Welcome to another month of captures here in paradise at Gillhams Fishing Resorts. We would like to thank all our readers and everybody that follows us on social media – thank you for all your support.
The restaurant renovation is fully underway and looking like it could be finished ahead of schedule, but then again this is Thailand and things don’t always go as planned. Stuart, Benz and Jack were meant to be in their new house last October and it doesn’t look like they’ll be in there until November this year. The new restaurant will be surrounded by 8ft glass windows, allowing it to stay fully open but allowing us to close everything when we get our monsoons. We’re going to have a brand new bar/lounge area with sofas and armchairs, giving a nice chill out bar with a few signature cocktails. The front of the restaurant over looking the lake will be for dining, and after extending the roof and taking out some pillars, it gives a lot more space to allow more privacy while dining.
The last couple years have been all over the place with the weather, but hopefully things are getting back on track. The rains have started coming in, but no need to worry, as this time of year mainly has the rain through the night and the odd storm late afternoon, normally only lasting an hour, but once the rains clear, it leaves the air temperature a lot cooler leading into the night. Through May, we did have some very hot and humid days as the storms were building up, which did make for some hard fishing days due to the low pressure, but once the rains came in, it cleared the air, and the fish switched on, giving some great fishing days to our anglers as the fish were feeding heavily with the change in pressure and some fresh water was coming into the lake. One evening we had rain all through the night, raising the water levels in the lake by a good seven to eight inches.
The Siamese carp have certainly enjoyed the rains and have once again been on the feed and making the dreams come true for many of our anglers. Throughout the month of May, a total of 302 Siamese carp were caught, a staggering 59 of which were over the magical 100lb barrier. This means one in every five Siamese carp caught here at Gillhams Fishing Resorts is a 100lb-plus beast, making Gillhams the best place in the world to catch one of these huge specimens. Due to bait and water quality, we now have over 50 known 100lb-plus Siamese carp swimming in the lake, so we don’t have to post the same scarred and scale-damaged old warrior claiming different weights to falsely boost business.
Korda’s Monster Carp season 3 will be starting in July and will show Gillhams Fishing Resorts in the grand finale. Korda’s Ali Hamidi, Neil Spooner and Tom Dove caught some absolute beasts with all the 100lb-plus carp being weighed on film. Although I can’t say how many 100s were caught and to what size, I can tell you that the amount of 100lb’ers caught went in to double figures. Keep an eye out for the release of this great series, and we will also post on social media the time and date you can see Gillhams on Monster Carp nearer the time.
So that’s enough of all the nonsense. Let’s get down to business and find out what’s been caught and which species have been landed. The anglers who visited us for the exotic fishing Thailand has to offer had some good fishing in Krabi during March with a total of 682 fish caught of 23 species, made up as follows: 34 arapaima to over 300lb, five arawana to 10lb, three alligator gar to 70lb, 151 Amazon redtail catfish to 75lb, one Amazon stingray of 45lb, six Asian stingray to 150lb, 54 Asian redtail catfish to 55lb, four bighead carp to 50lb, four barramundi to 6lb, 27 black pacu to 50lb, three Chao Phraya catfish of 130lb, one giant featherback of 9lb, one giant gourami of 7lb, 23 Julian’s golden carp to 48lb, 43 Mekong catfish to 280lb, two Nile perch to 5lb, nine red bellied pacu to 25lb, three ripsaw catfish to 40lb, two striped catfish to 50lb, 302 Siamese carp to 155lb, one tambaqui of 40lb, two tilapia to 6lb, one tarpon of 25lb.
Chris Pache managed to get a couple of days’ fishing in this month while on days off and went on to land eleven Siamese carp including four over a ton with the biggest at 155lb. This is actually quite an achievement, but not that Chris managed to catch something, because as people who have fished here know, Chris is a very good angler. It’s more the fact that Chris didn’t hit the town on a messy weekend. I must say it’s nice to see Chris Pache on the lake doing what he loves rather than down the town partying and adding to the scars on his face from motorbike accidents or just falling off bar stools – hahaha.
Regular Gillhams angler Adam Griffiths from the UK joined us again for a two-week stay. Unfortunately Adam’s girlfriend was unable to join him, and even though Adam must have been distraught, he managed to put a brave face on and fished hard every day. Adam’s an angler who’s just happy to be on the lake, catching whatever comes along, and if it doesn’t happen on that day, then there’s always tomorrow. This attitude always works well, and Adam always enjoys himself while here whether its around the lake or a few beers and banter in the evening. Once again Adam caught some cracking fish during his stay, and even though a few days were quiet on the lake, the end result more than makes up for it. Adam’s captures included two Siamese carp over a ton with the biggest at 120lb, some great Amazon redtail catfish and black pacu to 40lb, but Adam’s best catch was when he landed a cracking 350lb arapaima at last knockings just as he was about to pack up.
