JANUARY CATCH REPORT . HERE COME THE MEKONG CATS !!!!

January was another great month for fishing here at Exotic Fishing Thailand with some exciting catches and lots of smiling faces from our customers. We had the most fish in a single month caught so far since opening for fishing.

Before we get into photos and figures I would like to thank our staff and customers for doing a great job of filling our our catch reports as it would be impossible to do this report without accurate numbers. Anyone visiting us who wants to be in our catch report please send us you photos by email . We try our best to show as many anglers and fish as possible but it is difficult to do without your pics. I unfortunately cant personalize the report as much as I would like as I am travelling frequently for work right now and dont get the opportunity to meet everyone.

A staggering total of 536 fish were caught in January ..The best part about this is that they were caught over only 62 angler days . That's an amazing average of 8.5 fish per angler per day ...The most fish caught by one angler in one day was 26 and the least was 4..

Our catch report for January which includes over 30 different exotic species is as follows.....;- 4 African Walking catfish to 20lb,...12 Alligator Gar to 75 lbs,..26 Albino Pacu to 12 lbs, ..103 Amazon Redtails to 50 lbs,..46 Arapaima to 380lbs,..10 Arawana to 9lbs,..15 Asian Redtails to 27lbs,,.3 Black Shark Minnow to 9lb,.3 Black Eared Catfish to 12lbs , 5 Blue Mahseer to 5lbs, 1 Giant Stingray to 12lbs,..6 Chao Phraya Catfish to 60lbs,..10 Chinese Black Carp to 18 lbs, 2 Golden bellied Barb to 2lbs,..16 Giant Gourami to 10lbs,.. 4 Goonch to 12lbs,..4 Hovens Carp to 5lbs,..15 Juliens Golden Price Carp to 20lbs,6 Mekong Catfish to 160lb. 2 Marble Catfish to 7lbs, .25 Pacu to 18lbs ,..39 Piraiba Catfish to 18lbs,..47 Redtail/Tiger Cross Catfish to 15lbs,..17 Ripsaw/Niger Catfish to 14lbs,..8 Rohu to 14lbs, ..51 Siamese Carp to 55lbs,..6 Spotted Featherbacks to 8 lbs,.. 19 Tambiqui to 13lbs,..4 Tigershovelnose Catfish to 15lbs,..2 Vundu Catfish to 17lbs,....10 Wallagoo Attu to 18 lbs,..12 Yellow Cheek Carp to 18lbs and . 1 Wallagoo Lieri of 28lbs.

We had heard some rumblings/concerns in the industry about our Mekong Catfish and where were they?? Why hadn't they been caught yet ?? etc etc . We decided to answer everyone's questions by breaking out the lum and float rods and seriously fishing for the first time for the Mekongs . We started prebaiting a swim with 2 bowls of lum around 4 pm each day and on the third day decided to throw a few casts . It didnt take long as we landed a 130 lb fish on the third cast.. After this first fish we found that we could catch Mekongs quite regularly by float fishing with lots of lum and focusing our efforts after 3pm each day ..

So there you have it. The reason nobody had caught Mekongs yet was simply that not many people had really fished for them . With so many other species to catch and customers being busy with averages of 8 to 10 fish per day there had been no real demand to catch them ..

Angler Jacob Livingston was all smiles with this nice Mekong he battled on the float rod.

The Chinese Black Carp are not shy and get caught quite regularly as Jut Cole found out on his recent visit to sample the fishing here at EFT.

We always encourage young anglers and have a "FAMILY PACKAGE" for parents to fish with their children [ for more info about the package check out our website at exoticfishingthailand.com ]

The smiling face of this young angler says it all ;).

I cant believe how quickly all our fish are growing . What a difference in 16 months for our Albino Pacu..

The Chao Phraya Catfish were hungry as usual with this very light coloured fish being caught on chicken ..

