After sending some e-mails around the world I've managed to get two more species identified. Ben Cantrell and his friends are calling these "armchair lifers" which is quite a descriptive name for these. Well, in my case they are more couch lifers but you get the point.
Mr. Gerry Allen made it again when he figured out my cat fish mystery from Panama 2011. This one turned out to be Tete sea catfish.
Sciades seemanni
I also got an confirmation for grouper identification from Mr. Pedro Pascual from the Spanish Oceanography Institute in Tenerife. Once again one of the fellow species hunters Theo Modder had identified this species earlier at Specieshunters.com but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?
I caught this little grouper at February from Tenerife and it was identified as Island grouper (Mycteroperca fusca).
After these two my total species count goes at 167.
The Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute has released that there has been found a new fish species at Finland. A White-finned gudgeon (Romanogobio albipinnatus) was caught at match fishing competition from canal of Saimaa early this summer.
Just got an confirmation for my old unidentified catch. Mr. Allen from Western Australian Museum identified my 2011 damselfish from Panama as Acapulco major (Stegastes acapulcoensis).
I also want to thank you, Remko. You made the same identification years ago at Specieshunters.com. I just wanted to have second opinion....
After this my total species amount increased to 165.
On 26thof March it was time to tight the lines
again. We had booked two days fishing at the most famous fishing spot at
Thailand. Bungsamran is a manmade lake in the middle of the city. It’s stocked
full of catfish, differentkind of carp
and even arapaimas. Somebody has said that there’s over 50 species of fish at
the lake….
The entrance of Bungsamran.
On the first day our target was to catch two
of the biggest catfish species there. The Giant Mekong catfish can reach a
weight of over hundred kilos and the Striped catfish tops somewhere about 30
kilos. We had two rods out and we took turns to fight a fish.
The first fight is on...
The end tackle we used. Notice that the hook is without a bait.
After the days (about six hours) hard work
Jarno had landed seven and I six catfish. First we thought that all our fish
were Mekong catfishes but when I was checking my photos back home I noticed
that two of my fishes were actually Striped catfishes. I caught two nice
Mekongs of about 40 and 35 kilos. Jarno did not took pictures about his
smallest fishes so there’s a good chance he caught some Striped ones too.
Striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) of about 12 kilos.
Fighting a monster.
My biggest of the day. Giant Mekong catfish (Pangasianodon gigas).
We had a slightly different tactics for the
second day. Our target now was Giant Siamese carp the biggest species of carp
in the world. We had two rods out again but this time the bait was laying at
the bottom without a float. When nothing happened in a first couple of hours
(carp are more active at the morning) our guide left the other rod for carp and
we started to fish for catfish with the other one again.
Awaiting of bite. See the bait alarm on the left from the rod...
We had only two runs at the carp rod and at
the both of the times it was Jarno’s fighting turn. First battle ended well
when Jarno caught his first ever (for sure) Striped catfish. The second fish
ran off but our guide said that it was probably a catfish too.
Jarno is playing a guitar with a Striped catfish.
We landed seven Mekongs and one Striped
catfish each. The average weight of my mekongs was about 25 kilos and Jarno’s
even bigger cause he caught two fish of about 40 kilos.
That's a nice fish.
So, the Bugsamran lake gave us only two new
species each. With a lighter tackle it would be possible to catch much more.
But hey, it was “fun” to catch several big fish in the heat of 40 degrees….
Our guide caught a Java barb while checking our baits.
That was official part of our fishing holiday
at Thailand but since we had couple of days to spent before our flight back
home we decided to visit one more place.
On the very next day we hopped in to taxi and
headed to New Paytai pond nearby the Suvarnabhumi airport. It a small manmade
pond where it’s only allowed to fish with pole rods. They actually have two
different ponds from which the other one is stocked with different species of
carp and tilapia and the other one is called predator lake with catfish and
snakehead in it.
The New Paytai pond.
We fished only at the pole fishing pond and
groundbaited it heavily. Still we had only few bites and every single time the
fish outsmarted us. They even took off or broke our lines. At least we could
see several fish landed by the local competition fishermen. I just think our
travel whip rods were not made for this kind of fishing….
Local fisherman fights a Bighead carp. Look how flexible his rod is...
...and he caught a nice carp.
All in all our vacation was awesome and I
managed to catch 18 new fish species plus two still unidentified species.Thanks Jarno for planning our trip and
for the crew and guides of FishSiam!
