Fishing In Thailand Newsletter October 2014

Hello and welcome to another installment of the Gillhams Fishing Resorts newsletter. Firstly we would like to thank everybody for their support over the years and everybody who follows us through social media. Our Facebook page has now entered 5,000 members, which is great. We don’t pay for likes; all our followers are genuinely interested in what’s happening here and what fish are being caught. Everybody is on Facebook and other social media sites nowadays, and this is why we want to push as much as possible and to get everybody interested.

It’s funny how quickly people get used to seeing big fish. When we started posting pictures of 100lb-plus carp the picture would receive a couple of hundred likes, now they maybe get 50/60 likes, but you post a picture of a sunset or your dinner and suddenly everybody gets liking or sharing the picture. As we move forward as a company we like to mix things up and post as many different things on our page to keep people interested and up to date with changes to the resort. Please feel free to ask for certain things to be posted, as sometimes what we think isn’t important is actually interesting to our followers. Anybody that isn’t in our group please take a look and remember the 2nd of April every year we randomly select one person from the Facebook page to win a week’s free holiday https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gillhams-Fishing-Resort/287052501327629?ref=bookmarks. This also includes people who sign up to our website, and the link for this is on the home page at www.gillhamsfishingresorts.com .

We’ve had a new addition to the Gillhams Fishing Resorts family. Joining the team this month is our new media guy, Mike ‘Spug’ Redfern. Some readers may have heard of him or even read his book, Carping Mad. Anyone who does know Spug will understand why he’s been given the job. He’s great with social media and has worked for Solar and Mainline Baits. He will also bring a lot of energy around the resort with his larger than life personality and crazy sense of humor. Spug’s role will include Facebook, Twitter, website updates and write-ups. We will even apologise in advance, as Spug will also be taking over the monthly newsletters. He’s currently got a group with him here as I write this newsletter; they’ve rented the resort privately for ten nights, which is mayhem, so look out for this write-up in next month’s newsletter as we’ve got plenty of crazy antics and good laughs to write about.

Some of you may have noticed new YouTube videos going up from Gillhams Fishing Resorts and being shared on our Facebook page. This is all thanks to John Dunford. John has come over for a month to film everything around the resort. We’re currently working on a promotional video about Gillhams that we can hand out at shows and have a link on our website for people to view when considering coming to Gillhams.

Becca has recently returned from a break back in the UK visiting family and friends and getting a well deserved break before we head back in the new year for the fishing shows around Europe again. As Becca returned Stuart headed back to England for a few weeks’ pike fishing. As he’s only been back for a few days there’s not much to tell you, but hopefully there will be for next month’s newsletter when he returns. Stuart wants to get back into some winter fishing back home for the pike. God knows why; it’s bloody freezing at that time of year. Oh well, good luck, Dad. Catch a big’un and wrap up warm; you’ll find it a lot colder at your age now!

Before we go to the catch report we would like to congratulate all the anglers who were lucky enough to land Siamese carp over 100lb this month. In total we had ten landed with the biggest at 135lb of which three were repeats. We’ve got around 50 Siamese carp now over the magical 100lb mark, and with so many coming up to join them, the average size carp is fast approaching 70lb with many more already over 90lb.

The anglers who visited us for the exotic fishing Thailand has to offer had some good fishing in Krabi this month with a total of 677 fish caught of 23 species, made up as follows: 47 arapaima to 380lb, five arawana to 11lb, two alligator gar to 55lb, 155 Amazon redtail catfish to 85lb, one Amazon stingray of 30lb, 79 Asian redtail catfish to 40lb, 14 black pacu to 38lb, one Chao Phraya catfish of 70lb, six giant gourami to 4lb, five giant snakehead to 7lb, two giant featherback to 20lb, 18 Julian’s golden carp to 30lb, 49 Mekong catfish to 190lb, three Nile perch to 6lb, two rohu to 15lb, four ripsaw catfish to 22lb, 23 red bellied pacu to 16, two spotted sorubim to 25lb, six spotted featherback to 13lb, 247 Siamese carp to 135lb, one tambaqui of 30lb, and one yellowtail catfish of 25lb.

