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Big Carp Magazine Exclusive TopCats - Koh Samui
By Rob Maylin
In October this year I met up with my old mate Stuart Gillham. Stuart has been visiting Thailand for almost 20 years now and has in fact lived in various parts of Thailand.
He had a deep sea fishing boat in Phuket for several years, and decided vabout two years ago to sell up completely in England and move out to Thailand. He had spent the last two years searching for the right location for his own fishery. Last year he decided that Krabi would be the location for a freshwater fishing resort with luxury accommodation, restaurant and bar. His own fishery is still in the construction stage at the moment, but is due to be opened in 2008. When I met up with him, he had with him an invitation from a friend of his, Mike, who was the owner of a similar fishery in Koh Samui called TopCats. The invitation was to come out for week to shoot a fishing DVD with Stuart. It was 15 years ago that Stuart and I made our first film together, Harefield Haulin, a video that is still well thought of today.
My wife and I would fly out from Heathrow in early November for just over a week; four days of this would be for fishing and filming by the local TV network, Samui TV, and the other couple of days being used to visit the site of Stuart’s lake in Krabi. There is a connecting flight from Bangkok airport direct to Samui with only a 15- minute journey once in Samui to the resort. All tackle and bait is supplied along with a full time guide. The guide will row boats ....................back to TopCats Fishing in Thailand Articles
..............................out for you and help with netting and handling of the fish, which is of primary importance. The fish are very well cared for and very valuable, so it goes without saying that every fish caught is treated with utmost care.
Stuart also informed me that Mike was going to give the magazine a free week’s holiday for two in Thailand by way of a competition including flights from Heathrow to Bangkok, connecting flights to and from Samui, and transfer to the lake. The accommodation will be in one of Mike’s superb Thai Teak houseboats, all fully air-conditioned and beautiful inside. Stuart then gave me some information on the stock and the methods that had been successful on this venue, as he had fished there several times before. Apparently the lake contained over 20 different species, and five of these species incredibly went to over 100lbs in weight. We would obviously like to get as many of these different species on film, as several of them have never been shown before. Amongst the different species were three different types of carp; the Siamese carp being the biggest, which can grow to incredible weights of almost 200lbs.Mike’s lake contained five fish over 50lbs, and all growing at tremendous weights. There were also several species of catfish including mekong cats, leopard cats, niger cats and the incredible red tail cat. Stuart actually has some pictures of all these on his laptop and the red tail cat was certainly one that took my eye - a most peculiar colouration of black and white patches and bright red tail makes the fish look almost cartoon-like.
There were may other species including alligator gar and paku, a type of vegetarian piranha, but the other species that really took my eye was the arapaima. These fish are native to the Central American Amazon, but they were imported for many years into Thailand and now can be found growing to incredible weights throughout the country. Mike’s lake contained a huge number of arapaima in varying weights including four very large specimens well over 100lbs in weight. I was took hook one of these on the third day, but more of that to come. Without a doubt the red tail cats and the arapaima were top of my hit list before I had even left England. Even though bait and tackle was supplied, I decided to take a few bits over myself including some large pellets supplied by Vision and Dynamite, and a couple of litres of fish oils. Terry Eustace sent down some line and braid for me to take over with me. Terry was actually going out a fortnight after me with Joe Taylor, so I’ll update you on their trip after they return.
The plane journey was pleasant enough with both flights running on time, and on arrival at Samui airport Stuart and Ben greeted us. Stuart’s lake is situated in Krabi, about three hours from Mike’s lake, and is still under construction. We were scheduled to visit it at the end of the week after fishing and filming was completed, after which we would return to Samui for one last meal together before leaving on our journey back to England. I had my fingers crossed that we would be celebrating the final act of a successful week’s filming.
