Our journey is bright and sunny day as we ride the open top boat to the raft house with a stop about halfway to have a very late lunch in a floating “restaurant”. Rain is certainly not in our minds.
Tim and Tony admiring some thai mangoes en route
The crew on this trip
This wild young jumbo has gotten used to people
He’s sure getting excited
Impressive!
Our floating villa
The canteen in the late afternoon
Bright moon this evening
Absolutely delicious Thai dishes
Tony could not resist catching a tinfoil barb with his Tenkara outfit
Morning scene at the raft house
Our raft house unit from outside
Simple breakfast before heading out to fish
Tim and JW ready to roll
I notice a lot less insects than a month ago.
Water level has gone down significantly, easily by five foot.
Fishing in streams and rivers can be very weather sensitive. Or more accurately, rain sensitive. That’s why having more days can come in handy, although there can never be any certainties.
HALF DAY FISHING
Our first day on the river sees rain and we had to call it quits at midday.
However, we had a great start to the day, just a short distance after we began wading, Tim caught his first fish after just a few casts and it was a nice fish around 2kg.
Although we do get nice fish fish early, they are the exception rather than the norm. We usually have to wade a fair distance upstream before finding better size fish.
Rain started to fall shortly after and continues for most of the day with dark clouds everywhere. We stopped fishing at 1:30pm as the bite turned off and the river became very murky.
LOST
We did some downstream fishing as we headed back to the boat. Nearing the river mouth, I reached for my HTC RE camera and realise to my horror I’d dropped it somewhere.
I had fashioned a velcro mount for it on my Fishpond sling pack so that it is in front of my chest allowing me hands free recording. Obviously, it was not well done. The HTC Re does not come with any available chest mount, fyi.
It is not the value of the camera as you may know, but the recordings in the SD card that’s of value. The camera is a review unit anyway.
Tim looks on as we head to the river on day one
Almost there as the river gets narrower
A solid first thai mahseer for Tim
You got to watch your back cast when fishing in the rainforest
Checking out a tight spot
Fishing in the rain. Mahseer of this size are quite a common catch.
Fishing in a beautiful setting
NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK
What are the odds of finding a small pocket camera in the thick rainforest? It could have dropped anywhere within a couple of kilometres, could even have dropped into the water. But…no harm just tracing our track from the day before and look!
And what do you know!? Everyone shook their head in disbelief we actually managed to find the camera in the jungle. It helped that the camera is orange in colour.
Challenging fishing in the morning although Tim still managed a couple of fish. We changed to a smaller fly just before settling down for a quick lunch.
BETTER FISHING LATER
Immediately after lunch Tim hooked a mahseer of around 1.5kg and the fishing got better from there on. It still was not easy but it just got better.
The weather held up but the river was still murky from the rain the day before.
In the afternoon, just before were due to turn back and trek to our boat, I spot a rise near the far back just before a deep pool. Tim places his fly on target and it was quickly taken.
It was a surprise catch of a forest snakehead, which is not common but a highly desired catch species nonetheless, especially by fans of snakehead fishing.
THE BIG ONE
At the same spot, Tim went on to catch a big mahseer. Still the biggest we’ve personally seen caught on fly here. Me and the park ranger estimate the fish between 4kg to 5kg.
Over the years we’ve seen a couple of big fish, even hooked a couple but landing them is a totally different story. Mainly due to their power and tricky challenging conditions.
David landed one a bit smaller only to realise the hook on the fly has open up but the fish stayed on to his relief.
Amongst others…Aznir, too, landed a nice fish which you can see here.
Brushing teeth outside the “water villa”
Scenic boat ride to the river
Even when not big, fish this size still puts up a good fight and often the way you catch them can be very memorable.
Fly fishing paradise
Casting around the bend and hiding from the fish
The reward is gold!
Up close look at the beautiful large scales of a mahseer
Back cast delivery comes in handy often
Tim with a nice fish
This one is caught in skinny water
A photo with our jungle guide
Watching the backcast has many benefits.
A snakehead surprise catch! Forest snakehead are not a common catch so it’s pleasant to catch one.
Casting into a deep pool
Tim lands a big one shortly after the forest snakehead
Still one of the biggest we’ve seen caught on fly
This photo gives a good perspective of the size of this mahseer
Dinner time at the canteen
LAST TWO DAYS
There were more rain later on that clouded the rivers and washed out our earlier plans. As a result everyone fished at one particular same river for two days. This is the only river where the water quality is still fishable.
We went on to catch more fish, had a few shots with big ones and finishes the trip without too much to complain about having caught some memorable fish.
The tinfoil barb feeding frenzy. They are ever ready for you to throw food to them.
They even come out of the water. Not easy to catch though.
Big wide river sections
Plenty of fish this size
Creeping up to these super spooky fish
Fishing in these rivers can be a test to your fly casting skills
Six weight setup is one of the most suitable for fishing here
A nice mahseer caught in skinny water
The guide having some casts
Mahseer feed on these flowers that drop from trees at certain times of the year
Cutting through the jungle
Viewing photos and videos at the end of the day
Dinner always much anticipated with the good thai food
GOING HOME
Last day means getting up early and taking the boat ride out after breakfast.
All the thai long tail boats waiting for their passengers
Tony not looking too happy to say goodbye
Aznir in a daze
A look at the row of raft houses
Window to the wild world
Yup, drugs free coffee and tea.
Self service drink counter
Looking out from the kitchen
The boys talking about fish
Thai style porridge for breakfast
Add egg and coffee, yum!
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