Hey All,

I finally got to go fishing after a month of adjusting and settling in here. I made a friend here in Laos that likes fishing as much as me. We hit it off and made plans to go to the large reservoir one hour north of where I live in the Capitol of Vientianne. The name of the lake is Nahm Ngum which is about the size of Mille Lacs Lake except it is dotted with many islands. I amazed and pleasantly surprised by the remoteness of this water. There has probably been very few foreigners who have been able to fish it like I was able to. We saw very few boats on the lake when we were fishing.

This lake is amazingly beautiful. I was awestruck by its beauty and seclusion. I never thought this cool place existed. Not much info can be found about this place even online.

The target species was the, "Hampala Barb" Its Scientific Name is: Hampala macrolepidota and in Thai is known as, "Pla Kasoop Keed." There is another species very similar called, "Pla Kasoop Juud," which we caught also. The "Keed" is a much bigger species.



This structure was built before the dam was built.



Morning on Nahm Ngum.



This is the smaller "Pla Kasoop Juud" which I have caught before.



My friend Lan with a nice "Keed."



I finally got my new life-lister; the "Pla Kasoop Keed."



Mountains surround this beautiful Lake.





Lan's brother-in-law, who owned the boat.



We fished weed and brush structures like this.



Notice the lone wisker at the corner of the mouth.



This was the big one of the day. I was told it was a trophy by Lao standards. It went 22" and about 5 lbs.



These fish have a unique gold color to them. I have never seen such big scales before.



We ended the day with 17. 8 were "Keed" and 9 were "Juud."



Overall, this ranks real high in my fishing experiences. I have learned an incredible amount about international fishing and culture. These fish were very aggressive and were all caught on silver and gold spoons. They are very sporty much like fishing for bass or northern. When they hit, it's like a ton of bricks. I am looking forward to my next outing up there and I am glad to have the opportunity. I am truly a blessed man!

Cast and Blast, you don't know how lucky you are it's 28 and snowing and I am going to the river to chase some mega eyes.

Keep the reports coming I will be sharing with my wife and kids your fishing experiences abroad. Cool, Cool, stuff....

WOW!!

beautiful country there!
and some great looking fish.

and yes its 28 degrees here in wisconsin too, snow will hit tonight.
and the steelhead are calling. lol

Take care.

It had to be in the 80's on saturday but the best weather is coming. 70's today and will be like that for the next 4 months. As much as I love ice fishing, I don't mind missing a MN winter. Don't be too jealous though because the rest of the year here is hot, hot, hot.

Those fish are very cool. They very much resemble their (much) smaller aquarium cousins (Tinfoil Barbs). Keep those pics coming!

Nice fish! Here in Illinois, we're freezing and there are few fish to be found. I wish I could be wearing shorts right now!

Yowza,

Very cool fish with those big golden scales and big predatory mouths! Beautiful country too........

Over here in Holland, the autumn winds are howling, rain and hail are the order of the day, and it's been a long while since I connected to something meaningful.

Good to see you having some fun in the sun!
Can't wait to see the next new species you bring in!

When reading this remember that this is the first time fishing in over a month for him. The longest I ever heard him not fish was 2 weeks after he had surgery. The opportunity for him over there is amazing with the new fish he can catch but the diversity is not nearly as great. We are spoiled in the midwest with all the fish to be caught. I am looking forward to new adventures through the ice!


Good to see some new pics of you with Fish Half Pint!

Later

Aaron

wow..

Outdoors4life wrote:

QUOTE:
The opportunity for him over there is amazing with the new fish he can catch but the diversity is not nearly as great. We are spoiled in the midwest with all the fish to be caught.

You are right about being spoiled in the midwest. Accessability is way easier back home. The fishing is even better back home because of regulations. I cringe when I hear about the methods of fishing over here like the use of bombs and poisons to catch fish. Waters in populated areas are netted to death and only have little fish. Catch and release is a "literally" foreign idea and virtually never practiced. So what do you do? It's a third world country struggling to survive where most fishing is subsistant and not sport. I am thankful to find the remote Nahm Ngum reservoir and will search for others too.

The one thing I have going for me is all the new species which makes it cool and I am considered rich here (even though I am not in the US) and have more opportunities than the average national. It is cool to fish these new species but count your blessings back home for the rich wildlife you possess in your waters at home.

I love to see the diversity of fish. Convergent evolution is so cool. That fish looks so much like a large mouth bass to me... only it is evolved from minnows instead of sunfish.

Thanks for sharing. Keep the pics coming! I want to see them all.

