King Kong Mekong Catfish! by JMS

King Kong Mekong Catfish! by JMS
It started with a beer run, ice, and cash. The 30 min cab ride
took Greg and me to Bangkok's ( BKK) Bungsamran Fisherman's Paradise.

 http://www.bungsamran.com/en/

The buy-in was about 2,000 Baht ea. ($US 60 ). That includes a Great guide ( Khun ("Mr.") Lo ), a few LBS of Bread Bait w/ special Prawn Seasoning, rods, Fighting Belts ( that we, as real men, didn't use ) and a BIG net.

Bungsamran offered a mini-mart, BEER, pool tables, wifi, a coffee bar, a massage area, a great Tackle shop, Good Restaurant, etc. Basically, heaven on Earth.

Cutting to the chase, Khun Lo mixed the Bread and Prawn seasoning into a deadly Matzoh ball
the size of a softball ( see pic ). He cast it out a good 60 + yards., and set the rods to wait.



Three minutes later, a fish is taking line. Greg takes honors and after a 7 minute fight, pulls in a "medium size" Mekong Catfish! Prob. 40" and 17kg ( 35 lbs ).  See pic. Jimbo, Witty as always, changes the name of the fish from Mekong Catfish to King Kong Catfish. The guides and fellow fishermen erupt in laughter and cheers. Jimbo is Given a memorial plaque and dubbed, King of the King Kong Catfish!



Minutes later Jimbo had a fish on. This "baby" only took 5 mins to land. It was only 24" and probably 15kg (30lbs). The fishing accelerated after that. The fish got bigger and bigger. ( see pics ) We got wearier and wearier, ( where are those fighting belts? )



To Khun Lo's dismay, we took a break for lunch and some pool games. He'd have had us fishing non-stop for 5 to 12 hours, but Greg couldn't take the pace.

We caught a few more lunkers and decided to call it a day. We caught the Taxi home and ordered a feast of Lebanese food and the anesthetic of Vodka and Clubs ( We needed the Calories.)



It was a great day of fishing and camaraderie. The next time you are in BKK, don't miss Bungsamran Fisherman's Paradise!