BUNGSAMRAN

In the next few Fishing News Reports, I will describe the different fisheries visited during my recent trip to Thailand. Bungsamran is a fisherman's heaven!! This is a Shangri-La filled with mostly with Giant Mekong Catfish. Bungsamran was established on March 16, 1983. The venue is approximately 20 acres and an average depth of 4 to 10 meters. It is filled with more than 50 kinds of game fish including the above mentioned Mekong Catfish, Giant Siamese Carp, Arapaima, Striped Catfish, among others. The largest fish which swims in this water is a reported 450 lbs arapaima. The fishery holds an estimated +30,000 stock!!!

We fished with 7ft medium heavy Ugly Sticks and large Shimano Baitrunner spinning reels spooled with 60lbs mono. Hooks were strong 1/0 singles. Bait of choice is rice/lamb balls about the size of baseballs for the Giant Mekong's and the size of a 16 inch softball for the Giant Siamese Carp. While fishing for the Giant Mekong's the bait is suspended a few feet below the surface and it is placed on the bottom for the Giant Siamese Carp. Bungsamran is located in Bangkok, a short drive from your local hotel. Here, there are numerous bungalows to fish out of many of which have beds, television, toilets, etc.. You can fish 24hrs per day if you can hold up. There are restaurants and bars located on the fishery. Have visited this amazing fishery 4 times this year, a realistic expectation would be 30 Giant Mekong Catfish per 1/2 day if targeting them. If targeting the Giant Siamese Carp, possibly 1 per day. Both of these species are tremendous fighters and grown to enourmous sizes. When visiting Thailand make sure to put Bungsamran on the top of your to do list as most will catch the largest fish of their life on this fishery!