Barramundi are rated by those in the know as the premier estuarine and river sport fishing species of the Indo-Pacific region. Barra's are a catadromous species which grow to maturity in the upper reaches of rivers, then head downstream to the estuaries and coastal waters to spawn, which is pretty much a mirror image of the Atlantic Salmon which is anadromous and does its feeding and breeding stuff in reverse. If we were listening in on a word association test and the examiner said 'Barramundi', chances are that if the person being tested was an angler, they would very likely reply 'Australia', as the north coast of Australia is perhaps the best known and most heavily populated stamping ground for the species. That however is not the same as saying that if you want to catch a Barramundi, particularly on the fly, which is what a great many anglers looking for top notch bragging rights seem to want to do these days, then Australia has to be the venue of first choice. I've been there and I've tried without even a hint of success. If you want to be assured of catching one then the place to go is without doubt Thailand which is the biggest producer of farmed Barramundi for the table in the world. Around 80 km, which is approximately one hours driving time from most central Bangkok hotels, is a Barramundi fishery which is so well stocked that after picking you up at your hotel in the morning, Fish Thailand MD and guide Eddie Mounce will give you a 50% refund if you fail to catch one. That doesn't necessarily mean it will be on the fly as this is not a fly only venue. But with a water all to yourself loaded with Barrumundi well up into double figures, his days guiding fee's are pretty safe.

Having already miserably failed in Queensland, and again in India, my priority was to get myself a Barra of any size by what ever means. Then with that pressure off, I could relax and set about making a proper job of it with the fly rod. When I arranged the trip with Eddie some months before actually flying out, I was brim full of confidence to the point where it was going to be little more that a formality. How quickly fortunes and attitudes can change. For many years I had been happily fly fishing for trout in the UK when conditions were too bad at sea to take the boat out for Bass, Smoothhounds or Tope. Then I suddenly developed a problem with my casting arm and shoulder which forced me to give it all up. So bad was it that eventually I sold every bit of fly gear I owned. Eventually however the NHS had me in and quite literally cured the problem at a stroke. But by that stage the tackle was gone, though not the urge. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I dug deep and replaced it all again. But what I didn't have was an outfit that I considered suitable for catching Barramundi, which if I was lucky, might go as big as 20 pounds. So I got in touch with the people at Fladen UK who had previously provided me with things like saltwater flotation suits for testing and appraisal in the sea angling mags, and they were only too happy to help.

Although not a fly fisherman himself, Eddie Mounce had also supplied me with sufficient tackle information gleaned from previous clients to be sure I knew what sort of rod, reel and flies to bring with me. Nobody in the past it seems had gone out there with an outfit rated at less than a weight 8. And the better the reel, particularly if it had a half decent dragging system, the greater the chances of getting a successful outcome. Subsequently, on the basis of the info I fed through to them, what Fladen came back with was their very impressive looking anodised machine cut aluminium Maxximus lever drag fly reel, and a 9 foot graphite Vantage 4 piece travel rod. An outfit that could not have been from two more diametrically opposed ends of the pricing spectrum. Coming in at just over £100, the reel was well capable of taking a full weight forward 8 floating line with at least 150 yards of backing. The rod on the other hand, which arrived in a rather cheap looking single pocket see through plastic sleeve, can be found on various mail order web sites for as little as £23. And while it would be very handy as a four piece for going into my suitcase rather than having to wait for a rod tube at the airport, to say I was apprehensive about giving it a go with such a prestigious opportunity would not be understating how I felt in the least.

So, with fish number one beaten and released on only my third cast using a three inch self weighted shad on a fixed spool set up, it was over to the Fladen fly outfit. Typically, the water in the small lake we were designated was around six feet deep and slightly coloured. Some days the fish are all over the surface, while on others they become moody and can get their heads down. The perfect Boon Mar Barramundi conditions are bright sunshine, mad hot, and breathless from around mid morning to mid afternoon. A bit of a far cry from UK Rainbow Trout fishing. But if that's what they like then all well and good. They make the rules. The problem was that when we touched down at Bangkok airport late the previous evening we had been greeted by a ferocious thunder storm. So bad in fact that our taxi was having difficulty getting us to the hotel as some city centre roads were actually under water. In addition to this, I had somehow managed to hurt my neck and shoulder putting the heavy video camera equipment into the airport X-ray machine. You know that feeling of doom that washes over you sometimes when your worst nightmare actually starts becoming reality. Well that was me. But, as they say, tomorrow is always a different day, and now here I was casting a shadow over dozens of big Barramundi on what turned out to be the hottest and stillest rain free day of the year, with the species already crossed off my most wanted list, and about to cast a fly without the merest hint of the previous days aches and pains.

