Cha Am Fishing Park

[zoso]

!0 hours drive from Phuket. Nice pond and friendly owner. Perhaps I will visit again when I moved to Bangkok when new predator pond opens next year.

[zoso]

Philip

[zoso]

Kenny

[zoso]

Tim catch on fly

[zoso]

Zoso

[kenny999]

A great place at a great price, the fishing is very good as you can see, a huge carp the biggest I have ever seen also the biggest Mekong I have ever seen and caught. hope to go again soon.

[zoso]

Cha Am Fishing Park, Petchaburi Province, 740km from Phuket and 130km from Bangkok.

At present only one pond is open for fishing. Normal fishing hours for day trippers is from 8am to 9pm and cost 200baht for farang and 100baht for Thais. There are 2 types of in house bait-30baht and 35baht per packet (estimate I kg) just mix with pond water and knead into a pulp. Works well. The norm to fish is line with short leader and hook. No coil feeder just small lump of bait onto hook cast out and strike when fish bite. Many bites baiting and casting every 3 to 5 minutes. I used coil feeder with pretty big lump of bait mixed with buttermilk. Anglers are allowed to bring your own bait. Although the bite rates are consistent the whole day,there was a lull during mid afternoon, then it was good from 5pm onwards. For 200baht you can lure,spin,fly fish and use dead bait. There are sawais,mekongs,rohu,siamese carps,rtc,gars and arapamais so pretty good for 200baht. As we lived on site the owner didn't have restriction on our fishing most days we started at 6am and fished till late at night. It was scorching hot when we were there and at night there were plenty of mosquitoes.

The owner will open the predator pond next year. Cost undetermine yet. But I was offered "guranteed catch" of 1 arapamai, 1 rtc and an alligator gar for 2500baht. This pond have arapamais,rtc,alligator gar,carps,pacus,snakeheads and according to the owner 10 pcs of 200kg mekongs.

The accomodation range from 400baht to 1200baht. Basic amenities with aircon,tv,fridge but no kettle or safe. We were there for the long weekend(monday a public holiday) and the bungalow cost 1500baht per night but slept 4 of us.Food and drinks are reasonable.

Overall pleasant place very accomodating and easy going owner. Perhaps when the predator pond opens I will visit it again and after I moved to Bangkok.

Picture of dead arapamai netted out from 200baht pond.

[victor2107]

Looks and sound like nice place to fish but unfortunately the missus will not be warm to the idea of 2 hours from Bangkok in the car. Had a hard time persuading her to spent day alone shopping in Bangkok when I fish at Lake Monster. Envy you guys that live in Thailand so many different spots to fish. Perhaps when I retire will spent few months fishing round Thailand to heart's content. So guess I must make the most of it during the one month this December. Already decided on Bungsamran and Lake Monster. Comtemplating couple of days at Gillham's and wife can sightsee Krabi. Gillham's quite popular in the UK. My mate told me is a must. What are you guy's opinion? Thanks

[kenny999]

Looks and sound like nice place to fish but unfortunately the missus will not be warm to the idea of 2 hours from Bangkok in the car. Had a hard time persuading her to spent day alone shopping in Bangkok when I fish at Lake Monster. Envy you guys that live in Thailand so many different spots to fish. Perhaps when I retire will spent few months fishing round Thailand to heart's content. So guess I must make the most of it during the one month this December. Already decided on Bungsamran and Lake Monster. Comtemplating couple of days at Gillham's and wife can sightsee Krabi. Gillham's quite popular in the UK. My mate told me is a must. What are you guy's opinion? Thanks

Why would you want to go to Gillhams when you live in Bangkok? Gillhams 5000 bht per day BSR a lot lot less and the fish are as big, plus there is a real chance you will catch nothing if going for 1 day, stay in Bangkok and surrounding area much much better, but then again if you are wealthy it is good to try different places. I think it is popular in the UK because of the very good web site with in depth reports I am sure if BSR and other fishing locations in the north had the same thing Gillhams would go out of business..

