AN AMAZING RIVER!

Thailand is a magical place, it is home to a couple of South East Asia's largest river systems. And it is here we are for a day on one of the behemoths, trying our luck and with little clue on what it will produce. Here's the day in pictures...

We set off bright and early, and are greeted by the beauty as the sun sheds light on the big bad river...

Like anywhere in Thailand, temples abound. A testament to the faith of the people. We say our prayers and head off...

We soon find out we are in a tidal system with hints of brackishness when a frisky Archerfish is the first fish we hook. It fell for a little Jackson Pintail 6 minnow...

Next up it is a rush of emotions as the reel screams and what seems like an unstoppable run is curtailed with some frantic rod work. Suddenly we have this spectacular fish in the boat. On closer inspection it turns out to be a Black-eared Catfish, a totally unexpected catch...

It wasn't shy about slamming the Evergreen Zeta vibe worked with the Major Craft Volkey spin stick...

This river is a bustling waterway, with a good mix of rural and urban life revolving around its long banks...

The species list just grew next, with the addition of this cute Tinfoil bard which went for the Jackall Soul Shad...

But its the Archer fish that is by far the most gregarious fish here. The DUO Toto Shad scores one...

Then another falls for the Jackall Soul Shad...

And the DUO Toto Shad gets another Archer...

Then the Major Craft Volkey spin rod gets a work out, and we get a nice Jungle Perch to the boat...

It fell for the IMA Pinjack 200, an awesome lure for searching out hungry predators...

We get yet another greedy Archer fish on the DUO Toto Shad...

Then as we break for lunch on a floating platform, a lazy cast with the DUO Realis Vibe finds this...

Its a juvenile Black-eared Catfish...

A few more proper casts later and we find a big Black-eared Cat, and awesome day just got better!

It took the DUO Realis Vibe with gusto!

And we wrap the session with yet another Archer fish, this one on the IMA Bita70...

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A DAM GOOD TRIP!

Tackle Source goes to Thailand to experience some awesome dam fishing with some good friends at the helm. The beautiful weather and some good fish made the trip one to remember. Here's what went down...

Bass boat getting readied at the end of the three hour overland journey. About to hit the water soon...

As the sun rose it unveiled the beauty of this place...

The weather was cool and the clouds hung low for most of the morning, making it an awesome backdrop...

Didn't take too long to find a nice Jungle Perch with the FEED Lures SKIP frog...

Followed by a Giant Snakehead. Not exactly the biggest of the species. But these fish are what the SKIP frog from FEED were designed for...

Meanwhile searching the hidey holes with the IMA Pinjack lure found another Giant Snakehead willing to play...

But its the FEED SKIP which does most damage with another nice Jungle Perch...

They seem to love the fast surface skipping action of the SKIP15 lure...

You can tell they are an aggressive specie when a fish this size would smash a popper like the FEED BELL15, one too big for its gob...

The FEED SKIP keeps us busy with more Snakeheads...

Big and small, they fall for the SKIP...

An the little FEED BELL popper does disappoint ether with the terrorizing of the local Snakehead population...

Then in the evening we target some larger Jungle Perch, which were a handful to pull out of their snags...

The DUO Realis Crank M65 had them fooled but we lost most hooked fish to snags. They were hard to stop...

In some snags lay Giant Snakeheads too, waiting to pounce in a split second...

They loved the DUO Realis Crank M65 too...

Big Jungle Perch are a trophy anywhere, and after losing so many to snags, every fish landed was a victory...

Kudos to the DUO Realis Crank M65 for attracting them out from their deep homes with that sexy shimmy...

Through out the trip we were hoping for a good Snakehead and our prayers were answered when this nice one was boated after some spectacular topwater misses from other fish...

The topwater flurry of the Jackall Cracker Buzz just turned these fish on so bad...

Another small Giant Snakehead, this time on the IMA Pinjack, to keep us busy between better fish...

Just before heading back we were pleasantly surprised to score this nice Jungle Perch in the middle of the hot day. On the Major Craft Nextino Travel Trout rod, if put up an epic battle...

The IMA Pinjack 200 has become one of our favourite crankbaits, and its hard to see why not...

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A NEW STREAM!

The thrill of exploring a totally new system is intensely exhilarating. When there is a high chance of no one ever casting a lure in these waters ever before the anxiety is overwhelming. It was a rather long trek to find proper holes but it made the adventure more exciting...

The team would have to traverse some rocky terrain to get to stream fishing nirvana, if it existed...

When we eventually found a patch of decent water we were rewarded. The DUO Spearhead Ryuki is the first choice of lure every time and it produced this small Blue Mahseer which gleamed in the sunlight...

The pools we came across were not huge but we were surprised by the size of some of the inhabitants, like this nice Blue Mahseer. Also taken on the trusty Spearhead Ryuki 50S by DUO...

The landscape was mesmerising and encountering these wild fish made it all the more special. The Ryuki keeps us busy with another Mahseer...

There are other unidentified species too.  And they weren't afraid to protect their territory from intruding lures...

Another nice sized Blue Mahseer, and a beautifully marked one too. Special mention goes out to the Major Craft Fine Tail Trout Stream rod. It was tailor-made for this type of work and was a joy to use...

The fish were willing, and another Mahseer hit the deck. Ryuki 50S with another...

But the stream grew smaller pretty quick and it made no sense to keep trekking. It was a special place none the less, and made for a great adventure...

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MICRO BASSIN'!

An hour to kill? Grab the ultras light outfit and head to the nearest waterway. Keep fingers crossed...

Prayer is heard on this occasion, with this nice little Peacock Bass taken on the ultra light Major Craft MS-X spin stick...

With vary fish one of the best lures for a stealthy approach is the OSP Dunk in the smallest size...

Then we wrapped up the short walk with this frisky little Zebra Cichlid which attacked the jackal Soul Shad which was barely larger than itself...

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tacklesource@live.com