Kingfish Hustle

Thanks for the responses. I've bought the tickets for her and my sister. Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

Thinking of surprising my niece with tickets for her 7th bday. I was wondering if it's loud enough to scare her. She can be frighten by loud noises. To give an idea of her limits. She can sit through an animated film but she will be frightened of banging drums or fireworks that are close by. You think she will be fine or give it a miss?

AmazonBKK part 2

AmazonBKK

IT part 2

IT Monster Lake

Bungsamran

I did quite a bit of fishing in Thailand during the holidays. First destination: Bungsamran Bungsamran is a fishing pond located inside Bangkok and its about 30 minute taxi ride from city centre. The pond is stocked with Mekong Catfish, Giant Siamese Carp and Arapaima. I got here on New Years Day and started fishing around 8am. I brought my own rod & reel and leader so i didn't need their gear but i did hire the guide available at the lake. The guide provided me the rig which is just a typical catfish rig. Float, bait cage and size 4/0 game fishing hook. First hook up took a while because Bangkok had been unusually cold (under 25 is cold for them) and windy. The fish same as Thai don't like cold either! I was using braid so the wind kept pushing my float out of the zone. After an hour, i finally hooked up. These Mekong's do put up a good fight, taking long runs and finding structure. As you bring it in close, it will go under the pier or tried to wrap your line around a pylon. They don't give up so easily. After a 10-15min struggle, I landed a fish roughly 30kg which they say is only baby. The rest of the day was just Mekong, ranging 30-45kg. Couldn't find the Siamese Carp. Didn't catch Arapaima as i thought 40k was extortion. Although most say the large Arapaimas are in this lake. The facilities at this place is just amazing. There is a restaurant which you can order food from your bungalow or centre pier. I just fished from the centre pier as there is no extra costs. Bungalows can be hired but i didn't inquire about costs. Some bungalows have beds so you can stay the night. There is a shop to buy snacks, a tackle shop that will make you drool and a massage shop. If you want to buy tackle, bring lots of money as you won't find Big Dub gear in this shop. The costs: Fishing license - 2000b Fishing guide - 1000b Bait and flavouring - 520b Extra bread bait - 110b per bag Small bucket of rice bait and flavouring - 140b per bucket Rod hire - 600b Arapaima - 40000b !!! (no mistake there) Some tips: There are outside guides that will provide transport, gear, bait, guided fishing, drinks and lunch for about 8000b. DON"T BOTHER! I took a taxi and that is about 350-400 return to Asok and a little more to Siam, depending on traffic. I came here a few times because of it proximity to BKK centre. Each time i came here i spent under 4000b in total. Hire the guide within the lake if you wish. I did the first time and after that i didn't bother. If you do hire a guide, give him a tip because he only gets half. I gave 500b. The guides do work their butts off to get you fish. If you are Thai or working in Thailand, the fishing license is 400b. Typical two tier pricing, but their excuse was foreigners didn't care about the fish so they jacked up the price. Second destination: IT Monster Lake This place is situated in Ratchaburi and its a good 2 hour drive from BKK centre. Bit longer on way home as you encounter the dreaded Bangkok traffic. There are 3 lakes here. 2 lakes are lure fishing only which i didn't try. They're stocked with Peacock Bass and some other fish. I was fishing in the main lake which is bait and lure fishing. The lakes are stocked with Redtail Catfish, Mekong Catfish, Wallago Catfish, Alligator Gar, Arapaima and some other species. For this place i hired a guide for 13500b plus 500b tip. The guide provided transport to and from hotel. Dead bait and live bait. All the tackle necessary. Unlimited drinks and lunch. I started with using dead baits first, first fish i hooked was Redtail Catfish. These fish don't fight as hard as Mekongs but they do fight. Taking longs initial runs as far as the other side of the lake. Second cast was redtail, third cast redtail. Fourth cast i managed to catch an Alligator Gar. These fish are piss weak. Kinda like catching a monster flathead. The guide then went away to catch some live Tilapia. He came back and put a hook through its back. Told me to cast as far as possible. After a while, i got a hook up and slowly came in a Mekong. This mekong was about 60kg. Much bigger than Bungsamran.. The rest of the day was Redtail and Mekongs with Gar mixed in. Didn't get my Arapaima which i was a bit disappointed. Some tips: Here i recommend getting a fully guided package. First the fishing license for foreigner is about 7500b. If you hire a taxi for a day, its about 3000b. No taxis or public transport in this area so the driver stays there for the day. You will need to buy your own bait, drinks and lunch. You will need to catch your own livies too. However, if you know where to find them and use a cast net. Then it shouldn't be a problem. Third destination: AmazonBKK This fishing lake is somewhere near Nakhon Pathom and is also a good 2 hour drive from BKK centre. This lake is mainly stocked with Arapaima, Redtail, Tarpon, Mekong, Aliigator Gar, Pacu etc. This lake is lure fishing only. There are some rules too, PE3.5 is minimum, single hook or single treble and barbs must be crushed. Lures are no longer than 20cm. My main aim is Arapaima. Here i came without a guide, the caretaker of the lake speaks no english, a handful of lures and i have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. So i started randomly casting lures here and there. I did this for hours and nothing jumped onto my lures. The caretaker pitied me and grab my rod and showed. He first pointed to the sun which was still low, the arapaima are hanging up high. So use hard body sub surface swimbaits. Then he pointed when sun is up high, the arapaima goes deep and he pointed to my plastic lures. I got the hint! And his final tip was to retrieve very slow. If you think retrieval for bream is slow, then slow down much much much more. So i continued throwing lure for most of the day and i still got nothing. One of the friendly fisherman came up to me and said slow day in his acceptable english. He said Bangkok had been unusually cold which has turned the fish off. I said in my mind cold for you but i'm melting! Anyways as the sun began to set i finally hooked up onto an Arapaima! These fish pull pretty hard but that is all, just a very hard tug. The mekongs fight much harder with mega long runs and they are much smaller compared to Arapaima. So after a few minute fight, came in an 80kg arapaima. Still i was very happy as i got my goal. Even though this one is small for its kind, i'm happy. After few photos, i jumped in the lake to let this fish swim free. I gave it one more cast and i got a hookup. But lost it. And that was it. I had to be back in BKK. Some tips: Here you can hire a guide for about 9000b. They will provide you everything except lunch or drinks. But after my experience, i don't think its necessary. Do some internet research and i think that should be sufficient. The fishing license is 2500b and you can hire a driver for 2000b. Get in touch with the lake via their website and they will send a driver to your hotel. Do bring lots and lots of water and food as there is nothing to buy nearby. If you bring lures, get some large swim baits and soft plastics as the Arapaima love big lures. Also, make sure lures have action when retrieved really slow. I had one Rapala but just looks a dead stick when retrieved slowly. I got some Guron lures, which are Thai version of Giron lures from Jackall. They should work but not that day. I had some large plastics and something like paddle tail or wriggler works best because they still swim when really slow. Avoid flickbaits as any sudden jerks with the lure will spook the arapaima. And lastly, if you intend to bring your own gear and if you had only one choice like me. Bring a rod that can cast heavy baits and reel loaded with 50lb line. Bring leaders either 60 or 80lb. I brought 100lb too but hardly got bites. If you like your baitrunners, they are perfect too. I have some photos too but apparently the SD cards i brought aren't it. Wait a few more days for my girlfriend to return and you shall see.