THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

taking, and it's most certainly not to be missed.
The way it works is to decide on what it is you want to catch in terms of size range or species, then
search the Internet on the basis of that.
Though generally clustered within reasonably easy reach of Bangkok, understandably, there are also
some excellent commercial fisheries either at, or close to all the main tourist destinations, including the
holiday islands to the south.
As most if not all are man made, it makes sense when you think about it to place them within easy
customer reach. That said, not all will contain the same mix or size range of fish, and quality in that
regard will be reflected in the ticket price.
So while the list of potential species is reasonably finite, each fishery will be looking for some angle to
make it that little bit different and stand out from the rest. It pays then to shop around, and maybe, as I
have done, fish a different location every day.
My first visit was to Bangkok where I'd arranged to meet up with Eddie Mounce of Fish Thailand. I'd
flown over from Bali specifically for three days fishing with him, and had decided to kick things off
with a visit to probably the most expensive fishery of them all, IT Monsters Lake.
They say you only get what you pay for in this life, and in that regard, IT Monsters was worth every
penny. Apart from two other chaps booked in for half a days lure fishing, I had the whole place to
myself.
On the bank just in front of the restaurant area was a live-bait tank full of three inch tilapia. Quite
literally hundreds of the things. So many in fact that the guide threw handfuls in as loose feed which
were met with huge swirls and slurps at the surface from big fish whose identity couldn't be seen in the
murky muddy water. These were quickly followed by free-lined live-baits, and as just as quickly by
hook ups. Within seconds of starting I was in.
That first fish ran me ragged. It was arm wrenching. As soon as a bit of line was gained, twice as much
seemed to be lost from the spool.
Eventually, I had an amazonian red
tailed catfish of around forty pounds in
the net. Time then for a breather, or so
I thought. But that wasn't to be, as the
second rod already had another big red
tail on the end of the line waiting for
me, followed by another, and
another.......
Phill Williams, Barramundi on fly, Boon Mar
runs that resulted in missed fish.
As fast as you could throw baits at
them they could be hooked up, and not
always amazonian red tailed cats. I
also had a couple of the indigenous
Asian red tailed cats. Then the catfish
seemed to go off the boil which
allowed in other interesting species,
including a spell when I kept getting
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