What is the best bait for Araipaima?

[dogpoo]

After having my dead bait picked up and dropped a few seconds later by a monster Araipaima I am wondering if they are a bit fussy when it comes to fish, thinking next time of using maybe chicken or squid, is there a particular bait they favor?

[tingtongfarang]

I think live bait would work best, Although i never tried dead or live bait , have only ever hooked them on lure and fly but is is difficult to get a good hook set on arapaimers and often when they do stay on the hook its deep down.

[impulse]

Do circle hooks work on araipaima when fishing live bait?

We use them in Texas on redfish (and others) to reduce the chances of deep hook sets that injure the fish.

[dogpoo]

Do circle hooks work on araipaima when fishing live bait?

We use them in Texas on redfish (and others) to reduce the chances of deep hook sets that injure the fish.

I did buy circle hooks last year and used them once, wasn't confident with them, striking immediately the bait has been taken normally reduces the risk of deep hooking, back in the UK when Pike fishing it was common practice when the bait was taken to leave it for quite a few seconds before striking which led to deep hooking quite a lot, live bait is a killer method but not sure if it is allowed in many of the big fish pay lakes, I will be trying Squid and Chicken next trip! My main target is the Cahor, I will only fish for the Araipaima on one of the days!

Edited August 6, 2013 by dogpoo

[tingtongfarang]

As i understand it arapaimer take the bait deep and crush it further back, they cant keep their mouth open as they are air breathers,

For me when they take a lure i find if i strike right away no hookset, it takes quite a bit of will power to wait a few seconds, where i fish for them...no barbed hooks allowed for obvious reasons.

[dibbley]

Circle hooks are meant to dramtically increase the hook up rate for arapaima but you do not strike them as you would with a J hook though as you will just pull the bait out - you need to let the fish run, point the rod at the fish, slowly tighten down until the line is taut and the hook will find its hold in the corner of the mouth and then play as per normal - if you are after alternative baits then you could do a lot worse than chicken hearts -

Tight lines

Al

[tingtongfarang]

couple of us used dead bait a few weeks ago...small whole yellowfin tuna, i know where to buy it but it comes in boxes of 10kg =1500bht i think,

[jackinbkk]

I caught mine on half a sardine, hooked through the wrist of the tail. Dirt cheap from a Thai fish market. Only ever tried once and succeeded. I was very lucky. I have to say not much fight in them. They are big and they do jump which is spectacular but they have nothing on a mekong or red tail catfish. They just have their size. As a top predator and once man sized I guess they don't have many reasons to run. It is a bit hairy getting the hook out though. You get the fish to the bank a bit tired but it can jump again at any time. The eyes just gaze up at you with no emotion. It's head is solid bone which has injured a lot of people, so be cautious if you have the job of retieving the hook.

Don't bother with expensive tuna. They never encounter such fish in their native habitat. Mostly what you'd term trash fish.

Edited October 1, 2013 by jackinbkk

[tingtongfarang]

I caught mine on half a sardine, hooked through the wrist of the tail. Dirt cheap from a Thai fish market. Only ever tried once and succeeded. I was very lucky. I have to say not much fight in them. They are big and they do jump which is spectacular but they have nothing on a mekong or red tail catfish. They just have their size. As a top predator and once man sized I guess they don't have many reasons to run. It is a bit hairy getting the hook out though. You get the fish to the bank a bit tired but it can jump again at any time. The eyes just gaze up at you with no emotion. It's head is solid bone which has injured a lot of people, so be cautious if you have the job of retieving the hook.

Don't bother with expensive tuna. They never encounter such fish in their native habitat. Mostly what you'd term trash fish.

The tuna were not my idea but rather the bait used by a guide i was with who targets these predators a few times per week, we were getting hits almost every cast after just 2-3 minutes same as live bait,

[jackinbkk]

I caught mine on half a sardine, hooked through the wrist of the tail. Dirt cheap from a Thai fish market. Only ever tried once and succeeded. I was very lucky. I have to say not much fight in them. They are big and they do jump which is spectacular but they have nothing on a mekong or red tail catfish. They just have their size. As a top predator and once man sized I guess they don't have many reasons to run. It is a bit hairy getting the hook out though. You get the fish to the bank a bit tired but it can jump again at any time. The eyes just gaze up at you with no emotion. It's head is solid bone which has injured a lot of people, so be cautious if you have the job of retieving the hook.

Don't bother with expensive tuna. They never encounter such fish in their native habitat. Mostly what you'd term trash fish.

The tuna were not my idea but rather the bait used by a guide i was with who targets these predators a few times per week, we were getting hits almost every cast after just 2-3 minutes same as live bait,

Give the sardine a go, see how you get on. Probably a good idea to make a flapper, like they do with mackerel, just to enhance the leakage of scent.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?as_q=mackerel+flapper&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=

[Steath]

My friend just came back from of the pond he told me that they used rotten chicken for arapaima and it work very well.

[sidgy]

Can anyone suggest where I can buy rods and tackle etc in bkk, used

to do a lot of carp fishing back in the uk and would like to start again.

Also I guess methods here are a lot different so advice on tackle needed

And types of rigs used would be appreciated

Thanks

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rumbo1]

Can anyone suggest where I can buy rods and tackle etc in bkk, used

to do a lot of carp fishing back in the uk and would like to start again.

Also I guess methods here are a lot different so advice on tackle needed

And types of rigs used would be appreciated

Thanks

Sidgy if you look at previous posts in this fishing forum the answers to your questions have already been covered , hope this helps

Mark

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[sidgy]

Can anyone suggest where I can buy rods and tackle etc in bkk, used

to do a lot of carp fishing back in the uk and would like to start again.

Also I guess methods here are a lot different so advice on tackle needed

And types of rigs used would be appreciated

Thanks

Sidgy if you look at previous posts in this fishing forum the answers to your questions have already been covered , hope this helps

Mark

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Yeah cheers Mark,new to the site,still finding how to navigate,found it now though

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rumbo1]

Can anyone suggest where I can buy rods and tackle etc in bkk, used

to do a lot of carp fishing back in the uk and would like to start again.

Also I guess methods here are a lot different so advice on tackle needed

And types of rigs used would be appreciated

Thanks

Sidgy if you look at previous posts in this fishing forum the answers to your questions have already been covered , hope this helps

Mark

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Yeah cheers Mark,new to the site,still finding how to navigate,found it now though

No problems sidgy , fairly new myself and did same type of thing myself before learning how to use forum better ! Tight lines

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app