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Thailand Bangkok Fishing Day 1 - My First Arapaima at Amazon Lak

I got my first glimpse of the Arapaima while watching Robson Green's Extreme Fishing. Imagine the thoughts in my head when my fishing guide BKKguy guaranteed me some Arapaima when we changed the location from Boon ma to Amazon Lake.

The thought that i would be catching a species regarded as one of the holy grails of freshwater fishing was coursing through my mind from the moment i touched down at the airport to the moment that i made my last cast there.

Yes if you don't know yet, i am in Thailand trying to do a Robson Green! I'm trying to get my first Mekong Catfish and Arapaima with the help of John(bkkguy) who has been a guide there for many years. He speaks English, Chinese, Thai and was the best choice for the mission.

John advised me to get some small lures for the fishes as the fishes like to take small lures there. In addition, he got for me some baby giron to try out at the pond. But the secret weapon was only unveiled to me when the fishing started. It was EASY TO USE and the best thing was that anyone can use this method and get a fish.

Thai Baby giron



i brought my own tackle with me so AG and me had a set each. AG was using the Shimano Bassterra 10-20lbs with a Team Daiwa Tierra 3000 spooled with casting PE 2.5. But i was using a very softy setup of a Zeus Inox 5-10lbs with Daiwa Caldia Kix 2000!!!

The first thing you will notice about the pond is that the whole area is very clean and full of animals! It was really like fishing with Animals. It was also not crowded on that day and we were the only group that started fishing!

Great pond!



John let me try my setup first while he scooped some small fishes to rouse the fish up from their sleep. Within a few seconds of dumping the small fishes to feed the big ones, we heard the distinctive "POP" of the Arapaima feeding all around us. Some were even right below us. We started casting and working our artificial baits and on my first cast i hit something which was taking off at high speed! Yes!!! And Noooo.... my line was bust when i tried to strike!!! !#%@!$ There goes my very first Arapaima! AG was having a different time though and her reel went screaming. After a good clean fight, her first Arapaima of her life was up! I must say... we felt like Robson Green!

A quick switch of tackle was done and John loaned me his tackle for the remainder of the trip as my tackle was too light. After a few casts... Boom! Fish on! The fish was hooked and it was another Arapaima! I had the upper hand and landed the stubborn fish. The fight of an Arapaima was almost the same like fighting a seabass.... but it had more stamina!

My Arapaima weighed in at 40kg and i was too excited to care about anything! The expertise of John was VERY crucial when fishes are landed as anglers are usually not focused or do not know how to take good pictures with the fishes. John's experience meant the fishes were handled carefully and released in good timely fashion. It is during this time that i truly appreciated a fishing guide.

My first Arapaima!




Having landed our objectives, i started casting some rubbers and got a big hit but the fish managed to pull off the metal body of the lure and leave me with the head! What fish was that?

We had a few hits in between before lunch. And what a great lunch we had... Cheap, good and refreshing.

A great lunch at Amazon lake!



AG and me then landed a few more fishes including some more Arapaima and even the Tiger Redtail Catfish hybrid fish. It was amazing because i had landed redtail cats before but this cross breed of redtail fought harder because it had a sharp design. It was more powerful than the usual red tail!

More Arapaima, red tails...






After me and AG had given up for the afternoon, John took out a Baby Giron and made a few casts. All of us were amazed when he managed to hook onto a Pacu!

I got curious and spent some time at the small pond in where i landed a carp on lure! Yup, this greedy carp grabbed a lure! I missed a few baby Arapaima on lure at this pond... I actually liked this pond quite alot too...

The small pond...





The next feeding time will be evening time according to John and this was exactly what happened. The fishes started getting active during evening time and we were getting some action again. Arapaimas were being landed and a very nice featherback was landed by our neighbour. The featherback fought like a mad train and was definitely a better fighter than our local ones back in Singapore...

After the few fishes for the evening, all of us went home for the night satisfied and very exhausted. I landed 2 Tiger Redtails and 5 Arapaima while AG landed 1 Tiger Redtail, 1 Pacu and 3 - 4 Arapaima. That was alot of fish for the 2 of us!!!

All these could not have been possible without John. John was our driver, translator, fishing guide, photographer and everything else for the trip. I highly recommend his service. You can get him at http://www.bkkfishingtour.com/

I'll be posting up Day 2 of the fishing next. It will be for Mekong Catfish at the famous BSR (Bungsamram) that even Robson Green visited!

Comments

Paddy Pike said…
Those Arapima are fantastic and i think you guys could give Robson a good run for his money, I really like the colours of the Catfish,
Well done,
,,,Paddy,,,
Nigel said…
Thank you Paddy! It really felt very surreal to be doing what he did! Hope he comes out with new episodes!!
Paddy Pike said…
Hi Nigel,
I believe he's doing a whole new series, I keep coming back to this page because of the Arapima,They are a truely stunning fish,
I will let you know when Robson's new series starts,
,,,Paddy,,,
Lawrence said…
nice pics and nice catches ! I've been reading your blog for a while now ( sometimes at work... shhh )

gonna head to bkk and hopefully experience both the mekogn and the araipaima as well in May !

any recommendations ?
Nigel said…
Lawrence, call up bkkguy john. He is extremely experienced for the arapaima. For me, the main attraction for getting him is reliable service and good soft skills like helping to compose u for a photo. priceless
Nelis said…
Hi there
I'm from Holland and life here in BKK. I visit many places around BKK but never see this place .
It look so good and i want to go there can you give me this adres to go to ...

Gr Nelis
Nigel said…
Hi Nelis, thanks for visiting.

It'z at Amazon Fishing Park.

Do a google search or follow this link
http://www.john-tom.com/FishingInThailand/FishingInThailand.html

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