ARAPAIMAS ON THE MOVE AGAIN .

We have spent the last 2 weeks netting our stock ponds and moving a lot of our fish into our main lake . Most fish are easy to move but the Arapaimas can be tricky .

These fish are very unpredictable.

We use 5 people on smaller fish and 7 people on 100kg plus fish ..

Even with 5 people holding the fish firmly in the blankets we use to move the fish it only takes one quick shot from even a smaller 50kg Arapaima and someone could have a broken rib or worse.

Once the fish are in the main lake we let them rest and take a few breaths before releasing them .

All our fish have adjusted well to the main lake . The water quality is excellent and very similar to the ponds which the fish are moved from .

We have had a few fatalities in our fish moves from Bangkok due to the distance but it has been a very small percentage . We are always trying to improve our method of transport and handling all our fish .

There are still more fish coming from our offsite ponds. We are also continuing to grow our onsite stock so we always have new fish to add to the main lake to keep the catch rates up as the current stock get smarter ..

TERRIFIC TIGERS

We have had some great success growing our Tiger Shovelnose Catfish.

It was a nice surprise to see how big these Tigers have grown in the past year when I caught them to move to the main lake.

The markings on these fish are simply incredible...

This was one of the fattest Tiger Shovelnose we put in the main lake..

Here is one of our Thai guides Ched with another nice fish

Another awesome Shovelnose. I cant wait to gets some photos with customers holding these fish ..Will you be the first ??

We are always growing new stock for our lake . We have several different sizes of Tigers growing in our tanks and ponds . Our goal is to keep your fishing fun and interesting . We do this by continuing to introduce large numbers of different Exotic species..It wont be long before we have even more Tigers swimming around the lake .

CUSTOM DESIGNED BAMBOO SALAS IN YOUR SWIM

We have designed custom bamboo salas for your lakeside comfort and privacy while fishing . They are designed with a covered back and partially covered sides to stop the wind and rain blowing in . They are also extra tall so you wont bang your head when running to strike for a fish . The finsheed sofa and table are both practical and stylish .. We thought it would be interesting to show you how they are made .. They are manufactured in Phuket at a small family run company that can make just about anything from bamboo.

The first step is to soak all the bamboo in water ..

The next step is to remove the outer skin before cutting all components to length . .

A hole saw is used as the construction is based on fitting the smaller diameter bamboo frame components into holes in the larger bamboo components. The other materials are added using a small air powered nailing gun ...

The finished products are really quite strong.

Boom and Michelle decided they would be the first to test the first sala :)

The salas are delivered on a truck with small crane for easy unloading

We borrowed a metal frame with wheels to be able to roll the salas into place .. We had to push some of them over 200 meters to the fishing swims.

Our team as always were creative on getting the job done..

They used lengths of wood and rolled the frame along and then kept moving the back wood to the front until done..

All the salas are in place now and waiting for customers ... We are now busy working on gardens and laying grass to put the finishing touches to the resort .

AWESOME FISH FOR THE MAIN LAKE

We have had some great fish delivered from our offsite ponds and also have been moving lots of fish from our stock ponds to the main lake .

AWESOME ALLIGATOR GAR

BIG MEKONGS BY THE TRUCK LOAD

What a powerful fish . I cant wait to fish for these...:)

Our best Yellow Cheeked Carp yet ...Or Pla Bambusa as it is called in Thai..

Awesome colours. You can see why they call it a yellow cheeked something but it really looks more like a Trout or Salmon than a Carp :)

Powerful Piraiba... I am so happy with how big these fish have got in our stock ponds.. I am also surprised how easy they were to catch compared to other species..

One of our Thai guides Ched with a respectable Redtail

We have our first stingrays .. Not big yet but another new species.

More Chao Phraya Catfish

This beautiful little fish is a Soldier River Barb. . The current world record is only 3.4kg..

There will be fish added almost every day until we open so stay tuned for more great photos..

MEKONG MADNESS AT EFT

I just love fishing for Mekong Catfish especially when they are over 100 kgs. Our first big Cats arrived yesterday and I am so excited they are here .

If you love catching really BIG FISH in truly awesome surroundings then Exotic Fishing Thailand is the place for you ..

Here is another huge arrival .. These fish are just so strong. It will take everything you've got to reel one of these monsters in ..

Some visitors have been concerned that they wont be able to keep a close eye on their rods when fishing with us as they will be too busy staring up at the incredible mountains . I told them we will just have to turn the volume up on their bite alarms :).

As well as Mekongs this week we also added another favorite fish of mine the Chao Phraya Catfish . These fish are already 30kgs and they never stop eating so I am sure they will be up to 50kg in no time ..

MORE FISH ON THE MOVE

We had another fish deliver yesterday and also moved some fish from stock ponds to the main lake

Another nice Arapaima arrived from Bangkok.

As did some acrobatic Arawana

Also our first shipment of Juliens Carp for the main lake

Some small Alligator Gar...

Some Siamese Carp also made their way to Phang Nga .

Some nice Yellow Cheeked Carp were also moved into the main Lake

I also caught this light coloured Chao Phraya Catfish in one of the stock ponds which was only a few Kilo 9 months ago..It is now swimming in the main lake.

NETTING PONDS AND FISH ON THE MOVE .

The fun has begun as we are now starting to net and catch some of our stocked fish from our many stock ponds and put them in the main lake . Its hard work but also exciting to see how big the fish have grown. There are usually a few fish I have forgotten about so that keeps it interesting each time the net is pulled through.. The ponds will each be drained to make sure we have all fish out . .This is very important because if we had just one small predator left in the pond and we added new non predatory species we would end up one year down the road with just one fat predator :)..After draining each pond they will be treated so we can add more small fish .. I have some interesting species coming soon ..

As we move some of our fish to the main lake we are also relocating some of our other fish as they are simply getting too big for our smaller stock ponds . Its difficult to believe that these Arapaimas were only 5kg 10 months ago. They look around 30 or 40kg now ...

We have started to net our ponds . The first was mostly a baitfish pond with lots more Tilapia for the main lake but there were some nice surprises.

This was the first Vundu Catfish we netted , I was impressed with how quickly it had grown. I cant wait to see how big they are in a few years as they can reach up to 40Kg.

These Vundu have also grown at a ridiculous rate as they were only 6" long 1 year ago. I know of only one other fishery in Thailand which has stocked some Vundu Catfish.

My good friend Paul was visiting EFT with his lovely wife Cynthia and couldn't resist getting a photo with one of these cool cats.

Ross will be helping with guiding and training the Thai guides so he figured he should get some practice handling these slimy creatures. Its not often you see 3 live Vundu in a photo together.Especially with 3 smiling Canadians..

We also added some Nile Perch Which have doubled in size in the last 6 months.

Boom and Michelle were there for teh netting to keep an eye on things.

Lucky they were as here is Michelle's Auntie Pom with a fish in her pocket lol... This fish jumped out of the net and in one quick grab Pom had it and stuffed it in her pocket and just kept netting .. i was pissing myself laughing it was just so funny . Now we know she loves BBQ Tapien.