Channel Five's TV fishing show 'Extreme Fishing with Robson Green' joined with Fish Thailand to film Extreme Fishing Thailand - guided by Eddie Mounce & his Fish Thailand Team.
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As Seen On TV: Robson Green & Eddy Mounce - Extreme Fishing Thailand |
Extreme Fishing Thailand fished four provinces of Thailand targeting ten species of freshwater fish. Read Eddy Mounce's exclusive article below including the full unedited fishing adventures which Robson Green and Eddie Mounce embarked upon throughout the making of Extreme Fishing Thailand.
"Fishermen are perhaps the greatest story tellers in the world. Together they represent a large container of legends, true life experiences and whopping great lies. Why? Because each fishing trip, like my journey with Eddie and Fish Thailand, each cast .... like the one's on IT Lake or Bang Pakong River or Bungsamran, and each fish caught like the Mekong Catfish or the giant stingray or my favourite the arapaima is a unique experience.
So don't tell me about the size of the fish, the hook size or the weight of the line.....tell me about the experience. Where were you Robson? I was in the most idyllic parts of Thailand. Who were you with Robson? I was with the wonderful Eddie Mounce from Ipswich! What did it feel like Robson? It felt like one of the best fishing adventures of my life where I was freed from the official version of things and taken back to the simplicity of our forefathers except the backdrop was a little better than Newcastle Upon Tyne!!"
-- Robson Green
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Phone Call From Extreme Fishing
Returning to my Bangkok office after a days fishing a message from my U. K office was waiting on my desk. 'Findlay from IWC Media called - they are interested in filming an Extreme Fishing Thailand.' Findlay McRae is the assistant producer for Extreme Fishing and after ringing him back we spoke for more than an hour. From this I gathered that they wanted as much natural and wilderness fishing as possible which excited me as this was my strong point. Over the weeks Findlay and I exchanged many emails and phone calls in order for me to give as many suggestions and help as possible. Of course I was aware that other fishing guides would have been contacted and based on who had the most experience would be selected to guide Robson Green and make Extreme Fishing Thailand. Below is part of Findlay's email telling me I had won the job:
"Thanks so much for your email. I must say I am very impressed with the standard of fishing guides in Thailand. I’ve been in touch with a few companies and all have come back with outstanding recommendations and detailed suggestions however, your report wins hands down."
I think this is a credit to fishing guides in Thailand and I believe that the work Extreme Fishing, Robson Green and myself have achieved is for the good of all other fishing guides in Thailand, tourism and the Thai people.
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Planning Extreme Fishing Thailand
Out of 6 days allocated to filming the Thailand shoot, no more than 12 hours including travel was allowed per day. This created huge restrictions for me to produce the fish that Extreme Fishing requested. I had one day to catch them a giant freshwater stingray from the powerful Bangpakong River and one day to catch a wild rohu (Indian carp) from the vast freshwater ocean of Khao Laem Dam. Was this even possible? I would suggest 3 days for stingray and 4 days for Rohu to any other client - but to achieve them both in just two days was already extreme! The one day allocated to catch a Mekong catfish and striped catfish from Bungsamran was not a problem nor was it to catch five amazon fish species from IT Lake Monsters in a day but this still meant that half the shoot was in the bag and the other half would be deemed an impossibility by anybody else. Still, there could be no excuses, they asked me if I could do it and I told them that I could - so now I had to produce these fish. The first step was to have a meeting with my team of guides and brief them - my team are amongst Thailand's best anglers and I have every confidence in them.
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Extreme Fishing Thailand - Final Itinerary
Day 1 |
Bangkapi Market / Bungsamran Lake - Bangkok |
Day 2 |
Freshwater Stingray Fishing Bangpakong River - Chachoengsao |
Day 3 |
Bridge Over River Kwae / Travel to Jungle - Kanchanaburi |
Day 4 |
Indian Carp (Rohu) Fishing - Kanchanaburi |
Day 5 |
Filming Jungle Walk / Travel to IT Lake - Ratchaburi |
Day 6 |
Fishing IT Lake Monsters - Ratchaburi |
Out of the above six day shoot, two days were lost to travel and general filming; leaving only four days for fishing at four different venues in four different provinces of Thailand.
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The Reccy Trip
Assistant producer - Findlay Mcrae & producer/director - Jamie Goold, flew out to Thailand a week before the scheduled shoot for me to take them to all the venues I had planned them to fish and also to meet all of my team.
