Hi and welcome to another Gillham’s newsletter. Sorry for the delay this month, but we have only just returned from a successful fishing mission in Panama. The report on this fishing adventure will be added to the website ASAP along with booking details and trips with us. Next month when Stuart is back behind the screen you gripe fans are really going to get what you like best, with more abuse then an all-boys Catholic preschool. As I have been writing the newsletter for the past couple of months and all seems to be going well, Stuart and I have decided to team up on every newsletter. So let’s get started with what’s been happening with the fishing in Krabi through the past month.
Through the end of May and the first couple of weeks of June, which should normally be very hot months, we have had nothing but rain, strong winds and more power cuts due to trees coming down across power lines than ever before. Even when Noi and I took a weekend break to Phuket the rains didn’t ease up, and as we got to the island most of the tourist town of Phuket was flooded, leaving us stranded in one street where our hotel was, or having to wade around up to our knees in dirty water.
Though the weather has been bad, the fishing has been excellent with more Siamese carp around the 100lb mark being landed than ever before. Because of the high protein pellets being used it won’t be long before there are no carp under 40lb. Even other species such as rohu are really packing on the pounds as this month alone there have been four that have either matched or beaten the existing record of 27lb. They have not beaten the pending record of 30lb, although that was also matched by Joel with a rohu weighing bang on 30lb, so this will be another record for Gillham’s in the next couple of months for sure.
Becky has also returned from England after going back to visit family and friends, she also found out what we and everybody else that has escaped the multi-cultural f—-d up state formerly known as Great Britain have been telling her – that once you’re out you will never want to return, and she couldn’t wait to get back on the plane and return home to Thailand. While away she also visited Florida with Dave Plummer and his wife who showed her the local sites, took her swimming with dolphins and also took her tarpon fishing, landing two to 170lb. She also caught her first ever shark.
New guide Chris Pache has also joined the team this month, coming out for six months initially, but he will probably stay longer just like Joel, who after joining me on a fishing trip to India back in November is still here now. So look out for the update and abuse of how he’s been getting on in next month’s newsletter.
The fishing in Thailand has once again been exceptional with the total catch for fishing in Krabi as follows: 605 fish of 29 species, made up of: 45 arapaima to 480lb, two arawana to 5lb, five alligator gar to 35lb, 153 Amazon redtail catfish to 80lb, two Amazon stingray to 30lb, 115 Asian redtail catfish to 40lb, seven black pacu to 35lb, three big head carp to 26lb, one Chao Phraya catfish of 108lb, five Chinese seerfish to 20lb, three giant featherback to 11lb, one giant stingray to 110lb, two giant snakeheads 8lb, one Hoven’s carp to 5lb, 20 Julian’s carp to 30lb, 20 Mekong catfish to 170lb, six mrigal carp to 14lb 4oz, seven rohu carp to 27lb, two ripsaw catfish to 35lb, 12 spotted featherback to 9lb, 158 Siamese carp to 100lb, six shovel nosed spotted sorubim to 38lb, three shovel nosed tiger catfish to 18lb, four striped catfish of 20lb, four striped snakehead to 6lb, two tambaqui to 20lb, six wallago attu to 30lb, ten wallago leeri to 25lb and one zungaro (jau) to 10lb.
First up this month we had the Anderson family return with Jamie, Jim and Sue for eight nights and seven days fishing for the boys. Now it’s always a laugh a minute when this family visit, with lots of piss-taking and jokes getting slung around. Even on checking out, when taking the pictures off their camera the fun doesn’t stop, as I found Sue and Jim’s late night porn poses with topless shots of Sue. Unfortunately these pictures can’t get printed due to our younger readers, but they can be seen at www.justjoking.com (ha ha!). Also before leaving sunny England Jim wanted a head start with his tan, so applied a fake spray-on job! Unfortunately for Jim, being a Scot he read the label wrong and parts of him ended up looking like he had been Tangoed while the rest of his body kept the British white and blotchy pink skin tone. In fact everybody was shocked when the spray-on tan was so realistic he even started peeling from the many layers sprayed in the same area of the body. While here the boy’s fish lists were achieved with Jamie catching six arapaima with two over 200lb, his biggest being 380lb, plus Siamese carp to 85lb. He landed 16 fish in total. Jim, not to be outdone, was after as many different species as he could catch, plus a target of a big Siamese carp was on his wish list, and he landed 16 to 90lb. In all he had eight species including arapaima to 280lb, Mekong catfish to 100lb, wallago, and even a 30lb Amazon stingray. In total Jim landed 30 fish.
