Fish of Thailand. No stocked ponds, no guaranteed bites, but water far more intriguing- a stream far into the Thai countryside, then finding myself washed up on a beach, piers into the dark Thai Sea at night, an ancient squid fishing outpost, and a vast lake- with rows of mountains in the distance, where on the other side there are people of a different kingdom, and spirits from ancient wars with Burma hang in the clouds.

My first success was after leaving Bangkok and it's canals, where I feel the fish there have evolved alongside the technical Thai angler; to be shy, smart, and witty.

Arriving at the River Kwai, there was a different feeling, the air was fresh and you could sense the wilderness. Early morning, kayak upstream. Based off some information I saw, I started with a blade bait. The river bank was heavily forested with overhanging branches and thickets, here and there were patches of floating weeds. It seemed fishy so I downsized blade baits just to get a bite, as it seemed there was small bait fish activity.

Soon after- bite, my first Thai fish. Pla Gasu, also known as filamentosa barb (aquarium trade) or jungle perch. The action ended up being pretty fast, with a fish or two on every weed patch, and a stringer of 8 fish. Stopping at the local bait shop later, the old Thai lady at the counter expressed how people at the hotels never learn. They think they can catch the fish they can see under the dock. But I showed her a picture of my stringer caught from a kayak, and she said no one ever catches that much pla gasu in one outing. This morning catching pla gasu was my first moment fishing in Thailand that I will never forget, and it would earn me respect from my local guide friend, and other Thai fishermen I would encounter along the way.

After repeating some success with pla gasu the second morning, we would leave early the next day to make way to Thung Wua Laen Beach. I would be staying here a week while my guide worked her day job. From pouring over the map of this spot again and again, it looked like a good rocky point and shore at the end of the beach that I could walk on and cast. Preparation is invaluable, but preparation is useless. I had already lost acouple spoons in the rocks before I realized that the rocks were not only sharp with coral but they were also always wet and treacherous. Nevertheless, there were signs of bait fish and bigger fish. One morning seemed very promising, I just broke off another spoon and tied on a rattlebait (a sure thing I hoped) picked up my rod to cast- and my old spinning reel was locked from the salt. I licked my wounds and went for a swim before breakfast.

While at my beach lodging, we traveled by night to nearby piers and bridges. I developed an intimate affinity for the dark pier, it was like we were on a big vessel upon the sea. Pier and bridge fishing at night yielded some interesting catches, the leftover bait of fresh shrimp was boiled along with the catches for late dinners.

The dirt roads of the Southern Thai countryside would lead to the shore of the Gulf of Thailand, where fishing villages and humble homestays have timelessly existed between the surprises of the jungle and the bounty of the sea.

As we set out on the boat after dark had settled in, the cliff walls loomed over us from the shore, and plankton glowed neon green in the wake of the boat. The first squid trap showed no squid in the net. I was unimpressed but knew this is fishing. The second trap showed a net with some squid. The third trap, they asked me to come up and help. The Thai fishermen were cranking up the net, but it looked like nothing was there. Suddenly, excitement as everyone realized there was a great fish in the squid net, a big pla saak or barracuda. This was the fish I wanted right before me, but this opportunity was not the way I was expecting. I grabbed a hand net, and tried to net the fish; this was not working as the net was far too small, but it may have helped tire the fish. The Thai captain brought the net up a bit more, and I reached overboard and gilled the fish, and brought it onto the deck. Everyone on board was very excited and surprised about this, but to me the fish was like a big pike or pickerel, that I had to get. Fresh sashimi was served back at the lodging.

The next morning, I had some good topwater hits from barracuda, but I couldn't connect and handle them for more than acouple seconds. It seems it's true, pla saak do not make easy wins, they make memories. Those two topwater bites are the hooks that stay in me.

2 hours ago, Peacedivision said:

Halibut on a 3.75 rage swimmer this morning.