[ufishin]

Hello,

I saw quite a few of your guys there on the holiday weekend. I was fishing the opposite bank with my friend. It is an awesome place for the money. It is so cheap and a great place to take kids and women. Anybody can catch a fish there, like one guy on the internet said "stupid easy". The place is friendly and I would recommend it to anybody who wants to catch fish all day long.

Happy fishing,

thanh

[robblok]

I have been there 2 till 4 December. It was nice but i caught mostly small sawai. It was real easy to do so. If you cast out far enough (till the other bank) you would almost have an instant hook. I did this with a coil and the bread you could buy on the site.

I had 2 rods out, 1 with a coil and one with just a hook and bait on it. I must say casting out with the coil to the other bank yielded the most fish (instant results) the fish caught on the other rod were not bigger so i did not see much difference between both methods. (except catch rate).

I will go there again but then ill be more serious about it and make a feeding area and start more early. I did catch 2 reasonably sized pla bug (mekong giant catfish) but these were rather small for Bungsamran / Ngau Nam standards. But i caught them on lighter tackle so it was still a lot of fun.

[kenny999]

I have been there 2 till 4 December. It was nice but i caught mostly small sawai. It was real easy to do so. If you cast out far enough (till the other bank) you would almost have an instant hook. I did this with a coil and the bread you could buy on the site.

I had 2 rods out, 1 with a coil and one with just a hook and bait on it. I must say casting out with the coil to the other bank yielded the most fish (instant results) the fish caught on the other rod were not bigger so i did not see much difference between both methods. (except catch rate).

I will go there again but then ill be more serious about it and make a feeding area and start more early. I did catch 2 reasonably sized pla bug (mekong giant catfish) but these were rather small for Bungsamran / Ngau Nam standards. But i caught them on lighter tackle so it was still a lot of fun.

If you fish with the correct method you will catch many big Sawai and very big Mekong, its all about technique...

[victor2107]

I will be in Thailand this coming wednesday and after talking with fellow anglers and a few fishing tour companies in UK and in Thailand it seems the place to target big mekongs is Bungsamran. According to feedback most recommended Bungsamran as the place for mekongs. Although other ponds may have big ones but nothing in terms of quantity and size?

What are your opinions?

[robblok]

I will be in Thailand this coming wednesday and after talking with fellow anglers and a few fishing tour companies in UK and in Thailand it seems the place to target big mekongs is Bungsamran. According to feedback most recommended Bungsamran as the place for mekongs. Although other ponds may have big ones but nothing in terms of quantity and size?

What are your opinions?

I have to agree about this Bungsamran is the place to be for tourists.

[robblok]

I have been there 2 till 4 December. It was nice but i caught mostly small sawai. It was real easy to do so. If you cast out far enough (till the other bank) you would almost have an instant hook. I did this with a coil and the bread you could buy on the site.

I had 2 rods out, 1 with a coil and one with just a hook and bait on it. I must say casting out with the coil to the other bank yielded the most fish (instant results) the fish caught on the other rod were not bigger so i did not see much difference between both methods. (except catch rate).

I will go there again but then ill be more serious about it and make a feeding area and start more early. I did catch 2 reasonably sized pla bug (mekong giant catfish) but these were rather small for Bungsamran / Ngau Nam standards. But i caught them on lighter tackle so it was still a lot of fun.

If you fish with the correct method you will catch many big Sawai and very big Mekong, its all about technique...

Maybe,

I have watched the locals and seen only a few big bugs being caught. Nothing spectacular but i have seen the sizes in Bungsamran and Ngau nam. Maybe im a bit spoiled.

I did catch three pla bugs so it was not that bad. But besides the guy in the cowboy hat who works there i did not see anyone catch big ones cosistently. The methods i used were both ledgering, i never used a float. One method was with a coil the other with the bread kneaded to a pulp direct on the hook. Neither made much difference in size of the fish.

I might be wrong because i only fished there two days and that is kinda short to draw many conclusions. Also i should have made a feeding area but i was not doing it the way i should have and as i do in ngau nam. But i can garantee you the pla saway are way bigger there. Also i think the pla bug are bigger there.

