Thread: Fishing in Thailand

Fly fishing in Thaialand

The Latest Tropical Fishing Challenge

Here in Thailand the Pla Shado or Giant snakehead fish has a legendary strength .
We are speaking about one of nature’s mistake, a fish that should not be found in freshwater,
in fact his nickname in Thai is: “chalam nam tcheud” meaning: ”freshwater shark”.
What about his lifestyle?
Breaks rods, stretches hooks, cuts 40lbs braided wires and finally tries to bite you when practicing catch and release you take the hook off his mouth.
Powerful caudal and dorsal fins allow a mouth fully equipped to slash his preys on the strike.

The Giant snakehead attack is breath taking. When caught, he will dive deeply and rush to the nearest weedy spot then you will need all your skills to boat him.
Those qualities makes him the sport fish most search after in South east Asia.

Fly fishing for Giant Snakehead is not an easy game. Caught only by few fly fishers from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand
the fish own the reputation of almost impossible to catch on the fly.
Why?
Because, sight casting is difficult as the fish like to ambush in deep water among weeds waiting for fish to pass at his level or other preys on the surface of water.
Streamers and others baitfish patterns are difficult to bring into play considering the dense vegetation.
Therefore the use of poppers looks appropriate but the Giant Snakehead is very smart and most of the time he will follow the popper for few feet without striking it.

We know that the fish have strong sense of smell and are often caught with chicken intestine or baby mice.
Most of our catches happened on early morning and late afternoon when the weather was cooler and in low light conditions.
During spawning Giant snakeheads form couples to guard the nest then fingerlings. At this time of the year, for the period of the monsoon
(June to August), Giant Snakeheads are very aggressive and provide a great opportunity for fly fishermen to encounter the stunning predator.