Nice one! When I initially saw the pic I thought winter flounder, but then I saw the eye orientation . Halibut is really tasty fish

Snook in freshwater, of course a day before the season opens…

2 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Snook in freshwater, of course a day before the season opens…

It's just your kind of luck, Chris....😁

23 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Snook in freshwater, of course a day before the season opens…

I wanted to catch a snook so bad when we were in Florida last time. I hooked a half dozen fishing from the beach the first day and lost every one. The guy at the tackle store just kind of shrugged and told me that's how it is with snook. I got a cut on my eye the next day that pretty much ruined the rest of my trip so never did end up catching one.

23 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I wanted to catch a snook so bad when we were in Florida last time. I hooked a half dozen fishing from the beach the first day and lost every one. The guy at the tackle store just kind of shrugged and told me that's how it is with snook. I got a cut on my eye the next day that pretty much ruined the rest of my trip so never did end up catching one.

Snook can be a little elusive but usually not nearly as hard to land as Tarpon. I think the hook to landing ratio on a Tarpon is about 1 out of every 5. But they usually jump about 10 feet in the air before they dump your hook so sometimes that is worth the price of admission.

Last one through the ice for this year. Ice fishing gear packed away in the attic.

Now the wait for the first Saturday of May.

6 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Snook can be a little elusive but usually not nearly as hard to land as Tarpon. I think the hook to landing ratio on a Tarpon is about 1 out of every 5. But they usually jump about 10 feet in the air before they dump your hook so sometimes that is worth the price of admission.

I can confirm that. Tarpon are very tough to get to the boat compare to snook. Mostly because of their immense leaping ability and greater size.

Two trips got cancelled due to clients not wanting to fly to Puerto Vallarta due to the Cartel Violence last week, but my boss decided to take some friends of his living in PV fishing. Weather was great, and the crew ready to go. The tuna were numerous, but they were feeding on very small bait, and extremely difficult to catch. We ended up trying our luck on snapper, and they were more cooperative.

@king fisher Cubera snapper?

First fish of the year. The ponds were 95% frozen when I got there so i was throwing to the 4-10’ unfrozen strips. This crappie couldn’t pass a little paddle tail. Unfortunately all the dink bass could.

Got this bullhead on a live bream.

First frosty night wade of the season. Been in the 20s the past two nights, so I wasn't expecting bass to be on be move.

A bite is a bite.

@PhishLI - I was looking at just the thumbnails of pictures on your post and I could see the pickerel but I was wondering what the heck the other fish was. Menhaden? Shad? Trout? Then I clicked in and saw it was the bait…🤦‍♂️

You’re a better man than I fishing in freezing temps, in freezing water, at night. After Wednesday in the boat I need a little more heat in my life.

6 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

You’re a better man than I fishing in freezing temps, in freezing water, at night.

You'd be surprised. Getting a bite early on is like instant antifreeze coursing through my veins. I'll take a guess that it's partly physiological and partly pure distraction, but who knows. Also, the older I get the less the cold seems to bother me. Not sure if that's typical for a 60-year-old or if I'm just weird.

6lb flat, Last night catch.

Another bullhead. This one was beautiful… for a bullhead.

2nd one in 2 days caught while bass fishing.

Been getting quite a few bonus fish while bass fishing the last couple days.

@N Florida Mike those are the most beautifully colored bullhead I’ve ever seen

Nine trips in. Two of these little guys in the bag and three lost. They're keeping me humble so far this spring.

My buddy gave me an evergreen topwater, they crushed it. Also got a bonus perch on half of a white trick worm

Book em Dan-o

12 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Nine trips in. Two of these little guys in the bag and three lost. They're keeping me humble so far

That was my WHOLE season last year.

At least I know I'm not the only one who struggles with this

Went on a camping/fishing trip to Rodman and the Ocklawaha river. Most of my immediate family and some friends went. We took 2 boats and were mostly focused on bream and catfish. There’s no telling how many we caught, but we only kept the bigger fish mostly. Got 15 or so small channel cats, and caught most of the native bream varieties. I would guess we caught 100 or so including throwbacks.

We couldn’t find the quality fish on average like we did last year., but the Ocklawaha is very low , and the fish aren’t full on with bedding yet.

The last day of the trip ( today) it turned cool and windy with a lot of rain. Not sure if we’re getting out today or not…

@N Florida Mike , that gar is a beast