Husband and wife fishing team Michael and Gwen Flynn from UK made their first trip out to Gillhams Fishing Resorts this month with Siamese carp and arapaima top of the hit list. Fishing started with three days on the small lake having fun with smaller fish, catching many different species and getting used to the fishing gear, especially the bait runners. Gwen found out first hand how important they are to have on, as she saw her rod disappear into the murky depths. Gwen walked into the restaurant with her head down to announce the rod had been pulled in, as she had forgotten to engage the bait runner. Luckily for Gwen, it was the small lake, and she managed to hook the rod the following day before too much damage had been done to the rod and reel.
Once the three days were up on the small lake, it was time to hit the big lake, and although the nerves were still high, the first few days had really helped Gwen, and she was ready and confident to take on the bigger fish. Michael and Gwen both enjoyed their time here fishing, and although Michael caught some cracking fish, he was getting a real ass kicking from Gwen. Michael went on to land nine fish of four species, which included Siamese carp over 100lb, Amazon and Asian redtail catfish and barramundi. Gwen caught a total of fifteen fish of six different species, which included Siamese carp with three over a ton and her biggest at 155lb, Amazon redtail cats to 70lb, giant stingray, tarpon and Chao Phraya catfish. Gwen saved her best till last when she landed her main target species in the final 30 minutes of the last day with a beautiful arapaima of 140lb.
UK angler Paul Jones made another return trip, and as usual Siamese carp were his main target species. Paul’s a very keen angler and made sure he was fishing every minute he could, constantly busy Spombing and recasting while watching the water, and it wasn’t long before Paul started to lure in the Siamese carp. Paul went on to land a total of 26 Siamese carp with four over a ton and the biggest at 140lb. Other fish included Amazon and Asian redtails, Julian’s carp, black pacu and a beautiful Chao Phraya Catfish. In total 42 fish of six species were landed.
Scouse anglers Bernie and Gary Campbell came back for their second trip this year, and joining them was long time friend Franie. Bernie and Gary are both very keen anglers who have chased big fish all over Europe, and after telling Fran all about their trips here at Gillhams, it seemed like a nice break from everyday life. Fran isn’t into fishing at all and has never even seen a fish apart from in a tank or on his plate, so he was keen to see what it was all about. The first fish of the trip fell to Bernie who managed to convince Fran to get in the water with him for a photo. Fran was a big guy into his training and certainly looked like the type you would want on your side if a situation went wrong, but when he entered the water the tough guy image soon disappeared. I can say this now, as I’m on the other side of the world behind my computer screen, but I have never seen a grown man shriek and scream the way Fran did when the fish started preforming in the net, and as the holiday went on, we learned that one of his biggest fears was frogs, so we really started playing tricks on him with live and toy frogs.
Bernie and Gary caught some great fish during their stay, but Gary came out on top with species and sizes, but then Bernie was sleeping more than he was fishing and was a lot more laid back than his son. Gary would be in his swim from 7am and wouldn’t end the day until 8pm when time was called while Bernie would sleep in and head down the restaurant for breakfast and take three-hour power naps in the afternoon. In total Gary an Bernie caught 52 fish of ten species including six Siamese carp over a ton with the biggest at 150lb, arapaima to 350lb, Amazon and Asian stingray to 150lb, Mekong catfish to 280lb, barramundi, Amazon and Asian redtail cats, Julian’s carp and black pacu.
UK Northern angler Chris Quinn made another trip over to Gillhams this month along with his wife Julie. Chris always enjoys chasing different species, but still wants new personal bests beating his old captures. This trip was no different with Chris wanting a big redtail catfish and Siamese carp, both of which were accomplished when Chris landed a cracking Amazon redtail cat at 80lb-plus and his biggest Siamese carp of the trip at 110lb. Chris did well on the species by landing eight different species in total, which included Amazon and Asian redtail cats, Siamese carp, Julian’s golden carp, giant gourami, arapaima to 120lb and Mekong catfish to 170lb, but the fish of the trip came when Chris landed a very rare and beautiful firewood catfish. Chris’s trip came to an end with 35 fish of eight species along with new personal bests. As always it was a pleasure having you both here, and we look forward to seeing you both again soon.
Unfortunately that’s all we’ve got time for this month. We’ll see you again next month with more captures and stories of what’s going on over here in paradise. As always, we would like to apologize to anybody who we missed out of the newsletter, as we can only write about so many. For those of you planning a return or first trip, please send us your enquiry via our enquiries page or email us at gillhamsfishingresorts@gmail.com
Tight lines from all of us at Gillhams Fishing Resorts. We hope your next fish is the one of your dreams, which it probably will be if you come to Gillhams!
