Jurassic Mountain Resort, Thailand

[Bish]

Quick post to recommend Jurassic Mountain Resport to anyone who fancies an exotic fishing holiday.

I've just returned from 9 days fishing, having visited once before a couple of years ago.

The set up is incredible, all tackle provided, a bait allowance, and every swim has a "sala" or hut to fish from, fitted out with table, seating, electric fans, wi-fi allowing food, drink, bait, tackle, to be ordered by WhatsApp and delivered to the swim.
Accomodation is spacious and comfortable, onsite bar/restaurant offers fabulous Thai food, plus a solid range of Indian, and western food including a decent Sunday roast. A swimming pool, garden, John Wilson museum, and a show pond full of "small" (some approaching 100lb!) Arapaima.

Booking is also super easy, with Jo Bowler (wife of Martin Bowler) handling everything (apart from flights) from the UK.

The fishing is truly out of this world. There are 3 lakes to choose from, and gillies are on hand to advise on best spots, tactics, baits, and to land every fish (none allowed out of the water). If you catch something noteworthy venue staff take decent photos for their social media and send to you (the ones with their logo in my little gallery), otherwise the gillies will take photos using your phone. Almost all weights are estimated by the gillies. Some on species lake are weighed if estimated to be above the threshold to be transferred to Specimen.
Specimen - or main lake - contains the biggest fish, carp to 180lb, arapaima to 300lb, Mekong catfish to almost 400lb.
Species - or small lake - contains c. 30 species, smaller stamp
Salt water - an opportunity to catch sea fish in a lake using lures and live baiting. I skipped this one but others had good results and some impressive photos of grouper etc shared over dinner.

My results
Specimen lake - 5 days - 11 fish - 2 species - 655lb - 59.5lb average
Species lake - 4 days - 35 fish - 12 species - 368lb - 10.5lb average

A few photos to whet your apetite

Specimen lake



Species lake

 

[Sam the man]

I looked into going , e mailed them and received all the information, how was the grub ?
looks like you had a fantastic time

 

[Bish]

I looked into going , e mailed them and received all the information, how was the grub ? looks like you had a fantastic time

Hi Sam, yes I had a great time, already looking at dates to go again.

Food is good quality, there is plenty to choose from (Thai, Indian, British, Italian etc). They make it very easy if you don't want to stop fishing, order by WhatsApp and get breakfast and lunch delivered to your swim. It arrives hot, even at the furthest swims as they drive round on mobility scooters.

Every night you stay includes breakfast, and every day you fish, includes two meals. The full english brekkie is large and decent, the thai food is incredible and I stuck to that for most meals. Others who had Western/Indian were happy though, especially with the Sunday roast. I also enjoyed the Australian ribeye steak with peppercorn sauce NB this incurs a supplement of c.£7 and I think it is the only option that does.

They don't fleece you on drinks either, a pint of Chang c.£4, bottle of Singha £2.50, can of coke £1.50, 500ml bottle of mineral water £0.60 but there is unlimited free chilled water from one of those coolers you see in offices, plus free tea/coffee, and apples oranges bananas from a large platter on the bar.

Genuinely hard to fault the place, except perhaps for how addictive it is

 

[Sam the man]

Wow food looks Amazing
I was so close to booking last year
Did you book and order your meals for all your stay ?
How was the fishing tackle , there were some negative comments on trip advisor
Many thanks for the info

 

[Bish]

Wow food looks Amazing
I was so close to booking last year
Did you book and order your meals for all your stay ?
How was the fishing tackle , there were some negative comments on trip advisor
Many thanks for the info

yeah food is amazing and very generous portions, there were 12 large king prawns to a meal. I often could not clear my plate.

"Every night you stay includes breakfast, and every day you fish, includes two meals" - so basically all my meals were included apart from dinner on the night I arrived. I chose Thai green curry and rice which cost THB 220 so £5.50. No need to choose in advance, every swim has a menu, you simply order by WhatsAppp when you want them, and soon after they arrive at your swim, or order in the restaurant. Or your room. Whatever works for you.

