Newsletter February 2018

Welcome to our latest newsletter where you’ll find what’s been happening at Jurassic in February!

Welcome to Jurassic Mountain Resort, Fishing in Thailand

The weather is getting warmer – February’s temperature averaged 30 degrees with the water temperature in the upper layers mirroring this. With hardly any rainfall the lake has been busy with anglers from Holland, Austria, Norway, Jersey, Australia, Austria, the USA as well as the UK, all seeking quality fishing in a friendly atmosphere on a first class resort.

Jurassic’s Resort Manager

Jurassic has gone from strength to strength in the last 3 years and that is in part due to our Resort Manager, Veerapong Boonlorm or Piak as we all know him. Originating from Pattani in South Thailand, Piak has managed hotels and restaurants for the past 20 years and he has brought his professionalism and excellent customer service to Jurassic – we are very lucky to have him. He heads our superb staff team of 3 chefs, 4 receptionists and waitresses, 2 room maids and 1 engineer ensuring that the resort runs like clockwork at all times. Piak liaises closely with the Fishery Manager to ensure that everything is in place to give our guests an enjoyable and memorable holiday both on and off the lake. As well as keeping the resort running seamlessly Piak, the consummate professional, also organises the daily draw for swims, ensures the Sunday roast is excellent and will give advice/guidance to help guests organise their sightseeing itineraries – nothing is ever too much trouble for our resort manager! He is welcoming to all our guests and as with the majority of people in the Land of Smiles is always smiling.

Hot Off The Press!
Recent guests will be familiar with the all new Jurassic Monster Tackle range. In January we launched this exciting new tackle range and all anglers staying for 3 or more days fishing get, to not only use the above tackle during their stay, but also to take it all home with them in the specially branded bag. The bag contains; leads, pre-tied carp rigs, pre-tied predator rigs, silicone tubing and tubing tails, wire tubing threader, baiting needle, braid scissors, catapult, beads, swivels, line stoppers and the leads ‘n’ bits bag. If you’re staying for less than 3 days unfortunately you have to leave it behind but all tackle items are on sale in the Jurassic Tackle shop along with a selection of branded clothing.

Fancy going head to head with 9 other anglers in Jurassic’s inaugural carp fishing contest and winning the cost of your holiday back?
Due to a cancellation a space has become available in this year’s competition. Arriving on the 1st July, you’ll spend the next 6 days going up against other carp anglers in pursuit of the heaviest carp and head home on the 8th. We’ll have a mobile weigh station set up ready and waiting for our competition adjudicator and the Jurassic team of gillies to accurately weigh any carp that gets caught. The prize for the angler that catches the heftiest carp is the cost of their weeks fishing, accommodation and airport transfers back in cash! Reckon you’ve got what it takes? Contact enquiries@wordpress-1242400-4445492.cloudwaysapps.com now for more details – there won’t be a space for long!

February on the Lake.
February has seen a number of guests returning to Jurassic and a lot of new ones experiencing our tropical fishing paradise for the first time. Below is a snapshot of some of our guests’ experiences – apologies to those we haven’t featured.

This has been a busy month on the lake with some incredible catches (26 in one day which was close to the lake record!) and a great variety of fish caught. As always the Amazon redtail takes top spot for the most visits to the landing net, normally taken on the float with either dead bait or chicken carcass at a depth of 1 foot. It isn’t the only catfish that has been enticed by the dead bait with the Chao Phraya also featuring and, not to be outdone, the prehistoric looking Niger ripsaw rewarded a lucky angler as well. The spotted sorubim, like the redtail native to the Amazon basin in South America, completes the catfish captures for the month.

Arapaima were keen to be photographed at the beginning of the month as returning guest John, on his annual pilgrimage to Thailand, discovered. He was in search of monster carp and whilst fishing both his rods on the pellet received a screaming take; it soon became apparent that he was hooked into an arapaima, not quite the carp he had planned but a stunning fish nonetheless.

Dirk was back at Jurassic with his friend Thies and after fishing together for a few days and landing a variety of species Thies decided to target the arapaima. Forgoing his carp rod and fishing with two predator rods he waited patiently until, with only a few hours to go on his final day, the rods ripped off and battle commenced – target acquired!

Lee arrived at Jurassic the afternoon before he was due to start fishing so used the time to walk round the lake to see how the swims had changed since his last trip and to have a chat with the anglers already there. This enabled him to make an informed choice of swim in the evening’s draw and it certainly looked like the preparation had paid off as, within the first few hours of fishing the following day, he hooked an arapaima and was playing it to the cage, absorbing the powerful runs and gaining line. Alas however the fish was half in the cage when it suddenly turned and shook the hook off, something that often happens in arapaima fishing! Fortunately however as the sun started to set Lee received another run but this time, having learnt from the morning’s disappointment, Lee played the arapaima into the net perfectly to claim his prize and get the all important photo.

