Marvelous May Catch report

My apologies again for another late newsletter. As some of you know I also have another job other than managing the resort and other EFT business,. Roll on the day when I can stop this hectic travel schedule and spend more time in Fishing Paradise here at EFT. With our customer list building and lots of future bookings maybe that wont be too far away after all.

Beautiful fish , stunning scenery and peace and quiet is why customers like Kevin are already returning to EFT .

May was another marvelous month with some great catch rates ...There were 383 fish caught for 31 angler days fished, giving an average of over 12 fish per angler day ...Great fishing and great value at one of Thailand's premium fishing resorts..

Our catch report for May including 31 different exotic species is as follows.;- .11 Alligator Gar to 60 lbs,..17 Albino Pacu to 15 lbs, ..46 Amazon Redtails to 50 lbs,..46 Arapaima to 320lbs,.. 12 Arawana to 8lbs,..13 Asian Redtails to 30lbs, 2 Barramundi to 15 lbs, 2 Bighead Carp to 20lbs .2 Black Eared Catfish to 12lbs ,. 1 Black Shark Carp to 3lbs . 4 Chao Phraya Catfish to 35lbs,..10 Chinese Black Carp to 20 lbs,4 Giant Featherbacks to 12lbs, 3 Giant Gourami to 8 lbs, 1 Goonch to 12lbs,2 Hovens Carp to 6lbs. 2 Mekong Catfish to 120lbs.,2 Mrigal to 9 lbs. 8 Pacu to 28lbs ,..26 Piraiba Catfish to 18lbs,..28 Redtail/Tiger Cross Catfish to 15lbs,....19 Ripsaw/Niger Catfish to 15lbs, .2 Sawai Catfish to 10 lbs..49 Siamese Carp to 55lbs,.2 Soldier River Barb to 4lbs..1 Spotted Featherback to 8 lbs. 38 Tambaqui to 15lbs,..18 Tigershovelnose Catfish to 15lbs,.1 Vundu catfish to 12 lbs..3 Wallagoo Attu to 15 lbs,..8 Yellow Cheek Carp to 23 lbs

Another month with more than one Arapaima per angler day . 46 fish were caught in just 31 angler days .. Matt Welch was very happy with this beautiful EFT Arapaima..

Jez Wilson was also all smiles with his first EFT Ari taken on a small piece of chicken ..

Chicken is working really well for the Arapaima right now . Most customers are using one predator rod with chicken and then hiring a second predator rod with sea fish ..The result being lots of Arapaima and a long list of predators ...

Not the best photo but we wanted to show Tap's "anniversary Arapaima"

One of our guides Joe [person on the right ] nearly always has a big smile for the camera. He is actually nervous of the big fish so I think it is actually a nervous grin more than anything ..

It is very important to follow the guides instructions when entering the water for a big fish photo as Arapaima are very strong and unpredictable . They can give a nasty slap with their tails and literally smash the plastic cages if they feel so inclined .

At the same time Arapaima can be very delicate and we need to be very careful when landing , handling and unhooking them ..

If we feel it is not in the best interest of the fish to be photographed we will occasionally not allow photos. Our price for Arapaima fishing is one of the lowest in Thailand and we can only maintain that price by taking special care of our fish..

For a change of pace instead of "Nice Arapaima Bill" or "Great Arapaim Fred" I would like to talk a little bit about how to hook , fight and land our Arapaima .. I am not saying I am an expert, but I have landed over 120 Arapaima over 50 kg on both conventional tackle and fly rod so I do have some experience which I am happy to share ...

My best advise when fighting an Arapaima [ or any monster fish for that matter ], is to RELAX .. YES ....RELAX and CONCENTRATE. Most anglers know how to play a fish but many times the excitement of hooking a fish of a lifetime takes over and they don't think about what they are doing and therefore reduce their chances of landing their prize catch..

