I have just returned from a four day expedition to the Ban Pakong River. We were joined by emminent fish biologist Dr.Zeb Hogan and Nat Geo news writer Stefan Lovgren who like fishsiam share the quest to find the largest freshwater fish on the planet. Fishing a river slightly out of sorts with lower than normal water levels the team accounted for four different specimens in a four day period with fish estimated to weigh upto 130-140kg(1.75m).

Scientific data was recorded for all of the captures with a large female specimen observed to be heavily pregnant. Whilst being handled in the margins of the massive tidal river the fish gave birth to a perfectly formed live newborn of a mere 34cm. The fish were promptly released after a short examination by Dr.Hogan and photography. I believe that this is a good sign for the species and reinforces my belief that there is a much larger population present in several of Thailand's vast river systems than previously thought , thriving and breeding in some of the wildest and unexplored waters in S.E.Asia. In the coming months we will be continuing our efforts on the Ban Pakong River and sharing information with Dr.Hogan and his colleagues in an attempt to gain a further understanding into this most understudied and obscure species.

I have attached pictures of a 40kg and 45kg caught on the first day in addition to the 140kg and newborn.
Regards,
Rick Humphreys

You can checkout Rick's Fishing in Thailand website for more details of his local angling guides service.

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