From the Khao Laem we headed to our next
destination which was a Mae Klong River situated about 100 kilometers west from
Bangkok. Here our primary target species was a Freshwater whipray which can
reach an impressive weight of over 500kg. Jarno had booked three days of fishing so we
had fair chances to catch at least one ray.
Picture taken from our hotel balcony. We were situated right in the middle of the famous Amphawa river market.
Before we got fishing we had one days day off
which we spent sleeping of our sleep debts and checking out the shore fishing
possibilities nearby.
By this promenade was going to be our shore fishing spot for couple of afternoons.
Next morning our fishing guides picked us up
with a boat straight from our hotel door. We drove about five kilometers
downstream where the deckhands had already set our baits out. Now it was all
about waiting. Unexpectedly the first run came really soon. Jarno admitted the
first turn to me and after a few minutes easy fight our crew netted my first
ever whipray. It was a small specimen estimated about ten kilos.
A small specimen of Himantura chaophraya.
After we had released my ray Jarno and I set
up our light rods and tried to catch some smaller species. We caught one small
catfish each. Then our guide had a call that there was bigger fish on at one of
our baits.
Arius nenga. I didn't find any english name for it.
A bait used for rays.
Well it was Jarno’s turn to fight a fish and
what a fight it was. It took little bit less than an hour of sweating and
huffing and puffing until we could see the fish first time. As you can see from
the following video the landing of the ray was not easy either. It was a one
massive fish!
Quite soon after Jarno’s ray had majestically
glided back to her own element there came another bite. It was my turn again
and the guides estimated the fish to be between 50 to 100 kilos. Sadly the
super strong Owner Mutu hook snapped after a few minutes fight. Well you can’t
have all, can’t you?
A bit bigger specimen. Estimated to 210kg.
This fight ended way too soon....
Since we had some fishing time left we went
back to the shore to wait new bites. While awaiting we casted our light rods
out again. I caught only one fish but how cool it was. It was a Spotted green
goby and it looked just like a soft bait with a green glitter inside it.
Acentrogobius viridipunctatus. Look at the glitter on it!
There was no more ray bites to come and we
headed back to our hotel. In the afternoon we headed to the promenade of Amphawa
to do some fishing. Soon I spotted couple of archerfishes cruising on the
surface. I dropped my hook baited with bread near to them I they vanished
immediately. But then something unexpected happened. My float dived under and
the result was a Smallscale archerfish, one of the coolest species I’ve ever
caught.
Smallscale archerfish (Toxotes microlepis).
A bit later Jarno decided to leave back to the
hotel since he haven’t caught a single fish. I stayed and it was a right decision.
I found a nice little eddy by the river wall and managed to catch four fish
from there. The best part was than all of them were different species. One of
them was another archerfish and the three new species were Silver barb, Red
tailed tinfoil and Spotted scat. I also dropped few fish on the lift cause the
wall was about two meters high and I didn’t have any landing net with me. At
least one of the fish I dropped would be a new species.
Red tailed tinfoil barb (Barbonymus altus).
Very rough looking Java barb (Barbonymus gonionotus).
Spotted scat (Scatophagus argus).
Day two at the river was a bit quieter. We had
only one run on our ray baits and since I lost last fish day before it was my
turn again. It was not a huge fish this time either but I managed to double my
whipray record with a fish estimated to twenty kilos.
The release.
It was quiet with the light rods also. Jarno
caught one more catfish, one Tinfoil barb (new species) and from the delta of
the river he caught a small breamlike fish which later identified as a Pacific
seabream. I also caught one new species (still unidentified) when I lifted up a
tiny little catfish with my whip rod.
This little fellow is still unidentified.
On the afternoon shore fishing trip we focused
to catch a needlefish that were cruising on the surface. There was lot of them
but they were not easy to catch. Still Jarno managed to catch two of them quite
quickly and I really struggled with them. The only way to have their interest
was to pull the worm rapidly from the front of them and if they hit you just
had to hope the hook will stay on their bony beak. It was almost time to left
back to hotel when I finally caught one also.
Jarnos Spottail needlefish.
Strongylura strongylura
On day three we had plenty of time to fish
with our light tackle cause we didn’t have any bites on the ray baits. We
parked to the pier of the big hotel. There was also a nice looking river wall.
