Newsletter June 2016

Catches, entertainment and news from Thailand’s only exclusive syndicated sport-fishing venue.

Welcome once again to the Jurassic Mountain newsletter that gives you all the news, gossip, catch reports and light hearted anglers antics that relates to this Thailand fishing paradise for the month of June. A big thanks to all the new faces and returning guests who succumbed to the gravitational pull of our ‘extreme fishing gem.’ It was our pleasure indeed to welcome you all to Jurassic Mountain Resort and Fishing Park.

You may have noticed that the Amazon Redtails here at Jurassic are rapidly gaining weight with specimens of around 70 pounds or so now coming to the net on a regular basis. But these are nothing compared to what this species can grow to. The world record is held by a Brazilian guy named Gilberto Fernandes ( no relation to Jules ) at 123 pounds 7 ounces although 180 pounds and 1.8 metres in length have been recorded. These 70 odd pounders fight like hell and I can only imagine what kind of scrap a redtail of twice that weight would give you. Absolutely awesome I would think.
So it looks like we’re going to be in for some major battles when our babies reach their full potential because given a constant food source including our fish care programme which includes keeping an ever watchful eye on water quality control, we at Jurassic Mountain are totally committed in making sure that they do just that.

Right, let’s now take a light hearted and a very tongue in cheek look at a selection of some of the anglers who graced Jurassic Mountain for the month of June. As per normal my apologies are extended to those who wanted a mention but didn’t get one and to those who got a mention ….. and wished they hadn’t. Here goes ….

It was the tail end of May that Jason and Russell, two expats from Pattaya enjoyed what can only be described as a visit of red letter days. Unfortunately the May edition of the newsletter had already been finalised and gone to print which included the details of how Jason had managed to capture an arapaima of well over 200 pounds but not being satisfied with landing that arapaima among a net full of carp and catfish between them that included a double hook up or two, Jason then cracked into the Siamese carp of a lifetime that was well on the way to weighing in at that magical 200 pound mark itself.
Suffice to say we’ll no doubt be seeing more of these two lads in the future.

The Jurassic Mountain welcome mat was laid out for Terry Eustace on th last day of May, proprietor of Gold Label Tackle and the Birmingham Angling Centre up in the Midlands.
Speaking to Terry one morning before he set off to his peg for the day, he showed me a rather amusing note that his daughter Jacki had left him after she’d been to his house to do his ironing. He’d asked Jacki to sort out and press his shirts for him to come away to Thailand with but Terry also informed me that it’s a well known fact that when he eats, half of it goes in his mouth and the other half seems to find it’s way down the front of his shirt.
Terry has a very dry sense of humour and it seems that daughter Jacki takes after him. Here’s the note …..

Dad,
The shirts to your left behind you all have stains on them ranging from similar to a waitresses apron to more stains than on a bedsheet in a brothel.
The shirt to your right hanging on it’s own has got one small mark on it, you must have only worn it for half an hour.
The other two shirts are stain free…….. probably f–king new!!
All ironed and hung up as instructed,
Jac x

So Terry set off to his peg wearing his fisherman’s tunic that I can also confirm had stains all down the front of it that looked suspiciously like soup and we waited to see what this man of angling knowledge would achieve here at Jurassic Mountain. He didn’t do too bad at all really as he managed to bank in excess of thirty fish with the biggest carp weighing in at ninety pounds.
So quite a haul for Terry who left here with his reputation untarnished which as you all know, untarnished means immaculate, unblemished and spotless which is more than I can say for his bloody shirts!

Yorkshireman Trevor who now lives in Cairo of all places arrived with his wife for a six day Jurassic session. His first four casts on his first day produced four fish, two redtails around 35 pounds and two Siamese around the 50….. and then it got even better. By the end of the day he’d amassed a total of 20 fish consisting of 17 carp and 3 redtails and amazingly still found time to take a break from the heat with a well deserved afternoon break in the resorts pool. How’s that for a first days sport? Fortunately for Trevor this was no fluke because he carried on in the same vein for the duration of his visit and by the end of day six, his final tally was more than just impressive to say the least because he landed ninety eight fish, yes folks NINETY EIGHT fish in six days, his biggest being a Siamese at over 105 pounds, an Indian carp at 20 pounds plus and an Amazon redtail at 45. Congratulations to Trev for setting a new record here at Jurassic for a six day session. That’s Trev in the main newsletter photo showing off his best Siamese carp.
Trevor and his wife enjoyed every minute of their stay here and his parting shot on their departure was that he’d fished the whole world over and from the greeting to the farewells, this place was second to none. Also, because he’d had that much action……it was harder work than going to the gym. Having watched Trevor in action when fighting with a few of those fish, I can see the comparison in that remark……..but it beats doing press ups any day of the week don’t it Trev?

