Jungle Fishing Khao Laem Dam - Kanchanaburi
Peter & Thomas are life long fishing buddies from Sweden, taking every opportunity to sample the fishing while globe trotting with their families. Their outlook on fishing & charismatic way about them made for a hugely enjoyable jungle fishing trip for all of us - true anglers.
The first half day session started upon arrival and the conditions were not great but not too bad either. The skies were slightly overcast and the wind was moderate - any stronger and it would have killed the first session but luckily it remained only moderate.
Popping, Frogging & Buzzing
A surface frog with a front propeller or a buzz bait with a similar propeller are devastatingly effective in bays where the weed is thick to the surface. These types of lure can be retrieved through the thickest of weedy bays without hooking so much as a strand of weed. The frog or buzz bait is much easier and requires less skill to master the retrieve than a popper hence it is ideal for novice lure anglers. However Peter and Thomas took straight to the popper & mastered it extremely quickly, creating some beautiful, mouth watering, deep, hollow sounding 'pops' - which is not easy considering the constant quick pace the lure must be 'popped' at to entice a strike from a snakehead. Once the art of 'popping' has been mastered, it is a wonderful and exciting style of lure to fish with resulting in the most rewarding of strikes. Thomas & Peter both managed to tempt many strikes and slashes from snakehead and jungle perch in this first session but it was Thomas that successfully banked 1 of each specie.
Difficultly Level Increased
Low water, hot & sunny would not be the biggest worry - even in these conditions we regularly pull some awesome results; the wind however would be the kiss of death. The second day started with a terribly strong wind and turned into a nightmare of a wind as the day went on. Not so many fish were striking the lures and even less hooked, but gallantly Peter & Thomas were still laughing and smiling all the way back to the camp with their positive attitudes.
Final Morning - A Beautiful Day
As we all boarded the minivan for the last morning of this short jungle fishing trip we were all looking up at the skies and gauging the wind strengths, although it seemed nobody dare say anything to break the luck; we all knew the conditions were looking much better. Straight into the boats by first light, almost first cast Peter was victim of a hugely aggressive strike resulting in a lovely jungle perch and soon after a snakehead - all on poppers. The final morning produced more strikes than the whole of the previous day and showed more the fruits that Khao Laem Dam is renowned for.
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