Bob9863

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

The funny thing is, to get the perfect lure, you don't ask the fishermen, you ask the fish.

Your a braver man then me, or you invest in much better internet security then me anyway.

15 hours ago, Bullsta said:

Hey Bob does that setup keep yakkas alive?

I am looking at keeping 20 odd yellowatail alive for around 6 hours.

Thanks

I haven't tried with salt water fish, but I kept 5 yellow belly in one for two days before letting them go in a dam on a farm. So it should be fine.

I use the Alvey Engel Cooler Box, it's a good cooler, has 4 rod holders and a really good aerator.

I've tried others but this is the one that works and works really well, I highly recommend it.

There's a heap of great trout in the river near me, in a lot of the rivers near me actually.

Some great size too.

Yes a Nasci or a Vanford in the 2500-3000 size range should be sweet with that rod.

as for species there is a whole heap of species to target with that size outfit, I wouldn't target any specific species but just fish general and see what you get. A better option is to look at what areas it will be suitable to fish around you.

I was wondering if there were man Mekong giant catfish still living in the chaophraya River, but I'd forgotten about the temples, I knew they had fish there that people feed, but I thought they were the regular catfish.

But no, the Mekong giant catfish looks like it's still got quite a future.

That was the hardest days fishing I've had at a fishing park. Besides the wind that didn't let up until 15:30 in the afternoon, I had a fishing guide that came with two German's.

He was putting out heaps of pellets and followed me around, he managed to hook and land 3. I didn't do so well, I hooked and absolute monster and lost it just as they were bringing the net over. I thought I was done but 5min after I landed a little blank saver.

Nit my best day, but I learnt a lot about fishing in the bad conditions and learnt a few tricks and spots that will greatly improve my odds on my next trip over next year.

I've never been so grateful to land a fish.

Having a shocker today, there's a 35-40km/h wind and it's put the fish right off. I've been at it for over 4 hours now and not a single bite.

It's supposed to settle down this arvo, so hopefully it comes good then.

Tie a few rigs up tonight, the owners grandson that knows this pond well pointed me out the best areas to target, so if it all comes together I should get onto a few in the morning.

It was a real surprise, we thought it might have been an arapaima, but it did feel a little different.

Most of the fish fight deep, but arapaima fight high and so did this, but it wasn't running as much.

I bought some new hooks and leader to tie sine rigs up with, I think I missed the fish that I did as I was using circle hooks with a long bent point, I think that cost me good hook sets. But it's been a great learning experience, so I will see if do better tomorrow when I go back.

I had an absolute shocker yesterday, I caught 6 fish but had at least 10 get off. Buy I'm back there tomorrow, re geared up and although a new plan to purely target the arapaima along the banks.

I want my 200lb arapaima.

But anyway I got one little one, 4 red tail and fir something a little different I caught my 1st meter barra, that made the day worthwhile.

On a side note, I found out why the parks seem to have so many red tail, apparently they are really good at keeping the ponds clean.

I've got an alternative theory, they do that they are a tough fish. So that means parks can have a lot of big fish that can handle being caught a lot to keep people happy while they try to get through them to the more valuable fish.

I have to say my favourite lutes by far here are the McGrath lipless crankbaits, so versatile and do effective on so many species. Best of all they are only $15 each, compared to the jackals at $30 a lure 

We definitely have a few good trout kicking about, your always in with a chance of a big one.

I think most of the native fish are like that, the catfish, snakehead and these are great low oxygen survivors.

And I don't know why, it's not like this country is short of water or anything.

Been up in the north for the rice harvest, so I haven't gotten to do much fishing, just a hell of a lot of drinking.

But I got out to a local park yesterday that has these crazy fish called anabas or climbing perch.

They are sort of like redfin, prolific breeders, grow quick but are much fatter, far more aggressive, have the strongest bite but can climb out of the water and stay out for up to 8 hours.

I'm going back there in a few days time to try out the tenkara fly rod, I think they are perfect for it.

We kept a feed and I let a dozen go in my pond.

That was a damn nice thready that one.

When I used to live in Brisbane I had a real problem with them, until I got myself a mastiff that didn't like strange things or people in his yard.

Didn't have a problem with that.

I use Dangan x8 14lb that's supper super thin on my 1000 and 2500 size reels. It's super thin, very smooth, casts really well.

it's like using 6lb braid with a bit more grunt. But if your fishing anywhere rocky then I recommend a little extra leader as it is very susceptible to getting cut.

But I'm definitely going to keep using it.

Wow, another possibility just presented itself today, a near by village has been thinking about renting out a lake they have, if I could stock it, then I'd move over hear and guide full time.

It's a perfect spot.

Most arapima breeding ponds in thailad are tiny, probly only 20m x 10m and at most 1.5m deep.

They are air breathing fish so handle low oxygen, but I want to put some smaller fish in there as well.

They will breed two 200lb fish 8n a pond this size.

We're looking at turning the high paddy's in this photo into a long L shaped pond, 1-2m deep in the narrow bit and 5m deep in the big back section with constant water flowing into it from the waterfall in the background.

That's about 3/4 an acre in size that will be nice and deep.