Fishing in Thailand

Ernest Hemingway once said “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

Well, I have been to Paris and have to disagree with him on that but , substitute Bangkok for Paris and Im in…I lived in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand for several years and will always remember that time with great fondness. Basically Thailand spoiled me for life elsewhere.

Throughout those years I engaged in many different adventures and outdoor pursuits with locals and visiting friends. Things like hunting at night for squirrels, rats and bats, foraging for wild edibles in the forest, learning blacksmithing, and perhaps my favorite – fishing.

Once in March a few years ago I contacted my good friend Captain Eddie Mounce of Fish Thailand(http://fishthailand.co.uk/).

My interest was in doing a jungle fishing safari on Kanchanaburi Lake at Khao Laem Dam in western Thailand. I had heard about the massive snake head species in the lake.

Eddie informed me that the snake heads (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channidae) were not biting at the time so I opted to do some fishing for Mekong Catfish and other catfish species at Bungsamran Lake near Bangkok.

It turned out to be a good day, Eddie provided me with an excellent fishing guide named Ali and under his guidance I managed to Hook and land 38 catfish all over 20 kilos in weight over an 8 hour period.

The Mekong Catfish(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangasius_gigas) is the largest fresh water species in the world and is protected under thai law. So it is catch and release only, and a real honor to see and handle such awesome fish.

A few days later I took the bus south from Bangkok to Ko for some Tuna fishing. I was able to hire a boat for the entire day for just over 30 bucks American.

I didn’t catch any tuna but toured the fish farm, drank some Chang beer, dined on excellent sea foods and got wayyyyy too much sun.

While at the fish farm I had some fun feeding the captive tuna, I would throw a small bait fish over their pens and watch them shoot through the water, I believe they are the fastest fish in the ocean.

I ended up spending the night because I missed the last ferry back to the mainland.

The next morning I caught the ferry, then took the bus back to Bangkok, and had a long nap before heading out in quest of my next adventure.

Colonel Tomahawk