[victor2107]

Thank you for your reply. Put aside being a tourist but as an angler in Thailand to catch big mekongs is Bungsamran the pond?

[robblok]

Thank you for your reply. Put aside being a tourist but as an angler in Thailand to catch big mekongs is Bungsamran the pond?

That depends how you like to fish and if you like easy fish or not. If you want easy fishing with a guide BSR is the place. The thing is as a tourist you don't really have the time to get to know a lake and understand the fishing there. So that is why i divide expats and tourists. For tourists this is a great spot to go to, for others it doesnt really challenge you as it is easy.

However doing it as good as a guide could be a challenge and i know i am far from that level in BSR. Its all about casting consistently at the same place thus creating a swim with big fish. But even if you cant do it you can still catch fish in BSR just less.

BSR is also good for tourists as you can hire everything there and it has a shop close to it. It also has some of the biggest Mekongs so yes go there if you like big fish.

[victor2107]

Thank you for your reply. Put aside being a tourist but as an angler in Thailand to catch big mekongs is Bungsamran the pond?

That depends how you like to fish and if you like easy fish or not. If you want easy fishing with a guide BSR is the place. The thing is as a tourist you don't really have the time to get to know a lake and understand the fishing there. So that is why i divide expats and tourists. For tourists this is a great spot to go to, for others it doesnt really challenge you as it is easy.

However doing it as good as a guide could be a challenge and i know i am far from that level in BSR. Its all about casting consistently at the same place thus creating a swim with big fish. But even if you cant do it you can still catch fish in BSR just less.

BSR is also good for tourists as you can hire everything there and it has a shop close to it. It also has some of the biggest Mekongs so yes go there if you like big fish.

Thank you for your reply. Guess fishing is to catch a big one in this case a big mekong and not about catching many fishes. Any recommendation for a guide at Bungsamran?

[robblok]

Thank you for your reply. Put aside being a tourist but as an angler in Thailand to catch big mekongs is Bungsamran the pond?

That depends how you like to fish and if you like easy fish or not. If you want easy fishing with a guide BSR is the place. The thing is as a tourist you don't really have the time to get to know a lake and understand the fishing there. So that is why i divide expats and tourists. For tourists this is a great spot to go to, for others it doesnt really challenge you as it is easy.

However doing it as good as a guide could be a challenge and i know i am far from that level in BSR. Its all about casting consistently at the same place thus creating a swim with big fish. But even if you cant do it you can still catch fish in BSR just less.

BSR is also good for tourists as you can hire everything there and it has a shop close to it. It also has some of the biggest Mekongs so yes go there if you like big fish.

Thank you for your reply. Guess fishing is to catch a big one in this case a big mekong and not about catching many fishes. Any recommendation for a guide at Bungsamran?

I think fishing is for everyone a different thing. What one likes is not always what an other likes. For me its about doing things myself and catching the fish myself. Also i like a challenge so i wont always go to the easiest water. But as a tourist i would do things differently.

Also i made some remarks about the cha am fishing park. I still like it and i will still get back there and hope to do it better next time. I just did not see many big fish being caught. But it was still fun and the pictures of the guys who went there show that they are there and can be caught. So i will look at it again just many small fish there too.

[victor2107]

Thanks again. Understand your point about doing everything one self but I will be fishing alone so from what I read and being told it's not realistic to net the mekongs at Bungsamran yourself hence the need for a guide. Any recommendation? Thanks

[robblok]

Thanks again. Understand your point about doing everything one self but I will be fishing alone so from what I read and being told it's not realistic to net the mekongs at Bungsamran yourself hence the need for a guide. Any recommendation? Thanks

Your right its not realistic to do that yourself .. its almost if not impossible. I have no recommendations because the guide i like does not speak that much english.

[victor2107]

Thanks again. Understand your point about doing everything one self but I will be fishing alone so from what I read and being told it's not realistic to net the mekongs at Bungsamran yourself hence the need for a guide. Any recommendation? Thanks

Your right its not realistic to do that yourself .. its almost if not impossible. I have no recommendations because the guide i like does not speak that much english.