As with a lot of our visitors Shaun had always dreamed of landing an arapaima. The journey to his goal started in swim 16 with his first take which, amazingly, was from an arapaima. Unfortunately, despite following the gillie’s guidance, the fish managed to shake the hook along the marginal vegetation and alas, as with Lee’s earlier, it was lost. A good sized redtail was some consolation but then, just as the sun was setting, one of the rods burst into life and Shaun achieved his dream. Even better was that when he returned to the swim the following day and used the same tactics he landed his second arapaima just as darkness descended on the lake!

The big Siamese have been eager to feed as well this month with a good number of them being caught. In swim 12 Brad produced some good-sized carp before ending his day with a stunning 100lb+ specimen – you’ll see by his huge grin in the photo section below that he was rather pleased with it! Like a number of anglers he would rest his swim periodically and take the time to walk the lake chatting to the other fishermen to see how their swims were faring; a great way to gather intel for the swim draw.

Neil and Daniel were another pair of anglers who used their spare time on arrival day to walk the lake gathering information and discussing swim choice. Yet again their preparation paid off as Neil’s first fish out of swim 9 was a 100lb+ carp whilst Daniel bagged a big redtail! The following day Neil chose swim 12 and within half an hour of starting fishing had netted an arapaima. Switching back to pellets in the afternoon he then caught another 100lb+ carp – excellent fishing.

After losing an arapaima on his last trip returning angler Mick was hoping that this time things would be different. Initially spending time targeting his nemesis he decided to have a day on the pellet targeting carp – a great decision as he beat his personal best not once but twice! Great fishing.

Daniel and a chunky redtail
The dream of an arapaima came true for Shaun – twice!
Mick beating his PB not once but twice!
Ronald (one half of the Dutch towers) with his niger ripsaw catfish
Brett and his first catch of the trip – a rather angry Amazon redtail
Dave and one of 3 arapaima he was fortunate enough to meet!
And the following day a 100lb+ carp from another swim
A 100lb+ carp from one swim for Neil…..
The spotted sorubim put in an appearance for a delighted guest this month
Shaun and his 100+lb Siamese
A specimen Siamese for tackle shop owner Edward
Adam & George with their matching catches
At last! Lee and his arapaima
Thies and his last minute arapaima
John and his unintended arapaima

Watercraft plays its part!
In the early morning the sun strikes the right hand side of the lake (swims 9-16) and, if you’re quiet, fish can often be found in the margins with tilapia showing first but closely followed by the arapaima. Edward had selected one of these swims and after a quick cup of coffee was keen to start fishing.
Whilst in the middle of the gillie’s introduction he spotted a disturbance feet from the edge of the swim and with no time to spare he prepared the predator rod along with a bucket of chum (mashed fish); by feeding small pieces of fish and creating a scent trail prey fish can also be tempted into an area which adds further attraction for any potential predators.
Around an hour later and after many liners Edward received a take only for the fish to shake the hook. Fortunately the constant application of chum every 15 minutes tempted another arapaima to the area and he was able to watch the take unfold only a few feet from the edge. A big vortex rose and the line plucked before slowly pulling tight as the fish gathered pace, culminating in an action packed scrap before Edward claimed his prize.

February’s Angler of The Month – Richard Larter

Richard has been our most prolific angler this month and although we have had some excellent anglers in February, for sheer consistency and number of fish caught he had to be Jurassic’s angler of the month. He constantly averaged the most fish on a daily basis whilst netting a number of different species at a variety of weights. With only a few days left of his stay Richard set himself the challenge of seeing how many fish he could catch in one day – well the answer was 26! An amazing haul of 17 Amazon redtails, 4 Siamese carp, 1 tambaqui and 4 tilapia. The majority of the catfish were taken on the float and the remaining species hooked on the method feeder. For a short video of Richard’s spectacular tambaqui go to: https://www.facebook.com/JurassicMountainResortFishingPark/videos/1575007572595251/

Yet another arapaima for our angler of the month
Richard very kindly let friends in on the act
Richard and one of his arapaima

Swim Allocation
Here at Jurassic we have a draw for the swims. This means that everybody knows which swim they have prior to arriving on the lake first thing in the morning. The draw is held each night in the clubhouse and is a lighthearted banter filled occasion. There are no reserved swims at Jurassic and our draw gives everyone the chance to move around the lake and fish the different swims.

CLOSED – Photo Competition – CLOSED –
The photo competition is now closed so please do not send any more photos in! We have existing entries scheduled to post on Facebook until the end of March at which point the top 10 photos will be selected and put through to the final. A guest judge will then choose the winner who will be notified at the beginning of April. The prize for the winner is 6 days fishing including bait, tackle, lunch and dinner, 7 nights accommodation including breakfast, return flights and airport transfers. Beverages are not included and the prize is for 1 person only.

Lakeside villa for sale – 9.95 million Baht
A unique opportunity has arisen to purchase a stunning bespoke 1 bedroom lakeside villa at Jurassic! With 130m² of living space and 55m² of terraces, fabulous lake views and lifetime fishing rights at Jurassic Mountain Fishing Park this villa is a fisherman’s dream.

The villa is fully fitted and finished to a very high standard, its many features include: