Bungsamran Fishing Park worth a visit?

[Mousehound]

Here are a few pics of Bungsamran. The small fish was pretty standard. I would say most are around the 20k + with some whoppers. My big fish was 47k and I saw one landed that weighed in at 79K.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/805433-bungsamran-fishing-park-worth-a-visit/page-2

had a good day with my son. Not our normal fishing but still worth the Bht.

put the pics up mousehound....... that link didnt work

Sorry - didn't spot the problem.

http://stevekeeling.smugmug.com/Journalism/Thailand/

[UKJASE]

There are venues where the fish are treated better than they are at Bumsangran, and the fish on offer are bigger and more varied than Pilot 111. Bring money and be prepared for hours of driving from Bangkok...

A couple of places to start:

http://bangkokhooker-fishing.com/

http://www.john-tom.com/FishingInThailand/FishingInThailand.html

http://www.john-tom.com/FishingInThailand/FlyFishingThailand.html

For my money (and time), Pilot 111 is a great balance of cost (500 baht) and time (45 minutes from Asoke where I live). And because I have more money today than time (it's not always like that, but I'm in Thailand for the expat paycheck), I usually spring the extra 2,000 baht to fish the Pilot 111 private side (2,500 total) which pretty much guarantees me 100-200 pounds of barramundi in the 10-20 lb class in a morning. And until you have caught 200 lb of barramundi on a 4 or 6 weight fly rod in a morning, you don't know what you're missing.

I've long ago given up on the "epic" fishing trip where I drive 12 hours to be on a fabled water at opening hour on opening day. More often than not, it's been a disappointment, and an expensive one at that. Nowadays, I look at a map of where I'm staying, figure out what waters are close by, and choose one.

And if I'm not going to be catching at least a few fish, I'll just call it a kayaking, hiking, or biking trip, forgo the frustration of casting to nothing all day long, and thoroughly enjoy the scenery that I would have missed had I been focusing on trying to catch fish that aren't there... (And in a land with ZERO game laws, that's a good description of a lot of the water here)

Yes I agree that a 12 hour trip to waters that one hears about,is not worth it. Did you not find pilot 111 a bit tame? Shame they turn on the fish by feeding them.

The other half ( private ) sounds fun.

Are you from the UK? Have you fished in Russia?

The private side or other half at pilot is actually a fish farm, I have fished such bara farms and although it can be fun for a short while its difficult to consider it a sport, the fish will infact bite anything that hits the water...even the gopro cam on the line will get hit multiple times within seconds of hitting the water,

Bang pra dam is just a little further to drive than pilot if its wild fishing you are looking for, kaeng krajan can also be reached in around 2 hours if leaving early morning but i never tried the fly rod at either of those dams, mostly i would just use buzz baits hunting giant snakehead,

I find the klongs and any other random waters around are great fun for striped snakehead, many of them have zero boat traffic and are pretty much over grown,

I find i do more wild fishing than fishing parks.

we are in hua hin and so not far from kaeng kracan TingTong...... have you fished it before mate? do you have to pay? whereabouts are the best spots to go? what fish are there to be had mate? it is beautiful up there and would make a lovely days fishing if a few fish showed

[tingtongfarang]

There are venues where the fish are treated better than they are at Bumsangran, and the fish on offer are bigger and more varied than Pilot 111. Bring money and be prepared for hours of driving from Bangkok...

A couple of places to start:

http://bangkokhooker-fishing.com/

http://www.john-tom.com/FishingInThailand/FishingInThailand.html

http://www.john-tom.com/FishingInThailand/FlyFishingThailand.html

For my money (and time), Pilot 111 is a great balance of cost (500 baht) and time (45 minutes from Asoke where I live). And because I have more money today than time (it's not always like that, but I'm in Thailand for the expat paycheck), I usually spring the extra 2,000 baht to fish the Pilot 111 private side (2,500 total) which pretty much guarantees me 100-200 pounds of barramundi in the 10-20 lb class in a morning. And until you have caught 200 lb of barramundi on a 4 or 6 weight fly rod in a morning, you don't know what you're missing.

I've long ago given up on the "epic" fishing trip where I drive 12 hours to be on a fabled water at opening hour on opening day. More often than not, it's been a disappointment, and an expensive one at that. Nowadays, I look at a map of where I'm staying, figure out what waters are close by, and choose one.

And if I'm not going to be catching at least a few fish, I'll just call it a kayaking, hiking, or biking trip, forgo the frustration of casting to nothing all day long, and thoroughly enjoy the scenery that I would have missed had I been focusing on trying to catch fish that aren't there... (And in a land with ZERO game laws, that's a good description of a lot of the water here)

Yes I agree that a 12 hour trip to waters that one hears about,is not worth it. Did you not find pilot 111 a bit tame? Shame they turn on the fish by feeding them.

