Fishing in Thailand

 Fishing Holidays

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Thailand's Fish Species

Carp Species

Giant Siamese Carp

Credit where credit is due, whoever coined the phrase "The mother of all carps" when describing the Giant Siamese Carp was spot on. It's certainly has a maternal feeling about it as a species. It has all the attributes of a  superior species, size, beauty and a wily adversary for the angler. The Siamese Carps appearance changes during the course of it's lifetime. As a young fish its body looks immature but muscular, and colours are often creams and vivid red flashes throughout its fins, as it matures it tends to darken, the body fills out and it starts to take on that mature maternal shape with a full body and weights start to increase dramatically. The Giant Siamese Carp has been poorly represented in much western angling media and on forums as not being a "carp", by those who really have no knowledge or understanding of the species. It most certainly is a carp and a big one at that! In our view it should be at the top of any carp anglers list of aspirations. A 100lb carp is a very realistic goal if a difficult one, as several of our guests would provide testimony too. The Siamese carp is the largest species of carp in the world. They are a desirable food fish, which has unfortunately brought them close to extinction in the wild, although 150kg+ specimens are still being caught in Vietnam, Cambodia and Burma.

Giant Siamese Carp - Vital Statistics

Name: Siamese Carp (Giant Barb)
Species: Catlocarpio siamensis
Thai name: Pla Caho
Max length: 3 m
Max weight: 200 kg
IGFA record: 53 kg
Diet: Shrimp, Plankton, plants, fruit, maize, and cereal based baits.
 

Where to fish for the Giant Siamese Carp

For size Bungsamran still holds the No1 spot as a fishing destination for Siamese Carp with many specimens over 50kg being present up to weights believed to be over 120kg+. The owner of Bungsamran has informed me directly that he has 400 fish over 30kgs/70lb, and that the largest fish he ever stocked was 158kg and this fish has never been captured or seen since it was stocked. It's hard to say for sure if the biggest carp are still alive and well in Bungsamran, although they can live for a hundred years or more so it's entirely possible that at least one or two fish over the 100kg mark are present. Shadow Lake, Palm Tree Lagoon and Lake Monsters all have reasonable size Giant Siamese Carp in them.