As long as your drag is still set properly then your chances of landing the fish depends a lot on the initial hook position which you can't change anyway after you have made your initial hook set.. The worst thing I see people do is drop their rod tip or move the rod in a jerky motion which creates slack line. This gives the fish a good chance to spit the barbless hook .. With steady pressure and a smooth retrieve you will greatly increase your chances of landing your fish ..

Always keeping an eye on your line condition , drag settings and hook point will increase your chances of landing your big fish . A weak point in your line, bad drag setting or bad hook will only put the odds further in favour of the fish .

If an Arapaima decides to jump or do one of their famous head shakes you will need to lower the rod tip . This is tricky as you need to give them line but at the same time you don't want to give them too much .. I always think of my arm like a shock absorber and try to relax my arm to let the fish take what line he needs ..

Please remember that these prehistoric monsters are fragile and that you are not Marlin fishing . Reeling like mad and pumping your rod like a mad man will only result in a lost fish or worst still a dead fish ... My last advice is to enjoy the fight as that is what you came to EFT for in the first place :).

Back to our May visitors and their catches ...Another return fisherman in May was our good friend Stretton Honor . Stretton was here to chase our Big Mekongs as well as up his species count .He unfortunately only accomplished one of these goals .

Stretton is our angler of the month for May. We awarded him this "Honor":) for the huge number of species he caught , for his awesome double header Arapaima capture and for his steadfast determination in fishing for the illusive Mekong catfish .

Stretton was very happy when he caught one of our Chinese Black Carp.. All our Carp are piling on weight but especially this species..

The float fishing efforts of anglers have been rewarded with the growing number of predators being taken on the lum balls. There are currently large number of bait fish attacking the lum as soon as it hits the water .These schools of small fish are becoming an easy meal for Arapaima , Yellow Cheek Carp, Featherbacks, Tiger shovel nose and even Barramundi..

Not one of our big alligators but another species for this trip on Stretton's fish list.

Everyone loves catching Arowana .You can see them most of the day swimming within casting distance .. It's like they are playing a game of catch me if you can .They were obviously no match for Stretton who caught several during his trip..

The Ripsaw catfish are quite common here at EFT .. We intentionally stocked lots of them as they are very different looking and take a great photo.

Our Piraiba are always on the feed which is a good sign that they are packing on weight .. That kind of sounds like me sometimes ..:)

The Tiger Shovelnose Catfish are now coming out primarily on the float with lum .. The reason being as I mentioned earlier is that they are coming up to feed on the large balls of bait fish congregating around the lum.. Always one of my favorite fish .

This following note is not for our skilled and experienced anglers but for some of the novice anglers who visit us ... When float fishing please remember that not every fish is a Mekong so you don't need to set the hook like crazy and rip the fishes head off..We have lost a few smaller Tigers recently due to customers fighting every fish like it was 100kg .. A 4 kg Tiger wont last long when skull dragged to the net with 100lb braid .Try to feel how big your potential catch is and play it accordingly .WHEN you blow you whistle our guides will be there to land your fish and they can also advise you how to play your fish .

Stretton was accompanied by his friend Ash Cheshire .. Ash was suffering from a bad sunburn he got in Bangkok but this didn't slow him down in catching some good fish like this Arapaima.

And this one ...

Ash had lots of fish but for some reason we dont have that many photos .. Maybe we used his camera and he forgot to send them to us or more likely we were just too busy trying to photograph all of Stretton's fish :).

Susan from Florida USA visited for a half day morning ticket .. The fishing was unusually slow for the first 2 hours so I switched her to 2 float rods to try to liven things up .. 10 minutes later she hooked this nice Mekong Catfish ..

As I picked up Susan's second rod to make room for landing the Mekong it also screamed off with a run from a nice Tambaqui making for yet another EFT double header..

Another nice Arowana caught by this happy Australian angler.

He soon followed up with one of our many Siamese Carp ..Carp are not that popular in Australia but you wouldn't know that by the smile on this angler's face .

Not to be outdone it didn't take his wife long to land a nice Arapaima ...