Mike’s set up at TopCats is superb; a huge open-air but covered restaurant is situated by the side of two lakes. The smaller lake is a guaranteed catch lake with tiny specimens of those that can be found in the much larger lake next door. I would estimate the size of this lake to be just under five acres. The menu for the restaurant was just as huge, with a variety of cuisine on offer including Thai, Indian and English even down to a traditional English breakfast and Sunday roast! The food was to prove to be fantastic, as good as any top restaurant anywhere I have eaten before. Mike and his father, another Mike, greeted us as we arrived with a drink from the well-stocked bar, and introduced us to some of the anglers already fishing. They were really nice guys who became good friends by the end of the week, mainly English, with one German, and one American guy called Paul, who was actually into a fish as we arrived, which turned out to be a 20lb arapaima caught on a chunk of fish. He was to catch nine fish that day, including several arapaimas, and a few pakus, which is a type of vegetarian piranha that grows to 30lbs, and looks awesome in its bright orange colours. He also had a nice mekong cat of about 40lbs, so honestly at this point I couldn’t wait to get going. Mike treated us and everybody else there like kings - nothing was too much trouble for him, and he worked in the restaurant and around the lake ensuring that everybody had everything that they wanted.
Not only does he have the houseboats moored on the lake for accommodation, he also has a large property about 20 minutes drive from the lake, which can be rented out for those wishing a luxurious apartment type holiday. But to be honest, the houseboats were so beautiful, and to be actually sleeping there on the lake would be what I would prefer to do in normal circumstances. We were treated to a first class meal, and told there was no hurry to get up in the morning. Mike also told my wife that he had made arrangements for her to visit a couple of the local spas so that she could be pampered and given the full beauty treatment works. She went there and actually did some amateur filming for the DVD, just to show that there’s plenty for the women who want to come on these holidays too.
After some great food and a couple of the local Thai beers, which I am told are around 10% proof, I was ready for bed, and as they suggested, we were in no hurry to get up in the morning. Sunday morning arrived, and today we would film an introduction to the DVD, taking the viewer on a sightseeing journey round Mike’s complex.
We would not actually fish until Monday morning. I was biting my lip at this point I can tell you, as several of the guys fishing the lake had caught carp, mekong, and arapaima, but as yet, the red tail cat fish, quite a rare visitor, had not been caught. We met the boys and girls from Samui TV and did the intro during Sunday, followed by a traditional Sunday lunch; as good as you’d get in any pub in England. After a few more Thai beers it was off to bed for an early night for Stuart and I, with the alarm set for 5am, to get us down to the lake for about 5.45. It gets light around about 6am and gets dark around about 6.30pm, so there are about 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark around this time of year, and it doesn’t vary much from that throughout the year.
I was really excited to get down in the morning and was awake before Stuart banged on the door. Stuart’s son Shaun had kindly set the rods up the night before, putting some new 50lb line on, tackling them up with method leads and very large hooks. I decided to start the day off trying the large halibut pellets soaked in oil; I was so confident in this, and Stu thought that they’d work too, so he also kicked off that first day on the pellets. This was unfortunately going to be a mistake on our behalves… We weren’t to know this at the time, but the paku, the piranhas that is, loved the pellets, and the fact that they were a bit too big for their mouths didn’t stop them from picking them up and towing them all round the lake. So, we did have quite a few problems early on with the paku picking up small baits.
Anyway, the film crew were late arriving, but that didn’t stop us getting everything set up quickly. I positioned one method ball with two big halibut pellets pushed inside it just off the weed bed to my right, and cast the other method ball on the left hand rod straight in front of me about 20yds out. Stuart was fishing on my left, and he’d got a large weed bed to his left, so his left hand rod went on the weed bed, and he too fished a rod 20-30yds straight out into the lake. About ten minutes after casting out, my right hand rod absolutely roared in the rod rest, and I was into the fight of my life as the first fish was hooked. It turned out to be an arapaima somewhere between 60-70lbs. There was a little bit of confusion with the scales, because the film crew turned up just as we were about to weigh the fish. So that we could get a little bit of footage of this large arapaima, well medium sized arapaima should I say, things got moved quite quickly, and I settled on a weight somewhere between 60-70lbs. About an hour or so later, again on double pellet, but this time on the rod cast straight out, I hooked into an alligator gar, a fish of low doubles, but a new species for me again. It’s very nice to catch new species of different fish, as I’ve caught most of the fish in England. I’ve done a bit of sea fishing, but of course freshwater fishing is my passion, and to catch some different species of freshwater fish was very rewarding indeed. Its all a little bit misty now to be honest, but Stuart also caught one arapaima that day, but from the other end of the lake. After all the missed bites, which we now put down to paku, we’d seen quite a lot of fish moving right down the other end of the lake and decided on a move. Down at the other end I caught one piranha, and I believe that Stuart caught two or three piranhas, lost one good fish, and also had an arapaima, about 25lbs, but a good start nevertheless.
