Jurassic Mountain, Thailand – Sep/Oct 2024

I absolutely loved my first visit to Jurassic Mountain last year and was looking forward to my return this holiday. After loads of travelling it’s always a very welcome sight when you finally arrive at your destination and see the sign to the resort. The air conditioned reception area is heaven while you wait to sign in etc.

I had a kip and freshened up before heading to the restaurant for an evening meal and the draw for choice of pegs. For my first days fishing I was on the Species Lake and managed to pull out ball number one (although there were only two of us on the lake!) and went for swim two. There was a lad called Ian in the bar who was here at the same time as me last year, we had a chat and he kindly said he’d let me have a load of boilies and pop ups as he was heading home in a day or two.

I was up bright and early and decided to fish a bomb with PVA bags on one rod and the waggler with corn on the other to try and target some new species. A bite quite quickly resulted in a lovely ripsaw catfish which I have caught before but they are one of my favourite fish, amazing looking creatures. I didn’t manage to catch on the float although I did miss a few bites and pulled out of two fish.

Regular bites throughout the day resulted in another cracking ripsaw and four stunning Julien’s Golden Carp to around 23lb* (all weights are estimated). Despite trying lots of different pop ups and boilies, every fish came to a little pink pop up. I did lose one fish that straightened the hook out!

That evening, my drawing arm continued to perform well when I pulled out choice two and went for swim number 16 (where I caught the arapaima last year). With three rods, I fished chicken hearts on two for predators and boilies with PVA bags of pellets for carp on the other. A busy day with three Siamese to 55lb* and six Amazon redtails to 35lb*. It was also nice to see my old mate Larry who came to say hello.

Then it was off to Hua Hin for three nights where I’d booked a room at the Hilton hotel which was fantastic and I will definitely be staying there again on my next visit. Steve Mayo and Paeng came up from Ao Nang to see me for a few days and we had a fantastic meal in the rooftop restaurant along with a couple of nights out. Feeling fully refreshed it was then back to Jurassic for more fishing.

While I’d been in Hua Hin, there’d been some new arrivals including a lovely lad called Keith from Ireland who I got on really well with and two Dutch chaps called Rene and William who were great fun. Two more days on the Specimen lake resulted in lots of runs with six carp to around 70lb* and a redtail followed by seven carp to 80lb* the following day.

I then had a day off fishing just chilling out with a dip in the pool and a lush massage which was much needed after all those carp trying to pull my arms off! My next days fishing was something completely different for me with a trip to the Jurassic Saltwater lake which was about ten minutes away from the resort. It was nearly finished when I was here last year but not open for fishing so I was really looking forward to having a go.

The format for the day is you fish lures in the morning and then live baiting in the afternoon which gives you the best chance of targeting the barramundi and various types of grouper that are present. Both methods are alien to me but the guides are on hand to demonstrate how to work the various lures etc.

The morning was hard work and despite trying several different types of lures and moving swims, I had no takes so stopped for a nice lunch before the afternoon session. Trying a jelly type lure, I finally had some interest and was into a fish, it wasn’t massive but at around 11lb, a hybrid grouper was a new species for me. I did pull out of a couple of fish which I suspect were foul hooked as I then landed a lovely looking fish which unfortunately wasn’t hooked in the mouth.

Next up was the live baiting and it was exciting stuff waiting for the float to disappear from view, when the barrumundi hit the bait they take off at speed and regularly go airborne. I had three to around 22lb* and pulled out of two as well.

For my penultimate days fishing I had choice two and went for swim one which I’ve never fished before, clipping up by the hyacinth beds with chicken hearts, action was frantic with redtails to 50lb*. I did lose a fish on boilie out in open water which I couldn’t keep up with and I reckon it was either a Chao or tambaqui. As we reached the witching hour I put in a mix of chopped up fish, chicken hearts and pellets in the edges on either side and moved the rod pod back from the water.

There were loads of swirls and tail patterns as the predators left the sanctuary of the hyacinths to hunt as it began to get dark, the alarm screamed and your heart is in your mouth as you pick the rod up, is this going to be a monster arapaima? It wasn’t but another redtail was a nice end to the day and took my tally to nine.

It was Keith’s last night so along with the Dutch lads we headed into nearby Cha Am for a few drinks. We had a cracking night and we’d arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 12:00 but Rene and William decided to stay out and I was nearly tempted but as it was my final day’s fishing I didn’t want to waste it hungover so Keith and me were good boys and headed back.

That proved to be a good choice as I was still a little woolly in the morning and arrived at my swim an hour later than the allowed fishing time of 7:00. To be honest it was a fairly slow start but I was content just to have a relaxing day and would be happy with a couple of fish to end the trip. Keith turned up to see me as he didn’t have to leave for the airport until mid afternoon and while we were chatting, the rod screamed off and I got off the mark with a 30lb siamese.

Several more carp followed and then Rene and William turned up looking very worse for wear as they hadn’t got back until four in the morning. I’d just landed a carp and was going to head to the Anglers Rest for a bite to eat when the other rod went as a fish took off on a blistering run. The fish was moving so fast, I was struggling to stay in touch with it and I suspected it might be something a little different and was over the moon when a lovely tambaqui surfaced and finally went into the net.

Although I have caught one a few years previously, it’s always 50:50 whether you successfully get one in the net as they have very human like teeth (similar to the pacu) and munch through braid and snap hooks for fun. Quite a few had come out for other anglers including a beauty of 60lb* for Keith and I really wanted to catch one so was made up for it to happen on my last day. Ollie came and took some photos and I said goodbye to Keith, Rene and William before going to have my belated breakfast.

The afternoon was just as hectic with more siamese and then some redtails down the edge on half a fish. So despite my late start, it ended up being probably the best days fishing of the trip with twelve fish including that gorgeous tambaqui, eight carp to 70lb* and three redtails to 40lb*.

All too soon the two weeks was up and it was time to head back home, my transfer to the airport picked me up an hour early as he was worried about the floods in Bangkok but it was all fine and I got to the airport in plenty of time and the trip back went smoothly. In fact the plane was nearly empty and we had loads of room which was nice. Given that it was rainy season in Thailand and Chang Mai in the North and Bangkok suffered serious flooding, I’d only seen rain briefly one day although we did have some overnight on a few occasions that I was oblivious to!

It was another amazing trip and I’m looking forward to next year already, the fishing was brilliant and I had 54 fish (7 different species) in seven days. I did manage a couple of new species although no real monsters this time but that’s fishing, I’m not sure I’d want to go if you could go with a wish list and just tick them all off! I’ll definitely have another go on the Saltwater lake as I’d love to catch a big grouper and there are loads of other species I’d love to catch.

Along with the fishing, the scenery and wildlife are simply stunning, the Thais are so friendly, the food and service is fantastic and you meet so many nice people. There were people there from the UK, Holland, Australia, Gibraltar, Singapore and Australia. I’m still in contact with Dan from last year and Keith was brilliant company and I’m hoping to go over to Ireland to see him at some point and maybe have a go at fishing for tope!

Before I go, I must just say a massive thanks to the several people who contacted me asking if I was ok as I hadn’t posted on the blog for a couple of weeks and they like following my exploits. As I’m doing a lot more fishing than I used to, I do seem to be constantly playing catch up but it really does mean a lot that people are still enjoying the blog after 18 years!

Back to earth with a bump, the weathers turned colder but I’ve got lots of matches coming up that I’m really looking forward to and some more reviews on the way as well.