Jurassic Fishing Resort, what’s all the fuss about?

After the boom in carp fishing a decade ago that saw hundreds of lakes in France hitting the headlines and thousands of anglers from the UK making that journey every year, Thailand is an emerging market targeting the same folk.

Though the fish aren’t of the same variety, the weather is better year round, the fish are monstrous and you can keep her indoors happy with a cracking holiday at the same time.

Jurassic itself is one of top two well known premium fishing venues in Thailand, in my opinion because of the all-round ‘offer’, it’s the best.

What will it cost me?

The reason why UK anglers are flocking to Thailand in droves is because of the low prices of travel and the tiny cost of entertaining yourself there.

Fair warning, Jurassic is not cheap to fish, most lakes charge a premium to foreigners.

You won’t find much change from £200 to fish it for 24-hours including a room for the night.

For that price you get a dawn to dusk pass to fish, all the tackle you need and plenty of bait.

Every time I’ve been this consisted of a bucket of dead fish and pellets twice a day, though this may have changed since they started producing their own baits more recently.

Trust me though, it is worth it, despite the price tag.

Fair warning, be prepared for a big bar bill at the end of your stay, those Gins add up after a long day on the bank.

What will I catch at Jurassic?

This largely depends on what your target species are but let’s assume you want a bit everything.

As standard you get a predator and a carp rod, I always add another rod, usually for the predators and often end the day with 3 rods targeting the predators worn out on carp action and hoping for a big ari to finish the day.

But don’t get it wrong, Jurassic really is a lake that will reward hard work.

Most casual anglers will catch a few each day, but if you have the stamina to work hard the rewards are there. I find 2 predator rods acting as ‘sleepers’ down each edge or right under your feet with a carp rod float fished out towards the middle is a good combination.

But it is hard work.

You need to work the float, it’s like pellet waggler fishing at home only with a ball of ground bait around the float and a bait suspended underneath.

The ideal mix for me was to use a white small pop up boilie mounted directly on the hook to aid speed and multiple casts, with the big hook this drops slowly to a depth of about 2-3ft.

Don’t be shy about casting around either, if you’re float isn’t getting hit by fish after 9/10 casts, casting every few minutes, move 10/15 yards in any direction and start the process again.

Rinse and repeat the process and you can easily catch 20 siamese carp in a day, with most being over 50lbs.

Predator wise, you will catch them all over, my biggest fish was an arapaima of around 350lb right in the middle.

In general most of the predators are caught in the margins or next to the weed beds and the arapaima specifically are often congregated at each end of the lake.

If you’re after Ari’s, my advice would be to use half fish and to fish singles. Don’t use a chopped up concoction like many do, I find this just brings in the little fish.

If you’re staying at Jurassic for more than a few days, be prepared to take a days rest, it’s hard work hauling beasts in those temperatures.

Any negatives?

Not really, it’s an incredible resort, in a great part of the country with some insane fishing and very attentive & passionate owners.

There can sometimes be a small issue with landing fish, if an angler or two is taking up the services of the guides, you may find you have to wait your turn as the resort would prefer you didn’t do this yourself – though if you prove yourself to be competent you can help yourself when the guides are busy.

The only other small criticism is the amount of English speaking help on the bank, though the majority of you won’t mind or notice this, I felt that I wanted to maximise my time there and get as much info as I could.

Something that cannot be said of every other venue in Thailand I have visited is the care and time they put in to the future of the venue.

An example of this great work is growing their own stock onsite and adding in incredible species like tarpon.

You’ll soon forget about needing help netting fish when you hook in to the fish of a lifetime.

Go to Thailand, go to Jurassic and have an incredible time.

If you’re interested in a trip like this visit our tours page.