Tyler

Very Cool looking fish...are there other species in that lake??? How deep...looks very deep. Keep posting pics when you can. Thanks again for sharing.

Fish_E_Hunter wrote:

QUOTE:
Very Cool looking fish...are there other species in that lake??? How deep...looks very deep. Keep posting pics when you can. Thanks again for sharing.

There are other species here. I am new here and the exploration has just begun. I need to get better with the language so I can communicate better to the boat driver. I was told that the Featherback and Snakehead do exist here. Unfortunately, overfishing during spawning seasons has negatively effected the population. I am only going by what I've heard from my friend. "Kasoop," the species we caught are also open water species which allows the populations to stay good. It is harder for them to decimate open water species because of the large expanse of water. This is only theory however.

I have heard of bombs being used for fishing when the Featherbacks are spawning. This place is more remote and vast so I can't imagine they would decimate them all. It is kind of disappointing when you hear about their techniques but Nahm Ngum is probably the best place to go anyhow.

As far as depth goes, I'm sure there is so deep water here when you see the terrain surrounding this reservoir there must be flooded valleys that go deep. I have a depth finder coming in a crate I had sent so I can't wait to see the lay of the bottom. It will probably be the first time a fish graph has ever been used here.

That is so cool. Those fish are really uniquely beautiful. I am glad that you are back on the water.

I am so glad you finally got to wet a line....... and in such an awesome "setting" (for lack of a better word).

The fish in the bucket, were you able to be part of the feast? How were they prepared and what would you compare the taste to in terms of one of our midwestern fish?

Very cool

Cast_and_Blast wrote:

QUOTE:
Fish_E_Hunter wrote:

QUOTE:
Very Cool looking fish...are there other species in that lake??? How deep...looks very deep. Keep posting pics when you can. Thanks again for sharing.

There are other species here. I am new here and the exploration has just begun. I need to get better with the language so I can communicate better to the boat driver. I was told that the Featherback and Snakehead do exist here. Unfortunately, overfishing during spawning seasons has negatively effected the population. I am only going by what I've heard from my friend. "Kasoop," the species we caught are also open water species which allows the populations to stay good. It is harder for them to decimate open water species because of the large expanse of water. This is only theory however.

I have heard of bombs being used for fishing when the Featherbacks are spawning. This place is more remote and vast so I can't imagine they would decimate them all. It is kind of disappointing when you hear about their techniques but Nahm Ngum is probably the best place to go anyhow.

As far as depth goes, I'm sure there is so deep water here when you see the terrain surrounding this reservoir there must be flooded valleys that go deep. I have a depth finder coming in a crate I had sent so I can't wait to see the lay of the bottom. It will probably be the first time a fish graph has ever been used here.

Like you mentioned in an earlier post.."It is what it is." I think that said it best. That's why I don't go fishing with my Uncles anymore...it annoys me when they keep EVERYTHING...lol. No pun intended to anyone.

Cool looking fish there Mike! Glad you got out to wet a line finally. Boy, they do look like a Tinfoil Barb or even kind of like a Fallfish. Keep the cool pics coming and good luck.

Eric Kol wrote:

QUOTE:
I am so glad you finally got to wet a line....... and in such an awesome "setting" (for lack of a better word).

The fish in the bucket, were you able to be part of the feast? How were they prepared and what would you compare the taste to in terms of one of our midwestern fish?

Very cool

I kept 3 of the bigger ones for myself and let my friend take the rest. When I got home I gave one to my night guard and his wife and my day guard happened to be there and so I had to give him one too. Then I realized that my morning guard is his brother so I couldn't give to one and not the other so I ended up giving him my last one which left me with none. I have to get this cultural thing down here. Next time, I will either bring enough for everyone including me or just for myself.

It is no big deal though because I will get back up there fishing again soon. If it's any consellation, they told me they made "Fish Laab" (a common dish here with hot peppers and spices in it) with it and it was very delicious. By the way, My night guard had eel soup the other night too. It actually looked good.

Interesting dynamics!

I seem to remember my mother mentioning eel in the markets more than once when she lived/taught in china.

I know that here in town I give plenty of smaller carp to Asian (and more and more Latino) families. I have asked a few times for favorite ways to prepare carp and i think I have never heard the same way twice! All seem pretty dependant on strong spice though.

Great report!

At first glance those fish look like a "mahseer". Have only seen a few mahseer pics from India. I suppose there is a chance of relation?

Love to see all the shapes and forms that fish morph into. Those are some real beauties! Congrats and keep the stories and photos coming.

Match