We had great pleasure in accommodating Mike and Rod from Northamptonshire who were advised to pay us a visit by none other than Martin Bowler, the well known angler and columnist of the Angling Times.

I will quote Rod first who banked seventeen fish in a one day stint by saying, ‘I have fished all over the world but that days sport was the best I’ve ever had.’
I seem to have heard that remark somewhere before. That’s some accolade indeed from a well seasoned and well traveled angler and one that is very similar to a lot more that I’ve been hearing lately from many extremely satisfied anglers who’ve ventured into Jurassic Mountain.

And so to Mike who is a retired optician and who made a right spectacle of himself when he landed the fish that he so sought after….. The Amazon redtail. To say he was happy would be a gross understatement. Mike was bloody ecstatic when he landed a beauty around the fifty pound mark.
Being an optical expert, I asked Mike what I should do about the spots that I see in front of my eyes.
‘Have you seen an optician?’ Mike enquired,
‘No’ I replied. ‘just bloody spots.’

Their six day stint at Jurassic proved to be one that will remain long in their memory because by the time it had come for them to say their farewells, they’d banked 66 fish between them with their best being a Siamese carp around 70 pounds, a redtail at 65, an Indian carp at over twenty and an arapaima at 100 pounds plus. Suffice to say these two worldly anglers have vowed to return again next June and we will look forward with pleasure to their arrival once more.

A big hello to Gary who literally made his decision at the very last minute to jump on a plane and sample the Jurassic Mountain experience. Gary is from Buckinghamshire quite close to that quaint little concrete metropolis famous for it’s concrete cows, endless roundabouts and thousands of miles of cycle paths namely Milton Keynes. Yes, I did say cycle paths but you’ll be forgiven if you mistook this to mean psychopaths as not only in my opinion would you have to be completely off your rocker to live there in the first place, there’s also the resident lunatic who thought that concrete cows would make the place seem less like a concrete jungle. Where’s that strait jacket? Nevertheless, if you haven’t yet had the pleasure of visiting Milton Keynes, stick it on your bucket list…….. because the feeling of total euphoria you’ll get when leaving the place is not to be missed.

Gary’s first day was pretty impressive as he landed eleven fish in total being 3 nice redtails and 8 Siamese carp to around the 70 pound mark. Not a bad first day at all for Gary within his Jurassic Mountain experience and he carried on in the same vein for the duration of his stay landing specimen fish on a daily basis. Beats the hell out of driving around those Milton Keynes roundabouts don’t it mate?

I popped back to the UK during June for twelve days to see my son and to go on the yearly pilgrimage to Royal Ascot. Whilst I was there I was asked the question that I’ve been asked on numerous occasions, ‘Do I miss the UK or ever get bored?’
It’s a very easy one for me to answer…….
Not only am I about to live in my beautiful lakeside house that I’m having built at the foot of the mountain set in a seemingly endless summer in a location that I can only describe as akin to paradise, I also get to live with a beautiful young lady who displays all the attributes of a Thai goddess and who gives me nothing more to worry about except to decide whether I should go fishing, go to the beach or simply lay by the pool and basically do sod all. Furthermore, I also get to walk around the fabulous lake with my two best friends Alfie the Shi Tzu and Tiger the cat who follow me around like the devoted friends that they are wrestling with each other as they go and the added benefit of that I get to meet and talk to up to ten new guests and potential new friends every day of the week.
So there you have it and, in answer to that question whether I miss ‘Ol Blighty …… Nah…. Not a chance ! Would you ?

So as June slipped away into Jurassic Mountain history, I now look forward to next month and all the new arrivals and old faces that it will inevitably bring.
I hope this newsletter tempts you to sample the delights that Jurassic Mountain has to offer and hopefully we’ll have the pleasure of your company in the future where you will have the opportunity to realise your dreams and maybe just catch the fish of your lifetime. However, in the event that the fishing gods decree that the monster fish that you seek eludes you on the day, at least you’ll return home safe in the knowledge that you’ve just fished at the closest place resembling paradise that you could ever imagine possible.

Very finally, a special mention to England’s very own angling legend John Wilson who is set to celebrate his 73rd birthday here in Thailand on the 24th July. Feels like the ‘Ol boy’s been around forever !

Tight lines all, see you on here next month.