Big Fish: Mekong Catfish Fishing

Posted: October 14th, 2013 | Author: ctbideas | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

As our last days in Chiang Mai ticked down, Rick and I were both struck with an urge to make the most of our remaining time.  While enjoying tea, as had become our habit each night, Rick started browsing through the brochures and ended up flipping back and forth on one advertising Big Game Fishing.  The pictures were all of grinning people staggering under fish half their body weight.  Now, you have to understand that Rick and I often go pier fishing, which, while cost-effective, don’t really provide us the heftiest catch, maybe a couple pounds of mackerel or sculpin at best in return for hours of alternating freezing cold winds and hot blazing sun.  So, you can see how these pictures would have a particular impact on an avid fisherman like Rick.   We booked through their website and two days later, a van showed up at the entrance of our guesthouse to pick us up. 

Another couple, and an older man, joined us, bringing the total count to 5.  We arrived half an hour later at a nearby man-made lake.  Armed with heavy-duty fishing poles and two expert local fishermen, we readied ourselves for a long day.  Our bait consisted of a unique mix of breadcrumbs, coconut milk, and various other secret ingredients mashed together onto a globe-shaped structure on top of our hook plus a piece of bread hooked onto the actual hook.  The first time I attempted to cast overhead, my hook flung upwards and collapsed weakly a few feet away.  One of the fisherman shook his head and came over to teach me the procedure, which I proceeded to repeat underneath my breath each time I cast: get bait, flip the reel, look at the sky, cast, flip the reel back, loosen drag, reel in until line straight, pull the line a little to check drag, wait, wait, wait, rush over madly (while avoiding falling flat on my face) when the line starts going crazy, tighten drag (3 turns), reel, reel, pant, reel, consider never doing this again, reel some more, celebrate when fish is caught, grimace while holding slimy fish up for photo, repeat ad infinitum.

At first, the fish weren’t biting so the our expert fisherman helped us hook some so we could have fun reeling in the fish.  After a delicious lunch, however, the fish decided they were hungry also and started biting like crazy.  It was a few hours of non-stop reeling.  Our fisherman guide actually ended up only baiting our hooks, kicking back, and humming along to his phone blaring a mix of hard rock and heavy metal.  In downtimes between fish, we discussed rock and roll, youtube, his band, and his dream fishing destinations. 

 

But those downtimes came few and far between.  In fact, we reeled so many large fish in, they started to blur together and the fish we were previously amazed to be catching actually started looking, well, a bit small.  An hour before the end of our trip, we threw in the towel, preferring to lounge around enjoying the lake-view.  Two dogs lay around us, basking in the sunlight. 

That night, our last night in Chiang Mai, we wandered over to a local bar, determined to enjoy the nightlife for once.  Inter Bar advertised live music and while Rick nursed a bottle of Chang Beer and I sipped at a strong Pina Colada, the band delivered fantastic covers of Franz Ferdinand, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Oasis, one right after other.  And while some words were delivered incorrectly, it didn’t detract at all from the intricate guitar fingering and the thrumming of the drums shaking the air.  A small group of Chinese tourists at the next table were celebrating a birthday with bottle after bottle of Jack Daniels.  One of the bar workers delivered a birthday cake to the table, and soon, slices made their rounds to every table.  We tipped the band after a particularly good rendition of Nirvana, then braved the last vestiges of rain.  I ate the sweet chocolate cake lying underneath our mosquito net, marveling at how YouTube has really made the world a smaller place, at least in terms of fantastic music.

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Oh, and just for fun, here’s us feeding fish in a completely different way (Sorry if there’s a little too much thigh =P) :

 

Information

Big Game Fishing (contact: Mr. Suvit)
Website: Will pick you up from any hotel or guesthouse in Chiang Mai
Price: To fish for Giant Catfish (like us): 1,600 baht for half-day & 1,900 baht for full-day (includes lunch)  They also offer Giant Snakehead & Jungle Perch fishing for different prices.
Hours: 8am-6pm

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