Chasing Chado In Mukdahan Province

[coobah666]

Have found some great local information about what dams hold Chado, have been 5 times to three different dams but still yet to get one but have seen others land them,nothing overly large 3-6kg but enough to keep me well interested in the chase.

tried live baiting with 6inch pla duk (little catfish) and had one take but no hookup,and I have a sore arm from throwing lures,but all will be forgotten when eventually with a bit more luck and time on the water I'll be able to post a pic of the poor fish that thats coming my way very soon.

Most of the dams are around Don Luang area,

FISH WILD,DON'T PAY FOR IT

[jackinbkk]

I did some luring in reservoirs. By far the most effective method was to cast the lure into the ball of baby shadows if you ever spot it. Mum and dad are usually close by. They have to keep the young at the surface breathing air. On a calm day you can also see loan adults come up. It gives you another thing to target.

Live baits were often taken at dawn, dusk and in the night but most of the time you'll reel in your bait bitten clean in half. Shadows seem as happy to eat the boney head of a pla duk as they are to eat the tail. I wish I had photos. It was like my baits were cut with a knife. I liked using gold fish too because they are bright orange and stand out.

It's just a matter of persistence. So many people are after that fish. Usually to eat. Luckily the shadows mass breeding and movement over land keeps it from going extinct in Thai waters.

[tingtongfarang]

At times i do lots of wild fishing for chado, Mostly i feel live baiting is cheating in a way but thats just me,

Buzz baits are the first thing i try and usualy the most productive.... if they dont work propeler baits will normaly do it.

[CCFC1]

I should imagine fly fishing for them could be hard, as thay could easily cut the leader and if using wire would make it impossible to throw the line out.

CCFC1

[impulse]

I should imagine fly fishing for them could be hard, as thay could easily cut the leader and if using wire would make it impossible to throw the line out.

CCFC1

I use short wire leaders on my streamers and have no problem casting them.

I use 10-20 Lb bare 7strand if I can find it, plastic coated if I can't find bare. I pre-crimp them onto the fly and use the smallest swivel I can find on the other end to tie my line. Tying line to the wire itself is a recipe for a broken knot.

With a 6-10" light wire trace, I hardly notice the difference casting a decent sized streamer. Since my tippets are generally in the 6-10 Lb range for Thai streamer fishing, the light wire trace shouldn't be the weak link.

For salt water and larger flies, I use 20-50 lb wire depending on the size of the fly.

For me it's best to pre-make the rigs at home because crimping wire that small is time consuming with my old-fart eyes. It's better for me to do it when I'm not in a hurry and have great lighting and the crimps I drop won't fall into the grass and be lost.

Edited June 13, 2012 by impulse