BUCKET LIST: Dream Fishing in Thailand

This is my story. I had a dream. No, I am not Martin Luther King, I am just an ordinary passionate angler who has been fortunate enough to be able to fish various methods, styles, facets, and venues in and around southern Africa for the last 60 years.
Like many anglers, I dreamt about fishing for different giant species in exotic locations. To fulfil this dream and celebrate achieving the biblical three score and ten (70) years, I planned a trip to a venue which is rated by many well-known anglers as the world’s finest freshwater fishing destination, Gillhams Fishing Resorts in Krabi, Thailand.
The resort is run by the Gillham family who selected the site to dig a lake of 12 acres and 7m deep in parts. It has developed into a premier global freshwater fishing destination. The lake was stocked in 2007 with 46 species of fish from around the world. These include arapaima, Mekong catfish, Siamese carp, alligator gar and Chao Phraya catfish, each of which exceed 70kg, with arapaima and Mekong catfish exceeding 150kg. There are a host of smaller species including pacu, tambaqui, vundu, tarpon, Amazon redtail catfish, Niger ripsaw catfish and various stingrays. Many world-renowned anglers have visited the resort and it is their accounts of the fishing there that sparked my dream.