A very good friend of ours and UK secretary Dan Swann and his better half Sam came to visit us this month. Dan has been taking many exams to become an accountant and had recently passed his final test so was due a trip over to relax before starting as a crooked accountant. The first few days Dan was very laid back and relaxed, mainly due to no more exams and just wanted to wet a line and catch a few fish. Unfortunately this was short lived, as Dan’s feet had swollen up and what we thought was a mild case of water retention soon got worse as Dan burnt his feet, and to quench his thirst he necked 24 cans of fizzy pop every day. When Dan got to the point that he couldn’t walk Sam beat him into submission and made him go to the hospital. The hospital took one look at his feet and immediately put him on a drip and told him he would have to stay for 24 hours.

The following day Dan was waiting for the doctor to make his rounds and discharge him so he could have his last two days’ fishing, but the doctor had other ideas and told poor old Dan he would have to stay for another 24 hours. He even upped his dose of antibiotics, which made Dan very sick and drowsy. The following afternoon came round and with only about sixteen hours left before his flight was due to leave Dan was given the all clear, but unfortunately his fishing was nearly over. When Dan got back to the resort he only had a couple of hours’ fishing left, and to make things worse it was raining hard so Dan had to make his own makeshift wellies in order to keep the bandages dry on his legs and feet.
Luckily it wasn’t a total disaster, as Dan had already landed some good fish with Asian redtail catfish, Mekong to 120lb, Siamese carp to 55lb and arapaima to 150lb. Hopefully Dan’s luck will be better on his trip next year when he and his dad Johnny join Stuart and me on an alligator gar fishing trip to Texas – good luck Dan.

Ian Farr, an English expat who’s been living in Singapore for nine years and is a frequent visitor to Gillhams came for a nine-day stint this month. Ian always does well; he’s a very keen and competent angler who takes time getting started, finds his depths and features and fishes hard. This time was no different. After finding his spot he marked all his lines, enabling him to be accurately casting to his baited area. Ian’s main target fish was the Siamese carp, Spombing out loose feed and fishing with Terry Dempsey’s Urban Baits Nutcracker boilies. Recasting every half hour and adding PVA bags while using three rods kept Ian very busy. Ian was rewarded for his hard work and averaged around five fish per day. He had a total of 34 Siamese carp with an average size of 70lb. What with Ian having his heart set on a carp of 100lb he never expected what was to come by day five.

Like any other day, Ian was on the lake ready to fish at 7am armed with about 60 PVA bags ready for the day ahead. The first couple of hours were quiet until around 11am when he got his first fish, a Siamese carp of 75lb. Happy with this Ian was cast back out on his spot after he photographed his fish. Within thirty minutes he was into another fish, and it was clear this was a big Siamese carp. After about 20 minutes he landed a Siamese carp weighing in at 103lb. An hour later another fish had picked his bait up and was off across the lake. This Siamese carp was finally in the net, but it was bigger than the last and weighed in at 115lb. This was followed by another at 101lb, and then he ended his day with a spotted featherback. Ian couldn’t believe that he had caught three Siamese carp over 100lb. On the same day four swims up from Ian another angler also had a massive Siamese carp weighing in at 135lb. We’ve broken a few records here over the past several years, and I wouldn’t have thought there are any other fisheries in the world that put four carp over 100lb on the bank in a day. Ian’s total catch report for his trip was 42 fish of six species, which also included another cracking carp, a 30lb Julian’s.

Another couple of top anglers and regular visitors to Gillhams who came in this month was Jo Green and Mike Whitford. Jo and Mike make at least one trip every year to Gillhams while juggling a hectic life of, well, fishing really. Sure, both Jo and Mike work, but they do find it gets in the way of fishing. Apart from fishing in England they fish all round Europe and even Texas where they fish for the buffalo carp.

