Mahseer, Thai

The Thai Mahseer is a stunning member of the cyprinidae family of fish which is highly sought after by both fly fishing and lure fishing enthusiasts in Thailand.  The Thai Mahseer is widely distributed throughout Thailand and can be found in both the Chaophraya and Mekong basins and the Salween and Maeklong Rivers. It’s range outside of Thailand includes Myanmar, the Malay peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo.
This Mahseer species is also known as the Thai Golden Mahseer is a heavily scaled predatory carp species which subsists on an omnivorous diet of small fish, insects and crustaceans.
The Thai Mahseer favours shallow oxygenated pools with a gravel or sandy substrate and is mainly found in small streams and Thai rivers during the dry season. At the onset of the raining season mature Thai Mahseer move downstream.
In July Thai Mahseer migrate upstream where they spawn at the mouths of streams in which the young subsequently ascend.
Thai Mahseer are known to forage in submerged or flooded forest in times of high water levels and sometimes consume toxic fruits making them temporarily inedible.
Thai Mahseer can be caught from various streams and rivers throughout Thailand in addition to several commercial fisheries such as Palm Tree Lagoon.
Fishing in Thailand for Thai Mahseer is a highly adventurous undertaking often requiring anglers to venture to some of the more remote and uncharted regions of Thailand in search of this most wily and elusive of Thailand fishes