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Every location had to be inspected and surveyed by the Extreme Fishing Thailand Team |
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Bangkapi Market - Blood & Guts
I met with Robson Green and the production team the night before at their hotel in Bangkok for dinner and drinks. The next day we shot the first scene at Bangkapi Market in Bangkok, the purpose was to film Robson and myself buying our dead baits and cow blood for the predator fishing at IT Lake Monsters. The twist was that we would be filming out of sequence and that we had to pretend that we had already been fishing for a week together. This was to be our final farewell before I sent Robson off fishing with Alley for the final day at IT Lake Monsters; whereas in reality I had only just met Robson the night before! For Robson, a great actor this was not a problem but for me it was slightly confusing.
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Robson & Eddy shopping for fish & blood at Bangkapi Market in Bangkok |
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Fishing in Bangkok at Bungsamran Lake - Mekong Catfish
At Bungsamran I was to now film meeting Robson for the first time - although I had just spent an hour with him at Bangkapi market and dinner together the previous night. However I was getting the hang of this by now and Jamie the director knew exactly how he wanted each scene to go and portrayed it very clearly with great ease. The target was Mekong catfish of any size - it just had to be exciting fishing full of action for viewers.
We set up on the largest bungalow, fishing three rods; two rods on the float for Mekong action and one rod baited as a margin leger for the chance at any larger specimens. It was decided by Extreme Fishing that myself and Fish Thailand guide Golf would be fishing on film with Robson at Bungsamran.
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Robson Green & Eddy Mounce Filming Extreme Fishing Thailand at Bungsamran |
The first fish on for Robson was great to see, he has fished all over the world in previous episodes of Extreme Fishing and I was looking forward to seeing his reaction to a Mekong catfish from Bungsamran! Robson held his own and played the Mekong catfish very well indeed, his passion for angling can be clearly seen as he admired the fish and respected it's power. Another Mekong catfish a short while later was hooked but this one was a bit more lively and I had to assist on a couple of occasions as it dived under the bungalow, at about 50lb this was understandable.
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Robson Green guided by Eddie Mounce Fishing in Bangkok at Bungsamran Lake |
The crew were now after a striped catfish to show other species for the viewers so we changed bait over to bread crust and immediately Robson caught one. It was only midday at this point so the producer decided to fish for another hour in the hope of something gigantic, meanwhile Robson and I discovered that we both can play the didgeridoo using my landing net pole! All in all the filming & fishing at Bungsamran was always going to be successful, as the fish they requested for Extreme Fishing were exactly the size and species that we caught for them. A lovely day for me to begin the filming with but the true test of my angling experience was going to be the next day fishing for freshwater stingray.
Back To Contents | Bungsamran Lake Fishing Package
Freshwater Stingray Fishing Thailand - Bangpakong River
Extreme fishing Thailand needed to catch a freshwater stingray to make the TV show truly 'extreme.' Just the thought of Robson Green stingray fishing in Thailand and catching one on camera was enough to feel the pressure of this day. Added onto this was the time restriction of just one day to complete this mission - I can't begin to describe how much I wanted Robson to catch a stingray; the outcome would make or break Extreme Fishing Thailand.
Upon arrival to the Bangpakong River the plan was to first of all film at the nearby temple and for Robson to make his offerings to the Buddha. It was decided that I would not personally be on film for the stingray as I would already be featured in so much of Extreme Fishing Thailand. Instead I placed the head of my stingray team as the face on TV with Robson - his name is Que; which Robson found quite funny considering he had a snooker table in his house right next to the river where the rods would be positioned awaiting a run.
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Freshwater Stingray Fishing with Fish Thailand: Eddy Mounce, Que & Robson
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Safety is always an important issue with big game fishing like this and the correct tackle is essential. Fish Thailand are sponsored by Penn and have some really tough gear to handle these gigantic stingrays. Robson was glad that we had such good equipment and I fitted him up with the harness, belt, life jacket and applied some serious pressure to the setup to give him some idea of what to expect; this part did however worry him slightly!
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Robson Green fitted up with big game tackle sponsored to Fish Thailand by Penn
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All Penn outfits were fished with live goby - positioned out in the middle of the Bangpakong River. The four rods were placed in the fighting boat moored to the side of Que's house - it was ten o'clock by this time and the river was looking really good. Robson played a game of snooker with Que which I think had Craig the camera man wondering whether he was covering snooker or fishing! One thing I enjoyed the most about fishing with Robson and filming with Extreme Fishing was the fun & diversity they could capture during a TV fishing production.