As always, Jo and Mike fish opposite ends of the lake. They don’t need to be sat on top of each other and have different wish lists of what they want to catch. Sure, the carp are always on the top of their list, but even in England they both have their own waters and rarely fish together. Both Jo and Mike are good anglers and wouldn’t dream of just rocking up in a swim with a chuck and chance it method; they will spend their time looking around before finding features and checking depths. Their watercraft skills are great, and this is why they always do well, not just here but any venue they fish. Jo and Mike are very different people: Mike is very laid back and likes to keep himself to himself when he’s fishing whereas Jo can’t sit still and is always doing something like messing around with rigs, baiting up, recasting and is always watching the water and trying something different, looking for an edge. Jo really got into the way the resort works this time and was helping other anglers, constantly getting in and out the water netting fish, just getting involved and enjoying herself. In fact there’s now even talk of her and Mike coming over for six months’ guiding, which would be great.

During their stay they both caught some good fish, and even though Mike had more, Jo had an awesome day on the carp landing two over a ton in a day weighing in at 110lb and another of 115lb amongst others. Jo even landed a couple of Julian’s weighing in at 40/45lb. Other catches included Mekong catfish and both Asian and Amazon redtail catfish. Mike caught the most this trip but also had more time fishing while Jo was all around the lake landing fish and helping out others. Mike landed a total of 12 carp to 95lb but had many other species including Amazon and Asian redtails, giant snakehead, Julian’s, pacu, arapaima, Mekong cats and arawana. In total they caught 52 fish between them with nine different species.

Andy Wyatt made another return trip to Gillhams this month while on holiday with his wife; Andy fished a total of six days before heading of to Borneo to visit the orangutan sanctuary. Andy was mainly after the Siamese carp but wasn’t going to turn his nose up at any other species that came his way. Andy caught a total of 15 Siamese carp including two over a ton weighing in at 110lb and 115lb on the same day Jo Green also caught her two – the second day in four weeks the lake put four 100lb-plus carp on the bank. In total Andy landed 33 fish of seven species including Asian and Amazon redtail catfish, gourami, Julian’s, pacu and featherback.

Good friends Eric and Tina Oakes from Gold Label Tackle in Birmingham made their way back to Gillhams for ten days. Now then, speaking to Eric is like speaking to your grandmother. To spark off a conversation you politely ask “How’s things, mate?” Then you get the full rundown on every ache, pain, creak of a joint and sneeze before finishing in a slow Birmingham accent, “but apart from that I’m good really.” All joking aside, we thought we were going to lose Eric at one point in the trip due to being out in the sun too long while fighting a Mekong. Eric suddenly came over all funny and nearly collapsed when his legs started to go like jelly, and unfortunately he lost the Mekong due to a hook pull. Eric did get his revenge on the Mekong catfish, and he went on to land four to 120lb. Another species Eric likes to target is the Siamese carp, of which he landed several to 65lb.

Simon Mead and Gary Shaw, both regulars, came over for two weeks to get a break from a hectic life as London cabbies. Being a keen carp angler back home Simon’s target species was obviously the Siamese carp, and set up in a known big carp swim Simon was quick to get to work baiting up and getting single pellet rigs out accompanied by PVA bags. Gary went two swims up from Simon, and even though he wanted the carp he wasn’t to bothered what he caught as long as he was away from London’s smog. The first couple of days only produced a few fish, but they both kept at it, and it wasn’t long before it paid off. Gary hooked into a big fish one afternoon, and after a few minutes it was clear from the fight that he was into a decent Siamese carp. After about 20 minutes he landed what will stand as his biggest ever carp unless he comes back to Thailand next year. The guides knew this fish, and Gary couldn’t believe it when he found out that this beast knocks the scales to 135lb. Many other decent carp were caught between these two anglers, but Simon was unlucky not to get one over a ton, even though he landed two over 90lb and several to 80lb-plus. In total they caught 29 fish of seven species between them. Their species list included ripsaw catfish, red and black pacu, Amazon and Asian redtails, Siamese carp and Mekong catfish, which became Simon’s biggest fish of the trip at 135lb, matching Gary’s carp.

Geordie father and son fishing duo James and John Cutting made their return this month with James’s wife and his mum. James likes to try and get a regular fishing trip in with his dad, but due to him now living in Dubai this isn’t always so easy. James had also bought a new 14wt fly rod that he couldn’t wait to try out and have a crack for the arapaima. Unfortunately James never landed one, but did miss a couple. Having a few quiet days in their trip only picking a few fish, both James and John had one of their best days before leaving when they landed around ten carp one afternoon to 85lb, also dropping three or four others. In total they landed 21 fish of three species. After they finished here they were flying back to Dubai having a few more days with James’s parents before they head off back to the UK.

