More pictures of the trip had just arrived and they all looked so hot, I have a hard time deciding what to put up! As such, I decided to put up everyone of them on a separate page here.

We started the second day with a good breakfast, then was off at 9am instead of the previous day’s 7am. This way, we could really fish till 4pm, the hottest and possibly the most productive part of the day. Well, the day sure did not disappoint! Even the morning was good. Mah Y.A. started the ball rolling with a few solid ones landed. The fish were onto black colored flies, maybe because the water was a bit murky. I wasn’t getting a lot of hits until I changed to a black fly and I had a solid hit on my first cast with the black fly. Amazing!

After a quick but delicious pack lunch, the action picked up quickly. This time, the fishes where responding to faster stripping of the fly… they were chasing… good sign! 

A few of us tried some popper hoping to see some acrobatic action but the fishes were not responding to fly poppers still. Nevertheless, the action has picked up to almost feverish pitch as it was almost a hit on every cast. We’re getting constant double hook-ups and even quite a couple of triple hook-ups!

By 3pm or so, the fishes were just about hitting anything thrown at them. My chartreuse clouser had almost all the fur ripped off and the fish were still hitting it. My tummy (and I am sure everyone else’s too) was now sore with pushing  the rod butt on it and my knuckles were red from the constant bashing from the reel handle when the barra took line. 4pm came too fast but we were glad just as well… we were just totally exhausted.

I’d definitely recommend this trip to anyone. We must have hit at least 20-25 barramundis each (yes, each!) per day, all in the 6kg-8kg range. 

Like I said in my earlier post, where else in the world can you stay in a first class, reasonably priced hotel one hour from the super hot fishing ground, with great shopping, possible the greatest selection of food in the world and an awesome thai massage at the end of the day to soothe all your sore muscles… all at a reasonable price! Only in Bangkok, Thailand!

Here are two more videos for your enjoyment. One of Patricia fighting a Barra and the other of Nelson showing the whole process from casting and stripping the fly, to the take and the final landing of the fish! Witness for your self how hot the fishing was during the trip and more importantly, plan a trip there yourself and experience it firsthand!

You can see more pictures of the trip here.

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It was a long wait, but finally, the trip came and went. It was an awesome trip. I mean, where else in the world can you stay at a good, clean hotel, go shopping for just about anything you want at very attractive prices, then go fishing just about an hour’s drive away, have some of the cheapest and best dinner in the world and end the day with a 2hr thai massage to sooth your tired muscles (from all day casting and fighting those monster Barramundi’s). No price for the correct answer; Bangkok, Thailand!

I had so many videos and pictures taken that I have decided to break this article up into two parts so that I can show most of the pictures.

The trip started on Thursday afternoon, just before the Easter holidays. We got to Bangkok at about and checked into the hotel at about 5pm. Then we took a stroll down to the local shopping mall where there is a nice Pro-Cam-Fis shop to stock up on some outdoor stuff. They were having a 50% sale… how timely and nice! By the time we were done, it was dinner time and we proceed to have one of the best local thai food dinner I’ve ever experienced… all at a very reasonable price indeed.

A took a little stroll and by the time we got back, it was time for bed as we were getting up early for the first day of fishing. The guide will be picking us up at 7am.

The next morning came really fast. We had a quick breakfast, packed up and by the time we were down in the lobby, the guide was waiting for us punctually! We booked a van for the day and immediately headed out to the fishing spot, about an hour’s drive away. First cast started at about 8.30am… and within minutes, we were into fish. The Barramundi’s averaged 6-8kg each, with the occasionally one reaching 9kg. All were fat, muscular and in really good shape!

My impression of Barramundi’s were that they were sluggish fighters. However, the fishes here were strong, even for an 8wt, which is what I was using. Some of my buddies were using 6wt but in my opinion, they are definitely a little “under gunned” for the strong Barramundi’s here. If not for the relatively small place, many would have easily got us into the backing!

The action got hotter as the sun came up. In fact, interestingly, the fish became alot more active at mid-day and after lunch. By the early afternoon, they were actively pursuing flies stripped at a frentic pace… as fast as single handed stripping can handle. Unforturnately, we had to leave at 2.30pm as they only allowed 6 hours of fishing to ensure that the fishes are not overly stressed! Double and triple hook-ups were the order of the day… in fact, more the norm than the exception! Definitely some of the best fishing action I have ever seen!

We vowed to start later the next day to ensure we maximise the hottest fishing time of the day, the period between 2-4pm! More coming up soon, so stay tuned! Here are two videos of double hook-up actions from the trip.

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A few friends had just made a trip up to the Bangkok Barramundi spot and reported good catches. We’ll be up there next weekend, but before I do that, I’ll share a few photos that my buddy Sean sent me on his last trip there just about a week ago.

