I had dreamed for ages to catch a cobra snakehead over the 5 kilos mark. It happened to me. I was already in paradise. I did not need anything else on top of it to make me happier than I already was with this personal snakehead fishing achievement. But the game of life to me is nothing but succeeding with personal challenges one after another, making personal dreams becoming realities, and then closing in the book of my existence a chapter about a particular challenge...
opening then a new one about a next challenge I have in mind, a next dream, the chili spice I need to keep my existence hot the way I love it to be....
Once I was finished with the 5.22 kg cobra snakehead chapter..... I was already looking to write the next one on the 6.00 kg mark.
I have also started recently to fish again for the Siamese giant carp. A kind of fishing I had let "sleeping in the drawer" for about 3 years now. This for several reasons, the main one because I did not see anything new and exciting in it for me, and certainly because I was anyway satisfied enough with my 3 best giant carp catches ever: respectively a 49 kilos, a 46 kilos, and a 45 kilos. Out of nowhere, I awake one morning, not so long ago, with the desire to break my PB by catching one of 50 kilos or above. Even thinking it would not hurt me if I were to hook up and land one big enough to break my amigo Terry Mather's 52 kilos. A lovely catch which earned him years ago the current IGFA All Tackle record for the world's biggest carp species. Que sera sera. If it has to happen then it will. If not then no big deal. After all, the essence of sport fishing should be having fun above anything else. Surely not to be frustrated or disappointed because what one wants so bad does not happen....and one thing for sure is a world record certificate won't change in no way the life of a human being, or won't make him a better man...
My PB Siamese giant carp: a 49 kilos caught in March 2004.
For the anecdote, when in July 2002 the IGFA added to the line class records list the snakehead spp, they gave me a kind of angling challenge I would have never thought of by myself. All of us snakehead addicts, and more especially top water afficionados, fish only with 30lb-40lb braided line. We're not into match fishing finesse, we're into raw jungle angling. We don't do ballet dancing but rock'n'roll. Going after the mighty and mean giant snakehead in the heavily snagged territories of Thailand's reservoirs, with 4lb line or 8lb line, was nothing but Kamikaze fishing. You can even call it "pure suicide". If the IGFA was not a non profit organization, I would have wondered if they had pocketed some nice bribes offered to them under the table by lure making companies to come up with such a new line class category....(lol).
Anyway, the challenge had been issued. Though at first I did not like the idea to involve myself in the line class category, as a hooked up snakehead angler for life, I was a tiny bit annoyed by the idea that "amateur fishermen for snakeheads" would rack up easily these records with no competition around. So I email a bunch of foreign angling buddies and convince them to join me going after all these vacant records. We just did that. A few months later, I was personally holding all of them line class world record, from the 6lb to the 50lb class, for the snakehead spp. The only 2 records I did not have were the 2lb and 4 lb. Only because I had absolutely no interest in earning them though I could have racked them up easily by catching a couple of striped snakeheads over the required pound for a first entry, at Bung Sam Lan or wherever else, using earthworms or live koi as baits. I did not see any real challenge in it so I let these two records for someone else.
I must admit to my surprise that I truly enjoyed very much the total experience of fishing with mono line of various strengths instead of using my usual 40lb braided line. This because it made me fish in particularly very different ways and develop new angling strategies accordingly. There were plenty of exciting and thrilling moments in this line class records quest that I would have never imagined.
Once I was done with the line class challenge, I was then holding 7 of the 9 existing records. Later, some of them got broken by fellow anglers. Records being made to be broken, I even guided personally a US angler to break two of my line class records. I had no desire to try getting my them back. I did not wish to go on with that snakehead challenge. That chapter was closed for good.
NEVER SAY "NO MORE" TO IGFA RECORDS!
Then for personal reasons I wish to keep for myself, I changed my mind in 2006 and decided to be back in the line class game. I feel having making a statement. At that time, I asked my good and faitfhul friend, UK expat Richard "Rick" Pike, a true dedicated snakehead angler for life whom I am proud to be the one having him hooked up this much on jungle fishing, if he was interested to team up with yours truly for that new challenge. Rick and I are on the very same waves when it comes to fishing, more especially snakehead fishing, and we do share in common the same understanding about gentlemanship, principles, and ethics related to our passion. As a true faithful partner of several of my jungle adventures, he did not have any hesitation to answer me positively and to jump immediately with me in the game.
A few months later, each of us had already completed the "mission" we had in mind. I had set a new record for the 20lb line class with a 6.56 kg snakehead catch in August 2006. Rick had set a new record for the 30lb line class with a 7.25 kg snakehead catch in October 2006.
UK angler Rick Pike, my faithful snakehead fishing partner of some of my Asian jungle fishing adventures & his 7.25 kg world record 30lb line class catch.
Currently, Rick holds the 30lb line class record, and soon will be holding the 50lb record too (currently pending homologation).
I'm still holding the 20lb, the 16lb and the 12lb line class records.