Jason Cole, an English expat now living in Pattaya, aka Sin City, also made another return trip for a few days before his family came to visit him in Pattaya. Jason was another angler who was interested in the Siamese carp. Accompanying Jason was his girlfriend who spent the days relaxing and reading her book while Jason fished. Jason mainly caught the species he was targeting but also landed Asian redtail and a baby arapaima of 12lb. In the past few months we’ve had several baby arapaima caught ranging from 8lb to 15lb. This is great to see, as it proves the arapaima are still breeding in the lake and some of them have made it through. Considering all the dangers of bigger fish eating them they’ve been extremely lucky. As for the Siamese carp, Jason caught a total of ten with the biggest at 90lb.

Yet another return angler, Steve Greenway made his second visit to Gillhams with his fishing buddy Chris Eccles. Chris is fast becoming known for having golden parts of his anatomy, as every time he fishes here he lands a massive fish. Last year he finished his trip with a Siamese carp of 130lb, and this trip he started with a lump. On his first day fishing he caught a huge arapaima of 380lb before following this up later in the trip with another big Siamese of 120lb. Other fish Chris caught on his trip included giant stingray, Mekong catfish to 140lb, tambaqui to 30lb and Amazon redtail catfish to 70lb. Steve didn’t do too badly himself with Siamese carp to 95lb, Amazon redtail to 65 and some pacu, Steve unfortunately pulled out of a few fish too. In total the lads landed 23 fish of seven species. After their trip was over Chris headed off back to Blighty while Steve stayed on for a further two weeks with his family when his wife and daughter flew over from the UK after Steve had finished fishing.

Welsh angler Rhys Davies came to Gillhams for the first time this month. Rhys had booked his trip through Sport Quest, which was lucky, as we would have had no idea what he wanted if he’d booked direct. We only assume he liked it here, as he had a smile on his face the whole time, but we hadn’t a clue what he was saying. Its nice when you get people like Rhys – always happy and he appreciated every fish he caught. Every fish was a new species and a personal best. Shareholders in Singha beer even appreciated him being here with the amount he put away, and every night you had the same words spoken several times: “One for the road! Bloody hell! That was a long road!”

In every pub you go to back home there’s always a guy in there who likes to tell stories, and this was Rhys. One of the stories that made me laugh and sticks in my mind was one about a tattoo he had on his arm. He started saying that all his tattoos have a meaning, and this was a big mean looking dragon with seven heads. Being Welsh, you’d think it would be something to do with where he comes from, and I suppose it is in a way. It turned out this particular tattoo of a seven-headed dragon was based on his wife and her six sisters. He also told us when he first had it done he had to go round to his wife’s sister’s house for a party. When one of them asked about the tattoo he didn’t even try to hide the truth and told them straight, “It’s the wife and you lot.” It’s safe to say there was a slight atmosphere for a while at the party and probably every one since.
Rhys didn’t have a particular target species; he just wanted anything that came along, and one of everything would have been nice. In total Rhys caught ten fish of six species including ripsaw catfish to 22lb, arawana and Asian and Amazon redtail to 60lb with his two biggest fish of the trip being a Mekong catfish of 110lb and an arapaima of 120lb.

Next up we had our second yearly visit from Kev Hudson accompanied by Blackie, Matt North, Chris Powely and Wayne Baverstock. As usual Kev was very laid back and wasn’t too fussed about getting started. Instead he would sit with Matt who had never really fished before. Kevin put the first rod out but Matt wanted to do the second. We soon found out why Kev wasn’t going to leave Matt unattended, as within seconds of Matt touching the rod he was stuck in the trees. So we didn’t have to wreck the place, I went off for a ladder and cutters so we could cut the branch as it was well out of reach even with a ladder. Once I got back I still couldn’t reach it on the steps, but luckily Matt was about 6ft 4ins so he went up the ladder and trimmed his tree back.

