You may remember Darren 'Breg' Bremner, an Angling Direct Holidays regular, who a few months ago reported on his fishing exploits in Thailand, in search of giant Mekong Catfish and Arapaima... well he has been back since and reports for the second time!
I've attached some pictures from Gillhams and I'll give you a little run down on how the fishing went below.
After succesfuly blanking on my first day at Gillhams day 2 didn't seem to be going much better but a good old Amazonian Red Tail Catfish came along and snaffled up my boillie. Later on that day I also had a nice 34lb Siamese Carp.
Day 3 was the hottest day so far in the trip and with no wind to keep you cool you could certailnly feel it. I was ever so glad when the next Amazonian Red Tail Catfish came along, just so that I could get in the water for a cool down!!! As some of you may know the fishing at Gillhams is from 0700 until 2000 and as it was 1959 I thought that I better start reeling in the rods. As I went to stand up out of my chair the alarm started going off and the line was screaming off of the reel, I lifted into the fish and knew that it was a good one and there started a 20 minute fight with what has to be pound for pound the hardest fighting fish that I've ever been lucky enough to hook into. It was a big Mekong (although nowhere near the biggest in the lake) and when landed the guide (Scott) estimated the fish at 70lb and as this was my target species for trip, having lost one the last time, I was well made up. It just goes to show you though how important it can be to fish to the last minute as you never know when your luck will change.
Day 4 was hot again and this time I had another Mekong estimated by Matt (the guide/gardener) at 80lb. These Mekongs run you up and down the lake no matter how tight you set that clutch, they still manage to pull line off like you may as well have not bothered.
Day 5 was my last day and although I was looking forward to moving onto Patong for some party time it's always hard to know what you're leaving behind when you leave Gillhams. Both times I've been there the staff, both English and Thai, are exceptional and do everything that they can to ensure that you have the holiday of your dreams. On my last day I caught a 50lb Siamese Carp which although perhaps not the biggest carp in the lake, it's certainly the biggest I've ever caught and my god was it beautiful. As you will see in the picture below it was scale and fin perfect.
Often on my travels I've found that you don't always catch hundreds of fish but when the ones that catch pull your arms out of their sockets and look as good as the ones in Gillhams, who cares!!! The other thing that always makes my holidays is the people that you meet, this time I was in the swim next to Eric from Birmingham who from day one not only had me in stitches but also shared a lot of his knowledge (and secret baits) which I thought was good of him as I have very little course fishing experience.
Would I go back to Gillhams? To right I would!! And for anyone reading this who likes a bit of fishing while on holiday with the other half, this is an ideal location as they cater for everyone.
As I said the last time I came back 'If Carlsberg made fishing resorts......without a shadow of a doubt it would be Gillhams'.
Darren Bremner
If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing tackle.
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