By the wall we caught few Spotted scats. It was a new species for Jarno. We
also tried to fish from the deeper water but it was apparently the kingdom of
the “nenga-catfish”. Then I found out that the hotel had a small pond on their
property too and there was some fish swimming on it. I think that the pond had
a connection to the river too. From the pond I managed to catch two more Red
tailed tinfoils and as a new species one Tinfoil barb and an Blue tilapia. So
after all it was not so bad day at all.
Tinfoil barb (Barbonymus schwanenfeldii).
Blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus).
When we got back to the hotel it was again
time to pack our bags and head back to Bangkok where we had couple of more
fishing days booked.
At the middle of the March me and my species
hunting buddy Jarno left to a couple of weeks fishing holiday to Thailand.
During our trip we visited three completely different fishing spots with
variable target species.
After a couple of days shopping and relaxing
at Bangkok we headed to the province of Kanchanaburi. There our destination was
a huge reservoir of Khao Laem Dam.
We did some street fishing at the Bangkok canals also. All we caught was dozens of plastic bags.
Our floating village at the Khao Laem Dam.
We were supposed to fish three full days but
cause we arrived to our floating accommodation well before dark I couldn’t help
myself to pick up my short whip rod and go after the fish swimming right next
to us. Quite soon I caught my first fish of the trip. It was a juvenile Giant
gourami.
Giant gourami (Osphronemus goramy).
After sunset it was time to continue the fish
hunt with the head lamps. About half an hour later I noticed some movement
between the bamboo trunks our accommodation was built on. With a little bit of
teasing I managed to get the fish bite and I swung my second species up to my
hands.
Next morning it was time to go after our main
target Giant snakehead. On the forenoon trip I didn’t have a single bite but
luckily Jarno caught two smallish snakeheads so his mission was already
accomplished. We fished a little bit at the lunch break too but all I caught
was another Giant gourami. There was some Tilapias living under our “village”
but they were very wary. Bread, crab and Power Bait worms were all rejected by
them.
Jarno with his first ever Giant snakehead.
On the night trip I failed four bites
(probably all snakeheads) before I finally managed to hook a fish. After a nice
fight our guide Nui netted my fish. It was not a snakehead but nice sized
Hampala barb. A bit later Jarno caught his Hampala barb too.
Mine....
...and Jarno's Hampala barb.
After dinner I caught couple of more Marbled
gobies and we both lost a small Cobra snakeheads which is one of the most rare
snakehead species on the area. Jarno instead caught a nice little catfish.
Asian redtail catfish.
On the second morning I saw a school of
Bonylip barbs swimming nearby and it didn’t take long to catch one. This little
fish had the honor to be the species number 150 on my life list. When we were
boat fishing I once again failed few bites while Jarno caught two more
snakeheads. My time came when we got back to a lunch break. I saw a small
school of tiny little fish I thought were some kind of sticklebacks. I dropped
a size 26 hook with a tiny bit of crab between them and one of them nailed my
bait immediately. Well, it was not a stickleback but a nice little gourami. I
also caught a small Hampala barb and after I found a small snail to use as a
bait I managed to lure up one of the Tilapias hanging around our village.
Bonylip barb (Osteochilus vittatus).
Croaking gourami (Trichopsis vittata).
Juvenile Hampala barb.
Nile tilapia, I think?
Then it was time to hit the “road” again. On our
afternoon trip we put some efforts after Striped snakehead but Jarno failed to
catch’em though he caught two more Giant snakeheads with Vibrax spinners and I
caught one small Hampala with a frog popper. For the last couple of hours we
got back to the “real” Giant snakehead waters and when there was about half an
hour fishing time left I finally caught my snakehead too. It was a small
specimen but I was still really happy to catch one.
You don't see me smile this widely very often.....
Night fishing in the village did not give me a
single fish. I saw the whiskers of the catfish between the bamboo poles but the
fish totally ignored my baits.
Because we both had already caught a Giant
snakehead on the third and our last day at Khao Laem Dam we wanted to put all
our efforts after Striped snakehead. Well, Jarno caught two snakeheads but
again they were both Giants. He also caught two small Hampala barbs and
surprisingly (yeah right) I caught nothing. To prove we were fishing at the
right area our guide Nui caught two small Striped snakeheads from the spots we
had already casted over.
Releasing of snakehead
Our guide Nui and a Striped snakehead (Channa striata).
On the break I once again grabbedmy little whip rod and got after the mini
species. But I didn’t catch any more new species but two more Croaking gouramis.
The Khao Laem Dam gave me seven new species (well the tilapia is still
unidentified) which was a satisfying result. Now it was time to move on……Part 2
coming soon.
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