The tackle is impeccable IMO, a) they've selected the right kit for the job and b) they look after it well. You're given strong catfish rods for the specimen lake, Shimano baitrunner reels loaded with 80lb braid. Slightly lighter rods, slightly smaller Shimano baitrunners, and 60lb braid for species lake. If you notice any issues e.g. a nick in your braid, they simply replace it and you keep the same rods for your stay so no worries in the morning that you've picked up a rod/reel with any damage if you've cheked it the pevious day ofc. Fish welfare is top notch, the last thing they want is a large fish being at risk due to broken lines etc. Last year I messed up when float fishing, my braid was taken by the wind and got caught in a paddle wheel they use to aerate the water and create flow. They turned off the paddle wheel, cut the line to retrieve the terminal tackle, and within 20 minutes I had a new set up delivered to the swim.

You're provided a tackle box, filled with 99% of what you'll need based on the number of days you are fishing. I was given 10 carp rigs and 2 predator rigs for 5 days on specimen, plus spare tubing, a threader, beads, float stops, braid scissors, baiting needle, and a whistle to call the gillie if you don't like using the air horn. Rods for species lake came rigged with smaller/lighter hooks to suit the stock. If you fish 3 or more days on Specimen, the tackle box is yours to keep. The only things I used outside the provided tackle were back leads and PVA. I also took pop-ups as they don't make or sell those.

Every swim has decent 3-rod pod with alarms and bobbins, hook sharpener, catapult, fishing hand-towel, bath sized towel, and antibac gel, which is essential after handling predator baits There are also showers dotted round the lakes, with proper soap, which I favoured if using raw chicken baits.

If you know what you are doing, you can of course make your own rigs, and even take your own rods, reels, braid etc. They have some specs for you to follow and ask to check them. But a 304lb arapaima was landed on their stock gear, so I'd trust their kit and knots over mine!

 

[Sam the man]

Many thanks for your input I really appreciate it
If I go and I'm seriously going to look into it , I'm not good at booking flights and the likes
Was it straight forward ?
I'm planning on going with the girlfriend, she used to live on a fishery and fancies the experience but not interested in fishing
The food was an issue for her but your pics have put her mind at rest
Can no angler's go and just have the experience of being there
Many thanks Sam

 

[Bish]

Booking flights is a doddle mate. I prefer Emirates for long haul as they have good leg room, service, and decent times from Manchester to Bangkok (via Dubai). Pencil in dates with Jo at Jurassic, then book flights, then confirm Jurassic.
Jo will sort a private taxi transfer, and meeting them is as easy as reading your name on a clip board after collecting baggage etc.
They are completely ok with non-fishing partners, there's a small swimming pool on site and they can of course sit in your sala and chat with you whilst you wait for the next run.

PS, aim to arrive at the resort the evening before your first fishing day. The draw takes place at 7pm and you don't want to miss it as you'll get last pick of the swim for the following day if you do. Fishing is 7am to 6.15pm and the best fishing is the first and last hour. The bait shop opens 6.30am...

 

[Ratman72]

Hello, Last time i went to Thailand, Singha was less than a £ , Great post thanks for sharing, I did go fishing once, Off the Pier at Pattaya

 

[Bish]

Hello, Last time i went to Thailand, Singha was less than a £ , Great post thanks for sharing, I did go fishing once, Off the Pier at Pattaya

Glad you liked it, no worries at all for posting.
Thailand prices have increased a fair bit since I first visited too but Singha is still available far cheaper in other bars etc. Jurassic is a 4 or 5* resort, and remote enough that one needs a taxi to get to an alternative bar so I'm pleased they don't take advantage of that by charging even more.
Did you catch off the pier? If so what worked please? I was tempted to go to Hua Hin, which is a beach resort about 30-40 mins taxi from Jurassic. The locals fish off the pier apparently but I've not tried. Maybe next time.

 

[Ratman72]

Glad you liked it, no worries at all for posting.
Thailand prices have increased a fair bit since I first visited too but Singha is still available far cheaper in other bars etc. Jurassic is a 4 or 5* resort, and remote enough that one needs a taxi to get to an alternative bar so I'm pleased they don't take advantage of that by charging even more.
Did you catch off the pier? If so what worked please? I was tempted to go to Hua Hin, which is a beach resort about 30-40 mins taxi from Jurassic. The locals fish off the pier apparently but I've not tried. Maybe next time.

Hello, I have been to Hua Hin to, Stayed a week just for a change of scene, I borrowed a rod and reel off an old Thai and used slices of fish bait, Caught a few for my friends family, While fishing an old Junk boat came in to off load the catch so the Thais bought the fish fresh, The furthest north i went was Ko Rat , That took 6 hours on coach