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Thread: An Isaan Pond

  1. #1051
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Each sweep the fish get more tired and you’ll catch more! 200+ fish and you could catch any…?

  2. #1052
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    Mendip, congratulation to such accomplishment. Really a big job, surely admired (and envied) by neighbours...

    (assuming only that you have regretted not being able in your attire to immediately react on the kind comments of the esteemed TD members)

  3. #1053
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    Firstly there are quite a few Thai family members of mine that are grateful for Mr. Mendip's fish that he gave me they fed Me and my Missus, her MIL, Aunty, 2 sisters families, her niece and our share farmer/worker.

    As for his comments about me taking the high ground on the far side of the pond to stay out of the water, I always believe it is better to work smarter rather than work harder so I was happy for Mendip to do the hard yards and David48's pictures of his rotten leg was very vivid in my mind so no way I wanted to get in that murky green slime he called "pond water".
    You got to remember Mendip is only a geologist and I'm an Engineer so he was always going to come out second best.
    He failed to mention that I eventually ended up in there though because as the water level fell the more I had to negotiate the slippery slopes of the pond wall and eventually in i went. Thankfully as I slipped into the abyss I stayed upright and discovered the water (if it could be called that)was not even up to my knees.

    Just to set KW straight we did get 1 Pla Chon at the end using the hand net but it was only small so I had to give in and admit that there was at least 1 in there.

    Again it was a great day and loads of fun for me because I had the easy side or so he reckons. I just don't think he appreciates how hard it is to stay cool, calm and collected when across from you there is a Pommy git wallowing around in green water like a whale causing all sorts of chaos. I must admit I was hoping his Gardiner knew CPR cause I wasn't going in there to save him.

  4. #1054
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    sounds like all the mud needs to be removed to get the fish and the eggs out

  5. #1055
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    Our neighbour Toey (as in Klong Toey) was alerted by all the splashing and came to see what was going on. He soon stripped down to his boxers and got stuck in.

    Not only does he exhibit a find set of tattoos but he also proved useful with the net. It was all pla nin and pla gabor now.



    And then at 4:03pm the unbelievable happened... Toey caught a pla chon!!! The first snakehead and definite proof of the population. I felt slightly vindicated at spending so much time and effort on this escapade.



    OK, so it wasn't a huge snakehead, maybe half a pound and certainly not capable of biting a one pound pla nin in half, but where there's one...

    I tried to get Toey to smile for this landmark photo... but as is typical of Thais, as soon as the camera came out he went all serious.



    A b@stard snakehead.



    We decided to temporarily stick it in the catfish tank with the wife's pla dook and all the new pla siwai.

    A bit later I noticed two dead pla siwais in the catfish tank. Close inspection showed they both had a snakehead sized bite taken out of their bellies at the vent. Sorry for the graphic photos... but this shows how incredibly aggressive these fish are and should serve as a warning to anyone handling them.





    I decided to net out the pla chon to put it in solitary confinement. Even in our catfish tank it took 20 minutes to catch the little b@stard. I kept getting netfuls of pla siwai and the wife's pla dook... but no pla chon. They are elusive little buggers.



    And then the incredible happened for the second time... I caught my first ever snakehead!



    The pla chon was whisked away, to where I did not know at the time.

    This was how things were looking around 5:30pm past night... by this time I'd lost interest to be honest but the gardener kept wading around in the mud and I felt duty bound to show willing and transport his occasional catches to one of the tanks.



    And late on he suddenly shouted... I was standing on the slippery lower slopes and in my excitement my feet slipped from under me and I landed flat on my back (the daughter had to help me up the stairs last night)... he had netted a monster pla dook.



    This was the first pla dook of the day, which was strange because we used to have loads come up for pellets at feeding time and I used to catch a few on rod and line... but not for a couple of years. My theory is that the pla chon, who also like to live in the mud at the bottom, have eaten all the pla dook.