I already have told you guys about that deep down inside of me kind of psychological need to prove to myself I can fish as well as I was before I got very ill in mid-December 2006. Three months after being released from hospital, on March 16, 2007, I just proved that to myself big time, with flying colors, by catching on top water an oustanding 5.22 kg Cobra snakehead, setting then a new IGFA All Tackle world record for the Channa marulius species.
I needed then to find a new challenge for myself, related to snakehead fishing. It was easy to figure one out. Rick who was also dreaming to catch an over 5 kilos cobra snakehead prior to my catch, agreed with yours truly our next common goal was to try capturing this time one cobra weighing over the 6 kilos mark.
Then Rick caught his 9.20 kg "catch of a lifetime" Giant Snakehead on March 30, during filming for a National Geographic documentary about the snakehead. An exceptional fish which will earn him the 50lb line class world record, once his catch is homologated by the IGFA.
The only snakehead related challenges left for us that we could think of were now the 2lb, 4lb, and 8lb line class records. We did not even dare thinking of going after the 6lb record as this one, for a catch of a 10 kilos monster size giant snakehead in Malaysia, was kind of "unbreakable". We agreed that both of us would target the 2lb, 4lb, and 8lb records when having the opportunity to eventually do so on some of our almost monthly snakehead fishing trips.
I told Rick we should start giving a shot at trying winning back the 8lb record first and then going next after the 4lb and the 2lb, the two lighter records missing from my humble "IGFA snakehead accomplishments".
That 8lb record - currently held by a Malaysian angler for a 3.35 kg giant snakehead catch - was exactly the one I had in in mind when I left Bangkok on the 18th April, with two UK clients whom I had to guide on a 4 days snakehead fishing trip at the Srinakarin reservoir. I had prepared my fishing gear accordingly for the challenge, spooling one of my Shimano Twin Power 4000 reels with brand new Ande Tournament 8lb mono line.
While doing the filming of the National Geographic documentary at the end of March, Rick and I had found a few just new born red color "luk krok" (luk krok is the local name for the ball of snakehead fry escorted by adult parents). It is by casting at one of them that Rick had caught his huge 9.20 kg mama snakehead protecting her young.
So I knew I would eventually have an opportunity or two to give a shot at that 8lb line class record. There were only three conditions to eventual success. First, I had of course to find one of these few "luk krok", which most of the time is as easy as finding as a needle in a haystack. Second, I could allow myself to start casting at it only after having given my client all the best chances to be the one hooking up one of the two snakehead parents. If he was to fail because the fish were in no mood to strike at his lure then I could give it a shot myself. Third and most important, I had to find that "luk krok" in open waters with no structures and no snaggs around. A slight friction of such a light line as 8lb mono on a submerged tree branch would end a fight on a broken line. For that latest condition, in a heavily snagged reservoir like Srinakarin is, I was asking for another "miracle".....
Thanks God, they do happen once in a while...
ROCK'N'ROLL BRAWL WITH SAVAGE AND VIOLENT MAMA SNAKEHEAD, ON 8LB MONO LINE !
On our first day fishing, on April 19, I had teamed up all day with my UK client Garry Simpson. His son Kevin, 27 years old, was fishing alone in our second boat.
The water level had come down a lot since my last trip at the end of March. It was now a bit too low, making the fishing a bit tougher than I expected it to be. But it was very OK though. Both father and son, who are mainly into match fishing in the UK, were having plenty of good fun discovering top water lure fishing for snakehead species. They loved it. After I had taught them the basics of that true art of lure fishing and a few tricks related to it on their very first morning on the water, they already had several giant snakehead catches. Even Lady Luck was eager to give them a little hand as both father and son had caught a rare cobra snakehead. The biggest fish catch of the day nailed by Garry was a lovely 4.70 kg male giant snakehead protecting its young. The next day he would land a cracking 7.00 kg female. He also hooked up what he said was a much bigger fish, again protecting the "luk krok", but sadly lost it unhooked.
In the afternoon of the 19th, we were all prospecting the same bay when my eagle eyes - they have been trained through the years to spot miniskirts and snakehead balls of fry from very far away - found a luk krok already around 3 weeks old on top water. I told Garry to switch his top water lure for a diving lure and let him first cast alone at the fry. After a while, no strike had happened yet. Not even a sign of aggressiveness had been displayed by one of the two parents. Babies of that already big size, 3 weeks after birth, are anyway never good news to the experienced snakehead angler. He knows they can already fend for themselves therefore the parents are much less protective.
The only way to eventually trigger a strike from one of the two parents was now to try upsetting them by casting nonstop at the fry. More commotion, more noise, more lures passing close to them and agitating them the better. There were two things I was very aware of at that very moment. First, because of the way the parents had been behaving so far, it did not leave any doubt to me that Garry and I were going to be casting at that fry for a long time to come. At least a good hour. Second, there was no guarantee at all that one of the two fish would eventually finally lose control and attack either Garry's or my intruding lure. We could be working hard for nothing. Hope and optimism are what fuels the persisting snakehead angler. And persistence is often the key to success in any kind of field....
The parents with their fry were now "fleeing the scene", at first following the bank, and then starting heading for open waters....the moment I had been waiting for! I switched to my light tackle fishing rod and reel spooled with 8lb mono line and told Garry I was now going for an IGFA world record.
