Saturday August 11, 2007
Fishing big cats
By JUNGLE BUM
About an hour’s drive from bustling Bangkok lies a green lake surrounded by rustic chalets and platforms of weathered wood. In its colloidal waters live thousands of fish, many of them giants. Anglers from far and wide make a pilgrimage to this tranquil lake to pit wits with some of the toughest fighting freshwater fish in the world.
It is called Bung Samran, and for a couple of days last month, a group of Malaysian anglers paid their dues to the fish, suffering severe back pain and sore arms, yet wearing toothy smiles.
Over the last few years, Bung Samran has acquired a reputation for being a paradise for specimen anglers. The statistics are simply mind-boggling: 30kg patin, 110kg Mekong catfish, 70kg Siamese carp, 200kg arapaima and 40kg Chao Phraya catfish.
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The smiles speak for themselves: The fishing trip for seven friends to Bung Samran was a success and they can’t wait to return. — JUNGLE BUM |
Even with 30lb mono lines, tough Berkley Series One rods and Abu 7000 reels, we lost more than a dozen big fish to the stilts below the floating chalets.
Needless to say, we just HAD to make a “revenge trip”. And so it was that one Thursday, seven anglers armed with rod cases boarded a plane for Bangkok.
We reached Bung Samran in one piece, but lost a couple of hours because the taxi driver got lost. It was past midnight when we sauntered up to the counter at the entrance. We paid for our room – the largest chalet (referred to as “The Bankalow”) – cost RM200 for 12 hours, but it was cheap for seven guys. Fishing fees was RM100 per rod.
We settled in for the night, sleeping on the wooden platforms in the comfort of our Thermarest mattresses. Our fishing guide – a genial youth with the quaint name of Golf – will be clocking in at 9am, and we needed the rest for the big job ahead.
Golf came on time, but we were already up at the crack of dawn, tackling up for the big showdown. He prepared the bait – a huge plastic tub of bread crust mixed with coconut milk and desiccated fish powder.
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This rig is customised to catch the Mekong catfish, called pla buk in these parts, which prefers to feed midway in the water. For patin, the float is dispensed with, allowing for bottom fishing.
The bites came regularly; we were onto a fish every 15 minutes or so. Most of the fish caught were 6kg-15kg patin. Foo landed a large Chao Phraya catfish, a predator which seldom goes for the bread bait.
By lunchtime, we were literally spent. We rested our tired limbs and ordered lunch – at a nice seafood restaurant on site. We even had a massage administered by a jovial elderly man. At RM14 an hour, you can’t help but go for it!
Bung Samran has everything the visiting angler would want. The chalet was well-appointed, with fans, dining areas, fridge, TV and sleeping quarters. A sundry shop, tackle shop and coffee bar are within walking distance. If you’re too lazy, there’s a phone at the chalet for you to order your food if you can speak Thai!
We had a siesta until around 3pm then went back to the rods for the serious session. Big cats bite better in the late afternoon.
You could literally see the fish getting bigger and bigger. By around 5pm, we were tussling with 20kg and 30kg pla buk, patin and the odd Siamese carp and Chao Phraya catfish.
Big rods and equally big reels were the order of the day now, with 40lb Maxima or Trilene Big Game lines as standard. The fish would swim out to the middle of the lake, fighting almost casually. But once you got it right next to the chalet, their stubborn nature would come forth. For some 15 minutes, you would be doing “stand-up fishing” – sheer torture to the lumbar muscles!
Zaman had the best fight. He had hooked onto this giant which fought for about 40 minutes until, horror of horrors, the reel clutch gave way. We quickly cut the line and attached it to my Abu6500 reel. Zaman was back in business.
The fish was tiring. Zaman pulled it ever closer to the platform but his hook was actually attached to a bird’s nest of mono line. Another line went out to the hook in the fish’s mouth, some 10m out! This fish had actually broken off some other angler’s rig.
Zaman had to fight hard to bring in that tangled line. We cut away the mess, then re-tied the line. The fight continued. Finally, after more than an hour of hard toil, the fish surrendered to Golf’s huge landing net.
That fish was the icing on our cake. It had been a great outing. We had caught innumerable fish, ranging from pla buk to patin, and Chao Phraya catfish to even pacu. We figured that we had landed and released more than 100 fish, weighing a total of at least 1.5 tonnes! I can’t name any other fishery that can claim these kinds of statistics.
By around 8pm, we called it a day. It was a fishing trip to remember. On the flight back to Kuala Lumpur we were already planning the next return trip!
GETTING THERE
The lake is about an hour from Bangkok Airport. Take a taxi to Nawatmin Soi 42. (Make sure the driver knows the location, or you’ll spend needless time searching. Have the phone number of the Bung Samran office (02-734 9272, 02-734 9270) with you just in case.)
The chalets/huts cost between RM80 and RM250 for 12 hours (9am to 9pm, and vice versa), depending on size. Fishing for foreigners costs RM100 per person, per 12 hours. The standard bait (bread, coconut milk, fish powder) will cost about RM70 for a day’s fishing.
If you are a first-timer, book a fishing guide. He will prepare the bait and advise you on the finer points of rigging, baiting, casting and fighting the fish. They charge up to RM100 for a 12-hour session, but it’s worth the money. One guide can support up to three anglers. A guide can be booked via the main office.
The tackle used
RodsAbu Ultracast 2.7m; Penn Powergraph 9ft; Daiwa Monster Mesh. Basically, rods of 2.4-2.7m length rated for 20lb-30lb line. A soft tip with strong butt would be perfect.
Reels
Baitcasters – Abu 7000, Abu6500
Spinning
Banax GT 5000, Penn Spinfisher 6500, Daiwa Saltiga, Daiwa Capricorn 5000, Daiwa BG90
Lines
30lb-40lb mono or 60lb–80lb braided lines
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