    Anyway, this one went into the catfish tank, but only temporarily because I intend to release him back in the pond on completion of operations. I'm also going to release the wife's 30 or so juvenile pla dook to make merit, but she knows nothing about that.



    A random pic the wife took in the afternoon with all four fishermen working together.



    A pla yeesok (?)... about 5 of these went into the tank (up to around 1.5kg).



    And the holding tank at close of play. There must have been between 200 and 250 large fish in there and I was worried about losses during the night. I bought a second aerating pump to help out, but the tank was just too overcrowded. I had to put wire netting over the top as the pla gabor kept jumping out.



    At the end of the night, after a very good shower, it was time for dinner... and what else... pla nin fish and chips! The gardener had filleted a big pla nin fatality from the tank for the occasion. A couple of points here...

    When looking for the pla nin fillets in the fridge I came across these disgusting looking things in a bowl... but immediately realised what it was. When gutting Ootai's pla siwai they almost all contained these huge sack like things, which I later realised were eggs. It's like two eggs sacks with a blood supply and I've never seen the like before. I'd been giving these to the chickens until the wife realised and demanded the delacacies for herself.

    Aologies again for a graphic pic, but this is really interesting. I've never seen fish eggs like this before.



    God knows what the wife will do with them... but in the fridge they now sit.



    The second thing I discovered in the fridge was the missing pla chon, in a plastic bag.

    Assuming the bladdy thing had been knocked on the head and cleaned, I took it out of the fridge for a closer look, but it leapt out of my hands and landed on the kitchen floor, taking half the plastic bag with it. Lucky I still have any fingers left to be honest.



    And here it is... next to my filleted pla nin and still with a mouthful of plastic bag stuck in it's teeth.



    These things are indestructable... but I'd still rather see a clean knock on the head to be honest, but have learnt to stay away from certain topics in this house.

    So, at the end of the day a pla nin fish and chips with mushy peas and a pea fritter. It doesn't get more Isaan than that!



    Yum!



    I went to bed full of trepidation at whether the fish in the holding tank would sutrvive the night... and whether after continued pumping out of pond water we would finally discover a thriving snakehead population...
    Last edited by Mendip; 07-08-2021 at 07:43 PM.

  6. #1056
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    To be continued…

  7. #1057
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    Mendip, I had had 2 pla kot (a gift from a fisherman on the river) - - similar to pla dook - for over 2 years residing together with my koi fish without any problem. They did not attend my feeding, staying mostly invisibly deep at the bottom. Only sometimes spotted when coming to the surface, slowly moving around, sweeping, inhaling something.

    An Isaan Pond-15052111-jpg
    An Isaan Pond-15052120-jpg

  8. #1058
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    ^ I like these kind of fish Klondyke... no problems!

    Anyway, I awoke early today and headed straight to the fish holding tank without stopping to make a cup of tea.

    The fish were on the surface, gasping for air.



    There were six obvious fatalities... maybe from lack of oxygen or maybe from the stress of being caught in a net and the shock of being introduced to completely different water. I feared much worse so this was OK... and I'm now leaning towards the gardener's thinking that dead fish you find are still OK to eat.

    This batch were cleaned and steamed and the frozen in portions for Dan... she needs to eat fish rather than meat due to her poor kidneys... she now has several months supply.



    I simultaneously drained the tank while spraying fresh water in to oxygenate the water as much as possible. We had no water pressure today so this only lasted as long as the tank was emptied... I called the landowner who is in charge of the water supply but the b@stard wasn't answering. He soon gets in touch when we're late with the water bill... the git.



    I then headed down to look at the pond... it looked quite tranquil considering the previous day's excitement.



    The gardener set the pump going and seemed content to just stare at the water. I envy that ability... I was using the time to clear up while feeding the dogs and chickens.



    As the water level lowered leaving nothing much apart from a muddy sludge I spotted something writhing just below the surface and pounced with my net... the second (and final) pla dook... around 2 kg and safely into the catfish tank to be released in due course.