So it seems that the Barra’s are definitely biting and in awesome shape as you can see from the picture below. The weather was a little cool and windy (see those ripples on the water) and could be a problem for the novice fly angler, so keeping one of those travel spinning or baitcasting rods I wrote about previously, handy will be great for those days when a fly rod may be a little to much to handle. Keep a lookout for my full trip report soon!

Here’s a picture of the mighty Abel in one of the most beautiful custom color (Peacock Bass replica) that subdued quite a few of those high leaping, silver plated fighting machines during the trip!

While you sure don’t need one of these beautiful reels and matching rods to fight those barramundi in an inland body of water with minimal obstacles, it sure feels good to know you have a reel that will purr like a cat when called upon to perform (much like driving a Ferrari or a Humvee on Bangkok’s congested streets)!

The picture below shows another 10kg barra landed recently on fly gear. The Barra seems to be in near perfect condition, a sign of the very healthy environment at the location. This is the result of controlled fishing, highly oxygenated water supply and good food supply!

Enjoy the pictures and come back for more in a couple of weeks time!

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A couple of weeks back, I posted a big 11kg Barramundi from Bangkok’s “secret” (with quote marks because I am sure it won’t be a secret for long) Barramundi spot. I hear that the Barramundi (Sea Bass) are getting bigger and more active now as the rainy season abated as well.

Yesterday I received some pictures of leaping Barramundi and an invitation to come fish the location in March. Well, until we make the trip in March, here are more teasers for you!

Well, if you are going, “Same fish!”… not really! Check out the color of the popper sticking out of the Barra’s gapping mouth! And yes, you heard it right… POPPERS! How more exciting and visual do you want Barramundi (Sea Bass) fishing to be?

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Barramundi is the national sportfish of Australia. But can you catch big Barramundi elsewhere? Well it seems that there are certain areas in Asia that are well known for big Barramundi. In fact, in most part of Asia, the Barramundi is a delicacy, being served in many Chinese restaurant as “Sea Bass”.

There’s this place about an  hour and a half drive from Bangkok, Thailand that’s become pretty well known for their big Barramundi. Like some parts of Australia, these are stocked fish, but nevertheless, they provide great sport for many anglers. We’ll be making an exploratory trip to this location in March 2008 and will report with some pictures and videos to show. Meanwhile, this two pictures were sent by a friend who reported a catch of 11kg, an awesome fish by any standard!

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Last weekend (19 Jan), a group of my fishing buddies decided to explore a shrimp farm in West Malaysia in a sleepy little village called Sitiawan in the state of Perak. Sitiwan is located about a 45min drive to the South West of Ipoh, very close to the resort island of Pangkor. It seems that one of the shrimp farm was disused and the owners decided to open it up for fishing. The large pond is now leased by a local tackle shop called Lure Haven, and stocked with Cobia, Barramundi (for the American readers, this is an Asian cousin of the American Snook and fights similarly with lots of aerial acrobatics), Giant Trevally, Grouper and several other species.

Sitiawan is about 8 hours by luxurious coach from Singapore and the journey started on Friday night so that no daylight was lost for work or fishing. Fishing began right on Saturday morning and continued for 2 days before boarding the night coach for Singapore and reaching Singapore early Monday morning, just in time for work! Talk about efficiency!

The fishing was reported to be quite hot with smaller giant trevallys landed on a regular basis. Fly fishing was a little tougher, with the Barramundi’s being a little shy, prefering small crazy charlies to larger clousers, pink things and whistlers. A couple of Cobia were caught as well as a good size Grouper.

The pond is kept very clean and healthy with good clear water. The water were constantly aerated with a rotating wheel and pump to ensure

a constant supply of oxygen to keep the fish active. The weather can get pretty hot in this region and fishes can be lethargic if the oxygen levels are low and the water is dirty.

The fishing was pretty similar on the second day. This fishing spot would be ideal for anglers new to fly fishing to test their skills at wielding the fly rod as there are lots of casting space and ample room for the backcast. However, the lack of trees to get in the way also means it can get really, really hot in the mid-day sun!

All fishes caught were released to fight another day!

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As we begin the new year 2008, we want to set new records both for quantity and size of fish caught. I’ll definitely try to make my annual “pilgramage” to Maldives, definitely one of the hottest saltwater fishing spots on planet earth! Our trip in May of 2007 resulted in possibly the most fly caught bonefish on a fishing trip in the Maldives. In 5 days of fishing, we landed almost 100 bonefish. The most bonefish caught by a single angler in a single day was 9.

However the highlight of the May 2007 trip has to be the largest GT caught on fly. This is a hefty 22kg monster caught by Henry Lau of Coho flyshop, on a 8wt rod in 4 foot of water from the shore. It took a little size 4 Crazy Charlie meant for bonefish. The GT took out backing like it was on steroids and we managed to get the little skiff to Henry on time to help give chase. The fish took him and the skiff a kilometer from the shore before it was landed after one solid hour of sweat. Here is a picture of this awesome fish!

We will be be trying our best to break the record both for quantity and size of fish this 2008!

Wish us luck!

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