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Robson plays Que at a game of snooker while waiting for a stingray to bite
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Although I could not be seen on camera for the stingray fishing and my role was to supervise and basically get a fish caught - I couldn't help but sit by the rods in the boat with Que. Freshwater stingray fishing in Thailand is unlike most other forms of fishing, without a bite it is extremely dull and not of interest to most anglers; with a fish on however it will possibly become the most exciting days fishing of your life. As I stared at the resting rods I distinctly remember thinking 'please, please just sing to me!' I stared for a few more minutes with the rest of my team, the time was 12:20pm and the left rod sprung to life as the ratchet on the reel screamed to us. I jumped up and ran back through the house shouting 'fish on!' It was an incredibly exciting moment for everyone as Craig the camera man, Daniel the sound man, Jamie the producer/director, Praves the translator and Robson ran around getting ready to board the boat. Que had already straight away set the hook and was waiting for the film crew and Robson, it was the most memorable moment of my life fishing in Thailand.
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Robson Green beginning to fight the biggest freshwater fish of Extreme Fishing to date
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The first task was for Robson to reel the boat towards the stingray until the boat was directly above it. From then on Robson took it in turns with Que to fight the fish and attempt to break it's hold from the river bed. The first forty minutes of the battle were spent literally applying as much pressure as physically possible to the stingray. A second boat was used by the film crew to capture every moment of the action; I was documenting all of the filming with my own camera. In fact the huge tasks that entailed the making of Extreme Fishing Thailand with Robson Green would make just as great TV!
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Robson Green playing a huge freshwater stingray for Extreme Fishing Thailand
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Robson supported by Que take on the biggest fish of Extreme fishing in Thailand |
Once the fish had been broken from the river bed, Robson along with the two boats and all the crew were taken for a ride up the Bangpakong River by the stingray. This part of the fight is where things can go wrong as it is easy for the fish to find a snag during it's swim. Luckily for us it did not find one this time and gradually over the next twenty minutes the stingray was drawn further and further up in the water until it broke surface. Robson is usually very energetic on camera and full of enthusiasm when he lands a fish, only this time he was unusually quiet. Robson was genuinely overwhelmed by the sight of this enormous fish breeching and a tickle of fear also entered him; coincidently the footage captured for Extreme Fishing Thailand was priceless. The stingray's sting was wrapped up with a towel and secured safely for the short travel across to the shallow margins of the Bangpakong River in preparation for the photo shoot.
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Measuring 2.2 meters across Robson's catch was estimated to weigh 500lb
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This freshwater stingray put the 'extreme' in Extreme Fishing Thailand for Robson Green |
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Fishing Kanchanaburi - Under The Bridge Over The River Kwae
I have visited the Bridge over the River Kwae many times on route to jungle carp fishing in Thailand at Kanchanaburi. Many people will know the story surrounding the bridge and the famous second world war movie based on it's events. However I have never fished under or even near to the bridge in the River Kwae before, until now, with Robson. This was not particularly a targeted fishing venue and we did not have a target fish in mind but we just couldn't resist drowning a few worms for the viewers of Extreme Fishing Thailand. It was quite comical as we free lined worms down the River Kwae with onlookers and Robson Green fans staring down upon us from the bridge; especially as a herd of cows entered the scene while filming and continued to walk straight into our swim before preceding to defecate in our spot!
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Filming Extreme Fishing Thailand at the Bridge over the River Kwae
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Fish Spa - Sai Yok Noi
Extreme fishing is never solely about the fishing in any episode, there are many aspects to each episode that are of the interest to anglers and non anglers alike. After leaving the bridge over the River Kwae one last stop before arriving at our jungle fishing destination was a fish spa located at Rock Valley Hot Springs in Sai Yok Noi. A small pool of natural spring water was stocked with hundreds of small tilapia in the shallow ankle deep water. After standing in the water for a few minutes the tilapia fish swarm into your feet and proceed to bite all of the dead skin from them. On the reccy trip with the film crew previously I experienced the fish spa and believe me - it drives you insane with the most dramatic case of the tickles on earth! We did not tell Robson about this in great detail and his reactions were hilarious, the story picture says it all.
