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Thread: Ko Samui, Thailand - TopCats

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Thailand
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    Default Ko Samui, Thailand - TopCats

    I moved to Thailand a couple weeks ago. For now I'm living on an island called Samui, which is around the same area as Phuket. I hit up a local "pay lake" here on Samui called TopCats. You may have seen it on the show River Monsters with Jeremy Wade. This lake ain't no Corona or Irvine. The fish in here are big and exotic. Most of them come from South America, but the climate here in Thailand is suitable for them. I had a good time fighting these fish. Me and one other guy were the only ones fishing that day.

    Phenix Black Diamond 15-40 lb. Spinning Rod w/ Shimano Thunnus Ci4 8000:


    I was using my Phenix Black Diamond rod. They're lighter and thinner than rods with the same specs. You'd actually think they were bass rods if it wasn't for the saltwater style rear ends. The owner and staff told me my rods wouldn't hold up... said they'd break on these fish. I told them these rods are deceiving and are very strong. They still were very skeptical:


    Redtail Catfish:


    Redtail Catfish:


    Giant Siamese Carp:


    Redtail Catfish:


    Redtail Catfish:


    Redtail Catfish:


    Mekong Giant Catfish:


    Mekong Giant Catfish:


    Redtail Catfish:


    Fighting a Redtail:


    Redtail Catfish:


    Arapaima:


    Arapaima:


    My total fish count was 8 redtail, a Mekong giant catfish, an arapaima, and a giant Siamese carp.

    I REALLY wanted to catch an arapaima. The lake closes at 8:00pm and it was getting close to that time and I hadn't caught one. It was 7:50 when I threw my bait (a chunk of a local fish, not sure what it's called) near some brush in the water. At 7:55pm the line starts screaming off the reel. Set the hook and the fish made a loooong drag peeling run. After the initial run it was pretty easy getting him in, unlike the other fish I caught that day which kept ripping drag through the whole fight. I was pretty excited when I saw that it was an arapaima.

    Anyway, it was a good time fishing there. These fish are definitely hungry because the action was pretty much non-stop, except for about a 2 hour period of time in the afternoon where I only got a couple bites and no takers.

    All the fish were CPR'd and the guides at the lake even squirt iodine on the hook wound before releasing them so that it doesn't become infected.
    Last edited by gavin310; 09-25-2011 at 07:05 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Eagle River, Alaska
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    Default

    Great pics.....looks like a blast. Those are some really big fish....would be fun to catch all those exotics.

  3. #3
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    May 2005
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    Garden Grove
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    WOW! Exciting! You got a "River Monsters" trifecta! I have seeen wade catch all but the carp, and I definitely remeber that episode. WTG man. That is sick. The red tails fight like mad huh?


    How much (US $$s) did it cost to fish. I can't believe there were only 2 fishermen on the lake!

  4. #4
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    Ca. Coast
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    Nice! That's 4 fish I may never check off my list.

    So what do they think of your rods now?

  5. #5
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    Dec 2007
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    So it doesn't look like you'll be coming back to Socal anytime soon.

  6. #6
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    Rat Beach
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    DR

  7. #7
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    Mar 2006
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    Thailand
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Madrigal View Post
    WOW! Exciting! You got a "River Monsters" trifecta! I have seeen wade catch all but the carp, and I definitely remeber that episode. WTG man. That is sick. The red tails fight like mad huh?


    How much (US $$s) did it cost to fish. I can't believe there were only 2 fishermen on the lake!
    Yeah the redtail put up a great fight. Really fun. The mekong was actually the hardest fighter. It was a smaller one (compared to what they can grow to) and it took me all over the lake, pulling drag like it was nothing.

    It costs about $58 for 6 hours of fishing, and $112 for 12 hours of fishing... based on the current value of the dollar. I did the 12 hour fishing and caught 11 fish, so not too bad. It's a bit pricey, but these fish are pricey to buy or raise. I know they raise arapaima at the lake, but I think they buy the other fish.

    I'm actually planning a trip soon to fish for the Mekong catfish in the wild. Not sure when but hopefully soon!

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Which Way Out View Post
    So what do they think of your rods now?
    They definitely stopped commenting about their size ;) They didn't speak a whole lot of English so they just kept going over and looking at them. I actually brought a smaller setup too, since I didn't know exactly what to expect when I got there. My smaller reel was a Shimano Stradic Ci4 and the lady was most interested in that. She asked if she could have it to give to her son. I said no...

  9. #9
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    Mar 2006
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    Thailand
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ifishtoolittle View Post
    So it doesn't look like you'll be coming back to Socal anytime soon.
    I'm thinking after Thailand maybe heading to Vietnam. Not sure yet. My plans are wide open at the moment

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
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    Are you following in the footsteps of Jeremy Wade, you definitely got yourself some monsters there. How was the fight with the Arapaima? Great catch gavin!!!

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