Carp Fishing Bangkok - Shadow Lake
Our main target and interest today was the various carp species located in Shadow Lake; being the second day here with Bren & Mark conditions were looking great.
Off to a screaming run in the morning for both Bren & Mark resulting in 2 beautiful sized striped catfish followed by a few more stipers by mid morning.
Mrigal Fishing Bangkok
Bren hit a very shy run connecting with a fish that was clearly one of the many carp species in Shadow Lake - indeed it was as a lovely mrigal that graced the banks, shortly afterwards another smaller mrigal fell to the same tactics of ram fished with 'met foams' on the hook. This is a tactic that most anglers simply refuse to believe work - a small ball of polystyrene on the hook and no 'bait' as such; it proves itself time and time again to the disbelief of most anglers. Certainly today the fish were favouring these balls of foam over bread or any 'real' bait for that matter.
Chinese Bighead Carp Fishing Bangkok
One of the most prestigious and rewarding of carp species to catch from Shadow Lake, other than the Siamese carp has to be the Chinese Bighead Carp. The majority of carp anglers will have never come accross such a species and for Bren to land one today was simply magic - an extremely pleasing result.
The One That Got Away
With Mark landing a final 'sneaky' mrigal and ending on par with each other in terms of numbers of fish caught over the 2 days; it was time to pack up. Bren had 1 more rod to bring in as it was getting dark and to everyone's joy the bite alarms began singing that song that every carp angler is in tune with - a one toner!
Connecting with the fish it was clear it was a Mekong catfish as it stripped line at a frightening pace accross the lake. Walking down the lake following the run-away fish, all hands to the deck as we knew this was a 'biggy.'
About 10 minutes into the fight and Bren was beginning to control the fish and make line back on his reel - until the tragic tale of 'the one that got away' unfolded. To everyone's heart break the Giant Mekong catfish simply spat the hook back at Bren. A bad hookhold, or should we say an unlucky hookhold had released it's grip as all went slack. Of course even without seeing the fish every angler and guide has to give an estimate on the size of the fish and this one would have most probably broken the 100lb mark - we were sick!
All in all a fabulous and eventful 2 days fishing and Fish Thailand look forward to Bren and Mark's return in the near future. |
