Jurassic Park

For the final two days before the boys fly home leaving me solo explorer for nine months, we flew up to Bangkok for the ultimate comp off at Jurassic Fishing Park, chasing freshwater species such as Catfish, Carp and Arapaima which grow to 120kg+ at the lake while lies two hours north of Bangkok.

We checked in to our Hotel which ran right off Khao San Rd (the famous backpacker street of Bangkok) and headed out for a night of beers, street meat and scorpions. Lucky for us the 6:30am departure was not an issue as the fishing park provides little huts with pillows, so you can nap in the shade until your guide wakes you for a fish run.

The park has only been open 12 months and includes a

recently completed series of accommodation bungalows for serious anglers, chasing seriously big freshwater fish, to bask in their element. We only had the one day, but that still entailed 9 hours of fishing, with one rod geared up for the 'smaller' fish and the other rigged with a live bait which the mighty Arapaima would hopefully grab. They even serve food to your little fishing huts, of which we shared a large pot of green curry to settle the previous nights misbehavings.

Much to the boys disgust, my rod leapt in to action with the first catch in under an hour with the catfish fighting for a decent 10 minute session, we had to be careful removing him from the water for photos as this is a sport fishing park, purely catch and release. The rods were set up on holders with a live line setting so the fish could run with a bait, then a little light and alarm would alert the angler to who was getting all the attention. It was a painful few hours waiting until the alrm burst to life and I landed my second catfish.

With the victory looking promising and the two stragglers ready to call it a day, I was kind enough to let Simon reel in my third and final hook up, a decent carp. Then not wanting to leave any man behind, we patiently waited until Ben's line sensor screamed with delight and he was on to what turned out to be a big Carp, in fact the largest catch for the day at around 20kg.

 

As per comp off rules, we had a vote and my mixed bag secured the victory, at least until September when I stop through Australia on my way to South America and maybe give the boys a chance to let me defend my title.