I am spending the month of November in Bangkok because my wife is having our 3rd and final kid. So this mean I will spend some time at Bungsamlan lake while here. This pay-pond is getting to be a famous destination for those who visit Thailand.
There are 3 great reasons to be in Southeast Asia: Novemebr, December, and January. The weather is finally changing from hot and sticky to perfect.
Bungsamlan is getting a little spendy at 1000 Baht per pole (about $30). That is for the foreigner. If you are Thai, the price is 400 Baht (about $13). I also hired a guide at 1000 Baht ($30) for the day. Usually, I like freelance fishing but a guide for Giant Siamese Carp is a must. You definitely need someone who is willing to jump in the water and untangle you from dock posts and I prefer an expert on making the bait mix up.
I jsut can’t sit still very long before a big fishing outing so I arrived early at Bungsamlan to begin fishing before the guide showed up. When I arrived the surface of the water is just boiling with fish feeding. I caught a few Tilapia for bait and threw out for the Dog-Eating Catfish (aka Chao Phraya). It didn’t take long before I connected to hungry carnivore.
This is one of my nicer Cats.
I caught another one.
I then met up with my guide and we prepared the bait and began to target what I really came after: The Giant Siamese Carp.
About 20 minutes after we set all our lines out, my Ambassador 7000 is screaming. I set the hook into this nice Pacu. It seems like nothing is small in this lake.
Then about an hour goes buy and my Calcutta is burning it up. This time it is the fish I came for. A hefty tug on the end of the line told us it was big. The guide could tell by the way it was pulling that it was the Giant Siamese Carp. I can’t believe the power these things have. I was using 80 lb. braid and I couldn’t stop it. It went where it wanted to go. After 20 minutes went by I finally tired it enough to bring to the net. A 50+ LB. BEAST!!!
Boonsong was my guides name.
I also learned to never try to stop a Giant Siamese Carp with your thumb. I was holding it down on my spool for extra pressure and it torched my thumb. I can attest to the quality of a Shimano Calcutta. They are worth the money!
Then the Ambassador started smoking again. The hook was set again into another beast. Perhaps a little smaller than the first but no slouch.
These big Carp are easily becoming one of my favorite fish to chase.
I then ended the day with a nice Striped Catfish.
And almost a personal best Giant Mekong Cat.
Them Mekong Cats are also amazing fighters. I had easily 100+ lb. Mekong Cat on and I couldn’t stop it with my gear. We saw it come up with a tail the size of a snow shovel.
These are truly amazing beasts. I think these pay-ponds like this are cool because where else can you catch endangered species like these?
I forgot to add that the day before this I went to Bungsamlan just to talk with some floks and visit with my guide and while there I saw a guy catch a 130 lb. Siamese Carp. Wow! What a beast! Unfortunately, I left my camera at home that day.