Once Matt was cast out and the others had started Kev got himself next door to Matt so he could watch him and got fishing himself. Most nights they all finished early and got down the restaurant for dinner and a few beers and played pool. All five went on to land some good fish. Kev caught several fish with his two biggest being Amazon redtails and Siamese carp both around 60lb. Blackie who has fished here a couple of times before was on a bit of a species hunt and managed ten fish of seven species, which included Siamese carp, Amazon and Asian redtail cats, Julian’s carp, featherbacks and one alligator gar of 55lb, which really made his trip. Chris and Wayne set themselves up on the other side of the lake away from the bungalows and also went on to catch some nice fish. Believe it or not the angler who caught the most fish was Matt who caught a total of 16 fish of five species including giant snakehead, Asian redtails to 30lb, Siamese carp to 50lb, Amazon redtails to 80lb and two arapaima to 130lb. All of Kev’s group enjoyed themselves, and most of them are back next year when Kev has done his private lake booking that he does every two years for all his workers.

James Sergeant and Paul Bowmen returned for their second visit after coming here for the first time last year during the lake extension while we were joining the two lakes. Their previous trip wasn’t the best, and they only caught a few fish between them, so we hoped this trip would be better. The first day they arrived it was a chill-out day. James arrived first and then Paul came in later, as he had already been in Thailand and was meeting James here. Their first couple of days were quiet, but they soon started picking a few fish up, mainly Siamese carp and a couple of redtails. Half way through their trip they had planned a day off to visit one of the tourist sites around Krabi, but instead they decided to fish the small lake and have a fun day going through smaller fish using light tackle. When they got back on the big lake the following day they carried on as before, in the same swims they had been baiting, and started catching some nice fish. James really got into the carp and caught a total of eleven averaging 70lb with the biggest at 75lb along with Amazon redtails to 60lb and a smaller Asian redtail of 20lb. Paul didn’t catch as many fish but did get the prize capture with an arapaima of 120lb. Paul also caught Siamese carp to 60lb and Amazon redtail to 55lb. In total both Paul and James caught 21 fish of four species, so thankfully they had a much better trip then the previous year.

Then came returning customer John Bateup aka Johnny B (yes ladies and gents, he’s a grown man that still refers to himself as Johnny B). I’m not sure if he used to be a disc jockey or just a bit of a lad around the manor. Johnny was also accompanied by his wife Trudel who personally knows of little people living under the stairs like The Borrowers. I kid you not; one evening when returning from a night out Trudel started telling Stuart all about these little people that she actually knows and has seen on occasions. Apparently they are all over the world including Gillhams Fishing Resorts. Stuart was trying his hardest not to crash the car and also trying to remember what she had been drinking that night, as it’s going to be his new favorite drink. Ha ha!

Johnny was very laid back with his fishing; after all it was still a holiday. If he wasn’t on the lake for 7am did it matter? He was just having a nice time. Trudel would be relaxing around the pool, sitting with John or entertaining other guests. There were plenty of laughs with these two around. Johnny’s laid-back approach obviously helped him, as even though he lost a few Mekong and other fish he also caught plenty of good fish. In total Johnny caught 17 fish of six species including a giant freshwater stingray, Asian and Amazon redtail catfish to 55lb, Siamese carp to 75lb, Mekong catfish to 190lb and four arapaima with the biggest at 380lb.

First time visitors to Gillhams, Luke Bailiss and his uncle Graham Camplin, aka Connie, had a week’s fishing before heading off to Koh Lanta and then returning for another four days’ fishing at the end of their holiday. Luke and Graham were both keen anglers and couldn’t wait to get started; they both had their targets in mind – arapaima, Siamese carp, Mekong catfish and redtail catfish. Luke outdid his uncle on both fish and species, but this wasn’t an issue, as they were both just happy to be fishing and also seeing other anglers around the lake catch. They did want to find some sea fishing while on their break away from Gillhams, but unfortunately the sea fishing has been destroyed here in Thailand unless you go on live aboard trips but then you’re normally going out of Thai waters to catch big fish such as sailfish, wahoo and other species that used to be caught regularly around the coast and off Phuket. Even though the sea fishing never happened their trip wasn’t short of big fish. Luke caught a total of 21 fish of eight species, which included Siamese carp to 55lb, Amazon redtail catfish to 75lb, Mekong catfish to 120lb and arapaima to 140lb. Graham caught fewer fish than Luke but this didn’t phase him; in total he landed eight fish of four species with his best being Siamese carp to 70lb and Amazon redtail to 60lb.

