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…on Feb. 25, one of their frequent return
clients, Tim Webb, landed a gigantic 151 kilos (332 lb.) Mekong
giant catfish…
…it is not only the biggest catfish ever taken from Bung Sam Lan
since its very opening 25 years ago, but it also imposes itself
as the biggest catfish ever caught on rod and line in Southeast
Asia...
…Tim added to his tally, a lovely 176 lb.
Mekong cat - a catch that was tiny bit over his current IGFA
record…
he also broke his personal
best for the Siamese giant carp with the catch of a beautiful 121
lb. carp
Date: 29
February 2008
When it comes to catching the very biggest fish on rod and line that
inhabit Thailand’s waters, any knowledgeable worldwide sport
fisherman knows that Jean-Francois Helias and his Fishing Adventures
Thailand team of professional guides have no competition. As the
oldest freshwater guided fishing tours agency in town, consisting of
the country’s true pioneers of sport fishing, they are simply the
game; and they rule it!
Proof lies in the previous unequalled angling achievements that
speak for themselves. This includes the catch of a of a 407 lb.
(185 kg) Arapaima, the biggest predator fish ever caught on rod and
line in the history of Southeast Asian angling, as well as the
capture of a 264 lb. (120 kg) Siamese giant carp, the biggest carp
ever caught in the history of sport fishing, and the catch of a very
rare 220 lb. (100 kg) freshwater giant stingray.
Just add to these amazing exploits a few more outstanding
achievements like the 135 IGFA world records Helias and his crew
have racked up in less than a decade, both as anglers and guides, or
the more than 60,000 Mekong giant catfish they have caught and
released during the past 20 years; then you know they are truly the
best at what they do.
The only thing they needed in order to say they had caught the
biggest specimen of each of Thailand’s gigantic fish species was a
Mekong giant catfish close to 100 kilos, or even better, over that
mark. They could have easily been satisfied with several big cats
that exceeded 80 kilos; the two biggest being an 85 kg catfish
caught in August 2004 and an 82 kg catfish caught in August 2006,
but they were not until they could capture a 100 kilo catfish.
They have now reached their goal with a catch exceeding their
expectations……..big time. One of their frequent return clients, Tim
Webb, a 48 years old angler from Crawley, West Sussex, England, and
currently based and working in Australia, booked Francois’ guide
service for 29 days of fishing all over Thailand. On Feb. 25, 2008
Tim landed a gigantic 151 kilos (332 lb.) Mekong giant catfish at
Bung Sam Lan Lake.
Tim’s 151 kilo Mekong catfish - the biggest ever stocked by the
lake's owner two decades ago - had never been caught by anyone
until Feb. 25, 2008. It is not only the biggest catfish ever taken
from Bung Sam Lan since its very opening 25 years ago, but it also
imposes itself as the biggest catfish ever caught on rod and line in
Southeast Asia.
Though the 151 kilo catfish was weighed on 500 lb certified digital
scales in front of 12 witnesses, it cannot qualify for an IGFA world
record. Tim, using an ABU 9.5 ft Uptide rod coupled with a Shimano
Stella 10000 spooled with Fins 80 lb braid, could not control the
unstoppable fish. It entangled the line around structures several
times. As usual, Jean-Francois’ team guides had to swim to find the
entangled line underwater, cut it free and retie so the angler
could resume the fight. It took two good hours between the hook up
and the landing of the fish.
As an anecdote; Tim Webb, currently holds the IGFA All Tackle record
for the Mekong giant catfish with a 79.80 kg catch, dating February,
2007. Had his catch been fought and landed according to IGFA rules,
it would have been quite an achievement for him to literally
"explode" his own record with a fish almost twice as big.
Apart from his gigantic 332 lb. capture, Tim, who used our regular
rice husk flour based secret recipe during his sessions at the lake,
added to his tally, a lovely 176 lb. Mekong cat - a catch that was
tiny bit over his current IGFA record – as well as another 10 cats
weighing between 90 lb. and 130 lb.
On top of that, he also scored several Siamese giant carp catches,
and even broke his PB (personal best) for that species with the
catch of a beautiful 121 lb. carp.
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