Hua Hin Fishing Lodge

[NOKYAI]

I was offering to help remove them Terry, not restock your ponds 555!

[PeteC]

What's that blue pvc frame I see on the Facebook site Terry? I assume some kind of new apparatus to net the larger fish without hurting them. The lucky angler has to get wet to take a photo with them. Come on BB catch one, I want to see you in the water! Pete

[Terry]

Pete,

It's a floating 'cradle' net that we use mainly on our bottom pond to move any large specimen (Over 25kg), from the point that the fish is caught to our new de-stress enclosure. Here the fish can rest and receive water with a higher oxygen content than the main pond. The fish is usually released back to the main pond after about 4 hours.

Very necessary with the Arapaima and the Giant Mekong Catfish who can get tired out and stressed, after being caught

The angler normally recovers with a beer

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I'll take some photos of the de-stress enclosure when I'm back at the weekend and post here.

Sadly you won't see BB in there as he has a non-wetable leg these days + he doesn't catch anything this big

[Big Boy]

I'm too much of a wimp to fish in the grown-ups pond .

Actually, I really love catching Giant Siamese Carp, and while Terry has a few in the grown-ups pond, there is a much better chance of getting into one in the kiddies pond.

Regarding the blue apparatus, that was the first time I've seen it used for a fish other than an Arapaima. I believe the Arapaima has an awkwardly positioned swim bladder that can be damaged and kill the fish if it is lifted from the water. Also, the Arapaima is quite long to be lifted out of the water in a conventional net. When an Arapaima is caught, it is put into the special net. Terry's men then jump into the lake to walk the net to the other side of the pond to a special release area.

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Regarding the latest photo, I guess a 60Kg+ fish is a lot of fish to lift out of the water. All of Terry's fish are precious, so to avoid any risk of injury, it has to be a lot safer for the fish, who is a valued member of Terry's team to stay in the water, while it's captor jumps in to have a photo taken. Of course, this is my assumption, and Terry will have to verify it.

[Big Boy]

We crossed Terry (thanks for those kind words ). I thought I'd leave leave my layman's explanation as well

[Terry]

BB - You are absolutely correct

We always try to protect our fish stock as much as possible and none of us like to see them harmed or worse still - killed

The 'value' of a fish can be measured several ways.

Arapaima are actually very expensive - it's not uncommon to have to pay THB 20,000 for a 40+kg specimen and the big fellas at 80+kg are THB 50,000 and up.
I buy them small (and let them grow naturally) at about 5Kg and they still cost THB 5-8,000 at that size. Fortunately they grow fast - our first specimen 'Arry' (for those who remember) grew from 14.5 kg to 85kg in under a year..................feeding off of our tilapia and doing us a favour by keeping the numbers in check.
They are air breathers and have an air sack that runs along the back of the fish. Normal side to side movement is ok but they cannot tolerate being arched or bent. This will rupture the air sack and lead to death.

Giant Mekong Catfish on the other hand are fish in the normal sense - but at that size, lifting them out of the water can cause the internal organs to sag and possibly rupture. The specimen shown as caught yesterday is still valuable - around THB 15,000 - but more to the point (Because of their slower growth) is about 30 years old. Any fish at that age deserves some respect.

Hence the de-stress pond and the 'cradle net'

Also - we now also use 'landing mats' for the fish on both ponds and recently we have started using 'dissolveable' hooks with the barbs crimped or removed.

[PeteC]

Arry went to the pond in the sky, right? Was that caused by air bladder problems?

[Terry]

Most likely Pete

The staff member concerned on duty - knew nothing about what happened - of course.

He was sacked shortly after.

.............. it has to be a lot safer for the fish, who is a valued member of Terry's team to stay in the water, while it's captor jumps in to have a photo taken...............

BB is absolutely correct and we make our customers aware of this policy before they fish.

[Terry]

As previously mentioned - herewith some photos of the de-stress pond
It's about 1m deep and directly connected to the bottom pond and has an aerated water supply piped to it.

Viewed from across the bottom pond

Ready for business

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Closure gate

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Aerated water turned on

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[Terry]

Yesterday, we took delivery of 4 new Arapaima. We now have 6 in the bottom pond on active duty. There are 3 held in reserve in the top pond on tilapia mop-up duty. Natures weapons of mass-destruction...................

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And two of them have been caught already this morning

[PeteC]

An interesting story that has been going on for a long time, and getting worse unfortunately. Do you have any of these monsters in your ponds Terry?

Delete Mods if Terry doesn't want this here. Pete

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26017956

[Big Boy]

Too ugly for Terry's lakes. Terry only does 'pretty' fish

[kendo]

Big Boy half an hour before I got my very best 15kg Simese carp I witnessed Arry being caught by a teenage lad, yes good sport but it didn't fight like a big carp does.
Can't wait for our day at the lodge.
Kendo.

[Terry]

An interesting story that has been going on for a long time, and getting worse unfortunately. Do you have any of these monsters in your ponds Terry?

Delete Mods if Terry doesn't want this here. Pete

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26017956

No need to delete Pete. These fish are known here as 'Big Head Carp" or Pla Chin and you can see them on ice in Makro and in many wet markets. They have a reputation of being rather 'smelly'

I heard of this problem in the U.S several years ago and after having caught one at another fishery, I decided that we would not stock them - despite being constantly offered them by our suppliers.

The problem in the U.S. is just another example of where man has tampered with nature and the result has been a disaster. I've mentioned these issues on this thread before.

As BB says all my fish are 'pretty' and I would agree with Kendo that a Giant Siamese Carp will give you a monster of a fight (on a weight / species basis) when compared to an Arapaima, this is why we now have in excess of 200 of them ranging between 3 and 33 kg - and still growing. However, a very high percentage of my customers want to at least see an Arapaima.

Giant Siamese Carp - Pla Cohor

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This little fella was 33kg - (take note BB)

Arapaima - known as Pla Chon Amazon by the Thais

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This one at 80kg

Whilst I never guarantee that anyone can catch either of these (As I always say that the Lodge is not a circus and I cannot train the fish), your chances of a Giant Siamese Carp are reasonable and the chance of SEEING an Arapaima are 100% - simply because as air breathers they must surface at least every 15 - 20 minutes at a minimum.

[Terry]

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