Been living in Bangkok about a year now and am ready to explore fishing opps (really enjoyed off the rock/beach fishing back home in UK)

It seems most of the fishing is focused on pond fishing for huge catfish/mekongs....are these ponds stuffed full of fish so that its just question of casting in and waiting 5-10 minutes or so before a fish is on your hook? Or is there some skill involved e.g. 'hunting' for the fish? I went to a rainbow trout pond in UK and it was the most boring fishing experience ive ever had- was full of trout, cast in wait a few minutes, hook, reel the fish in, release, rinse repeat.

Would much appreciate any feedback.

Also- any recommendations for off the rocks/beach fishing spots , fish types etc especially in the Pattaya or hua hin area also much appreciated.

Go to shadow lake if you want a challenge. It can be hard there.

Go to Bungsamran for a different kind of challenge. The catch rate is higher there but work is harder too.

The smaller lakes i have been too where they fish for the sawai its to easy. Then it is just cast and repeat every so many minutes.

It depends also on what you are fishing for. Giant Snakeheads pose a good challenge, especially on light tackle. There are places like Pilot 111 which have ponds dedicated to them and some are entirely geared towards lure fishing. So it all depends on what you are looking for.

There are some great ponds around where I live on the Phuttamonthon 2 road side of Bangkok. One in particular is very challenging, it is called "black mirror lake" and has some monsters that take a lot of skill to land. I fought once for over 3 hours to land a big fish, only to have it spit out the hook before I could get a glimpse of it. There are also good eating fish to be had too, like Pla Nin, Pla Duk and one that I am fond of, that takes a lot of patience and skill - at least in the ponds around here - is called Pla Lat. This fish likes fresh prawn below a float as bait, it ranges from half a KG, up to over 7 KGs and more. It gives a great fight too. Has nice clean white flesh and not too many bones. Best eating size is about 2 or 3 KGs. I get charged "local prices" too. Just don't see any foreigners around here. Used to be 20 Baht a day, but has now gone up to 50 Baht and even100 Baht at one very good spot, plus you pay by the KG for any fish you want to take home. Some ponds will cook your fish for you cheaply and generally the food tastes good. Plenty of good clean food and drinks on sale at most places, from water to coffee, beer to whiskey. All pretty cheap. Pond fishing is another one of the many great things to do here in Thailand and another good reason for staying. PM me if you want more details.<br>