but swim remained and following a discussion with James we decided to reel in and have quick walk to look for any signs of activity in case any remaining fish had departed the swim due to the disturbance. The tackle was loaded onto the barrow and made our way up into Mountain View allowing us to cover a large body of water if needed.

Safe to say at this point around 1am, James was already on cloud 9. Another bucket of chum was formed, and the rods were flicked into position. Immediately the liners began so we paid out some braid from the spool and added back leads to cover our tracks. Two arapaima had now surfaced in the area and James was confident in his approach having landed two already. Sometime went by without a bite so the rods were retrieved, rebaited and recast. It seemed that as time went by and we entered the depths of the night that the overall fish activity had started to slow.

Taking a break to eat we discussed how to proceed before the rods were put back into position. After another hour it is was the left-hand rod that was away stripping line as it hugged the margin and disappeared beneath the water hyacinths. A dogged fight and plenty of side strain eventually revealed a good-sized Amazon redtail boiling at the surface as it was scooped into the net.

A nice finish to the session for James at the end of his first Thai night fishing experience with Fish Thailand.