Recently on a whirlwind trip of Chiang Mai Northern Thailand I managed to get a few hours fishing done at Paradise lake. This lake is not the biggest lake in Thailand but there are definatley some monster fish in there.

I had heard all sorts of stories about the Giant mekong catfish fishing in Thailand and the amazing fighting power of these fish, so when I had a couple hours to spare I made my way to the Paradise lake.

I had bought a new fishing rod and reel the day before,  I also borrowed a rod and reel from my friend then managed to hook up with a great guide company for half a days fishing at the lake. The rod and reel I had bought cheaply from the Mae Sai Border town would prove totally inadequate to deal with the coming battles.



Back home I would consider myself a fairly proficient angler having caught a large amount of fish species but without any previous knowledge of this of fishing technique I soon felt like a complete beginner and as the adrenalin of the first run burst through my veins I was frozen and making genuine stupid mistakes.

After my guide Mr TUk TUk set up my rod, talked me through the process of how to hook up the fish correctly he cast out for me and we sat back and chatted about the Paradise lake and fishing in Chiang Mai.

There was another guy with us who had been fishing with Mr Tuk Tuk since early morning and he had already landed around 16 Catfish. So when the reel on his rod strarted screaming he said go for it man.

I froze a little as my mind had gone blank and whatever Mr Tuk Tuk had told me was no longer clear to me,  the guide jumped in front of me and struck the rod, hooked the fish then quickly passed me the rod back and said that this was a "big one".

I must say that I was expecting a fight but, this was more like a brawl and I could not stop laughing and smiling when it dawned on me that this was actually better than the hype that I had heard about these fish.

The total oposite of the feeling upon leaving the movie theater thinking what was that I just wasted my money on, I thought it was this summers best block buster.



After about 20 minutes of sweating and pumping the rod I thought I had this fish under control, well I was wrong, I had been playing the fish around the middle of the lake after her first run of about 150 meters.

Then she decided to go on a screaming run again to the far side of the lake which would be ok if there was not a broken tree and a jetty blocking my path. Mr Tuk Tuk was shouting instructions at me to lift the rod high in the air and over the tree stump, Well I was glad that this guide uses Big carp rods as my 8ft spinning rod would have not done the job.

Back in clear water this fish was nowhere near ready to come quietly and was still having its wicked way with me. As it started heading back for the bridge Mr Tuk Tuk was saying "Smart fish, smart fish, this is a smart fish".

After another 10 minutes which felt like at least 30 in the tropical sun she decided to head back for the oher end of the lake so I followed along the bank keeping good control over her and playing her all the way back to my original starting position and slowly into the net.

That was my first ever Mekong Giant Catfish safely landed and weighed up at 17kg. Not a big one at all. But I was not disapointed at all as it was apparently the biggest caught that day. After the photo, I gently put her backin the water and said goodbye. 



My arms were now very tired so I sat back and enjoyed a rest, there was also some ice cool beer waiting for me which was very welcome. I got talking to some Thai guys who were fishing next door to us and we all shared some drinks and chat in Thai and English, Often if your in  good company you can sometimes loose track of time. So when my new fishing rods reel started loosing line I jumped up and this time struck into the fish and nicely hooked it up.

Again Mr Tuk Tuk said "oh big fish, big fish" and again this fish made a long run towards the centre of the lake.
This was ok I can deal with this I thought but then realised that the reel on this rod was not my new one packed with 30lb mono but my friends borrowed reel that had an almost empty spool. Oh S**t!!theres no way I can play this fish in the same gentle way as the last one. So I had to try and bully her a bit.  This turned out to be the wrong tactic and when I was holding the spol with my hand to put more pressure on her somthing gave and she was gone.

I sat back down and relaxed again with my new fishing friends who were not dong much better with every strike either being missed or line snapped and tackle lost, it was late afternoon which is apparently not as productive as the morning. The evenings patrons were turning up, so I decided it was time to go home. Only one fish in three hours but the first is always the most memorable no matter how big it is.

I would really recommend that if you have time when in Chiang mai that you visit paradise lake, it is great fun and you will make some good fishing friends...

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Tight Lines!!

If you would like more information about booking a tour at Paradise Lake in Chiang Mai Thailand, have and questions, comments or other enquiries please email info@megafishingthailand.com we are always happy to hear from you.