A nice Chinese Black Carp for Jez Wilson on his first Visit to Exotic Fishing Thailand..

Only a few minutes later Jez caught a second fish being the first to catch 2 of this species in a day .Our growing stocks are coming along nicely so it wont be long before these lovely Carp are a daily occurence.

We don't have a lot of Bighead carp but Jez had no problem in adding this fish to his carp species list

Another carp species for Jez was this Soldier River Barb which is an illusive fish at many resorts in Thailand .. Jez had a great time and enjoyed his trip so much he has already booked again for June ..

Matt Welch came to EFT for the first time to experience the Exotic Fishing we have to offer . Matt wanted to do a review of EFT for his facebook page called "fishing foreign waters " . Matt has visited many resorts in Thailand this year and gives some interesting and in my opinon honest reports which are worth a read if you are considering fishing in Thailand.

This Piraiba was one of several new species for Matt ..

Tambaqui are quite common here at EFT and can be caught on just about every bait and method.

A Rainy Ripsaw for Matt

The rain continued but the fish kept pouring in for Matt with some nice Siamese Carp..

I notice Matt is wearing his whistle which is very important for all anglers BUT I am not sure about the gurly belt ...Especially for one of our smaller Alligator Gar . I made a similar comment on another photo of Matt with the gurly belt on Facebook and in his defence his response was that "after 30 fish I needed all the help I could get" ....Needless to say Matt enjoyed some exceptional fishing in his 3 days here at EFT

Andrew Harman visited us again in May .This time Andrew was with his family for a family day ticket outing . Andrews efforts were rewarded early with this nice Alligator Gar caught on a big piece of chicken .

Andrew also landed some nice Redtails and other species while most of the time keeping a close eye on his family who were busy catching Arapaima along with several other fish...

Andrew landed another species which I think is only available at EFT , the Albino Pacu..

Andrews daughter didn't just catch Arapaima she also had a few lively Siamese Carp

Our good friend Kevin from Malta with one of many fish he caught this trip .. I somehow didn't get as many photos as I would have liked.

Kevin was accompanied by his good friend Teddy Aquilina who just loved the peace and quiet of EFT and of course the great fishing ..

Get this !!! a triple header of crazy catfish for Teddy . How this didnt end up in a tangled mess I have no idea .. Or perhaps it did and nobody told me :)..

A nice Giant Featherback from our good friend Jimmy . Jimmy had such a great time he wrote a review of his visit to EFT on his blog at ;-http://fishinginphuket.com/fishing-blog/.

A very nice Wallagoo Attu for this smiling customer

Tap of Bangkok Fishing Guide Service somehow persuaded his girlfriend Mai to let him come to EFT while on their anniversary in Phuket ... There was a little retail therapy involved I am sure :) , but we are glad he made it to Phang Nga to try the fishing ..

Tap was also happy he came to EFT catching over 12 fish in an afternoon including Tambaqui and Amazon redtails.

Tap also caught several Siamese carp and an Arapaima..

He finished up the day with a nice Asian Redtail

As our restaurant is now open and serving some delicious food we are getting quite a few interesting applications for waitress staff .

Thank you again to all the customers who fished with us in May and we look forward to seeing you all hopefully sometime soon ..Our June report will be out soon so keep an eye on our website or sign up for our newsletter if you haven't already done so ..The link is ;-http://www.exoticfishingthailand.com/newsletter.htm

My apologies for anyone we didn't include or if anglers names were missing etc . I often dont meet some of the anglers in the catch report so to write about them is very difficult .. We will have some new fish lists in July which will include space for customers names and contact information and room to add any special notes about their catches and experience ..

If you have any questions about fishing here at EFT you can contact us directly at exoticfishingthailand@gmail.com or through our website at www.exoticfishingthailand.com.. If you want to follow us on facebook you can find us at Exotic Fishing Thailand or perhaps check out one of our other pages Arapaima Fishing in Thailand ..