The other half ( private ) sounds fun.

Are you from the UK? Have you fished in Russia?

The private side or other half at pilot is actually a fish farm, I have fished such bara farms and although it can be fun for a short while its difficult to consider it a sport, the fish will infact bite anything that hits the water...even the gopro cam on the line will get hit multiple times within seconds of hitting the water,

Bang pra dam is just a little further to drive than pilot if its wild fishing you are looking for, kaeng krajan can also be reached in around 2 hours if leaving early morning but i never tried the fly rod at either of those dams, mostly i would just use buzz baits hunting giant snakehead,

I find the klongs and any other random waters around are great fun for striped snakehead, many of them have zero boat traffic and are pretty much over grown,

I find i do more wild fishing than fishing parks.

we are in hua hin and so not far from kaeng kracan TingTong...... have you fished it before mate? do you have to pay? whereabouts are the best spots to go? what fish are there to be had mate? it is beautiful up there and would make a lovely days fishing if a few fish showed

Yes i have fished kaeng krajan many times but never had the idea to fish from any spot, fishing there means being in a thai style boat for more or less the whole day with no shade from the sun wind or even rain, The only thing to pay is the boatman unless you have your own boat,

Fish species are jungle perch, and both striped and giant snakehead, have never targeted any others.

[green job]

I tried out pilot 111 again As i said before it is ruined by turning the fish on,by feeding them. There was a Thai guy fishing fly, ( 1 of 6 ) he caught many Baramundi,

His method was to cast the line making a large splash,the fish were tricked into thinking they were being fed,and took his lure.

Where i have fished all over the world,most fish would scatter,and not be seen again for a very long time. Most Fly fishing has a lot to do with stealth and accurate casting and fly imitation ( trying to imitate the fly hatch that is taking place aat that time )and much much more

The guys fishing there would not stand a chance of catching a decent trout,let alone a sewin at night on the fly

[robblok]

I tried out pilot 111 again As i said before it is ruined by turning the fish on,by feeding them. There was a Thai guy fishing fly, ( 1 of 6 ) he caught many Baramundi,

His method was to cast the line making a large splash,the fish were tricked into thinking they were being fed,and took his lure.

Where i have fished all over the world,most fish would scatter,and not be seen again for a very long time. Most Fly fishing has a lot to do with stealth and accurate casting and fly imitation ( trying to imitate the fly hatch that is taking place aat that time )and much much more

The guys fishing there would not stand a chance of catching a decent trout,let alone a sewin at night on the fly

Yes but it worked in pilot.. showing the guy invented a technique that worked there.. That is fishing.. not using stealth and stuff when its not needed. Fishing is finding out what works and adapt when things not work.

Surely you get worked up on this but your case.. i find it smart that the guy figured that out and has a working method.

Anyway in honor of you I will be fishing BSR with Tingtong today.

[green job]

I tried out pilot 111 again As i said before it is ruined by turning the fish on,by feeding them. There was a Thai guy fishing fly, ( 1 of 6 ) he caught many Baramundi,

His method was to cast the line making a large splash,the fish were tricked into thinking they were being fed,and took his lure.

Where i have fished all over the world,most fish would scatter,and not be seen again for a very long time. Most Fly fishing has a lot to do with stealth and accurate casting and fly imitation ( trying to imitate the fly hatch that is taking place aat that time )and much much more

The guys fishing there would not stand a chance of catching a decent trout,let alone a sewin at night on the fly

Yes but it worked in pilot.. showing the guy invented a technique that worked there.. That is fishing.. not using stealth and stuff when its not needed. Fishing is finding out what works and adapt when things not work.

Surely you get worked up on this but your case.. i find it smart that the guy figured that out and has a working method.

Anyway in honor of you I will be fishing BSR with Tingtong today.

Wow you are funny, Worked up? I was just stating a fact. Sure if you fish fish farms and places like Pilot 111 you can adapt, Your comment that its fishing

I disagree with, It is not fishing,and cant be discribed as sport. Any way thats my opinion,and you are entiteld to yours.

some people like myself do not enjoy this art of fishmongery, Any way up to you,and hope you have a good day.

PS I was under the impression this was a discussion,nothing else Tight Lines

[robblok]

I tried out pilot 111 again As i said before it is ruined by turning the fish on,by feeding them. There was a Thai guy fishing fly, ( 1 of 6 ) he caught many Baramundi,

His method was to cast the line making a large splash,the fish were tricked into thinking they were being fed,and took his lure.