Another regular customer visiting this month was Marc Pickering along with his wife Allison and his mate Paul who was on his first time here at the resort. Marc is one of the most laid back people to come fishing here and is happy just getting the rods out and spending time with Allison. Paul was also a very laid back guy, so laid back in fact that he forgot to get out of bed on more than one occasion during the trip. Marc is a well rounded fisherman and has fished all over the world in both fresh and salt water. He’s a regular out in Spain for the catfish and Canada for the sturgeon and has also fished many places in Africa, America and South America.

During his trip here he caught some good fish and had a couple of good days on the carp, Marc caught a total of 25 fish of six species including some new personal bests with Chao Phraya catfish to 70lb, Siamese carp to 85lb and arapaima to 280lb. Paul wasn’t so lucky, but considering he hardly ever fished it wasn’t surprising that his catch report was so low. He did however manage one of the lake’s babies, and by this I mean an arapaima of 14lb that has made it through the stages of being an easy meal to other predators in the lake. Both Marc and Paul are planning return trips next year, so let’s just hope Paul can fish more next time and knock his catches up.

Our last group in this month was Colin Huggett who came with his son Tom and mates Dale Blowes, Mark Harvey, Matt Wylde and Matt’s dad Roy. Colin is another regular angler here and was meant to be making the trip with his dad Colin Snr, but unfortunately Colin Snr passed away on the 1st of July this year.

First day here the boys headed down to the town to have a look around and have a relaxing massage to get over the long flight. Along the way the lads also stopped off for a quick drink, which ended up as several and carried on in to the night. The following day came round and surprisingly they were all up and ready for fishing.

Colin and Tom have fished in England and France together over the years, but Colin’s mate Mark had never touched a fishing rod in his life, which only means one thing, a big fish is definitely on the cards. Dale Blowes lives for fishing and spends most of his time back home fishing and only stops occasionally for supplies and to do a bit of work. Matt and his dad Roy set up close to each other and have also fished on and off for many years. We never quite understood what Matt did for work; he seemed to be into a bit of buying and selling and also runs a successful café/tea garden. What was interesting was when we found out that he also deals in fake sheep but wasn’t sure if these were statues or the type you have to blow up!

The whole group enjoyed themselves and caught fish, but the funniest thing happened with Mark – well, we thought it was funny anyway. As Mark couldn’t get away for as long as the others he had to leave a few days earlier so spent his last few hours wandering around the lake having a chat and saying goodbye to the rest of the group. As he sat talking to Matt and Roy suddenly Matt’s bite alarm went into meltdown as line was being taken at a tremendous rate. Being a good pal Matt told Mark to strike it so he could add another fish capture to his list. Unfortunately for Matt, after about a 30-minute fight Mark landed his first Siamese carp weighing in at 135lb! What a rod to give away! Even though Matt was happy for his mate you could still see he was gutted, but then who wouldn’t be? The total tally for their trip was 52 fish of ten species, and apart from Mark’s 135lb Siamese carp other catches included Julian’s golden carp, stingray, Mekong catfish, arapaima, Amazon redtail, arawana, gourami and snakehead.

That brings October to an end. Sorry to anybody we missed out; we just do not have the room to mention everybody that fishes here. Be sure to look out for next month’s newsletter that will be written by Spug. We would also like to apologise to all our readers in advance, but don’t worry, all write-ups will be checked and censored prior to being published…

Once again many thanks go to everyone who has fished here, and we hope to see you again in the near future. For those of you planning a return or your first trip please email Stuart or phone +66 (0) 861644554, please remember we are +7 hours GMT.

Best wishes and tight lines from us all at Gillhams, and we hope your next fish is the one of your dreams (which it probably will be if you come to Gillhams).