We recorded quite a bit of technical stuff for the DVD on the rigs, making it clear that this was all experimental, and we were going to try a variety of methods until we came up with the one that was the killer. We did do that, but not until the last day as you will find out. We finished the session around about 7pm, and it was dark by then. We decided to go to one of the local restaurants on the beach and enjoy some of the seafood caught fresh that day. The food out in Thailand, and the drink for that matter, is so cheap, it really is. With four of us sitting down to a three-course meal with as much as we could eat and as much as we could drink, the total bill only came to £12.00 - you just couldn’t get anything like that in England. There are 70 baht to the pound, so the English pound stretches very far when you are in Thailand.
It was decided that we would have a lie-in in the morning, foregoing the early start, but instead go down at lunchtime then fish an hour or two later to see whether the fish were having it after dark or not. Although I was keen to get down early, I could see that Stuart was tired, poor old boy, and I let him have his way. We awoke around about 10am, had a superb English breakfast at TopCats, and finally got the rods out around about 12.30pm. A move of swims was in order, as the Point swim on the bank nearest to the restaurant was free. This was the swim where Paul, the American, had had nine fish the day we got down there. So we decided that a move round to this swim would be the order of the day, as it gave you a lot of options. You could cover a lot of water from this swim, and on the left hand side of the swim was the biggest area of weed, and I’d seen quite a number of arapaima working the edge of it. The arapaima is a predator, and big ones will actually eat the piranhas that are in there. So watch out if you dip your toes in!
I decided to have a go with the pellets again on the rod out in the centre of the lake, but to fish a chunk of fish as bait; fresh fish brought in on ice and cut into chunks. Once again I was using a large hook, probably about a size 4.0, and I positioned a bait off the edge of the weed. I once again fished a method; it wasn’t essential to do this, but I thought some fish with chopped up fish would be added attraction out there. I also poured fish oil over the top of the method ball before one of the guides rowed it out and dropped it right on the edge of the weed for me. That second afternoon, I landed four arapaima and one paku. The arapaima were all a good size, with two of the fish being around 40lbs and the other two 30lb’ers. Stuart was to have an absolute nightmare with the pakus that day, as he had scaled down his hook baits to try and connect with some of the mystery runs we were getting. He was now connecting with these piranhas quite quickly, and I think he ended up that day with nine or ten pakus. He decided that the next day, which would be a full day’s fishing,we would change the hook baits again, going to a larger size hook bait or a polyball method that’s used for mekong, while fishing fish baits on the other rod for arapaima.
Once again the film crew got some excellent footage of me playing the arapaimas and holding them up for the camera. They are one of the most beautiful fish I have ever seen in my life. Although we’d had quite a good day, there were still no new species, and as the next day was to be a full day’s fishing from 7am to 6pm, we decided that the hook baits had got to be put out with other species in mind. That night we ate in TopCats, and had a superb curry. Stuart really has got it made living out there; I did feel envious of him, as every day seems like a holiday to me, although obviously there’s a lot of hard work getting his lake excavated at the moment. But living out there in the sun, with all the fantastic fishing and food, it did make you wonder about the rat race over here in England.
So we were up before light the next day and keen to get back down on the Point swim for a full day’s fishing after catching four arapaima the day before. My appetite was more than whetted for a bit of action with those. Stuart had seen that I was catching on the fish, and he too decided to put one rod out on fish, towards the houseboats on the opposite bank to us. What a great day we had; by about 2pm I had landed seven arapaima, and I think by this stage Stuart had had eight arapaima, the biggest being between 30-40lbs. Every one gave you such a great scrap, you couldn’t wait to get the bait back out there. Stuart also connected with the first mekong that we were to get on video, a fish of around about 50lbs, which he caught on the polyball method and bread. It was another new species and one that we dearly wanted to get on the DVD, but there were still several other species that we wanted to feature, including the red tail cats if at all possible.
