Day 1

With fish running to over 300lb in the lake I didn't want to get carried away with expectations so I set myself a target of catching a 40lb fish. Starting off with a method type rig the size of a tennis ball with around 6 pieces of corn/maize on the hook it didn't take long to get my first take.......and it came off!
After half an hour my first fish was in the net which was a Siamese carp estimated at 70 to 80lb....result! The first hour and a half was really quite fun and everyone was catching, I added 3 pacu (like a piranha) and a small Asian redtail catfish around 10lb.
I was then frustrated for a good 3 hours or so with liners, shy bites from Arapaima and missed runs. But the wait was worth it, the guide had spotted a big fish on the other side of the lake and cast the rod right on it nose and it was only seconds till I was hooked onto something heavy. I knew it was a big fish but when I got it under the rod and I saw the colours of the Arapaima I knew it was a new personal best.
Estimated at 140lb I was over the moon. When big fish are caught at topcats they leave them in the nets over some oxygen pumps to recover and they are transferred to a holding pool for a few days. This fish had other plans and bolted, tearing it's way through the net with one quick burst, so I was unable to get a decent photo of it...gutted! But it shows how powerful those fish are.

The day ended well with 2 Mekong Catfish both around 50lb, which have to be the hardest fighting fish I have ever caught. And my final fish of the day came late on and it was a Amazonian redtail catfish around 30lb.

Day 2

After what was a brilliant day yesterday I wasn't sure how I was going to top that and after 3 and a half hours of 4 runs but no fish I felt like it could have been a long day.

Eventually I hooked into my first fish after nearly 4 hours! A small Siamese Carp, I say small it was probably just shy of 20lb but small by their standards.

It wasn't long after that I had a screaming run on my other rod. As soon as I hit it I knew it was a Mekong Catfish as they are so strong. This one took me for a ride all over the lake for a good 45 minutes and the guide had to get in several times to free it from snags. Eventually it was in the net and at 140lb it made up for the lack of photo of the Arapaima yesterday.

The next few hours was almost one a chuck, the Siamese Carp were feeding well. Smaller than average stamp but still good fun. The Mekongs were also making themselves known, even caught one on the drop. I then had a take from a fish that is apparently quite rare in this lake.

Asian Carp were stocked here over a year ago but since then only 2 of them have been caught.....we can now make that 3. Strange looking fish as it's eyes were right at the bottom of it's head.

A Redtail Catfish then managed to snag me across the other side of the lake. Out came the boat and the guide rowed across and jumped in to find the snag. He re-surfaced and yelled reel, reel, reel! How he got it out I will never know but the fish was caught.

Another new species followed, a Wallago Catfish and that was followed by the biggest Siamese Carp of the trip estimated between 80-90lb. Fish count at the end of day 2 was 14. Couldn't of asked for better.

A fantastic trip that ended with 23 fish over 2 days and 2 fish around 140lb. Would recommend to anyone if they ever get the opportunity to go. I'll be making every effort to visit again in the future.

Had a bloody brilliant time fishing in Thailand! Have to say a massive thank you to Emily for putting up with my fishing talk and being very patient when I wasn't catching. My target at the start was to catch a 40lb+ fish. I absolutely smashed that with a Arapaima that was estimated at around 140lb! Along with 8 other fish from 10-80lb it's safe to say I'm am smiling from ear to ear. The only downside is the Arapaima smashed through the net before I could get a decent photo, such a powerful fish!

Finally wanted to say thanks to everybody at Topcats for the last 2 days. The guides were brilliant as were the ladies serving drinks and food. Ended with 23 fish altogether including 2 fish at 140lb! Accommodation was spot on as well.

Cracking report there from Alan and I'm sure many of you anglers out there have turned the same colour as our webpage in envy.

Stay safe Alan & Emily see you in February 2015.

Tightlines