Giant stingray river fishing in Thailand – 29 12 2012
Hiroshi from Japan and his group of fishing friends continued their most productive of Thailand stingray fishing trips at the Maeklong River.
After catching several decent sized Giant freshwater stingrays in the previous days from the Maeklong River they once again began fishing as the tide began to push into the tidal river.
With baits all in place the anglers waited patiently for the Giant freshwater stingrays to become active.
With the tidal river at its optimum level things looked ideal for some Giant freshwater stingray action.
A slight knocking on the tip of the heavy duty stingray fishing rod soon developed into a full blown take as the fishing rod was bent double in its holder and the line began to scream from the Okuma multiplier.
The anglers on this occasion had no doubt that they were dealing with a much larger Thailand River Monster as the line slowly began to rise out of the water as the Giant freshwater stingray moved powerfully and with determination upstream.
The engine was immediately started and the anchor pulled up allowing the anglers to follow the monster Giant freshwater stingray upstream.
Furiously winding to try to regain line onto the reel and remain in contact with the Giant freshwater stingray soon saw the fishing boat and its passengers directly above the Giant freshwater stingray.
Suddenly everything came to an abrupt halt as the Giant freshwater stingray characteristically clamped onto the riverbed.
As the captain expertly placed the fishing boat above the stingray Hiroshi and his fishing friends took turns in trying to extract the Giant freshwater stingray from its lair almost twenty metres below.
After several minutes of continual pressure the Giant freshwater stingray moved only for it to clamp onto the bottom again moments later.
The Giant freshwater Stingray repeated this process over and over again in the course of the next forty five minutes before once again making a strong and determined run further upstream.
With the battle already spanning almost an hour and starting to take its toll on the Japanese anglers the stingray emabrked on yet another unstoppable run this time towing the boat downstream.
Further pressure was applied with the 130lb class stingray fishing rod and slowly but surely the Giant freshwater stingrays run came to a halt.
After another extended period of prising the Giant freshwater stingray from the bottom the stingray finally released its vice like grip on the bottom and was broguht into the middle layers of the river.
Kiting around under the boat the Giant freshwater stingray was clearly a very heavy fish which was soon confirmed as it breached the surface layers drawing a gasp from the anglers.
The Giant freshwater stingray with a massive width in the excess of two metres and certainly weighing over 200kg’s wildly thrashed its tail as it was drawn over the big net attached to the fishing boat.
After quickly being made safe the Giant freshwater stingray was transported to the riverside where it was allowed time for recovery from the epic battle.
After photography the majestic prehistoric stingray was allowed to gracefully swim back into the tidal river none the worse for its capture.
The Japanese guys caught one further Giant freshwater stingray an hour later of a much smaller weight before the end of the days Thailand stingray fishing trip came to an end.
