UNBELIEVABLE THAILAND

 

Roberto Ferrario

                                       

Probably some of you had the way to read in the past on this web site about Jean Francois Helias and his giant catches of strange and unknown Asian fishes. He is a superb fisherman and fishing guide and he knows the best ways to fish in Thailand. He knows very well the Thai freshwaters and in his organization there is a good number of excellent fishing guides.

Some years ago I had the way to fish with him when we organized a fishing trip in a remote area of Thailand near the border of Burma (now Myanmar) at the research of the famous snakehead fish.

From that time we were in contact by e-mail with a weekly frequency exchanging fishing images and stories about our catches and techniques. It was at least one full year that he “stressed” me by continuously sending to me images of giant fishes that him or his client caught and stories of epic battle with this monster fish. He found a non- stop action in some lakes no too far from the capital Bangkok were it was possible to catch: arapaima, mekong catfish of over 70 kilos, red tail catfish, pacu and many others.

Every time he asked me to join him in this wonderful bonanza, so how to say to him “no” once more?

Well, Thailand isn’t so easy to reach - it is necessary at least 11 hours of plane from Europe airports. Fortunately now it exists a good number of direct flights and in some low season period you can find tickets at very reasonable prices. So what I needed was to buy a flight ticket and all the organization of the fishing, accommodations and transport in Thailand was, as usual, totally well organized by Jean-Francois.

So after my arrival in mega-town of Bangkok I met Jean Francois and we were ready to fish in one ofthe most famous and productive lakes of Thailand: the Ratchaburi lake.

RATCHABURI LAKE

This lake is situated at a two-hour drive from Bangkok and it is placed in the downtown of a small quiet city. This lake is smaller that the one of Bung San Lan and it is owned by a friend of Jean Francois Helias, a rich man that owns also a big sugar factory. Some time ago he created this lake and introduced in it a large quantity of local and foreign fishes so when you have a hook up you never know what kind of fish there is at the end of the line. So here you can find: rohu, tai pla kot kang catfish, chao phtaya, gorami, arapaima of over 70-80 kilos, pirarara (red tail catfish), surubim, sharptooth catfish, tiger catfish, pacu, tambaqui, tilapia, gar alligator, arawana and barramundi.
 

Here the most used technique is spin fishing that usually produces good results during the day; in the hottest moments of the day and in late afternoon the best way is to use live or dead tilapia. With the spin fishing technique the main predators that you can catch are arapaima, barramundi and gar alligator but you can have also good chances with the catfishes. Very slow retrieves here are a rule.

To hook up these bottom predators isn’t absolutely easy due to the very hard mouths that these fishes have; so you need good quality and very sharp treble hooks, the best thing is to change the ones you have on your lure with 3X or 4X strong. Also the split ring should be minimum of 100 lb or you will lose many many fishes. At the beginning I used Rosco split ring of 75 lb, but in one case I had it open easily by a redtail catfish.

As rod I used a Shimano Best Master 50-100 gram of 2.70 meters and on my reel I spooled 150 meters of 50 lb Rapala braid. As lures the best results I have obtained with Rapala X-Rap 10 centimeters, Rapala Magnum of 9 and 11 centimeters and some gar alligator was caught with Rapala Glass Shad Rap. As colours I prefer natural dark colours that imitate tilapia; here, this small fish is usually of brown-green colour.

As regard fishing with live bait or dead bait, they usually use small tilapia on the bottom or on the surface with a float. I suggest you to bring with you an acoustic alarm like the one used in the carp-fishing. It is very useful at night. As regard hooks and leader you will need extra sharp hooks of size vary from 2 to 1/0 and a good 80 lb nylon.

With this technique you never know what kind of fish you can catch; any way 60-70% of the bites are usually red tail catfish with a weight from 7 to 20 kilos. This is surely one of the most powerful fishes I have ever caught. Any way during a full day we always had bite of arapaima, gar alligator and other catfishes.

Personally I used a 150-200 grams rod of 2,70 meters and a reel spooled with an 80 lb braid line for this fishing.

In the hottest moment of the day we also used light tackle to catch with bread or with gound bait smaller fishes like gorami, rhou, tilapia.

So if you have in mind to make a trip in Thailand don’t lose the opportunity of fishing in these two wonderful lakes. If you goal is only the fishing other than in these lakes you can add some fishing days also in the famous island of Phuket or make an adventurous fishing trip at the research of the legendary snakehead fish in the Thailand wild jungle.

ARAPAIMA - WHAT IS IT?

The arapaima or pirarucu, (Arapaima gigas) is a South American tropical freshwater fish. It is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, reportedly with a maximum length in excess of 3 meters and weight up to 200 kilos. As one of the most sought after food fish species in South America, it is often captured primarily by handheld nets for export, by spearfishing for local consumption and, consequently, large arapaima of more than 2 meters are seldom found in the wild today.
 

The diet of the arapaima consists of fish or even other kinds of small animals, including birds. The fish also has the ability to breathe air from the surface due to a lung-like lining of its throat, an advantage in oxygen-deprived water that is often found in the Amazon River. This fish is therefore able to survive extensive drought periods by gulping air and burrowing in the mud or sand of the swamps.

The arapaima has also been introduced for fishing in Thailand and Malaysia. It is also considered an aquarium fish, although it obviously requires a large tank and ample resources. Fossils of arapaima or a very similar species have been found in the Miocene Villavieja Formation of Colombia.

Due to the geographic range that arapaima inhabits, the animal's life cycle is greatly affected by the seasonal flooding that occurs. Half of the year the arapaima experiences an abundance of water, which is a benefit to these aquatic organisms; however, the other half of the year the arapaima experiences drought conditions. The arapaima has adapted to this great fluctuation in many aspects of its life, including reproduction.

One individual can yield as much as 70 kg of meat. In addition, the arapaima's bony tongue is often used to scrape cylinders of dried guarana, an ingredient in some beverages, and the bony scales are used as nail files. This animal also appears in the pet trade, although to keep an arapaima correctly requires a gargantuan tank and can prove quite difficult to house, even for the experienced aquarist.

USEFUL INFORMATION

DOCUMENTS: You need the passport valid for at least 6 months and a visa for a period of more than 30 days. You can obtain it at the embassy or at the consulate of Thailand.

FLIGHTS: Many flight companies flight to Thailand like: KLM, Thai Airways, Brithish Airways, Air France, Swissair, Lufthansa.

CLIMATE: In all the country the temperature remains high for about all the year. The best period, as climate, to visit Thailand it is surely from November to February. The hot season runs from March to May with temperature near 40 °C. The rain season starts from June to October but vary from place to place

CURRENCY: The local currency is the Bath that it is divided in 100 Satang.

LANGUAGE: The official language is Thai, English is widely spoken.

VACCINATIONS: No vaccination is obligatory.

For general information you can give a look at this web site: www.tourismthailand.org

For more information about fishing you can contact directly Fishing Adventure Thailand of Jean-Francois Helias (34/13-14 City Studio, 8/21 Sukhumvit Soi 13, Bangkok 10110, Thailand) or visit his web site www.anglingthailand.com  or contact him by e-mail info@fishingasia.com