Giant freshwater stingray

Name: Giant freshwater stingray Species: Himantura chaophraya Thai name: Pla kabeng nam djut Max length: 3m Max wing span. 2.5m       Max weight: 600kg                   IGFA record: Vacant Stocked to: 80 kg (170lbs) Diet: Fish, shrimp, prawns, crustaceans, squid.

To fish for our stingray we recommend using green lipped mussel or prawn, or alternatively you can use very small fish sections. Use a semi-fixed lead with leadcore leader to pin everything to the lakebed, and use an 18-inch hooklink made from  Seaguar leader line in a minimum 80lb bs with a size 2/0 barbless hook. Takes come as a continuous jerking as first the stingray settles over the bait, and then as they shuffle over the bait to get the food into their small mouths. Takes from the stingray are very slow as the fish moves off, and once hooked the stingray locks onto the bottom using their large wings to anchor them to the lakebed. By walking along the bank and applying pressure from different angles you will get the fish moving again. Once the stingray is moving they glide through the water at speed, and once they go over a plateau they will again anchor to the lakebed, some times forcing the angler to take to the boat to resume the fight from the other side of the lake. To find the best area for stingray in our lake you should locate a deep gully with a plumbing rod, and by pulling a lead around, find an area with a smooth, sandy bottom. When you have caught one of these fish take note of our guide's instructions on how to handle them, and do not worry – all our stingray have had their stings removed.

General facts on the giant freshwater stingray:
 
Freshwater stingray are brown on their upper bodies with a cream underside with a black edge. They have a disc-shaped, flat body with a whip-like tail, a long snout, very small eyes and a tiny mouth on the bottom of their head. In the wild at the end of their long whip tail they have venomous sting like a small dagger, the sole purpose of which is for defense and not, as rumour has it, for stunning their prey. They spawn in running water over sandy, slack water areas, giving birth to live young, which are born around 30cm across their wings, and the mother deserts them immediately, leaving them extremely vulnerable, and to fend for themselves. They inhabit most large rivers and estuaries in southeast Asia were they prefer a sandy bottom. Their enormous size puts them up with the Mekong catfish as a serious contender for the biggest freshwater fish in the world. They are elusive and under-studied, and also they are in serious decline in Thailand due to poor habitat management including rainforest destruction leading to upstream droughts and downstream flooding in the monsoon season, along with pollution and dam construction, which stops migration and reduces available food. Couple this with overfishing, and the days of the true wild monster fish are believed to be gone, but who knows, maybe a surprise is still lurking in some of Thailand's huge river basins. Giant freshwater stingray  are on the red list of endangered species in the wild, however captive breeding keeps them plentiful for commercial fisheries and the aquarium trade. Maybe one day one of Thailand's well-managed commercial fisheries will grow on a fish to rival the known monsters of old.