Is he a good guide? Whether he can speak much english is not important I am sure somehow we will communicate as I plan 2 days at Bungsamran and would like to be 2 good fishing days. Thanks

[kenny999]

I have been there 2 till 4 December. It was nice but i caught mostly small sawai. It was real easy to do so. If you cast out far enough (till the other bank) you would almost have an instant hook. I did this with a coil and the bread you could buy on the site.

I had 2 rods out, 1 with a coil and one with just a hook and bait on it. I must say casting out with the coil to the other bank yielded the most fish (instant results) the fish caught on the other rod were not bigger so i did not see much difference between both methods. (except catch rate).

I will go there again but then ill be more serious about it and make a feeding area and start more early. I did catch 2 reasonably sized pla bug (mekong giant catfish) but these were rather small for Bungsamran / Ngau Nam standards. But i caught them on lighter tackle so it was still a lot of fun.

If you fish with the correct method you will catch many big Sawai and very big Mekong, its all about technique...

Maybe,

I have watched the locals and seen only a few big bugs being caught. Nothing spectacular but i have seen the sizes in Bungsamran and Ngau nam. Maybe im a bit spoiled.

I did catch three pla bugs so it was not that bad. But besides the guy in the cowboy hat who works there i did not see anyone catch big ones cosistently. The methods i used were both ledgering, i never used a float. One method was with a coil the other with the bread kneaded to a pulp direct on the hook. Neither made much difference in size of the fish.

I might be wrong because i only fished there two days and that is kinda short to draw many conclusions. Also i should have made a feeding area but i was not doing it the way i should have and as i do in ngau nam. But i can garantee you the pla saway are way bigger there. Also i think the pla bug are bigger there.

No maybe about it, go to Bungsamran and catch many easy Mekongs and all around the same size, fish the correct way at Cha Am and many Mekongs all different sizes, my biggest there so far is over 50kgs. Bungsamran to easy to enjoy fully.

[victor2107]

I have been there 2 till 4 December. It was nice but i caught mostly small sawai. It was real easy to do so. If you cast out far enough (till the other bank) you would almost have an instant hook. I did this with a coil and the bread you could buy on the site.

I had 2 rods out, 1 with a coil and one with just a hook and bait on it. I must say casting out with the coil to the other bank yielded the most fish (instant results) the fish caught on the other rod were not bigger so i did not see much difference between both methods. (except catch rate).

I will go there again but then ill be more serious about it and make a feeding area and start more early. I did catch 2 reasonably sized pla bug (mekong giant catfish) but these were rather small for Bungsamran / Ngau Nam standards. But i caught them on lighter tackle so it was still a lot of fun.

If you fish with the correct method you will catch many big Sawai and very big Mekong, its all about technique...

Maybe,

I have watched the locals and seen only a few big bugs being caught. Nothing spectacular but i have seen the sizes in Bungsamran and Ngau nam. Maybe im a bit spoiled.

I did catch three pla bugs so it was not that bad. But besides the guy in the cowboy hat who works there i did not see anyone catch big ones cosistently. The methods i used were both ledgering, i never used a float. One method was with a coil the other with the bread kneaded to a pulp direct on the hook. Neither made much difference in size of the fish.

I might be wrong because i only fished there two days and that is kinda short to draw many conclusions. Also i should have made a feeding area but i was not doing it the way i should have and as i do in ngau nam. But i can garantee you the pla saway are way bigger there. Also i think the pla bug are bigger there.

No maybe about it, go to Bungsamran and catch many easy Mekongs and all around the same size, fish the correct way at Cha Am and many Mekongs all different sizes, my biggest there so far is over 50kgs. Bungsamran to easy to enjoy fully.