We are always happy to see the ever popular Juliens Golden Price Carp being caught

Belgian angler Gauthier de Broux was on a fishing tour of Thailand and came to fish EFT for the first time this month with great success .

Gauthier was lucky to even get to EFT as he was told by a particular fishing guide in Bangkok that there is in fact no fishing lake here in Phang Nga . The guide was apparently a real "BAD BOY" and kindly explained to Gauthier that on google maps there is no lake here at EFT :). What is even more amazing is that this particular guide has recently visited our lake with the owner of a particular agency and had taken photos of our imaginary lake and fictitious mountains and were actually supposed to be promoting EFT...

Gauthier and his friend Matthieu had a great time at EFT and caught a huge number of fish including 12 different species .

A double header for the fun Belgians..

Gauthier was all smiles when he caught his PB Arapaima. He had so much fun he came back again in February . Wait till you see the monster he pulled out on the float rod..

The Arapaima were on the feed as usual with some great catches

Some anglers caught up to 3 Arapiama in one day .

We don't guarantee Arapaima , BUT we do feel that you have one of the best chances of catching a good sized Arapaima here at EFT due to our high stocking rates of fish over 50kg.

A lot of our Arapaima come out after 4pm as the sun passes over the mountains and shades the whole lake .

Another huge Arapaima caught this month for these day ticket anglers.

The same pair were also busy with a double header of Siamese Carp and Albino Pacu.

Our Amazon Redtails really went on the feed in January with some fat chunks landed. When we stocked the lake I was very careful not to overstock redtails . I am so glad I hadnt put our whole inventory in the lake as over 100 fish were caught this month .

Lots of Ripsaw/Niger Catfish showed their prehistoric looking faces this month. They were coming out on almost everything, but especially pellet.

The Wallagoo Attu are still coming out regularly . They are not easy to hold for a photo but this happy angler did a great job of hanging on to this one....

This fisherman was fortunate to catch one of our many stunning Tiger Shovelnose Catfish.

The Tambaqui were on the feed again , with some nice fish coming out. They were caught on almost every bait used on the Carp rods , even pellet on the float .

Another father and son took advantage of the EFT "FAMILY PACKAGE" .They caught 10 different species including this good sized Asian Redtail.

Another species coming to the net was this sleek Yellow Cheeked carp. They are also very difficult to hold onto. . I have been slapped a few times from their strong tails so be careful when holding them for your photos.

The Blue Mahseer have started to show with 5 caught this month.

We recommend fishing for Arowana early in the day or after 4pm as they become very finicky during the heat of the day.

A nice Arowana for our good friend Koen from Belgium who was back for his second visit to EFT already .. He had another great trip catching new species and lots of them

No wonder Koen was catching so any fish he was pulling them in 2 at a time.. We always ask that the second rod is reeled in when a fish is hooked but Koen didnt get chance when both his rods screamed off at the same time ..

Another new species for Koen with this Black Eared Catfish . A very creatively named fish :) ..

A very respectable Siamese carp for Koen caught on poly ball. We are also getting some good Carp on the float which is great fun.

The carp numbers are up again this month with some decent fish coming out regularly.

The ladies were getting on the action as well with a nice Carp caught by this angler ..

There have been lots of Alligators caught again this month . They can be a pest when fishing with chicken but patience will pay off with nice fish like this one getting caught each month.

A huge Alligator for Dawn Packman who gave her husband Andrew a run for his money when it came to catching big fish . Andrew of course did well, landing his target species Arapaima and lots of different species.. Such a wonderful couple and so into their fishing ...

Nice to see the Vundu Cats coming out every month

Our first Giant Stingray was caught this month although it surely couldn't be called a giant yet :)

So thats all for the fun fishing in January here at EFT . There are some awesome catches coming in the February catch report which will be out very soon .. So remember for the Exotic Catching Thailand has to offer there is only one Exotic Fishing Thailand , where our catch rates are some of the highest around .