Thanks for the advice Baldrick. I think it was my action, which was wrong, that was doing the braiding. He also said that I should have been using some tackle not lure straight to line!
It has thanks, I see no braiding on the line and I have altered my cast for now to be a more gentle swing and letting the weight of the lure take the line. Before I think I was almost flicking it.
Yeah I was thinking it was a bit much only after some 10 casts. However, I was flicking my cast quite heavily (Something I have now stopped) and I had no tackle between the lure and the line which Aek also said might have caused the braiding.
All very interesting stuff and the best way to learn is from failing!
So I got you a picture of my spot. I am just practicing in this pool between this fallen bamboo tree and the bank. It has quite a current as you can see by the video, so my lure is taking off down the river easily. I was wondering, do fish hide in these sorts of natural obstructions during the day? if not where do they hide?
The river is quite high in the morning and I am just before the outer bend of the river. I will try and go over to the other side this evening because you can easily wade into the middle of the river where there is a tree stuck. I have seen a few locals just sit here and cast.
I had a good morning of practicing my casting and keeping the line on the spool. Unfortunately it did get away from me again BUT quite amazingly, I was able to untangle the line, get everything in order again and all in the baking sun without throwing a hissy. I am quite proud of this achievement and am already understanding that the trick to untangling a line is to twist and never pull until your certain.
Productive morning.
Great Thread BC.
Fishing is an art, I have been an avid fisherman since 10 years old both sport and commercial. A lot of it is trial and error, however knowing the body of water you are fishing and the fish in the river you are after makes a huge difference. Some fish love spinning lures, others don't. Some love flies but will not eat bait. time of day impacts it all as well. There are many ways to fish a river. You can bait bottom fish, drift bait fish, spin a lure or fly fish (Not recommended here). It quite honestly depends on how much work you want to do and the success you are after. Here in Thailand I have found river fishing to be pretty poor. They just do not have any spawning species from the ocean so all you find are local fish or escapees from people who use the river to raise fish. Additionally many rivers have been netted and completely fished out. However lake fishing can be very fruitful and fun and you can bait, plug or spin for various fish. I have caught many fish on a few lakes here. Just rent a long boat for the day and go have some fun.
As for gear, I recommend you use ultralight gear versus heavy monofilament line. The reason being the fish are not that big and if your line is visible in the water its very unlikely you will catch anything. In the picture above you posted, the river is moving rather fast so I would try drifting bait using no weight at all. The weight of the bait should be enough. Cast out and let it go for 30 or 40 yds then reel it in and cast again. Spinning a lure from side to side might be worth a try. either method keep it off the bottom or you will likely snag the bottom or debris losing a lot of gear. But you will have to experiment and move up and down the shoreline where you can. I have some super ultralight fishing gear here and use 4lb test. I have done very well with it.
On rods you will need to determine, Light, Medium or firm action. This will also determine how easily you can sense if you are getting bites or not. Also you may want to have a few different rods with you. Changing gear is common. You have to adapt to the environment, weather and time of day.
Good Luck and have fun.
Bonecollector, if you're having a problem keeping line on the spool you may have overfilled it? Try and keep at least 1/8 of an inch lip on the reel spool. Nylon monofilament also has memory of the coils and it's good practice to give it a good stretch now and again... of course the best way of doing this is by catching a decent fish.
This is the simple float set-up I use in the pond but float fishing in fast running water is quite a skill and maybe you need something simpler for now.
I use a light spinning rod at home and also for spinning in the sea in Thailand. I think my line is 6lb breaking strain although I don't need that at home. Looking at the river you're fishing in I'd try something simple like Stumpy mentioned... freelining a decent sized worm, but I'd also add a couple of AAA split shot maybe 18 inches up the line from the hook. This will take the bait down and also slow it down a bit so it doesn't travel too fast in the current. If you can get a big worm rolling around on the bottom I think you'll have a good chance. Oh, and maybe get away from those sunken branches?
