Pattaya Fishing Park - Sukhumvit Road Started by Tom, Apr 04 2011 04:39 AM

[Tom]

Pattaya Fishing Park:-

http://www.farangfriendly.com/Company/P ... 31632.aspx

Google satellite view:-

http://maps.google.c...1,0.016469&z=17

Lake details:-

The lake measures about 60m wide by 90m long. It's packed full of Pla Sawai and Giant Mekong Catfish that start about at 5kg and go right up to about 50kg. Most fish caught are in the 15kg to 30kg bracket from we saw when we were there, if you let the attendants sort your tackle out you shouldn't have to wait for more than about 20 mins before you get a run. Basically, you sit there and drink beer whilst they sort everything out - you get handed the rod when the fish is hooked and reel it in.

Tackle used is a standard method feeder on 40lb monofilament main line to short double braid hook length with coil or free-running feeder through to a size 15 Gamakatsu brand hook. Old, out of date bread from the airport is then packed around the feeder into a massive ball and a sizable chunk of bread is plonked onto the hook - this seems pretty much the standard way of doing things on these types of lakes.

The facilities are very basic and the toilets are not good - even the staff avoid them! The food is nice and the kitchen looks OK but when I tried eating some food the scabby dogs bugged the hell out of me begging for scraps - I wouldn't eat there again for that reason alone.

The fishing cost 300 baht if you used their tackle, 200 baht if you used your own. There is a bit of pressure to buy the attendants beers as well as a tip at the end if you're happy with the service you received - expect the bill to be around 800 - 1000 each for the fishing, bait, a couple of large of bottle of beers (they don't have small ones) and a couple of man drinks for the staff.

We'll return in a couple of weeks and see how things are then, in the meantime tight lines to anybody fishing there.

Tom.

[Tom]

Went again last night - coouple of things learned.

1. Most of the Thai fisherman there fished on the first part of the lake as you walk in - this means that if you have your own tackle you can fish on the far side of the platform and the dogs should leave you alone (although you'll be the unsociable farang).

2. The lights above the tables can be switched off individually - if you turn the one off above your table but leave the one on over the next table the flies all bugger off there but you still have ample light to see what your doing.

Still a bit dodgy on the fish care but to be fair the expereinced fisherman did get the fish back into the water in no time at all and were generally being as helpful as can be - rare to find in Pattaya and very welcome.

Tom.

[Tom]

This little fella came out of PFP last night - the locals called it a Pla Noon Jan - similar to an ESOP but a little bit different.

 2_c3134fc3c0f87f712501e2a2aa73f9ee.jpg   250.46K   0 downloads

Be interested to know its English name - can't find it from Google...

Tom.

[JF.HELIAS]

That's MRIGAL. Also another name used by the Thai Fisheries Department is SMALL SCALE MUD CARP.

[Tom]

Thanks Jean-Francois.

More info here:-

http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspec ... mrigala/en

I'll think i'll add this to the Freshwater Fish Forum...

Tom.

[Tom]

We've started testing out our heavy tackle out here before going on to the bigger lakes to see if everything works, after getting to know the staff it has to be said they're really quite good.

Khun Wat and Khun Matthew (Thai short name "Tee - Ew") are as helpful as can be - and good fun. They've showed us loads of different tips and tricks for getting the mekongs to feed when nothing else was working and some of their rigs are great.

Although the place needs a facelift the staff do make it worthwhile and once you undertsand the fishing there a hell of allot can be learned from this lake - not everybodies cup of tea but certainly a different day or evening out...

Tom.