We thought it would be really nice to show the carp on the DVD, especially the Siamese carp, which grow up to 50lbs, and also the leopard cats. These were peculiar fish that spent a lot of their time swimming on the surface with their whiskers actually protruding through the surface layers of the water. You’d be looking out in the lake maybe 30 or 40yds away, see these whiskers waggling around, and know that the leopard cat was just underneath. They could be anything up to 30-40lbs in size now, the biggest ones. Mike had told me that he had had fish taking bread over by the boats on numerous occasions when he and Shaun had been throwing old bread in the lake. I decided it may be nice to try and catch one off the surface, as these could be carp, but then again they could be pakus, or even the leopard catfish that we had seen swimming on the surface.
The gear we were using was a bit crude for surface fishing; a 9ft 5lb test curve rod loaded up with 50lb line doesn’t really lend itself to finesse, so I managed to get myself one of the smaller rods that are used on the guaranteed catch lake. This lake is for families and kids to fish; they have birthday parties on there with upwards of 20 children fishing. It’s a great little lake with small specimens of all the different species in the big lake. Anyway, on this rod was a small bait runner, already loaded up with 25lb line, but it did look a little bit worn. I went round the other side, left my arapaima rods alone with Stuart in the Point swim, and decided to go for a bit of stalking along the edges of the houseboats. I threw a few slices of bread broken into pieces into the swim, and drifted it along with the weed. It wasn’t long before there were a number of pakus attacking the bread, one or two carp, and a leopard catfish. I managed to lure the leopard catfish away from the pakus, and decided to drop my bread straight in front of it. Unfortunately a paku of about 8lbs came flying out of the water and took it, and that disturbed the swim for a while. Once again I got them feeding, and cast my bread towards one of the leopard cats, as there were now two of them out there. It came up, took it straight away, and absolutely motored down the lake, snapping the line like cotton. It was obvious that although I couldn’t break it with my hands, it was breaking at a lot less than 25lbs. Shaun quickly went round to the tackle shop and loaded the spool up with new 25lb line. I kept the bread going in and got one of the larger leopard cats taking very, very close to the bank, only about 2ft from where I was sitting. I retackled the rod quickly, dropped the bread in front of it, and then was into a great battle with one of the loveliest fish I have ever caught in my life, a real good fighter. They look absolutely incredible, and they feel like they’re made out of velvet. It was a most unusual fish, but a leopard cat of around about 30lbs.
Well pleased with my day’s stalking, I decided to have just one more hour on the arapaima, as they're very addictive. When I walked back to the swim and told Stuart that I had managed to get a leopard cat for the film, he was well pleased, as that was another new species. We’d still got one more day’s filming to go, and still hoped to catch a carp if nothing else. However, the arapaima were showing a lot round the big weed bed, and Stuart said to me that he’d seen one massive arapaima of about 12 feet long working its way along there, and had actually cast out my left hand rod for me with a large chunk of tuna. I had only been sitting in my chair for about 15 minutes when the whole lake started to move as my bait runner went round like I had tied the line to the back of a car and it had taken off up the M25. I picked the rod up, but it was running so fast and powerfully that even with everything clamped down, it was still pulling line from the clutch. This was the biggest fish I have ever hooked in my life, probably 200lbs-plus. It went from one side of the lake to the other, and someone had told me that there was a snag in the corner, so maybe I’d put on a little bit too much pressure, who knows, but the 70lb hook link parted and the fish was gone - I was devastated. We still had an hour or so left, so I decided to re-tackle the rod and managed to catch a couple more arapaima up to 40lbs, but they felt like tadpoles compared to the thing that I had lost. I don’t think I will ever forget the power that fish displayed.
