Our latest fishing trip to Chiang Mai was planned with an overnight stay at the Queen sirikit dam followed by two nights at Dream lake fishing resort. After arriving at the train station in Chiang mai early afternoon and transfering to our bungalow at Dream lake for some afternoon fishing, it was not long before the action started. Yes with a great "hook up" resulting in a trip to the Chiang mai hospital for surgical removal of a VMC hook complete with barb from one very unlucky finger.
One hour, one thousand baht and two stitches later , Karmic balance restored,we were back at Dream lake and not in the mood for fishing so it was to the bugalow with a selection of DVD's strong painkillers, antibiotics hamburgers and beer.
Next morning it was out early and on a very enjoyable drive to Utteradit and the Queen Sirikit dam. It takes between 4-5 hours from Chiang Mai to the sirikit reservoir most of which is through mountainous country with great views and lots of roadside shops selling everything from fruits to clothing.
Once we arrived at Sirikit dam there was just time for a quick bowl of rice before we were in the boat and out on the water by 3pm. We were going to be testing a new lure made here in Thailand called the Monster catcher.
This top water Popper lure is weighted at 17 grams, a perfect casting weight for this kind of top water lure fishng in this area. The boatman informed us that the Pla Kasoop ( Jungle perch ) were particularly fond of noisy poppers which was music to my ears as Kasoop were top of the days hit list anyway. I always enjoyed fishing for Perch in the UK so going after the Jungle variety was going to be nothing short of bliss.
Monster catcher poppers are designed to produce their own action in the water without the need to twitch your fishng rod. With probablly the loudest pop around, water spraying up to 50cm in the air and a flashy spinner blade on the tail even the doziest of Jungle perches should be stirred into attack mode and ready to strike.
STRIKE they did ! Starting with a very nice 2Kg momma fish who was waiting in a submerged weed bed and as our Monster catcher popped past she just could not resist its charms and needless to say that the handpainted finish of the lure took some severe battle scars.
The second day started early with the boatmen arriving on time and we were on the water heading out of pitch darkness towards the rising sun and some breathtaking skies.
Our counterparts for the trip were two Germans who live in Chiang Mai. Both these guys had been to the Sirikit dam before and came up with some nice catches in the morning.
After the morning session and no real notable catches it was back to the rafts for lunch and then unfortunatley back in the car for the drive to Chiang Mai and the comforts of a private bungalow at Dreamlake fishing resort for more fishing, this time with baits.
One thing that is great about Dream lake in Chiang Mai is the range of possibilitys for fishing. Nothing here is guaranteed and you have a chance to try many methods of fishing, we would be bottom fishing with dead baits for the next two nights which would put Arapaima, Red tail catfish, Shovelnose catfish, Alligator gar, Pacu, Featherback or snakehead as good contenders for a bite.
We were looking to add some new species to our list and allthough not our first time catching a Spotted featherback it was easily a P.B.. Somthing that is well documented is the shyness of this species on the bite. The bait runner only made a few clicks and was far from screeching and paying out line in fact the bite was so faint that it could have been mistaken for a hungry freshwater crab attacking our sardine.
On the second night we used the same tactics in the same spot as the previous night and only had to wait about 20 minutes before the rod was hauled of its stand and onto the floor and the bait runner was, well doing its bait running job quite well at a frantic speed.
Obviously not another Featherback, whatever was on the end of our Gamakatsu was big and definatley not happy about being bullied all the way around his water.
The rod wrestling match came to a finish without any big incident and Mr Arapaima very gracefull in defeat came to our net.
We have all come to learn about the fragile nature of Arpaima gigas and the fact that many large specimens have died after being caught. Our catch would not be classed as really large but at 30Kg+ it was still the dreamlake record, a personal P.B and a very beautifull fish in perfect condition and we wanted to stay that way.
The de-barbed Gamakatsu hook was perfectly placed at the edge of the mouth for a very quick unhooking and the fish was actually out of the water for less than 60 seconds, this time included a very quick photo as we were getting ready to slip the Arapaima back into the water.
Dream lake in Chiang mai really is highly recommended for a visit, very friendly atmosphere, great fishng and great times.
More info about staying at Dream lake click here. or about Snakehead fishing at Sirikit dam click here
Our latest fishing trip to Chiang Mai was planned with an overnight stay at the Queen sirikit dam followed by two nights at Dream lake fishing resort. After arriving at the train station in Chiang mai early afternoon and transfering to our bungalow at Dream lake for some afternoon fishing, it was not long before the action started. Yes with a great "hook up" resulting in a trip to the Chiang mai hospital for surgical removal of a VMC hook complete with barb from one very unlucky finger.