    The water/mud was now calf-deep and it was a case of walking about until you felt with your feet or spooked something to reveal it's position.



    And this was where my life suddenly changed.

    A large snakehead suddenly revealed itself just to my left... I pounced and netted it. As I was getting over my astoundment and jubilation, another did the same to my right... same manoeuvre... same result. I now had two snakehead in my net... after two years of fruitlessly hunting these b@stards I suddenly had a brace... the feeling is hard to put into words.

    As I was walking back to the side to exit the pond with my bounty a third suddenly slithered directly towards me... I lowered the net in front of it and in it swam... THREE!!! After two years of disappointment, the felling really cannot be put into words. I'd like to use the old cliche that it was better than sex... but my memory isn't so good these days.



    I washed them off in the little plant pond bit...



    Three snakehead... around 2.5 to 3 kg I would say... and off they went to the cement mixing tray.

    Amazingly, as I was taking the catch to a safe place the gardener shouted... he had netted another pla chon but it was only small... not as big as mine.



    Once things had settled down I took a nice picture... the small (500ml) water bottle is for scale, The gardener's small pla chon was out of shot... but the tally was now three big pla chon and two small (including Toey's from yesterday).



    We continued the hunt... and more help arrived as the morning progressed,



    The gardener's small pla chon was a feisty little thing and kept jumping out of the cement tray.

    "Max... it's behind you!"



    But with all this merriment I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind... my daughter introduced 4 pla chon back in 2017, four years ago, yet we (me) had only caught 3 big pla chon... something didn't add up. We waked around the mud for half an hour more... covered every inch, but there was nothing. Maybe the fourth had died... a lot can happen in four years.

    And then, all of a sudden, I spotted a small pla chon on the surface of the mud. In I went and netted it... and while I was occupied the gardener shouted again... he had netted a fourth big pla chon. It had just been sitting there, motionless, under the mud until stood on... they're wily b@stards.



    The daughter mentioned that the gardener's was so much bigger than mine... and was I embarrassed. I resisted he obvious smutty retort as I'm pretty sure (but not absolutely certain) that it was an innocent piss taking comment. I will have to check her internet browsing history at some point.

    And besides, I'd already caught 3 big pla chon... so am obviously the better fisherman!

    These all went into the cement tray... 4 big pla chon (the same ones I think that we introduced four years ago), 2 small pla chon, and one very small pla chon that I netted a little later. That's 7 b@stard snakehead, plus the one resting in the fridge from yesterday, so 8 in all!

    Not that it matters at all of course, but I caught 5 (including 3 big ones), the gardener caught 2 and Toey caught 1.



    The dogs took guard. Max is hopeless but Yogi will take no nonsense from anything... even these prehistoric looking predators. He found one in the garden a couple of years ago and alerted us... he's a great dog.



    And here's a close-up. You wouldn't want to waggle a finger, or anything else for that matter, in front of that thing.

    Last edited by Mendip; 07-08-2021 at 11:59 PM.

  9. #1059
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Are you sure that’s all? If you had fry the mud will be holding hundred of them!

  10. #1060
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    About Snakeheads:

    It is an important food fish in its entire native range, and is of considerable economic importance. Adults are dark brown in colour with faint black bands visible across its entire body. Males and females both help to construct a nest out of water vegetation during breeding time. Eggs are guarded by both parents. Fry are reddish orange and are guarded by both parents until they turn greenish brown at around 5–6 cm.
    It is common in freshwater plains, where it migrates from rivers and lakes into flooded fields, returning to the permanent water bodies in the dry season, where it survives by burrowing in the mud.ing.
    It preys on frogs, water bugs, and smaller fish, and it will attack anything moving when breed
    Good and caring parents

    The
    Bathini Goud Brothers in Hyderabad, India, promote the swallowing of live murrel fish and herbs claimed as a treatment for asthma, although the high court ruled they cannot call it "medicine". They give it free to children on Mrigasira Nakshatra. No evidence indicates it is clinically effective, and children's rights campaigners have called for it to be banned
    .[

  11. #1061
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    But... with the jubilation of catching these pla chon I had taken my eye off the other ball.