Despite a few pointers here and there from Eddie, this was most definitely an unknown quantity for me. I figured I had a reasonable selection of suitable flies. Some were Tarpon patterns picked up in America. Others were Pollack flies tied by Alan Everington, in addition to which my boat fishing partner Charlie Pitchers had also knocked me up a range of large black and while lures with some nice sparkly fritz in them. But where do you start. Well one clue came from the lure testing Eddie was doing over the other side of the lake. He had particularly wanted to try out a new surface popper which drew an absolute blank. But as soon as he tied on something that went under the surface it was game on. So on that basis, ignoring the actual pattern, I went for the heaviest fly in the box which ironically happened to be one of the smallest and most lightly dressed from the Pollack selection. But what it had was a heavily beaded head which would get it down quickly. I wish now that I had taken a photograph of it before starting to use it as by the time I decided to retire the thing it was virtually thread bare, though still getting the occasional hit from the fish. All of this took place on the end of a full weight forward floating line with plenty of backing. Not that I ever got down to the backing. Initially my leader was 15 lbs bs mono with 12 inches of 60 lbs mono on the tip to beat the abrasive action of the Barra's teeth. Unfortunately, due to a number of factors, including sweaty hands on a dry fly line not allowing the loose line to flow freely when the first fish hit and tore off at a frightening rate, when it took to the air, the leader parted like cotton all in the matter of a second or two leaving me stood there wondering what the hell had just happened.

Never having seen a hook before, you could hardly describe these fish as shy. Fluorocaron leaders and delicate presentations were most definitely not on the agenda here. They were like ferocious animals which is exactly what they were, and if 60 lbs mono wasn't going to put them off at the leader tip, then why not try it all the way through, at least for the first couple of fish I thought. Okay, so they wouldn't really stand much of a chance. Oh. Yeah. You try keeping in contact with a big fish on barbless hooks capable of taking 50 yards of line from the reel in the blink of an eye before quickly changing direction and taking to the air shaking its head. I was there to catch fish, not to endure a succession of missed opportunities. So un-ashamedly, I switched up to 60 lbs mono straight through. This however added an extra degree of difficulty to the in-balance of the heavily weighted fly to the casting. But it very quickly countered the threat to the leader posed by the snatchy way the loose fly line slid through my sweaty fingers in the run up to getting it back on to the spool, bringing a little more equally back into the proceedings. And within a couple of casts I was on again. Actually that fish didn't leave any loose line to be wound back on to the spool. It was off immediately as though someone had shoved a missile up its backside testing the Maxximus drag and my hand palming abilities with the spool to the absolute limit.

Aggressive takes would be an understatement. One fish in particular summed the whole thing up. Not a sniff of interest on the cast in question, then just as I was lifting the fly off the water to recast with loose line all over the place, it struck at pace and took up the whole slack in one almighty rush. It's a good job all the loose coils behaved themselves and stayed tangle free. It couldn't have taken me more by surprise. But what a hit. And what a fight, including plenty or aerobatics. Not the biggest fish of the day, but certainly into double figures. That particular Barra took one of Charlies large black fritzy lures which after casting had been given extra time before starting the retrieve to get it well down. But by the time the Barra struck it couldn't have been more than a few inches under the surface, so presumably it had been tracking in behind it and had decided to grab just when it thought it was going to get away. Thinking about it, each fish took in a slightly different fashion. Some grabbed the instant the fly hit the water, while others waited for the first couple of pulls as their trigger. Then there were some that took mid way in, and of course, the last gasp grabber I've just mentioned. Certainly nothing in the way of discernible patterns to get you teeth into. Something you just kinda figure out on the day. The one certainty is that if you give it a go, not only are you going to get one, you are also going to get the fight of your life, for this is one of those rare occasions when the star of the show actually lives up to its star billing.

FOOTNOTE: One thing I didn't comment on in the article was how the Vantage rod fared. For me, it felt a little bit soft in the action when I had used it for reservoir fishing back in the UK. However, that would have a plus side to it with hard hitting fast running fish such as these, particularly if you fish a much lighter leader that I did. The softer action of this rod would help cushion and protect the leader, and at no time (as the video will support) was it ever not going to beat these fish. If I had a criticism in this context it would be not having a couple of inches of extra butt with a rubber button on the end. But what do you expect for £23. There were times when I needed to press the butt into my chest while playing a fish which didn't leave too much room between me and the reel. Also, the next day, I had several red marks and bruises to by ribs where I had dug it in perhaps a little too hard. But to be fair, it wasn't designed for handling fish of this calibre. It's a reservoir rod. That said, at no point was it ever out of its league.