Where i have fished all over the world,most fish would scatter,and not be seen again for a very long time. Most Fly fishing has a lot to do with stealth and accurate casting and fly imitation ( trying to imitate the fly hatch that is taking place aat that time )and much much more

The guys fishing there would not stand a chance of catching a decent trout,let alone a sewin at night on the fly

Yes but it worked in pilot.. showing the guy invented a technique that worked there.. That is fishing.. not using stealth and stuff when its not needed. Fishing is finding out what works and adapt when things not work.

Surely you get worked up on this but your case.. i find it smart that the guy figured that out and has a working method.

Anyway in honor of you I will be fishing BSR with Tingtong today.

Wow you are funny, Worked up? I was just stating a fact. Sure if you fish fish farms and places like Pilot 111 you can adapt, Your comment that its fishing

I disagree with, It is not fishing,and cant be discribed as sport. Any way thats my opinion,and you are entiteld to yours.

some people like myself do not enjoy this art of fishmongery, Any way up to you,and hope you have a good day.

PS I was under the impression this was a discussion,nothing else Tight Lines

I am just stating that the art of fishing is to find out what works where you are.. that is exactly what the Thai guy did and you say its a bad thing. while it is not.. he found out what worked. It does not matter where you fish you always have to find out what works. That is what fishing is. Nothing more nothing less.

I don't really care if i catch much or not.. but BSR is one of the few places that is close enough for a fun day. Real fishing is something I did all my life back in the Netherlands here it is just not viable. I prefer stocked lakes like gillhams and exotic fishing in krabi.. but as I live here 5.500 bt a day is a bit much if i want to do it regularly. But these are lakes that come close to real fishing unlike BSR.

In the end its just that there is no real fishing here that is easy to reach.

Today for me is about relaxing and improving on my casting.. for anyone who says there is no skill involved in BSR i bet they cant outfish the guide WE.. why.. because his casting is on the mark always. That is how you can make it fun.. catching more as the other guy or just getting out further.. or if you want to make it hard as BSR go carp fishing.

Anyway now leaving to meet tingtongfarang for this thread, often fished with the guy.

Have a good day too.

[green job]

I hope you had a good day fishing. Now I have time to answer your reply. I did not say its a bad thing the thai guy was doing is that clear? I sugest you read and study before posting crap

Also casting at BSR has not been mentiond,are you trying to jusify something?

The last time I visited that place ( the great tackle shop ) Some friends of mine were with me from the UK, They were also appalled at the treatment of the fish

[robblok]

I hope you had a good day fishing. Now I have time to answer your reply. I did not say its a bad thing the thai guy was doing is that clear? I sugest you read and study before posting crap

Also casting at BSR has not been mentiond,are you trying to jusify something?

The last time I visited that place ( the great tackle shop ) Some friends of mine were with me from the UK, They were also appalled at the treatment of the fish

You were angry about that that guy found something that worked because it was a stocked lake and it did not work like it should in nature. I say the guy was smart in figuring that out.

What would casting justify ? Sorry I am confused casting is just a thing i like to practice. Actually casting is an art and that is how you can get many fish there.. by casting at the same spot over and over again.

Actually you and your friends can be appalled by the treatment of fish.. but that does not mean YOU have to treat the fish like that. You can catch and release how you like it. I treat the fish good so I see absolutely no problem with me fishing there. I don't need to justify anything.

I was there today with tingtongfarang and an other friend and the wife of one of the owners.. and she insisted (and so did guides that walked past) to get the fish back in the water fast. Maybe they are changing.. who knows. I do know that many of the fish that I caught today looked good (healthy that is not damaged).

Its was a quiet day and i won because i caught the most (just 10) but we were using the same tackle (same line and hooks) and same bait. And I don't think I cast better as my friend I had some pretty bad ones (far but not straight). Still it was a fun.. sweat a lot talked a lot.. just nice.

[green job]

I have been thinking about this so called discussion.and I am sorry to say i find this has nothing to do with sport at all.

First lets get things clear,i do not in any way blame you for your outlook on this ,as I put it down to the way you have been introduced to fishing,and ignorance.

Stocked lakes these days are necessary due to the pressure on the sport, real sports fishermen may visit once,but normaly that is enough.

Now talking about pilot111,and turning the fish on by feeding,that is a big shame,as it could be otherwise not to bad. The way I look at this is as follows, I have done, and still do a lot of shooting

when at home in the UK and Germany. Its a bit like training certain animals like deer to come to feed when you bang two cooking pans together,when they arrive you shoot theOr even worse,shoot them on the futterung ( place we leave food for them in the winter.)