    The fish in the holding tank were gasping for air and this was getting more critical by the minute with the rising temperature... it was promising to be another sweltering Isaan day. The rain storm my wife's half-witted sister had forecast (why do I still listen to them?) was no-where to be seen and I desperately needed to get water into the pond to get the fish out of the tank.

    I had pulled out another couple of dead pla nin and while this was good news for Dan's kidneys I worried that soon there would be mass fatalities.



    What to do?

    As Maya foraged around...



    And I realised the Kommandant wasn't going to accept her as a 'house dog' any time soon...



    ... I realised there was only one thing to do.

    I had to buy in a few truck loads of water. Emergency water.

    This can easily be organised in Isaan, even on a Saturday, by paying a few Baht over the odds. This was 450 Baht a truck load (around 5000 litres?) and we agreed on 6 initial loads, with the option of 10 if we needed more...

    But would it be in time to save our fish?

  12. #1062
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    It appears only the gardener is wearing any boots.

    Fish capable of taking a toe or two hiding in the mud.

    Good luck.

    ^
    The big ones have set a U shaped trap hiding in the mud. They'll close the opening and each munch on a toe. Words got out. Reinforcements arrive overnight.
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  13. #1063
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    So you've scooped the big ones out, you'll get a few years again before the fry get big enough to takes bites out of your other fish again! And then rinse and repeat this process. But 250 fish? You had a massive eco-system going on in there. A few bites out of one or two fish is not such a big deal. It's just your rubbish fishing...

  14. #1064
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Are you sure that’s all? If you had fry the mud will be holding hundred of them!
    You're exactly right KW and this is something I've given a lot of thought to.

    The bottom of the pond has a covering of around 6 inches of gravel... which is now sludge saturated gravel. To clean the pond entirely would be a huge undertaking... and it's been enough already. We have vacant land around the house which bakes as hard as concrete during the dry season but floods during the wet season... and within a couple of weeks of having standing water it will be inundated with pla chon fry. God knows how long the eggs can survive in baked hard soil but they certainly do. I guess if one fish out of 10,000 survives, then the species will continue. My point being that I think sooner or later it is inevitable we will have pla chon enter the pond. They have no problem 'walking' across land to find permanent water sources.

    I introduced the pla chon 4 years ago and we found very few small adult fish, but we have a load of pla chon fry. To me, this is OK as it indicates very few fry are maturing to adulthood, for whatever reason. A few small pla chon may serve the purpose I originally introduced them for... to control the pla nin fry. The pla chon are slow growing and I reckon a clean out such as this every 3 or 4 years will be OK to remove any big adults. I'd love to know how long they live for... despite their reputation they are a fascinating fish.

    One thing is for sure, we have a very large fish population so something is working, and maybe this whole operation has been a waste of time considering the number of fish we have.

  15. #1065
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    To be fair enough, I think this clean out will last a good few years and if you only have to drain it once every 4 years, then so be it! I'm just amazed just how many fish you have in there!

  16. #1066
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    ..... nah
    Last edited by David48atTD; 08-08-2021 at 01:44 AM.

  17. #1067
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    The point to this rambling is that our gardener told me not to put these fish in our pond as they're carnivores and would eat all our others.

    Anyway, once we had the problem with fish fry I thought why not put a few of these in our pond to control the population. These fish are apparently called pla chon, and I would think are the equivalent in the food chain of a pike in the UK. So, down to the market I went and picked up four nice pla chon.
    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    That was about three years ago and was a bit of a risk, but it seems to have worked. We now have far fewer fry and can occasionally see the pla chon (or their offspring) chasing fry around the margins.

    A rare success story!

  18. #1068
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    Our neighbour
    disappointing that it was not your neighbour whose turnaround spot you like to make wet , stripping down to her boxers

  19. #1069
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    ^^ That does all seem to have been glossed over for some reason.