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On route to the jungle fishing we made a detour to the fish spa at rock valley hot springs |
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Robson liked the sound of a spa as he casually sipped on his cocktail and entered the spa |
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Only to discover that tilapia pecking away at dead skin is not for the ticklish! |
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Lowering The Rasbora Nets - Khao Laem Dam
After the fish spa we continued on our journey to Khao Laem Dam where the next day we would begin our jungle carp fishing shoot. Upon arrival we met more members of my Fish Thailand Team, Ay & Ad who have lived on Khao Laem Dam most of their lives. The last shoot before dark was out in the dam at Ay's rasbora nets which is a large fish trap on a raft. Each evening at dusk the net is lowered into the dam and a fluro light bulb powered by a car battery is suspended above the net. Thousands of small shoal fish called rasbora are attracted by the light and congregate together above the net throughout the night. Early morning before sunrise the net is then raised by a pulley system and the fish are caught, each night catches up to 10kg of rasbora collectively; considering each one weighs only a few grams it is quite an impressive haul. They are either sold to market, fed to rearing fish in pens or eaten by the fishermen themselves. Our plan was to film the lowering and setting of the net at dusk then early next morning film the raising of the net. What you may not see on the edited version of Extreme Fishing is me falling straight through the bamboo floor of the raft into the dam!
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A Night On The Carp Raft
A very successful days filming at the bridge, fish spa, meeting my jungle team & lowering the rasbora net. With only half an hour before dark we set off in Ay's boats to my carp fishing raft anchored way out into the wilderness of Khao Laem Dam. For one week the swim where the raft was anchored had been pre-baited by Ay with 50kg of ground bait per day. As we arrived at the raft and everything was unloaded from the boats, Robson realised the director was not joking when he said that he was to sleep one night on the raft before fishing the next day! Myself, Robson, Ay and the director Jamie were to all camp out under the stars together.
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Robson Green & Eddy Mounce on the jungle carp raft in Khao Laem Dam
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After cooking us all a dinner on the raft I fished for an hour with Robson off camera, it was a lovely evening and I just couldn't sleep as the next morning was to be the toughest challenge yet. I had one day to catch an Indian carp (rohu) otherwise the Extreme Fishing in Thailand episode would not work out, the entire filming at all the spots on the way to the jungle would have been wasted. I don't think that film crew fully appreciated the difficulty of getting Indian carp to feed in such conditions with the water levels dropping further each day; in fact we were almost fishing out of the jungle carp season. They had all seen me pull the target fish off so far including a 500lb stingray so I suppose they assumed I would continue the trend out here for Indian carp.
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Camping out under the stars - some fishing and a couple of beers
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Raising The Rasbora Net - Khao Laem Dam
After very little sleep thinking about fishing the alarm clock annoyingly rattled at 4am, signaling the time to wake up and proceed with Ay to the rasbora net which was lowered the previous evening. Robson struggled to rise and Jamie the director was barely alive at all. A quick cup of coffee and a long boat ride gave us all the energy injection required to film Ay raising the net trapping a good catch of rasbora. All I could think of the entire time was getting back to the carp raft so that I could get on with catching an Indian carp for Robson.
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Indian Carp Fishing Khao Laem Dam
By 7a.m all six rods sponsored to Fish Thailand by Penn were cast out over the baited area and to my delight a few carp showed themselves as they rolled nearby. Casting a 1kg ball of ground bait on a method feeder accurately takes some practice but the 11ft Penn surf rods really helped. In all honesty I was fairly confident of picking up a run from a carp despite the bad conditions, I had prepared for this trip for weeks and we have more experience with jungle carp fishing in Thailand than anybody else.
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Penn 11ft Surf Rods - Sponsored by Penn - A Sexy Six Rod Setup
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With Indian Carp fishing the results are in the preparation, between casts every hour and a half there is little to do. I sat next to the rods the entire time, if we get a run in this snaggy dam then speed is of the essence. Too slow and the fish will make it to the snags before so much as getting to the rod. To give us more chance I also decided not to engage the baitrunners, instead I had the rods bolt upright in the holders and standard fighting drag set on the reel; I was not going to make it easy for the fish today. I kept seeing carp leaping and rolling, some close, others a long way off but in my experience at this time of year it does not necessarily lead to feeding fish. I had cast the baits three times over the past few hours or more into position, varying slightly each time their location. At 11:00am I found myself staring at the rods in the same way I stared at the stingray rods wishing them to burst into life. I was thinking to myself that to catch an Indian carp right now would make the filming of Extreme Fishing Thailand a huge success, the most difficult fishing challenges would have been accomplished. The far left rod bent all the way over, I was on the rod in a second as I shouted to the crew 'fish on.' The sound man, camera man, director & Ay took their positions and Robson immediately started to play the fish. My fear was the snags and the last thing that could happen was to lose the fish so Robson correctly applied a lot of pressure to the fish and quickly got it off the bottom. The danger was over and the fish, a gorgeous Indian carp (rohu) could be seen fighting ten feet down in the clear water beneath the carp raft. As I slipped the net under the fish Robson and I were ecstatic with joy - we had done it, the second and equally important catch was in the bag and Extreme Fishing Thailand was looking like a huge success already; it was quite emotional.