So at the end of the day i may be a bit of an old fashioned sportsman,and feel for the fish.

Remember, The greatness of a nation and its moral progess,can be judged by the way its animals are treated.... I suggest ( no offence intended ) you should do some kind of licence,like they do in Germany, and you may learn something about the subject

[robblok]

I dont mind your opinion too, i often excuse pompous know it all people.. so I will do the same for you.

I have been fishing in the wild just like you have in the past, in a country where everything was regulated. You could not even do life baiting in the end anymore. I still take care of how I handle the fish that is MY responsibility. What others do at a fishing lake is NOT my responsibility and trying to boycott it has absolutely no use. Its foolish unless you can get the Thais to do the same.

Unlike you I live here and have done so for about 8 years. The only thing you can do here is fish in stocked lakes. Wild fishing is not really doable for short daytrips. So its not an ideal situation I agree about that but its the best I can do here to get fishing fix. Someone who has lived and fished here longer would know that, most pompous newbies don't. I don't mind the ignorance on newbies its their right we all need to learn.

I have fished for many years and like you know my stuff.. but unlike you I am a realist and know that it is not possible here. I guess we have to differ on this, if there was good wild fishing in my reach I would have gone there. But in a nation where even the smallest fish are fished from the rives and lakes there is almost no good wild fishing. At least not near BKK.

I am amazed that people don't understand that, its either this or nothing. So I take the middle way i make sure my rigs are tied with fish safety in mind and treat the fish that I catch in a good way.

Your German / UK analogy misses the point.. but I think you don't live here and merely a tourist.. or someone staying part of the year. You have the option to do fish or hunt somewhere else. I don't its this or not fishing.

Have good one mr green job. Lets keep it as to each his or her own. I will get back to you once you really have lived here for a few years and learned a bit more.

[tingtongfarang]

Fishing parks are what they are, myself i view them akin to a driving range for golfers, it also gives anglers the chance to target fish species that would not be possible in the wild either through regulation or being non native species, pla buek, arapaimer, baramundi just to name a few,

Wild fishing is all around even in bkk and the suburbs and i estimate there are hundreds of anglers out there daily doing just that, i admit many are looking for food but a large portion of the thai anglers do practice catch and release, for instance i personally dont know of any who would target giant snakehead and not release them,

Although i do enjoy fishing parks i dont visit them very often and am very choosey which ones and how much money i am prepared to leave there, i also enjoy fishing with friends at these places having fun and drinking a few beers.

[robblok]

Fishing parks are what they are, myself i view them akin to a driving range for golfers, it also gives anglers the chance to target fish species that would not be possible in the wild either through regulation or being non native species, pla buek, arapaimer, baramundi just to name a few,

Wild fishing is all around even in bkk and the suburbs and i estimate there are hundreds of anglers out there daily doing just that, i admit many are looking for food but a large portion of the thai anglers do practice catch and release, for instance i personally dont know of any who would target giant snakehead and not release them,

Although i do enjoy fishing parks i dont visit them very often and am very choosey which ones and how much money i am prepared to leave there, i also enjoy fishing with friends at these places having fun and drinking a few beers.

The wild fishing you are talking about is predator fishing.. I am not into that.. There is not much fishing for carp or other normal fish besides fishing for pla nin in the klongs. Not really fun stuf IMHO. Not like where I came from the Netherlands. You could expect big fish everywhere if you aim for them

But as I said for each his or her own.

But here thais would mishandle the fish in the klongs too.. so following green job his logic we should not fish there either.

I feel that as long as you handle the fish yourself with care and make sure you fish with fish safety in mind it does not matter if you fish in a stocked lake or not.

[green job]

Fishing parks are what they are, myself i view them akin to a driving range for golfers, it also gives anglers the chance to target fish species that would not be possible in the wild either through regulation or being non native species, pla buek, arapaimer, baramundi just to name a few,

Wild fishing is all around even in bkk and the suburbs and i estimate there are hundreds of anglers out there daily doing just that, i admit many are looking for food but a large portion of the thai anglers do practice catch and release, for instance i personally dont know of any who would target giant snakehead and not release them,

Although i do enjoy fishing parks i dont visit them very often and am very choosey which ones and how much money i am prepared to leave there, i also enjoy fishing with friends at these places having fun and drinking a few beers.

Yes I agree fully, I am at the moment north of Chai Nat there are so many places to cast a fly here,I shall let you know how we get on

Tight Lines