    Mean looking things, those Plaa Chon.

    Great eating though - my favourite Thai fish.

  20. #1070
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    You had a massive eco-system going on in there. A few bites out of one or two fish is not such a big deal. It's just your rubbish fishing...
    My thought as well.
    Most important is that he got rid of lots of sludge sludge and I expect the pond to look much much nicer after he has filled it up again.

  21. #1071
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    Quote Originally Posted by baldrick View Post
    disappointing that it was not your neighbour whose turnaround spot you like to make wet , stripping down to her boxers
    You're not wrong Baldrick... I'd have paid good money to watch HER writhing around in the mud wearing nothing but her skimpy underwear... or without her underwear... that's not a deal breaker.

    But back to reality... all I had to look at was Toey's tatts, the gardener's knowing look and Ootai's ugly mug.


    The deal was agreed with the water and delivery was due to start in around two hours. For some reason the wife had to disappear to get fuel for the delivery truck and check where the water was coming from... as if she'd know the difference between good water and a bucket of piss... I t was an obvious ploy to avoid any hard work.

    I decided to make use of the two hours by scooping out bucketfuls of mud and depositing them around the base of trees in the garden. It made sense to me to get as much mud out as possible... the pump had long since stopped working in the viscous sludge.



    I soon realised it was unlikely that I'd utilise the full two hours... this was knackering work in the baking hot sun and I was fukked after 20 minutes.



    I nearly passed out a couple of times clambering up the steep sides of the pond and I'm constantly amazed that I don't seem to lose weight faster with all the work I do.



    Once all the trees had received their sludge I filled up the cement tray... I reckon once dried out this stuff will powder down nicely to make fertiliser... it's full of fish shit and must be good for the veggies.



    And finally after around 40 minutes I called a halt to proceedings because I was close to collapse. It was time for a shower and breakfast... of brunch I guess as it was now around 11am and as hot as hell.

    And I had been wearing boots OhOh... I have these kind of wetsuit reef boots which are perfect for the job. Under all that sludge they are black-coloured.



    After a shower I saw the state of my hands... these are fish spine injuries mainly pla nin but also a few nasty punctures from the pla siwai. They have really nasty, long spines on their pectoral and dorsal fins. The spines are serrated which made them constantly get snagged in the net.



    While I cooked brunch for me and the daughter the gardener's steamer had gone into full time production steaming the many pla nin fatalities for Dan. The meat was packed into bags and frozen and Dan should be OK for fish for several months now. It's not only good for her kidneys... Dan loves a bit of fish and she'll be one happy dog.


  22. #1072
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    The water truck was due any minute and this was the status of the pond with the water/mud at it's lowest level.



    And the opposite view.



    And in case you're wondering, this is the intake for the waterfall. The intake rests on a plastic basket to raise it above the sludge. I was going to replace the basket with an upturned plant pot but even after a few years the plastic was fine and not the usual degraded crap you get in Thailand. I guess being out of the sunlight helps.



    I waited and waited... things were getting critical as the temperature rose and the fish in the tank were gasping for air.



    And then finally... I heard an engine and it was the water truck backing down the road.



    Five minutes later the first of the life-giving water.



    The water level rose rapidly.



    And here is the start of the second load.



    There wasn't much I could do now apart from wait until the water level was high enough to start returning fish to the pond. The plan was to add around half back to the pond to reduce pressure in the tank and to split the risk in case there was anything wrong with the water.

    The wife had returned with the water truck and I asked her if she was happy with the water quality... but the sarcasm was lost.

    Then her sister turned up... word was out that we'd caught the pla chon. The saying 'flies around shit' came to mind.

    The pla chon had been transferred from the cement tray (out of which they kept leaping) and into a keep net that was suspended in the catfish tank.

    Would ya believe that having offered no help at all during the operations she wanted a pla chon... and even had the temerity to point at the one she desired... the biggest of course. I would have simply loved to see a pla chon jump up and take that bony finger off.



