Bob9863

Yellow belly, Thai style.

If I was you I'd bring a good reel over, probably in the 2500-3000 size range as it will cover a lot of ground. I'd bring a good travel rod or buy one here, but you can buy a decent two piece rod here pretty cheaply, but it's good to have a quality reel. Everything else can be worked out later.

Sharks are getting to be a real problem, we should be selling sustainably harvested fins and flake. Good money and if it's done properly it could really help with the illegal market.

Well, she is definitely happy today.

I've foul hooked a hundred or more, caught them on soft plastics but this was definitely a 1st for me.

3 yellows, 57cm, 54cm and 47cm

Had a very unexpected catch today, I got a big hit while dead sticking a hardbody, big head shake followed by a powerful pull, I was expecting a cod but ended up landing a damn carp. I've never caught one on a big hard body like that before, I guess things are getting hungry.

The wife was a bit upset with me when she found out I had been throwing the fish back my last few trips, I thought we still had a few in the freezer, but it turns out she had given a few to some friends parents. So I was tasked with catching a few. I headed out at the crack of dawn to get a couple of hours in. I got two in quick succession after a slow start, but then with 20min on the clock I noticed one up near the bank and made a play for it, turns out there was a few there, in 5-6 casts working the lure super slow I pulled out 3 more for full bag. 5 yellows in just under 2 hours wasn't a bad way to spend the morning.

I'm actually finding catching the bigger yellow belly on that rod is harder in its own way. They head shake and dive towards the rocks a lot more, every time they do I'm always left with a sinking feeling in my gut. But that light gear is working when everything else won't. But I think I'm learning a lot about playing them better because of it, and less are getting off the hook as a result.

Two more yellow belly, a 53cm and a 57cm. Actually caught 3 that went 53cm today.

Out of the river, so I was pretty worried about rocks and snags. But one thing I really learnt catching arapaima is that it's best not to muscle the big fish, that just makes them fight harder, even pressure and ease them in seems to be the way to go. That and try to keep them near the surface, let them wear themselves out.

I headed out this morning for a flick, and didn't realise until I got there that I'd left my bigger heavier lures at home, as I'd been drilling them out and filling them with lead shot to get some extra distance as the fish have been holding out pretty far recently. All I had was some soft plastics and small lures, so I packed up the big rod and fished the little 3kg finesse rod with a 1000 size reel and 6lb braid. Things went pretty slow until I started seeing some yellows following in my plastic, so I put on a little atomic vibe and fitted an assist hook on the rear, the 1st fis o got was a small foul hooked carp, so I wasn't to hopeful. But then I landed a couple aof reasonable yellows right at the bank tea bagging at a ledge, lost two more and then got smoked by something big. I hooked in and had a hell of a fight thinking I'd foul hooked another carp as there was no head shakes just a lot of weight holding ground. I played it for another 10min, then it came up about 15 yards out and it was a very solid cod. Every time I got it near the net it just swam away, it just wouldn't go near the net at all. My drag was light, my rod was too, 6lb braid didn't give me much confidence and the little hooks didn't fill me with a lot of hope either, I couldn't afford to mess anything up. So I slow played it, tried to manoeuvre it into a better position and finally got it in the net. 74cm 6kg cod on 6lb braid, trmurned out being a pretty good day after all.

Not a bad day out at all.

3 more for the board. 74cm cod 48cm yellow belly 49cm yellow belly

Not sure I got this right, I've been out of touch for a while. But pulled out a 60cm yellow today.

Never been there but a friend goes a bit, you will be hard pressed to find a fishing charter that doesn't provide gear, but if you have any gear that you like using there's nothing wrong with taking your own. Despite fishing at parks that provide gear, having a heap of gear in our homes in thailand, every time I go I still take at least two outfits that I like using.

The difference is PE ratings are just for braid, never for mono. A 2-4 might be around 40lb at the highest rating at say 20kg, but you only want to use half that fir the drag. So a PE 2-4 should be perfect fir 40lb standard braid and 10kg of drag. I've got one as my arapaima lure rig, I run PE3 59kg braid and only about 7kg of drag to be on the safe side.

Pretty good feed, you can't complain about that.

Unless you get spare spools, quick is out of the question. Most tackle shops have some spare spools and you don't need too many as new line conveniently enough comes with its own spool. One of the best solutions is to balance your line, have something that is thin enough for your light fishing and heavy enough for your biggest fishing needs. Or like myself and many others on here you could have a shed full of rods for different situations. I have seen a line changer that runs on an electric drill, that would make it much faster to change line, but I've never bothered looking into one. It's just something I do while watching TV.

Let 12000 go and not catch one. So much for Kama.

Looks like I'm Southside.

They really are a great looking fish, let's hope the season keeps getting better.

20lb wouldn't be a bad choice in that situation, especially in a thin braid, but 15lb regular braid should do the trick too. They will reduce your casting distance with lighter soft plastics ect but should be plenty strong and tough enough with the right leader for what your fishing for at the time. It's a bit of a jump to go from bream and flathead to mackerel but I'd say the 15lb would be your best bet. The lighter you fish the more bites you get, landing them then is up to you.

The main reason I don't buy $100 reels, or even $200 reels is they feel gritty, are unbalanced and the drags are seldom smooth or long lasting. The reels also don't last that long with constant use, the bearings rust up and the reels start to corrode. I'd rather spend $200 on a 2nd hand reel that retails around $300 to end up with something that will last better. Depending on how it's been treated. That's not to say it won't work or do a decent job, just don't expect it to last. I'd fork out a bit more and get a 2nd hand Shimano bait runner D or equivalent. With the prices ATM I'm looking at getting a couple of Shimano Thunnus reels for live baiting as they are at baitrunner prices ATM. With a little care they will be with me for years to come.

Shimano grappler, the best of the thin line, I swear by it.