The chase was now on. Hunting time at its best. Preying on predators game.
Garry and I were casting non stop our respective diving lures each time the "luk krok" surfaced. None of us were aware at that time it would take exactly one hour and fifteen minutes, under the scorching sun and its burning heat of a Thailand's dry season afternoon, with the temperature reaching over 40 degrees celsius, before one of the two parents get "pissed off" enough to lose control, and go for the kill, grabbing one of the two disturbing lures in a split second. For the ones of you who have never experienced what I am talking about, let's say it is the kind of most extreme lure fishing I would not recommended to fellow anglers who do not like to sweat heavily, getting a dry throat, and working too hard for a fish catch.....
After a few hundred casts, finally the male snakehead followed Garry's Rapala Floating Magnum to the boat but did not strike, turning around and going back to protect its young. It was not good news to me who do not like when snakeheads get too close to my boat and see its shadow.
Bad news got even worse when next the wind came and started to blow. Big waves were making it more difficult for us to spot the surfacing fry on top water. The wind was getting stronger and stronger. It was just a matter of time before we had to call it a day, accepting the fact we had been outsmarted one more time by the snakehead. Not the first time anyway... and surely not the last time....
Then, when I was starting to wonder if it was worth to cast lures any longer, the unexpected happened. I was still casting at the ball of fry - but I must admit with less optimism - when all of a sudden......BAM....the kind of solid hook up making you wondering for a split second if you have hooked up a submerged tree......or a very alive tree with fins....
What is at the other end of my line leaves no doubt when it starts running full speed underwater. My light tackle Pro Kik custom built rod is one more time bent to the extreme. The fight is on. I am fully aware that on 8lb mono line not a single mistake will be forgiven. None is allowed. My motto for the occasion is "Keep Cool & No Panic!"
The hooked up enraged savage mama - the female it was - is diving, running, and rushing all over the place, from left to right, from in front of the boat to under it. After a long good 15 minutes of pure "rock'n'roll brawl" that seems to me lasting an eternity, the fish starts fighting less hard, resisting less when being pumped and reeled in to the surface.
ONE CANNOT BE JINXED FOREVER!
Waaaow! What a stunning fish! Here she is with her gorgeous colorful post spawning markings shining at the bottom of my landing net. A true beauty. I look at the size of her big massive head which tells me immediately I have just hit a kind of jackpot bigger than any offered by the best Las Vegas' casinos. I only needed a catch a tiny bit bigger than the current 3.35 kg line class record to set the new record I was after. Here is a fish looking being well over twice that size. I don't hear anymore the two Thai boatmen and the Simpson father and son congratulating me and hugging me. I am on another planet. My heart can't stop its drumming solo and my hands can't stop shaking. I feel being 16 years old again...
We all go on shore to proceed with the IGFA weighing and measurements procedure and to the photos session.
She is exactly 8.52 kilos on certified digital scales, has a total length of 97.5 cms, and a girth of 46.5 cms.
Here is the beauty: the 8.52 kg big mama snakehead qualifying for a new world record.
I was friendly teasing Rick the other day about his already two "snakehead catches of a lifetime" in only two years of snakehead fishing: the 8.20 kg he caught in July 2006, and more recently the 9.20 kg he caught at the end of March. I told him he had to realize how lucky he was, saying I had to be kind of jinxed myself for the big ones. From the several thousands of snakeheads I did catch through the years, my biggest catches of all were in order a 7.50 kg, two fish tied at 7.40 kg, and a 7.10 kg. Yes, jinxed I believe I had to be, being unable to break the 8 kilos barrier!
At last it finally happened. The curse is gone.
I just wanted to catch a fish bigger than 3.35 kg to break the 8lb line class record for the snakehead spp. category.
With that latest helluva 8.52 kg catch amazingly achieved on 8lb mono line it turned out I kind of "EXPLODED" it!
Right now my friends, life to me cannot get any better than this....and of course I'm gonna be taking care very soon of the 4lb line class record.
In fact, I almost succeeded to break that one too on the morning of the 20th April. I had spooled my reel accordingly to switch to my next challenging quest: the 4lb line class record. I did find another "luk krok" in a bay and hooked up one of the two parents on my 4th cast. I played the fish for 10 minutes, almost brought it to the landing net....but it was not to be two lucky days in a row. For whatever reason the fish got unhooked though I had already done 90 % of the job....hey, one cannot have it all.
Two good size striped snakeheads (Channa striata) caught on top water during our latest Srinakarin jungle trip.
I surely won't cry a river about it. I already had much more than my share of good luck on that latest jungle trip, adding to my catches two good size Striped snakeheads (Channa striata) hooked up on top water.
I had dreamed for ages to catch a cobra snakehead over the 5 kilos mark. It happened to me. I was already in paradise. I did not need anything else on top of it to make me happier than I already was with this personal snakehead fishing achievement. But the game of life to me is nothing but succeeding with personal challenges one after another, making personal dreams becoming realities, and then closing in the book of my existence a chapter about a particular challenge...
