Despite Andy having sampled Thailand
numerous time already and occasionally wetting a line, he
is yet to land a Striped Catfish or a Mekong catfish. So
with this in mind we discussed the potential venues to
target that would produce an action packed day. The Method
Lake is renowned for its ability to produce in excess of
40 fish during a single day session and responds well to
an array of different approaches occasionally throwing up
a few surprises in the shape of specimen Mekong and
Siamese carp.
Two rods were set up but only one was
fished at once. The first being a waggler set-up plumbed 6
inches over depth hard on the bottom whilst the other was
talked to accommodate a ram feeder suspended beneath the
surface. Andy started the session on the float at 1m using
a pre-mixed ram ground bait that had been left to settle
infused with sweet flavours and milk extracts ahead of the
session.
The first cast saw Andy hook into his first fish of
the day shortly after
The float method can account for
takes in quick succession with the majority of takes
resulting in small striped catfish averaging 8-10lb.
Repeat casts to the same area saw him land in excess of 10
fish in less than an hour using break flake hook baits
soaked in tuna oil.
In the meantime the waggler spot had
received a steady feed of 12mm fishmeal pellets along with
multiple balls of ram. Andy continued to work the float
whilst Tom observed the water in the margin and continued
to prepare bait in between landing fish. Around midday and
with over 20 fish landed, the margin swim had now
developed into an undisturbed fizzing frenzy and it was
time to work the waggler.
A full slice of flake was pinched and
soaked in tuna oil before being lowered into position. In
an instant the waggler shot under and the rod arced round
as line peeled from the spool. 20 minutes into the fight
and it was clear that this certainly wasn't a striped
catfish as the battle continued. After a full 30 minutes
and a hard kick of the tale, the hook slipped and the
mystery remained as to the species and whether or not it
was foul hooked...
Once the swim had settled Andy
persisted with the waggler and went on to land a total of
42 fish from both methods with the pick of the day being
the good sized striped catfish.
The largest striped catfish of 42 fish landed during
the session
