During this pandemic, our Belgium friends, Didi and Mano have supported us very well. Everyone at TopCats thanks them for their custom, fun and not to mention their sporting attitude.

They are often seen in the Battle  of the Bars, representing the French Kiss, with whom Didi is an investor, or for  their own villa complex, Foliewadi. The web page for this is well worth a visit if you are looking for a quiet, private villa in the south of the island that is very close to TopCats. Check it out here www.lila-wadi.com

Mano is a complete natural at fishing and is a fish whisperer.

Along with Didi their fishing has improved over time. I noticed Didi, who is still cack handed, casting within inches of the far bank hydrangeas every cast  yesterday. The pair of them now hold the 4 hour match record with 720lb .You can read about this epic feet here

This weekend they decided to spice it up a bit and created a mini competition, Didi and Ben, fishing from the Carp Channel against Tadpole and Manu, who were in the Coconut Swim.

The rules were simple, 2 rods per team with one bait back, fishing for 5 hours. The prize was 1000 baht to the winning guide and the added incentive was 20 baht per fish to each of the guides. The extra bonus was 50 baht donated my me for the capture of Tyson.

Didi’s excellent casting to the far hydrangeas, saw him hook and land  2 Arapaima, both about 150lb. The second one led him a merry dance, in fact at one point Ben was water skiing underwater as the fish moved from the carp channel to the other side of the lake outside the bar! The end of this fight can be seen on our Facebook page as we filmed it live. He didn’t really get the carp going but did land a very long Alligator and Tyson for 8 fish and 580lb.

He didn’t stand a chance as Mano and Tadpole were catching everything. Their best was a huge Mekong, a personal best of 115lbs, again this video can be seen on our Facebook page. This was a fight and a half, a Mekong that was fighting and diving for the bank like an Amazon Redtail, and at some points Mano and Tadpole were playing the Brute together!!  A further 7 species were caught including the Black Shark Minnow and a cute Gourami. The day was capped by an 80lb lump of a Siamese and the capture of Tyson who cost me another 50 baht.

My highlight was seeing one of the biggest carp I have ever seen patrolling the margin in the Coconut. This one was 130lb ++ and I for one love these massive carp.

The team weight ended as a mahoosive 880lb with 19 fish and an easy victory for Tadpole, she got 1410 baht and Ben 190 baht plus a bottle of Lao Khao, so he was happy.

It’s hard for me to say how it is so many fish were caught in a 5 hour session. 27 fish between them is non-stop. We are a runs water but Mano in particular , when paired with Tadpole, has the magic touch. Don’t always expect this fish fest as it’s not every day the Mekong and Arapaima feed like they did this weekend.

Anyway please keep following this blog for updates on “Amazing Thailand” and the start of an opening schedule, planned in June.

Next up is Battle of the Bars No 11.