River Fishing in Chiang Mai

[harrybarracuda]

Are there any recommended groups that run it for visitors? I know there's the stocked lakes but there's no fun in that.

[harrybarracuda]

Obviously not.

[Thormaturge]

The fishing tours kind of guarantee you will catch a fish, even if you are a teacher, so they tend to focus on well-stocked lakes. I would suggest contacting a few fishing tour companies and offering to hire them for a river trip and to pay even if you don't catch anything.

[teddy]

I had a mate who used to fish the Mekhong from Chaeng Khong. He borrowed a little boat and just went up and down the river with his rods over the side while getting drunk.

[Satonic]

The only river fishing in CM I have seen was on threads by IanForbes over on TV. I'm not sure if he is a member here, but if your a member over there he may point you in the right direction.

[DrAndy]

lots of people fish the Mae Ping river from the banks and bridges

no idea if they catch anything though

upcountry, there are fish in rivers all over the place; my friend fishes the Mae Tang up near the rafting area

I get fish from my ricefarm canal in Mae Rim

[harrybarracuda]

I had a mate who used to fish the Mekhong from Chaeng Khong. He borrowed a little boat and just went up and down the river with his rods over the side while getting drunk.

Now that sounds like my kind of fishing, but unfortunately it's not for me, it's for a young beginner. Maybe I'll just tell him it's nigh on impossible to catch anything in a lake and then take him to one where they keep a large stock of starving catfish. Trouble is, kids see Discovery channel and think all they have to do is turn up and five minutes later they'll have a 400Kg monster on their line.

[DrAndy]

if this is for a kid, then fishing in the stocked ponds would be best - at least he should catch something

[harrybarracuda]

if this is for a kid, then fishing in the stocked ponds would be best - at least he should catch something

More of a young man, but yes, I think I'll start him there and see how he enjoys it.

[harrybarracuda]

if this is for a kid, then fishing in the stocked ponds would be best - at least he should catch something

More of a young man, but yes, I think I'll start him there and see how he enjoys it.

That's what he ended up doing off his own back. Caught 16 fish up to 35Kg and (excuse the pun) had a whale of a time.

Job done.

[DrAndy]

a whale is not a fish so no pun

but I'm glad that he had fun

[ENT]

I know that klong Andy, it's about as wide as two canoes and the locals fish it often at night. Fish are real small in there, maybe 6-8 inches at best.
My groundsman used to get cranky whenever someone else was in '"His" klong.

[ENT]

I know that klong Andy, it's about as wide as two canoes and the locals fish it often at night, Fish are real small in there, maybe 6-8 inches at best.
My groundsman used to get cranky whenever someone else was in '"His" klong.

[DrAndy]

come on bENT, there are several hundred klongs abounding in that region, supplying water to the ricefields

one way the locals catch fish is to put a twig barrier across and a net on the downstream side; the fish jump the barrier and land in the net. The fish can be quite large, coming from the mountain dams and lakes; I have seen them over 30cm


shall I post this twice?

[ENT]

Pretty good size
I don't know of many boat size klongs around Mae Rim.
I'll ask my lady.

[DrAndy]

who said that boat size?

almost all the klongs are for irrigation and are just over a metre wide

[ENT]

That's right, some of them even less, but the metre wide klongs ain't got much fish of any good size.

[ENT]

That's right, some of them even less, but the metre wide klongs ain't got much fish of any good size.
2canoes is about just over a metre width.

[DrAndy]

if you read my above post, you will see that we have caught quite decent size fish from klongs that size

they originate in the lakes and dams in the mountains, then come down when the water is released into the irrigation system

the biggest we have caught was a 2kg snakehead, so there must be bigger ones there

[SteveCM]

if this is for a kid, then fishing in the stocked ponds would be best - at least he should catch something

More of a young man, but yes, I think I'll start him there and see how he enjoys it.

That's what he ended up doing off his own back. Caught 16 fish up to 35Kg and (excuse the pun) had a whale of a time.

Job done.

If he's still after river fish, I can recommend the east bank of the Ping immediately north of the Superhighway bridge. When I first arrived in CM, I rented a house on the opposite side for a few weeks and saw there were guys fishing over there every day. Easy to park a car under the bridge or take a motocy along the bank path a few hundred metres.

That side also seems to be popular with the crossbow-fishing fans - for serpent (snake-head?) fish in the shallows by the bank.

[DrAndy]

and saw there were guys fishing over there every day.

but did they catch anything?

[alwarner]

the biggest we have caught was a 2kg snakehead, so there must be bigger ones there

Only ever occasionally dabble in a bit of fishing so i thought I'd google snakehead, I've seen these fish before but didn't know anything about them. Interesting, is it right they can live out of water for a long period of time? Also LOL at the comments on this youtube vid.



Sorry to go off topic but this cracked me up:

"[at]jayjay909845 shut the fuck up asians do eat everything thats why theirs not many animals left in asia so just becuase we eat a couple of things doesnt make us worst then the yellowed skinned ninjas"

You really should have a license to use the internet.

[SteveCM]

and saw there were guys fishing over there every day.

but did they catch anything?

Well, I was only looking - not doing surveillance - but yes. Though, fair to say, there was more fishing than catching.....

A Thai friend showed me another technique for bagging the snakeheads. First you catch small frogs; hook one through its thigh so it's still live; suspend it just above/touching the water surface; disappear for a few hours; come back and inspect. Not exactly "The Compleat Angler" sport..... but all the go here.

[DrAndy]

yeah, my farmer did that on our pond, used to catch a few

one day he caught a water snake though, which was quite difficult to get off the hook

so we stopped that sport

[BCDelica]

Cheers!

If you would like to try some pristine clear water river fishing, and it's a good time of year to do so, inquire at a fishing shop in Mae Sariang.



The Famous Mr Forbes;



The rivers in this area are just fantastic places to spend a day, but Mahseer are a very challenging fish to catch.



Fishing, warmly, as the sun sets is a treat for a Canadian boy!





And one of me into a fish,



Better late than never.............................