On arrival at TopCats we were met by Simon the owner, who is laid back, chilled and welcoming.

Simon showed us around the venue, pointing out the swims and introducing me to his guides. Then the most surreal thing ever was when Simon grabbed a handful of bait and fed the enormous Arapaima that are inches from the bank.

With this greeting and the spectacular surroundings the lake is set in we knew that this was the perfect choice for a fishing holiday.

The fishing didn’t disappoint, our first 2 bites were possibly the 2 smallest carp in the lake (around 15lb) which got lots of laughs from the guides and we got even more laughs when we wanted a picture.

By the end of the day we were slipping back 50s and 60s without pictures, with the sheer quantity of fish you don’t know what the next bite is going to be.

We had many different species with carp to over 100lb, redtails to 70lb, arapaima to 250lb and a Mekong catfish to 350lb.

My best day was when I upgraded to arapaima swim and had 700lb of arapaima and redtails in 5 hours.

During the week we got to know Simon and the guides really well, it’s like a family and our first impressions were totally right. You feel extremely welcome and nothing is too much trouble.

There is a large bar/restaurant overlooking the lake where you can have a meal or you can have it delivered to your swim. The food is delicious and fresh.

We had a couple of days on the local beach which I can only describe as paradise.

Accommodation was good and comfortable, we had our own bungalows that have everything that you would want or expect.

Between 2 of us fishing 2 half days and 3 full days we had 54 fish totally a weight 2397lb.

James Scott & Ross Davey