Thailand Mikey, where is your BKK CR? :)

[edylie]

Please post your Catch report man on the Mekong Cat Fish

Cheers,
Edy

[jason]

Mikey Mikey Mikey Mikey!!!!!!!!!!
CR CR CR CR CR CR!!!!!!


Cheers
Jason

[stickbom!]

Guys... almost the whole world go to BKK hantum catfish before oredi! Dun think we need another CR lar... but I must admit, the Mekong Cat is strong and all the tips provided by the regulars here were really useful. Now I know (first hand) why so many popping rods exploded over in BKK! The cats really have a terrible habit of swimming under the huts once they come near the side. Most folks exert too hard too soon and by the time their fish comes near, they're too tired to take that rod out of their fighting belt. Non of my rods broke over there but I do have a really sore arm pit Oh, I also figured out why the guides think mono is better. Its because with less slack line floating, you'll have less line belly in the water and bites are easily detected. I had a wonderful time fishing 40lb nylon on my Penn 9500SS

[thunnus]

Yo Mikey...... well done !

I broke one of my popping rod in my last visit over there...... I guess that's why I'm 'addicted' to this catfish ! And won't pass any single chance whenever I'm in BKK.....

[stickbom!]

Thanks Thunnus My wife and I had a great time there. Hey Saimee... need a new reel for the crew? The new Biomaster SR8000PG gets a big salute from me . I fished PE5 with it and seriously, I don't think any reel out there around the $300-350 price range can beat the value of a Biomaster SR8000PG. Period

[edylie]

Good stuffs there Mikey with the Mekong Cat Fish and I also noticed that you have lost weight!!!!

Cheers,
Edy

[DaFrogman]

Hey Saimee... need a new reel for the crew? The new Biomaster SR8000PG gets a big salute from me . I fished PE5 with it and seriously, I don't think any reel out there around the $300-350 price range can beat the value of a Biomaster SR8000PG. Period

Mikey,

Duly noted and its on "The List". Thanks for the pics too dude and boy you sure looked like you guys had fun. Kinda like our pangsai AJ Trainer Catfish we have here dude.

Was also good to see your Penn back in action. BTW, how much PE5 could you fit on the BM?.

Tight Lines Dude.

Saimee

[stickbom!]

Edy, I've been jogging a fair bit lately Not sure how long my knees are going to hold up though

DFM, I only loaded 200m of PE5 on my reel because there were some odd lengths lying around in my cupboard. The line cap is similar to your Twinpower 8000 so take that as a guideline

My Penn is still lying on my table beside my PC. Need to check the internals for damage! The line out alarm mechanism that's fixed on the underside of my spool worked loose and got caught between my spool and rotor. Initially when the cranking got weird (tight on the shafts down stroke) I thought the internals of my reel had been smashed and tried to crank harder to get the handle moving. After a while the reel just refused to move. At that point I decided to remove the spool and found the few loose parts on my rotor. I need to check the internals for damage before chucking it into my display rack for cold storage

Check out the photo, see that nice shiny circle near the center of my rotor? Thats how deep the scratch is The circumference of my rotor is pretty scratched up too but its not so visible on the photo. I'm considering whether to touch up the paint job... or get another 9500SS! LOL

[physlo]

Mike,

Good work dude. Did you try the blast on the mekongs?

Cheers!
physlo

[ophio]

Mikey,

Duly noted and its on "The List". Thanks for the pics too dude and boy you sure looked like you guys had fun. Kinda like our pangsai AJ Trainer Catfish we have here dude.

Was also good to see your Penn back in action. BTW, how much PE5 could you fit on the BM?.

Tight Lines Dude.

Saimee

Saimee ,somehow or rather Mike had just brought back the pangsai fish jinx from BSR .I guess the "cats" will be around for awhile .Hahaha ..

3 cheers for hong fei hong .Heeheehee !

[Makaira]

I also figured out why the guides think mono is better. Its because with less slack line floating, you'll have less line belly in the water and bites are easily detected.

Looks like you had great fun Mikey. Your exercise regime seems to be a great success!!! You really lost helleva lot of weight!!! Congratulations!!!

As for the reason for the preferred use of mono, I find it weird, that the guides think mono has less line belly and better bite detection than braided I may not have fished at BSR before, but I would have thought that the guides preferred mono for the stretch & better abrasion resistance when fiighting close quarters when the fish makes the dash under the hut. As for slack line (mono or braided) floating on the water surface, as is done in freshwater pond fishing, you simply need to dip the rod tip under the water surface, take a few cranks to "straighten" the line until you feel the weight of the bait, pull out some line off the reel spool for some slack to place the marker, then no more floating line for the wind to catch to cause a belly

After this experience, I guess the local Mekong pond may become your 2nd home huh?

[stickbom!]

Yo KK, the guide has this habit of dipping the rod tip into the water and yanking the rod up to pull the line under after casting out the "tennis ball". Somehow mono stays under and braid still surfaces after a while. I guess in still water the thickness of mono doesn't cause line belly like out at sea where there's current or when a boat is trying to circle around a charging marlin

Yes Edros, I did use the Blast at BKK. TOUCH WOOD but no broken reel foot so far. Then again we're not talking about 100lb YFT or monster GTs so we'll never really know huh There was too much line on my Blast spool so I swapped my friend's spare spool onto my reel. I swapped drags too so I was fishing carbontex that day. Wonderful stuff

Eh Gary its Wong Fei Hong!

Even if the pond closed down, I would never hesitate to make another run to BKK! Abundance of "40kg fish" in skirts there

[belial]

Hi all, the reason why most of the locals prefer mono is because it is heavier than braided and so tend to 'sink' down faster than braided. if the line is floating on the water, the float tend to drift and the fish don't bite the bait when it is floating about. Mike, you should have tried fishing from the center platform as it is nearer to where the bigger fish dwells, you'll get lots of bites from the fish if you fish at the chalets but it will be mostly small fishes below 30kg. the reason why the guide put your rod in the water and jerking it is to let the ball of bait come loose.

[stickbom!]

Ah... I see Thanks for enlightening us! Wifey was with me and we were fishing on a Sunday. Kinda crowded to fish from the center platform! I'll make it a point to try the spot you've recommended on my next visit

[ghaniyusoff]

Mike,

While I am always impressed by your CRs, what impressed me most was how you have toned your "baby fats". Ha ha ha ha

All the good foods had caused lots of damaged to by tummy. Sob sob sob

Ghani

[zeck]

Ghani, dont blame it on the good foods lah. You can always order salad with light olive oil dressing instead. And definitely pass on that 2nd glass of Shiraz!

Oh yeah, I am telling myself the same thing.

-zeck
ps. Btw, did Gene get back to you on the leader rig? I can make one extra for you if you are not in a hurry.

[ghaniyusoff]

Zeck,

You want me to live on salad & olive oil.? Whats there to live if life is like that. Luckily still got fishing.

Gene left for Panda Land immediately after Maldives. Will only be back sometime before Chinese NEw Year. I will be leaving coming Monday morning. Thanks for your offer to rig one for me. Its too rush to do it. Anyway, i somehow managed to figure out how to do it mylself already.

Best Regards
Ghani

[Megabass]

Zeck,

You want me to live on salad & olive oil.? Whats there to live if life is like that. Luckily still got fishing.

Gene left for Panda Land immediately after Maldives. Will only be back sometime before Chinese NEw Year. I will be leaving coming Monday morning. Thanks for your offer to rig one for me. Its too rush to do it. Anyway, i somehow managed to figure out how to do it mylself already.

Best Regards
Ghani

Ghani, got secret weapon, teach me leh

[stickbom!]

Mike,

While I am always impressed by your CRs, what impressed me most was how you have toned your "baby fats". Ha ha ha ha

All the good foods had caused lots of damaged to by tummy. Sob sob sob

Ghani

Hi Ghani, to be honest I haven't been eating any lesser. Shifting to Changi was a good move. Since mummy isn't here to cook me dinner, I make it a point to jog over to Changi area for my dinner as long as the weather and time allows me to. Yeah, I can't imagine living on grass... especially when we have great burger joints like Carls Jr now!!

[Blackmarlin]

Mike,

While I am always impressed by your CRs, what impressed me most was how you have toned your "baby fats". Ha ha ha ha

All the good foods had caused lots of damaged to by tummy. Sob sob sob

Ghani

Ghani,

Blame excuse, laziness is the cause of the tummy, if you follow Mickey's regime training, I think you also can achieve it. hehehhehe

[stickbom!]

Hey Robert been fishin lately? I'm pretty sure Ghani is still fit enough to handle that GT of a lifetime should it pounce on his popper. Being a little rounded at the waist doesn't mean you're out of shape. I use to tell my wife I'm in shape. Round is a shape

By the way guys, I just spent an hour stripping my Spinfisher down and washing away all the old grease to inpsect for wear/damage on the gears. Thank goodness everything seems alright. Let's hope nothing else comes loose the next time I use it

[ghaniyusoff]

Uncle Robert,

Ok lar. Dun tekan me like chia lak chia lak. Try try to follow Mike's exercise regime tomorow. But I kept saying "tomorow" since two years ago. The greatest procastinator I am.

Have you been fishing lately?

[Blackmarlin]

Uncle Robert,

Ok lar. Dun tekan me like chia lak chia lak. Try try to follow Mike's exercise regime tomorow. But I kept saying "tomorow" since two years ago. The greatest procastinator I am.

Have you been fishing lately?

Keep it up ok, you can keep it round like Mickey say ROUND is also in shape hahahahha. Lately local trip very bad, last 2 months cant go due to work so now must wait for March Sabah trip. When you going down Beach for teh tarik.

[MarkR]

Best of luck for your trip Ghani!

From what I've heard recently, I believe the GT action there is much much hotter than Komodo! Are you guys doing 100% pop or gonna split 50/50 for jigging the AJs?

As for uncle robert, I wish I could be in his shape when i'm his age

Don't play play...uncle robert TKD black belt

[Blackmarlin]

Best of luck for your trip Ghani!

From what I've heard recently, I believe the GT action there is much much hotter than Komodo! Are you guys doing 100% pop or gonna split 50/50 for jigging the AJs?

As for uncle robert, I wish I could be in his shape when i'm his age

Don't play play...uncle robert TKD black belt

Yes MarkR, my belt is alway black hehehehehe