AndyS

Tom- Pla Chon Nam Tok is my absolute favorite fish dish in the world. I will sometimes keep smaller Giant Snakehead (Pla Chado) and medium sized Striped Snakehead (Pla Chon). They are an excellent tasting fish. Where did you grow up in Thailand? I've traveled and fished form Chiang Rai to Khao Sok down by Phuket. I really enjoy heading to Kanchanaburi and Sangklahburi to the Dams as well. It's been a lot of fun figuring out how to catch new species of fish. Luckily I'm able to speak Thai well enough that I can have conversations about techniques with the local fisherman and everyone has been more than willing to help. I'm always amazed at how small the world has become with the internet!

My wife and I both teach at a private International school here in Bangkok. Basically most of the students at our school are from all of the embassies here in Bangkok. We also have a lot students that are sent to our school by their parent's companies. It's an outstanding job and lets us see the world at the same time. I was raised in Geneseo, Illinois and still return there every summer to see my family, so you can guess what river I grew up fishing. I know my home river was a hot button issue last year on this forum. I also fish the Rock River and Mississippi. I went to college in Naperville so I fished the Dupage and Fox Rivers a lot. My first teaching job was in Oswego so I was able to continue fishing the Fox on a regular basis. I definitely miss fishing for smallmouth in the fall. I'm always lurking on the forum looking enviously at everyone's pics of their catches when spring and fall fishing are hot. This past summer was the first time in couple of years that I was able to fish my favorite river. The 2 summers before that the water levels were just way too high all summer. Talk about disappointment. I am able to fill the empty void with fishing for some of Thailand's native species. That is a Giant Snakehead in my profile pic. Fishing for them is very similar to fishing for largemouth during an Illinois summer. Wake up early to beat the heat. Find the lily pads, weed line, ambush points and start tossing top water baits. 95% of my fish have been caught on soft weedless frogs like Rage Toads or Bull Ribbits. It is an extremely exciting and explosive way to fish. Snakehead are very aggressive and will sometimes miss a bait 3-4 times before they finally get it. It's like the equivalent of a pit bull when it comes to fish. They latch on and do not let go. I posted a gallery of just some of my Thailand catches. You'll have to check it out. I hope to be more of a regular on the forum and would love to hook up with people and go fishing when I'm home in summers.

Awesome pics. and story. I can totally relate to your story. The river I fish back home has plenty of big flatheads and good size smallies as well. My father grew up fishing on the same river and was always telling me stories about the big flatheads they would catch. It took some research and patience, but finally I was able to consistenly hook into large flathead. 2 years ago in July I had one my most memorable days of fishing ever. Went to the river in the morning and caught a 20" pig of a smallmouth and later that night landed 22, 35 and 45 pound flatheads. I am always amazed at the brute force of those fish! Nothing like hearing the clicker on the reel go off, turning the handle, setting the hook and then almost getting taken off your feet. It's always a fun change from smallmouth fishing. I typically fish at night off the bank and sit back and enjoy all the sounds and night time activity. I always look forward to heading back to Illinois and getting out on my favorite river for June and July. The rest of the year I occupy my time fishing for Giant Snakehead here in Thailand. They don't fight as hard as smallies or flatheads, but the fact they can take off a finger makes it pretty exciting!