Some news just come in to MEGA FISHING THAILAND about a new IGFA world record for Barramundi on the Fly in the Rod Tippet 6lb Class.Mr John Mitchell, a UK angler living & working in Hong Kong for 13 years now is a regular visitor to Thailand for fishing 2-3 times a year. He has caught plenty of good size fish in the past.

John is a returning customer of Angling Adventures Thailand and is a very keen Fly fisherman so Knowing this his Guide for the two days Jean-Francois Helias had previously told him that he would very much like to make a target for and IGFA world record.

At this time of year in Thailand there is a transition period between the wet ( na Phon)and cold (na Naow) seasons and the fishing can tend to drop off a bit especially in the mornings when the water takes longer to warm up. So it happened that Mr Mitchell arrived in Thailand right in the middle of this drop off period, that may seem like a problem if you are going after a new world record. It would take a lot more than that to deter him or his guide Jean Francoi from having a bash

His two days fishing were to be October 1st and 2nd, 2006.

On his first outing to Bang Pakong the Barramundi venue the fish were not much in the mood to take flies or lures ( due to monsoon weather conditions) and the fishing was rather slow.
John caught only 3 fish during that first session, all were of a nice size for Thai standards.

His biggest catch weighted in at 7.94 kg ( 17.5 lbs ) on certified scales, which was good enough to break the 7.85 kg (set by Fishing globetrotter Marty Arostegui, from Florida, USA, less than a month ago) currently pending 6lb tippet Freshwater Fly Rod record.

It took John around 25 minutes to tame that fish on such a light tippet.

UK angler John Mitchell & 7.94 kg (17.5lbs) world record Barramundi caught on 6lb tippet - Oct. 1, 2006

John and Francois wre both satisfied with that new record but agreed at the end of the fishing session to go on with the 6lb tippet quest for a record the next day. They were very confident that with a bit of luck they might catch a bigger fish, setting then a second record, and the record mark higher at the same time.

So on the 2nd of October 2006 the biting was far better and John landed several Barramundi with his biggest catch of the day which was landed after a 30 minute fight tipped the scales at 8.39 kg; (18.4 lbs )therefore breaking the 7.94 kg record he had set the previous day.

Here is the data for those two pending IGFA World records.

Pending Freshwater Fly Rod - Tippet 6 lb, Barramundi, 7.94 kg, Bang Pakong, Thailand, Oct. 1st, 2006. John Mitchell, England.

Pending Freshwater Fly Rod - Tippet 6 lb, Barramundi, 8.39 kg, Bang Pakong, Thailand, Oct. 2nd, 2006. John Mitchell, England.

UK angler John Mitchell & 8.39 kg ( 18.4 lbs )world record Barramundi caught on 6lb tippet - Oct. 1, 2006

To break a World Record is somthing very fine indeed, it takes patience, skill and hard work you maybe need little luck or the right Karma but probablly the most important factor is knowledge.

These records again go to show the quality of fishing availiable in Thailand. The fact that the species in Question is Barramundi which is a very popular game fish you would think we were talking about Australia but no , this is indeed Thailand the land of smiles.