Thank you Stumpy for pitching in with your knowledge. I will make my way through it bit by bit but definitely some excellent advice there, thank you once again. I thought I was just going to have a drunk pissabout on the river to pass the time whilst the girls are working/ school but now I feel it is definitely something I am going to take up. I have just been practicing knots all day with spare bits of line. Thanks again.
Thank you Mendy for your info and yes I think I had slightly more line than needed. I have read that nylon line in particular is susceptible to tangling but I think they have got better at controlling the line when I cast and locking asap. I will grab some nylon monofilament when I get home and will buy an assortment of tackle to keep me going, just work my way through everything I guess. Just going to concentrate on the mechanics, knot tying and familiarising myself with techniques and jargon.
Yes guys the fallen bamboo tree is definitely an obstacle I am staying away from but the pond it creates is a good practice area. I will try and wade out from the other side of the river as soon as I have feel comfortable with all the mechanics.
How does the volume of my line look?
Try this. Use a popper. A surface lure. Cast near weedy area and reel in. Trust me you will catch some nice tasteing snakeheads and have great fun. The gear you have is perfect but better in still water. Few years back when my son lived at home went out and did what the guy in vid is doing. Trick is accuracy of your cast.
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect,"
Thanks Norton, I was actually practicing this today, reeling in the line with the lure skipping just below the surface of the water. I will try again this evening as we have a patch of weed just in front of my spot.
Snakehead fish are a very aggressive territorial species, like Large mouth bass. The idea is that your plug is perceived as a threat or annoyance in most cases. With any plug, you need to look at the pitch angle of the spoon to asses how deep it will travel under water. Snakehead fish are a warm water, shallow predator. Technique is critical. The best time I have found to fish for Snakehead fish is during spawning season. The parents will circle and protect the shoal so you cast over the Shoal and drag the plug towards and through it. I have caught 5 or so nice size snakehead fish on Kaeng Krachan lake.
While I have not been back to fish it 5+ years you can find long boats for the day and they will take you anywhere you want. Of course with Covid that could all be changed. There are many good coves to fish. Snakehead spawn in mid rainy season (Aug/Sept). You can see the fry bubbling on the surface in about a 1 meter circle when feeding. The parents are underneath near by watching. I have seen pictures that they come near the surface and will attack birds tat try and snatch up the fry. I am a catch and release fisherman much to the disbelief of the long boat captain as I played a few I hooked up for about 15minutes and then let it go under water on the side of the boat. He looked at me like "WTF"...... I laughed. Just another crazy foreigner.
^ Probably a lot of fisherman either split the catch or simply give it to him. That was his planned dinner you were putting back in the water.
Probably but I always catch and release to let them live to spawn again. I seldom every keep a fish unless it got hurt during the fight. I figured he was paid for his services. I always tell them, they can fish anytime. Most pilot around and either nap and sit on their phone.
[QUOTE=Bonecollector;4363430]I thought I was just going to have a drunk pissabout on the river to pass the time whilst the girls are working/ school but now I feel it is definitely something I am going to take up. [QUOTE]
This is not an OR situation. You have your drunk pissabout AND fish. It is a must!
Outrageous! The old 'lead sinkers in the dead fish' trick
American fishing champions accused of cheating in wild scandal
2 October 2022
Who would have guessed one of this week's biggest sporting controversies came from the wonderful world of fishing?
On Friday, Chase Cominsky of Hermitage and Jake Runyan of Cleveland were accused of cheating during the Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) Championship event in Ohio — and the video evidence is damning.
After being declared the apparent victors, a tournament official cut open one of their walleye to find weights and extra fillets inside the animal's body.
Inevitably, the discovering prompted outrage among the sporting community, with footage of the incident has registered more than 4.4 million views on Twitter in less than eight hours.
Ahead of the season-culminating championship event, Cominsky and Runyon were leading the season standings for team of the year.
They won several high-paying LEWT events in 2021, with internet sleuths unearthing images of the pair holding large cheques.
Last edited by prawnograph; 02-10-2022 at 04:25 PM.
NAme that fish - freshwater snapper?
16kg caught Yasothon dam, Chi river, and sold at 200 baht/kg
13 July 2023
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