Paul Arden | Friday, 22 April 2022
Trying to catch a Gourami in two days was always going a tough call! That’s not really how I fish for them but it was certainly fun to try. It was 2.5 days this time and I think one day last time on the back of the Snakehead fishing episode. But this time Gourami could be found. Not in the feeding numbers that I was hoping for, but there were some shots to be had. On the final morning I had the perfect eat and set – and the bloody braid tippet broke on a submerged stump, about 30 seconds into the fight. Of all the times for this to happen!!! It’s never happened before; I’ve had hooks break, straighten, and even had Gourami untie knots, but I’ve never had the braid snap. Damn!!!!
Fortunately we have a couple of GoPros and already have some good catches on them. Next week I have Dirk visiting for 8 days of fishing and we will both be fishing! So I certainly hope to get some more footage and maybe some boat-to-boat footage as well.
It’s nice to have my casting zoned back in on the HT6. I’ve been fishing the HT8 so much recently that it’s taken a little while for me to dial it back in. For Gourami you need to be putting the fly down first (before the line) and be putting the fly down in an area the size of a saucer. The fly must land first. This allows the Gourami to discover it by honing in on the rings that the gently plopped fly creates.
One thing that has been useful from these days, is that I’ve found some more Gourami territories. The area that Chuan had his fantastic fishing four years ago, currently holds no fish. The area that fished well for me three years ago holds no fish. The area I used to fish 5-6 years ago holds no fish and hasn’t for three years! What can I surmise from this? That Gourami migrate territories. They often stay in an area for 3-4 months and maybe even for several years, but then they move. Why they do this I cannot say. I don’t think it is food because the food appears seasonally and so that wouldn’t explain why they move after a number of years, but I’m now certain of this behaviour.
Anyway the good news is that I found some very large Gourami in a few places and hope to catch all of them over the next months!!
All this Gourami fishing unfortunately led me to lose a Snakehead this morning. Instead of trying to pull its face off l let it run and it went straight down into a snag. You just can’t make this stuff up sometimes :))) It’s good news for Dirk however because the babies were small and quite recently hatched.
Right… I have a few more tasks to do on the Battleship before Dirk arrives. I’ve ordered up a 200ah deep cycle battery for the fridge/freezer. The boat’s electrics can’t seem to handle the fridge! Also I have a little bit of maintenance to make the Ronan more ship-shape. And if I can find the time, I want to fit the toilet walls with bamboo panels. Hmmm, but I also want to go fishing. Decisions decisions. :)))
Have a great weekend and good fishing wherever you are.
Cheers, Paul
ps thanks Rosdi for today's photos :)