I don't understand your statement about "all around the same size,fish the correct way at Cha Am and many mekongs all different size,my biggest there is over 50kgs.Bungsamran too easy to enjoy" . What was the biggest you caught at Bungsamran? And surely you must have targeted for big mekongs at Bungsamran if you state if you use correct method? And from what I read from bloggers and forums the mekongs are not that big at Cha Am. Thanks

[zoso]

If one is to target huge mekongs then Bungsamran is the pond you should fish at. . Degree of difficult or easiness to catch fish. Dual or standard pricing.. Costly or reasonable.Tourists or expats. Do it yourself or with guide. Love it or hate it. There is no other pond that holds 30,000 fishes with quite a number being in the pond for 20 plus years. It's impossible not to catch nothing in a day fishing in most ponds in Thailand. Shadow Lake, Cha Am, Gillhams, Greenfield, Topcat, Phuket fishing Park are controlled fishing environment. you catch what is in the pond. And it's not difficult to catch fish in a controlled environment. Wte are fishing in a controlled environment.

Many fished at Bungsamran and common mekong catch would be in the 15 to 30kg range. But the odds are much better at Bungsamran to land a monster. Although one can easily catch many mekongs in a day's fishing not many catch 80 to 100kg plus ones. It's not easy.

And as for Siamese Carps, and there are 8,000 of them at Bungsamran and some are huge, none are caught on most days. Not easy. It's easier at other ponds. Many came from overseas to catch Siamese Carps with the sole purpose to catch one at Bungsamran.

IMO Bungsamran is the place for big mekongs.

[kenny999]

If one is to target huge mekongs then Bungsamran is the pond you should fish at. . Degree of difficult or easiness to catch fish. Dual or standard pricing.. Costly or reasonable.Tourists or expats. Do it yourself or with guide. Love it or hate it. There is no other pond that holds 30,000 fishes with quite a number being in the pond for 20 plus years. It's impossible not to catch nothing in a day fishing in most ponds in Thailand. Shadow Lake, Cha Am, Gillhams, Greenfield, Topcat, Phuket fishing Park are controlled fishing environment. you catch what is in the pond. And it's not difficult to catch fish in a controlled environment. Wte are fishing in a controlled environment.

Many fished at Bungsamran and common mekong catch would be in the 15 to 30kg range. But the odds are much better at Bungsamran to land a monster. Although one can easily catch many mekongs in a day's fishing not many catch 80 to 100kg plus ones. It's not easy.

And as for Siamese Carps, and there are 8,000 of them at Bungsamran and some are huge, none are caught on most days. Not easy. It's easier at other ponds. Many came from overseas to catch Siamese Carps with the sole purpose to catch one at Bungsamran.

IMO Bungsamran is the place for big mekongs.

its all about choice as to where to fish, yes BSR has many many Mekongs and big but so has Cha Am, BSR is expensive, unfortunately for me I have to think about cost, I like Cha Am more than BSR mainly because I consider the fishing there to be more interesting and I have caught many big fish there.

Technique is everything if you want to catch more and bigger fish.

2 days at BSR I caught 40 Mekong the biggest approx 25 kg, but a guide was doing everything for me, I did not tip him to go out of his way to try and get bigger.

For me Cha Am is just a nicer place to fish and that is important to me.

[robblok]

Maybe,

I have watched the locals and seen only a few big bugs being caught. Nothing spectacular but i have seen the sizes in Bungsamran and Ngau nam. Maybe im a bit spoiled.

I did catch three pla bugs so it was not that bad. But besides the guy in the cowboy hat who works there i did not see anyone catch big ones cosistently. The methods i used were both ledgering, i never used a float. One method was with a coil the other with the bread kneaded to a pulp direct on the hook. Neither made much difference in size of the fish.

I might be wrong because i only fished there two days and that is kinda short to draw many conclusions. Also i should have made a feeding area but i was not doing it the way i should have and as i do in ngau nam. But i can garantee you the pla saway are way bigger there. Also i think the pla bug are bigger there.

No maybe about it, go to Bungsamran and catch many easy Mekongs and all around the same size, fish the correct way at Cha Am and many Mekongs all different sizes, my biggest there so far is over 50kgs. Bungsamran to easy to enjoy fully.

Kenny,

I might be wrong here but in most lakes that i have fished its the bait and technique makes the difference between catching big sawai or loads of small ones. Here i found that both techniques landed small sawai and big bugs (only a few so far). It was not easy to target just the big ones.