We also had a great crowd of seven German anglers here for a week of fishing and drinking! While here all the group caught good fish, and at times, even with communication problems, there was a lot of joking and messing around leading to a good time for everybody. Throughout their stay some great fish were caught such as arapaima to 480lb, Siamese carp to 90lb, Amazon redtail catfish to 50lb, black pacu to 35lb, wallago to 30lb and even a rohu carp that was weighed and matched the current pending world record of 27lb. In total the group caught 138 fish of 13 species.
The Bishop brothers, Darren and John, also made a return trip for a week’s fishing, this time leaving their better halves back home in sunny England, which was better for them, as while the boys were here it didn’t stop raining. Darren caught some nice fish with ripsaw catfish to 35lb and Siamese carp to 65lb, and John had five arapaima over 200lb, his biggest being 270lb, and Amazon redtail catfish to 65lb. In Total they caught 58 fish between them of nine different species.
Dick Top from Holland, who last year broke the world record Chao Phraya catfish record here at Gillham’s, came for six nights and five days fishing while on a tour of Thailand with his wife. After a slow start, Dick took the advice of the guides and made a move to another area of the lake where he went on to catch everything he had wished for and more. Dick wanted an arapaima and after a few days his wish came true as he caught four to 150lb, also catching Amazon redtail catfish to 75lb. In total Dick landed 41 fish of ten species.
Andy Cartwright came down for five days with guide Neil from Phuket, even though he’s had some good trips here in the past this one was to top them all, after landing 67 fish of seven species. His catches included 13 Siamese carp to 100lb with two 90lb carp and two others of 80lb-plus. He also had Amazon redtail catfish to 80lb and six arapaima, with two over 200lb and two over 300lb with the biggest hitting 360lb.
We also had a visit from South Africans Dirk and Corey. Don’t worry lads, we wont mention the PKH list! They came for three days’ fishing while traveling around Thailand with their girlfriends. Both fishermen had a good time catching some of their biggest ever fish with arapaima to 160lb and Siamese carp to 80lb. In total they landed 31 fish of six species.
Scott Sager from America came for five days’ fishing while on holiday in Krabi. During Scott’s trip he caught 39 fish of seven species including ripsaw catfish, Julian’s golden prize carp and arapaima. Scott’s two biggest fish were arapaima to 90lb and a Chao Phraya catfish that due to its size was weighed in at 108lb in case of a world record, plus Siamese carp to 70lb.
A couple of months ago one of our clients told us of a nice website regarding fishing in Thailand – www.mikejwardthaiangling.co.uk. After reading through it we invited Mick to come and sample the fishing in Krabi, and after a few emails Mike decided to visit Gillhams this month. Mike is yet another to leave British shores to set up home here in paradise. Formerly a successful match angler from Northern England, he has bought his match fishing skills to Thailand. Mick fishes his local waters around Udon Thani in the north. He enjoys his fishing, but the northern waters of Thailand are lacking in big fish, so when the opportunity arose for Mick to visit Gillhams he jumped at the chance. Mike came for four nights with three days’ fishing, accompanied by his wife Bum (seriously this is her name). Mike and Bum are both lovely people and we enjoyed their company. During his stay he added a few new species to his fish list. He was keen to catch an Asian redtail catfish as he hadn’t caught one in other trips around Thailand and was very happy to catch two with the biggest at 20lb. Mike also went on to catch a total of 17 Amazon redtail catfish to 55lb. In total Mike caught 22 fish of five different species. Mike also caught a baby Amazon stingray, which are yet another species that have been breeding here. He caught it float fishing using worm on a match rod, and since this one there have been a further four caught. They are all around the same weight at 2lb, and checking photos of each of them they all have different markings and patterns, making us wonder how many we now have lurking around. Mike had two other fish on his target list and achieved them both, with Asian redtail catfish and a Julian’s golden prize carp on his final day.
Brian Pearson joined us for two days’ fishing that soon turned into a few days more after cutting his beach holiday short. While here Brian caught some nice fish, including Siamese carp and Amazon redtail catfish. His two best fish were a ripsaw catfish of 25lb and an arapaima of 200lb. Before having to leave for the last time Brian also made it out on the town for a night of madness with Stuart, me and all the team from Gillhams.
Sorry this newsletter is brief, but next month should see us back to normal. We still have a few places at discounted rates for the first three weeks of September, so contact Stuart via email at gillhamsfishingresorts@gmail.com or phone 0066 (0) 861644554. We only have a few spaces available for October through to January with many dates sold out. As Gillhams increases in popularity we strongly recommend booking sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment. Dates are selling fast for 2013 and into 2014 so if we are in your plans to visit contact us ASAP.
That sums up another month’s fishing in Thailand and we look forward to seeing you all in the near future. Best wishes from all the team here at www.gillhamsfishingresorts.com
