Hi and welcome to the Aug 2016 newsletter, our monthly roundup of news, catch reports, fishing in Thailand and anything remotely connected to our little slice of paradise out here in Krabi.
This has been another month where the Siamese carp have stolen the crown, and not just for numbers either, but the sizes! We have had 43 captures over 100lb and over 300 captures altogether – truly amazing stuff – and we are pretty sure that is our record month for 100lb-plus captures. Many of these captures were weighed at 130lb-plus, a few were 140-145lb and then two different fish estimated at 170lb!! They always say in fishing, keep your gob shut and let the pictures do the talking, or in this case the catch reports. The Big Dog’s vision of the world’s greatest fishery just keeps going so far beyond that! There just isn’t anywhere on the planet that does big monster Siamese carp like this lake does; it certainly has been a joy to watch it breaking its own records time after time.
Work continues on the spa, and its appearance is changing by the hour. We have had some widened paths built that run up the side and behind the bungalows, which are for golf buggies that will take customers up and round to the spa.
Darren leaves us this month after a couple of years’ guiding. I don’t think he has been home to England for about four years, so I completely understand his need to return. Sticks has been keeping the girls in the kitchen scratching their heads by taking customers’ orders consisting of prawn ribs and pork wings!
Right that’s all the waffling finished, so best we get on with the whos, the whys and the flipping ‘ecks from this month’s fishing.
The anglers who visited us for the exotic fishing in Thailand had some good fishing in Krabi this month with a total of 604 fish caught of 22 species, made up as follows: 16 arapaima to 440lb, two arawana to 8lb , one alligator gar of 70lb, 70 Amazon redtail catfish to 60lb, 86 Asian redtail catfish to 40lb, 11 black pacu to 35lb, two tilapia to 5lbs, two Chao Phraya to 120lbs, one barramundi of 26lbs, four giant featherback to 15lbs, twenty Julian’s golden prize carp to 45lb, nine Mekong catfish to 170lb, 22 Nile perch to 8lb, two ripsaw catfish to 25lbs, two red bellied pacu to 30lbs, 342 Siamese carp to 170lb, four giant freshwater stingray to 140lbs, three spotted sorubim to 20lbs, one wallago attu of 5lbs, one wallago leeri of 15lbs, one mrigal carp of 15lbs and four giant gourami to 7lbs.
Dave Cable made a return visit with his family again this year. He had a few days’ fishing with us before they carried on their holiday throughout Thailand. Dave was chuffed that he had his first Siamese carp over 100lb on this trip, but he was absolutely over the moon when he landed a fish of a lifetime when a 300lb arapaima slipped into the cage. About an hour after the arapaima, Dave hooked a stingray, which he lost after an arm-aching battle, and he said that he never wanted to hook one again, ever! The next day he did hook one though, but this time he landed it at 140lbs, and he admitted that he was really pleased to have done so. He caught other fish of course, but it was the three different species over the magical 100lb that he will be talking about, that’s for sure!
Mark Finch had a short visit with us, but it seemed like the fish gods were smiling upon him. He had a couple of days on the Sala bank where he landed a few Siamese carp to 90lb, including two on at the same time, and a good sized Julian’s golden carp. Then on his last day he decided on a trip into the Grassy swim where he landed a cracking Amazon red tail catfish, a rarely caught wallago attu and his first fish over the 100lb in the shape of a 150lb arapaima.
Kris and Conner Johnstone had a few nice fish out including a 100lb Siamese and a 90lb Chao Phraya catfish to Conner and then a Siamese carp of 95lb to Kris.
Father and son duo Dave and Matt Skinner met here for a spot of fishing before they all popped over to the Philippines where Matt and his wife Clair live. Although they landed a few fish in the first couple of days, there was nothing really to write home about, except two Amazon red tail catfish, one weighing 75lb and the other 35lb, plus an 80lb Siamese carp, but then things went bonkers!! Dave landed six Siamese carp to 95lb and four Asian red tails to 30lb whilst Matt had three Siamese carp to 90lb and then a 45lb Amazon red tail. This set the scene for the next few days where they reeled in fish after fish, mostly Siamese carp, but then Dave lost a monster, probably a Mekong catfish, just before it came to up to the surface to be netted. Dave however got vengeance the following day when he did land his first monster fish in the form of a superb 107lb Siamese carp. However, the carp fought back and slapped him round the face giving him a big black eye! We needed to make sure he was alright, so there was a quick trip to the hospital where he was given the all-clear, and he returned to catch a load more fish!
Jenni and Dean Handley came over for their usual summer holiday trip after the school where Jenni works broke up for the school holidays. They started off in Sala 2, but for once the swim wasn’t being that kind to them. It didn’t take long before they moved swims and ended up in D3, which as it happens was right outside their room. It didn’t take long before they got amongst the fish, and boy did they get amongst them! In total they landed 77 fish, including 45-odd Siamese carp. Jenni had three over 100lb including two at 130lb, which were personal bests for her. Dean landed one at 138lb. Dean also landed a 300lb arapaima and a Mekong catfish of 140lb. Jenni landed herself a PB Mekong catfish at a very impressive 150lb and another new PB in the shape of an Asian red tail catfish of 46lbs.
Dean also had a giant featherback, and they both landed some nice gourami on the float rods – all in all a very impressive haul, it has to be said. Then we had the video, which was a Benny Hill themed extravaganza! It came out really well, and I won’t say too much other than it’s on our YouTube page, so why not take a look?
Gottfried Hainzl, or Fritz as he is known to us, came back for a few days’ fishing this month. We know he is after one of our 100lb-plus stingrays, but they have a canny knack of avoiding his attentions! However he did end up with 11 Amazon red tail catfish to 75lb and nine Siamese carp including two over 100lb, the biggest being a weighed 138lb monster. It didn’t end there though because he also landed a 70lb alligator gar and a 450lb arapaima, a couple of small Nile perch, a Julian’s golden carp and some Asian red tails!
Andy Hart lives in Phuket, and he often brings his girlfriend down for a couple or three days’ fishing here and there. He had a few on his last visit including a 110lb Siamese, but this time he turned up as the Siamese were really getting their heads down, and in just three days he had 11 Siamese carp to 120lb, an Amazon red tail catfish of 45lb and a black pacu of around 30lb.
John Shepherd came with his lady Emily for a spot of fishing and a spot of chilling out for Emily. John is a bit of a carper at home and is the man who designed the inflatable bivvy for an English company called Kampa, which has had rave reviews and looks like a great bit of kit. From the start the two of them enjoyed themselves, and John caught steadily and consistently the whole time he was here, leading up to his target fish, which was a 100lb Siamese carp. We also noticed Emily had a little go and landed a fish or two herself! They stayed for a week or so, and then went off into the beaches for another week after they left us.
Jamie Price came with his girlfriend Vicky and her daughter Izzy. Also along for the ride was his father-in-law Steve and his brother Ivan. They caught a load of fish between them, and Steve had three different Siamese carp over 100lb in the same day! Jamie landed a few Asian red tails, a ripsaw catfish, a small arapaima and quite a few Siamese carp to 145lb!
We’ll see you all again next month, with more news of rod-bending MONSTER fish action!
For those of you planning a return or first trip, please send us your enquiry via our enquiries page
Best wishes and tight lines from us all at Gillhams, and we hope your next fish is the one of your dreams (which it probably will be if you come to Gillhams)!