It was decided that the last day of filming would be a half-day again, getting down at lunchtime and fishing through until 7pm. I was very keen to get back round and have another go at the carp or catfish on the surface, so before getting my rods out I set up the little rod with floating crust again, and went round to the boats. I didn’t get any carp or pakus coming up, but I did get one more leopard of low-20’s coming up and taking the bread, and managed to hook him after about 15 minutes. Well pleased that I had now got two leopard catfish for the DVD, I went back round to the rods. Stuart had been busy with the arapaima and the paku while I had been away; he was fishing a fish bait over to the boats, fishing on my right, and I was fishing almost straight down the middle of the lake from the right hand bank nearest the restaurant. I had had a little bit of a brainwave while I was off fishing on the surface, and wondered about a massive ball of bread, crushed, and pushed hard around the method feeder using the polyball and bread method instead of the ball of method mix. I had an idea that this might be the way we would get that elusive Siamese carp on the video.
I set the first rod up within five minutes of being back in the swim, and tossed it out 20yds in front of me, right down the middle of the lake. There were some big mekongs showing in the area; you can’t look at this lake for more than 30 seconds without seeing a fish roll somewhere, and all the fish that you see roll are absolutely massive - it really is an awe-inspiring sight. I decided to put one rod out on fish too, as to my left was the weed bed where I had caught the first arapaima on the first day, and this corner was known to contain one of the big four arapaima that are in there. However, the rods had not been out very long when the bread method ball roared into life. I was certain it must be a mekong owing to the speed that the rod went off, and I screamed, “Mekong” at the top of my voice. The water rocked as the fish tore off down the lake; it was a tremendous fight, and when the fish came to the net I was quite surprised that it wasn’t as big as I thought. However, it turned out to be the fish that I had dreamt about catching since Stuart showed me the pictures, the elusive red tail catfish, and a very nice specimen indeed at around 25lbs. I was as pleased as punch, and smiling for the camera. If only we could catch a carp now, we’d have all the species that we wanted to show on the DVD.
I quickly wound in the fish bait, and decided that both rods would go out on the bread method ball, fished with a small polyball and a bit of flake pinched around it. I cast them both out, fishing up the middle of the lake. Stuart was watching what I was doing very carefully, and again only five minutes later, one of the rods roared into life, this time the right hand rod nearest to Stuart. It was a spirited scrap, and it instantly felt like a carp, turning out to be another new species, and the one that we really wanted to catch, the Siamese carp, at just under 20lbs, but very welcome. Stuart had had enough of this by then, and decided that two of his rods would have to go out on the bread method ball too. I was quickly getting the other rods sorted out, as time was running out. The camera crew were only there for a couple more hours, but surely we could catch a couple more in that time? Sure enough, only 15 minutes after casting out, I knew that I had discovered the killer method. Mike came down, looked at me, and said, “You’ve sussed it haven’t you?” I said, “I think so, Mike,” as I was into my third fish within the hour. Everyone thought it was a mekong until rolled, but it turned out to be an absolutely superb specimen of a red tail catfish. I could see Stuart turning a little bit green with envy, as even though he had fished the lake many, many times, he’d never caught one, and this one didn’t look far short of 50lbs. I really smiled for the camera with that one, I can tell you.
Not to be outdone, Stuart was away on the bread method ball and he too landed a Siamese carp, followed shortly afterwards by two arapaima and a paku to his right hand rod on fish. That was almost it for the day; the light was running out, and the camera crew were ready to go home, but surely I could just have one more cast? I plopped one where I had seen a lot of bubbles coming up, and it had only been out there for two or three minutes when the rod was ripped from the rest. I picked it up, but nothing was on the end, and I can only assume one of the massive mekong had actually swallowed the whole method ball in one go. So that was it, the fishing was done, and the DVD was a success. I hope you enjoy it when it comes out - I am sure that it will be very popular in England. I know it’s not strictly carp fishing, but we’re all fishermen at the end of the day, and we can all appreciate the beauty of these exotic species. Everybody seemed pleased with the outcome of the fishing part of the DVD; my wife had been taking part in another section that will be shown in the DVD about things for the wives to do while the husbands are fishing. There are loads of beauty spas, detox centres and massage parlours very close to TopCats, and Mike was able to arrange for my wife to attend a couple of the locals spas, and give a brief description on amateur video camera footage, which will be included in the completed DVD.