In BSR for instance using bread will yield saways as it does in Ngau nam (and you get sawai other ways too) but mainly the big fish if you fish a certain way. I did like Cha Am fishing park im not critisizing it because i will be back there for sure. Just for the atmosphere.

[victor2107]

In a few hour's time we will be on our flight to Bangkok. I will fish at Bungsamran and Lake Monster maybe a trip to Gillham's.

Spoke with anglers, fishing tour companies in the UK and Thailand and almost all recommended Bungsamran for mekongs. I exchanged emails with Francois and he told me Bungsamran is the pond for mekongs too. I understand the expat's point of Bungsamran being costly,dual pricing and the ease of landing fishes. But the point is to fish at a pond which give the oppuntunity to land a big mekong. I did research on Cha Am and the biggest mekong top at 80kg.

I did not engage a fishing tour company as you guys advised. Just bring my rod and hire a Bungsamran guide.

Thanks to all who gave advice.

http://www.anglingthailand.com/awards22.asp?rec=catfish

Edited December 6, 2010 by victor2107

[kenny999]

In a few hour's time we will be on our flight to Bangkok. I will fish at Bungsamran and Lake Monster maybe a trip to Gillham's.

Spoke with anglers, fishing tour companies in the UK and Thailand and almost all recommended Bungsamran for mekongs. I exchanged emails with Francois and he told me Bungsamran is the pond for mekongs too. I understand the expat's point of Bungsamran being costly,dual pricing and the ease of landing fishes. But the point is to fish at a pond which give the oppuntunity to land a big mekong. I did research on Cha Am and the biggest mekong top at 80kg.

I did not engage a fishing tour company as you guys advised. Just bring my rod and hire a Bungsamran guide.

Thanks to all who gave advice.

http://www.anglingth...asp?rec=catfish

Its not all about catching the biggest Mekong is it!!! it's about surrounding's,it's about value for money and also catching the fish yourself without anyones help, you don't think 80kg is a big Mekong if that is the case then you are better off fishing BSR with a guide that will cost you maybe close to 4000bht for the day, no thanks!!! BSR is great if you have no money issues and you want to catch Mekong on every cast, up to the individual I know what I prefer.

[robblok]

In a few hour's time we will be on our flight to Bangkok. I will fish at Bungsamran and Lake Monster maybe a trip to Gillham's.

Spoke with anglers, fishing tour companies in the UK and Thailand and almost all recommended Bungsamran for mekongs. I exchanged emails with Francois and he told me Bungsamran is the pond for mekongs too. I understand the expat's point of Bungsamran being costly,dual pricing and the ease of landing fishes. But the point is to fish at a pond which give the oppuntunity to land a big mekong. I did research on Cha Am and the biggest mekong top at 80kg.

I did not engage a fishing tour company as you guys advised. Just bring my rod and hire a Bungsamran guide.

Thanks to all who gave advice.

http://www.anglingth...asp?rec=catfish

Its not all about catching the biggest Mekong is it!!! it's about surrounding's,it's about value for money and also catching the fish yourself without anyones help, you don't think 80kg is a big Mekong if that is the case then you are better off fishing BSR with a guide that will cost you maybe close to 4000bht for the day, no thanks!!! BSR is great if you have no money issues and you want to catch Mekong on every cast, up to the individual I know what I prefer.

80 kg are huge fish they are hard to catch and so are the biggest ones in BSR. BSR is still the best place to catch big fish. For me its not a money issue just that i like doing things myself (but i would not do that if i were a tourist unknown with the fishing style).

I learned a lot last time at BSR from the guide, certainly a few things i will adopt to fishing. Everybody likes something differently who am I to judge what an other likes or dislikes.

My dad and bro loved BSR and they let the guide do most of the work. I liked it too but did it myself and caught less. But i liked my day at Ngua nam today a lot more (even though i did not catch much).

If you want Big Mekongs go to BSR and they are not easy to land (especially the big ones). Its sure you will catch many in the 30 kg range but not so sure you will catch a bigger one. That is up to the guide and up to luck. If you fish a few days then your chances go up.

Picture of my dad with his big fish in BSR

Edited December 6, 2010 by robblok