    I said if she'd have helped she could have had a big pla chon and let her a medium sized one... you have to make your point but also keep some kind of peace in the household.



    Meanwhile the water level was going up and up...



    I decided to get a few nice pics of the pla chon while waiting on the water level. The wife and her sister had fukked off... the sister happy with her pla chon, a few pla siwai and a couple of pla nin. The daughter did the honours with the camera.

    This could be the very same fish my much younger daughter dropped into the pond four years ago.



    And the business end.



    I considered trying to prize it's mouth open to get a good view of the teeth but better judgement prevailed... they are strong and can move extremely fast when they snap at you... taking a finger off would be no problem for a fish this size.



    And a short video showing how easily these guys can crawl across the ground... this s how they travel between water sources to survive the dry season and why it is virtually impossible to keep them out of a pond. We've found small ones on the lawn at the end of the wet season, trying to escape the drying flood water that surrounds our house.



    With all this going on I'd forgotten to check the fish in the holding tank... four more fatalities! Things were getting critical.



    The water truck was delivering load five and it took around half an hour between loads... how many more fish would we lose by waiting for load six? My plan had been to start transferring fish after the sixth load.



    This was the pond level... the waterfall intake was covered and we probably had approaching 3 feet of water.



    I couldn't wait any longer... the transfer was on! Plans are made to be broken.



    The main problem was trying to limit the number of fish in the net... it was bladdy heavy.



    Swiftly does it!



    And freedom!



    This was going to take some time.

    Load two!



    More knackering work.



    But very worthwhile.



    I even had some very welcome help... from the daughter of course.

    She's a great kid!



    All the while the delivery truck kept returning and the water level was going up... we'd decided on the ten loads. Rather than leave half of the fish in the tank I decided to move them all back to the pond. What finally forced my decision was that the wife had said she wanted to take a load of pla nin to the temple this week... and then fukked off without helping. Without wanting to sound churlish, if she wants the pla nin she can drain the pond and catch them herself. I've worked bloody hard over the last few days to sort this out.

    Anyway, I'm sure we'll have words. Once the final load was delivered I fired up the waterfall to help oxygenate the water... the level is still a little low for so many fish and now I'm relying on the garden hose trickle and rain to fill the pond. I'll have to ask the sister-in-law what the forecast is!



    The final load delivered, the hosing was packed up and the truck departed. The guys were well happy with a bag of pla nin and pla siwai for a tip. No need to tell them the fish were tank fatalities... these Isaan people have cast iron stomachs anyway.

    And there... project complete! All that is needed is to re-pot a few plants before the water level gets too high above the steps... but that's not happenening fast, and to have a good clear up. Sunday will be a day of rest... including Monopoly and possible camping again. So OK... not acomplete rest!



    I would say the moral of the story is not to build a bladdy great pond in your Isaan garden.

    And if you do build a bladdy great pond... don't go down the market to buy pla chon, and the deliberately stick them in your pond.
    Last edited by Mendip; 08-08-2021 at 09:52 AM.

  23. #1073
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    A tale well told.

  24. #1074
    Thailand Expat
    Shutree's Avatar
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    Feb 2017
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    27-03-2024 @ 06:14 PM
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    And if you do build a bladdy great pond... don't go down the market to buy pla chon, and the deliberately stick them in your pond.
    I'm glad you did build the pond! It has been a fascinating armchair adventure.

    Really amazing that you dragged so many fish out of there. Those pla chon are evil-looking beasts, still it looks like you had a fairly balanced ecosystem going there.

    Maybe you'll be lucky with the rain. Here, rain was forecast yesterday and today. Yesterday we had some clouds only, today is a blue sky from horizon to horizon. I'll not be looking for their help picking the lottery numbers.

  25. #1075
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mendip View Post
    The main problem was trying to limit the number of fish in the net... it was bladdy heavy.
    You should have made a slippery dip with some plastic, and then just slide all the fish down to the pond without needing to walk backwards and forwards with a heavy net.

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