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Extreme Fishing Thailand : Jungle Carp Fishing - Eddy Mounce & Robson Green 15lb Rohu |
Back To Contents | Indian Carp Fishing Thailand Package
Fishing IT Lake Monsters - Ratchaburi
Extreme fishing were very keen to fish for Amazon predatory fish found in IT Lake Monsters at Ratchaburi. As we traveled together leaving the jungle fishing scene behind us I was feeling great, the hardest fishing was a success and tomorrow at IT Lake would be a walk in the park in comparison. We all stayed in a hotel local to IT Lake Monsters the night before so that we could get an early start the next day.
Fish Thailand's top Thai guide Alley was to be the face on Extreme Fishing Thailand with Robson at IT Lake Monsters. Alley's personality worked great with Extreme Fishing and Robson had a great time singing and joking with Alley as they fished away together.
To increase chances and fish species I had setup four rods for Robson and Alley to fish, all fishing free lined dead baits. Myself and Kaeng - a Fish Thailand junior guide stayed out of shot working two of the rods as Robson & Alley fished the other two on camera.
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Fish Thailand's Top Thai Guide Alley & Robson Green Extreme Fishing in Thailand
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Only ten minutes into the fishing and Alley hit into a pacu before anybody else was ready, we caught the end of the fight and it showed promise. Ideally we were after multiple species, we were not interested in catching large numbers of the same specie as only one of each would make it on TV anyway. The next few runs were screamers but connected with nothing on the strike - definitely alligator gar; a quick change of rig and bang - in straight away. Robson was really loving the action and the excitement from not knowing immediately what had taken the bait, and Alley was being especially comical making for excellent viewing.
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Robson Green Extreme Fishing Thailand - Alligator Gar From IT Lake Monsters
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The action was fairly consistent and it was still early in the morning, quite a number of fish were species already caught so were not filmed. Robson's enthusiasm towards each fish species was matched with his knowledge of each specie. Previously I had written a report about fish species we were likely to catch filming Extreme Fishing Thailand and Robson had learnt every fish out of genuine interest and love for the fishing.
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Robson Was Very Knowledgeable & Genuinely Enthusiastic About Each of Fish Caught
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The redtail catfish was certainly Robson's favorite, it is most anglers favorite species from IT Lake Monsters. A powerful fighter, vivid colorations and willingness to feed makes it an easy fish specie to fall in love with. Robson landed two redtail catfish during the filming and made for great TV as they don't give up easily.
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Extreme Fishing Thailand - Robson Green & Eddie Mounce with a redtail catfish
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With three species caught this final day of filming was going great and just I was thinking this another fish was hooked, this time a tiger redtail catfish hybrid. With all the running back and forth between runs it was looking like we would be calling it a wrap before lunch time.
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Tiger Redtail Catfish Hybrid (left) Alligator Gar (right)
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The final run of the morning resulted in the most special fish specie of the day - an arapaima. Maybe not a specimen sized arapaima but a perfectly conditioned example and a fish that Robson has always wanted to catch. A total of five different species of fish landed before lunch it was time to call it a day - a cracking end to the filming of Extreme Fishing Thailand with Robson Green.
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Robson Green and his final catch of Extreme Fishing Thailand - an arapaima
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Back To Contents | IT Lake Monsters Fishing Thailand Package
Celebration Dinner
Back to the hotel in Bangkok later that day and then out for dinner to celebrate a very successful Extreme Fishing Thailand. Over dinner and drinks we all reminisced on the past 6 days of filming and the events that had taken place. The camera man Craig and sound man Daniel were two fabulous guys from New Zealand and true professionals. Watching & enjoying Extreme Fishing on channel 5 is possible because of the people you don't see, as much as the people that you do. Our team in the field was nine people strong and at times up to fourteen people all with important jobs to do; making Extreme Fishing Thailand the success it is.
© Copyright 2006 by Eddie Mounce.
All rights reserved
TAT Licence No. 11/3447
Fish (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
