Stingray fishing in Thailand Samut Songkran – 10 11 2009
Day two of a Stingray fishing research expedition to the Maeklong River in Samut Songkran province saw the Fishsiam team once again fishing for stingrays in its lower tidal reaches.
After previously catching three Giant Stingrays during the preceding day the anglers returned to a wide section of the river and began to position their baits.
Large catfish livebaits were mounted onto big Owner Mutu hooks before being rowed out to various marks across the tidal river.
After placing the baits at intervals across the main channel of the river the anglers waited patiently for events to unfold.
Almost an hour later a slow nodding on the tip of one of the big game rods revealed the presence of another monster fish deep below.
As the run began to develop line started to be pulled off the reel in short bursts as an angry stingray moved across the riverbed.
The anglers immediately applied pressure with the heavy 130lb Conoflex stand up rod forcing the stingray from the muddy riverbed where it plodded around deep under the boat in mid water.
A further five minutes passed as the unseen giant stingray continually attempted to dive back down to the muddy substrate.
With the big game rod completely overpowering the giant stingray the battle was rather one sided and the stingray was brought to the surface moments later.
The small freshwater stingray was quickly brought over the net before being secured to the side of the boat.
The fish was slowly transported to the riverside for scientific examination by the scientists from Chulalongkorn University.
The freshwater stingray was observed to be a male and was estimated to weigh 40kg’s, the stingray was measured at a width of 1.2m’s
After returning to the productive area the anglers were soon hooked into another Giant stingray.
On this occasion the battle was slightly more protracted and resulted in a Giant freshwater stingray of a similar size.
The stingray on this occasion was measured at a width of 1.3m’s and was observed to be another male.
The anglers also experienced two other takes from stingray on that afternoon but sadly did not land any further fish due to the unusual occurrence of the hook not taking a good enough hold in the fishes mouths.
In the afternoon the Provincial governor for Samut Songkran province attended the research area in a prearranged visit to participate in the release of Giant stingrays caught from the river. After giving interviews for local and National television news teams the provincial governor assisted in the release of several freshwater stingrays, personally releasing the monster 200kg stingray back into the tidal river.