We were all very tired after the day’s filming and decided that a restaurant on the beach was the order of the day, to sample some more of the excellent seafood and a few more of the local beers. The next day we would be up very early in the morning as we were heading off to Krabi, about three hours away from TopCats Koi Samui, one and a half hours driving and one and a half hours on the ferry. We wanted to have a couple of days looking around the beauty spots of Krabi, as it is one of the most enchanting parts of Thailand. It’s very much unspoiled, as the tourist industry hasn’t really hit that part of Thailand yet. It’s a very mountainous area and Stuart has picked the location of his lake to perfection - surrounded on three sides by huge rocky outcrops from the mountain ranges. Stuart tells me that early in the morning, you can hear the monkeys up in the mountains; he’s had a leopard come down to the lake drinking, and there are a couple of families of mongoose in the area, which he’s very pleased are keeping the snakes away.
So it was an early morning start and down to the ferry. For 300 baht, about £4, you can get a foot massage all the way over there, sit in a lovely comfortable reclining chair, and shut your eyes. Anything like this is so cheap out there, so we took advantage of it; we had a nice foot massage, drove the car off the other end and drove straight up a new motorway, which soon had us at the site of Stuart’s lake. It’s the most beautiful place I think I have ever been to in Thailand, and we decided to shoot some amateur footage around the lake so that people can seen how the construction is going. By 2008 it will be built with a lovely restaurant, excellent holiday facilities including five luxury bungalows along one bank, a swimming pool, and bars that serve both English and Thai food. There will be fishing guides on site as with TopCats, and this venue, although owned by Stuart, will actually go under the trade name of TopCats Two. So I want to wish Stuart all the best with this project, and can’t wait to get out and have a fish with him once the lake is open.
We spent a lovely two days in Krabi visiting the local beaches where there are trips out to the islands, there’s also elephant trekking and rock climbing, an 18-hole golf course, and in fact just about everything you can think of. As I say, the mountainous area where the lake is going to be situated is virtually unspoiled. Some of the local bars are owned by English guys, and while the girls went out to one of the local night spots to see a live band, Stuart and I had a drink with a couple of the boys in Murphy’s bar, which you must visit if you go out there. Then we went down to the local nightclub until about 3am, and after that, believe me, we were ready for bed.
The next day we went back to the site again to do a final bit of filming before setting off on the journey home. It was back on the ferry again with another nice foot massage, and then once at the other end of the ferry, it was only about a ten-minute drive and we were back at TopCats. Once again our host had spared no expense, going to a hell of a lot of trouble to lay on a fantastic meal for everybody. I can not overemphasise the dedication to detail and helpfulness that TopCats has to offer. Everybody there, from the owner Mike, to the fishing guides, and the people who work in the kitchen and behind the bar were some of the loveliest people I have ever met in my life. I would thoroughly recommend to anybody who fancies some excitement and a bit of sun to get out to TopCats and take advantage of all that he has to offer. When Stuart’s venue opens in 2008, give that a try as well, because it’s going to be absolutely awesome that’s for sure.
Mike at TopCats has been very generous in putting up a competition prize of one week’s holiday for two people at TopCats, including all your flights, all the fishing, bait etc, with an option to extend your stay at a reasonable price. Bear in mind that the flights are the most expensive thing; you’ve already got those, and you’re already there, so if you did want to stay for another week or even a couple of weeks, Mike would be more than happy to accommodate you at the going rate.
If you aren’t the lucky one to be picked to go on the competition prize, but you still fancy going out there, then please take a look at the website www.fishinginthailand.com where there’s loads of information on all the fish, and all the facilities. Mike will make it very, very easy for you; he’s English, you can speak to him, and he will cater to your own special requirements whether it be a holiday staying in one of the superb Thai teak houseboats, or the real luxury accommodation in his place which is situated right on the top of one of the mountains with a sea view looking out to the distant islands. This really is a 4/5 star residence. Terry Eustace and Joe Taylor are heading out to TopCats at the beginning of December, and Terry has told me he will give me a call when he gets back to let me know how they did. I have filled him in on all the tips I could give him, so they should have a good week’s fishing out there. We will keep you updated with monthly catch reports from the venue. I personally would like to thank Mike and Stuart for inviting Big Carp Magazine and my wife out to the venue to do this exciting film. We both thoroughly enjoyed our stay there, so thanks very much, guys.
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