Andy - a regular client of Fish Thailand invited his 3 friends for a fishing competition at Bungsamran Lake in Bangkok. The teams were Andy & Mike 'V' Thomas & Dag; a key-card from their hotel was flipped for the first run which Andy & Mike won.
A few minutes later and Mike hit the first run, which we were all expecting it to be an average 40lb'er. Twenty minutes into the fight and Mike couldn't believe the strength of these 'average size' cats! Mike managed to turn some very heavy, persistent runs from the fish on many occasions; at the point of exhaustion Andy took over on the rod which is when we all realised this was a serious heavy weight fish. Andy played the fish in the close quarters bringing the total time to about 45 minutes; all 3 other rods had been taken out in the process by this 1 fish creating a beauty of a birds nest. The final stages of the fight were played by Alley 'hand lining' the fish into the net due to all the other lines creating a blockage up the main line.
Estimated to be 180lb-200lb - this is clearly one of Bungsamran's more recent stockings, with a great proportioned weight to length - a superb solid, fat Mekong giant catfish.
Thomas and Dag were slightly demorilised by the daunting task of catching up with this heavy weight fish over the day. But as Mike & Andy retired for an hour to have a Thai massage - Thomas & Dag went to work with fish after fish hitting the scales.
The deadline was 4p.m and by about 3p.m Mike & Andy had a string of lost fish through hook pulls - the competition was close! The final whistle blew and the result was Mike & Andy with just under 300Kg total; Thomas & Dag with just over 300Kg - the winners!
The moral of the story is not to have a Thai massage during a fishing competition! A great day full of laughs and most importantly some great fish. At 180-200lb, this is a heavy weight Mekong catfish that very few people catch even with many years fishing in Bangkok.
