Paul Roberts from Bristol enjoyed his first fishing experience at Bungsamran so much that he decided to return for a longer session.

Paul's previous best Mekong was 41kg, which was also followed closely by a 38kg fish, which in itself wasn’t bad for just two days fishing. But Paul was keen to try and get a Giant Siamese Carp on the end of his line, which he knew required more time.

Starting around 9am, and fishing two rods it wasn’t long before the first take sent the Shimano Baitrunner’s spool spinning, and the day started with a small Sawai. The next take which came around 11.am was much slower and more deliberate than the previous, and upon striking into the fish the typical solid slow movement of a larger Mekong Catfish could be clearly seen. The first large fish of the day behaved well and came to the net after 20 minutes or so, and weighed in at 39kg.

A an hour so more passed and a few more smaller Mekongs and Sawai’s fell to both rods, but it wasn’t long before another slower run was once again struck firmly by Paul, followed by a solid run out into the lake. Once again the fish mostly behaved itself and was beaten within twenty minutes or so. This fish weighed in slightly bigger at 43kg, at this point Paul was already having a good day! But it was only mid afternoon, and the big fish seemed hungry. The next fish of note, once again came an hour or so later, and weighed in at 43kg! No it wasn’t the same fish!

Paul was very happy with his first day by now, but was still really keen to get a carp, so we suggested he fish on into darkness. The result of this was not a carp, but yet another Mekong Catfish, guess it’s size?43kg!!!

So in one day Paul managed to beat his personal best 3 times, but the elusive carp did not show, and the 100LB+ mark for the catfish is still to be broken. Let see what tomorrow brings!