Below you will find the latest report sent to me by Jean-Francois recounting these catches in his own unique style…
“Dear friends,
I’m still guiding here our common friend Richard Hart from Orlando, Florida, who has a deep passion for the various snakehead species inhabiting in our Thai waters.
We just came back last night from a 2 days fly fishing expedition at a reservoir close to Burma. Richard caught there on fly his biggest giant snakehead (channa micropeltes) to date, weighing close to 11 pounds on certified scales. A lovely colorful male (see inserted pic below), in full mating colors justifying the name of “freshwater tiger” given to that particular specie by southeast asian anglers. That “gangster of the deep”, as I like to call that species myself, was taken on a black/silver DNA Bush Pig.
Very few sport anglers worlwide can brag they have captured a giant snakehead in the wild on a fly. Richard Hart did it twice. He already achieved that ultimate challenge two weeks ago, in the jungle of Malaysia, with the catch of an over 9 pounds giant snakehead (see inserted pic below). These two catches of a lifetime confirm his reputation as a highly skilled and dedicated fly angler.
Richard who is fishing in Thailand until the beginning of December is now gonna targetting a few IGFA world records for both the All Tackle and the Freshwater Fly categories. He already succeeded 12 days ago by capturing in northern Thailand, on lure this time, a 0.54 kg Hampala dispar (see inserted pic below) which earned him an All Tackle record for that specie.
For those who would like to know what tackle was used for these catches on fly, note that Richard, listening to the advices of yours truly, is now using exclusively Tibor reels (the Rolls Royce of fly reels). To me, Tibor reels are without a doubt the finest fly reels ever made. They are truly worth every single penny invested in them. As for his fly rods, Richard uses only G.Loomis. I personally use mainly Sage, my favorite brand of all, though I do enjoy having an affair at times with my 11 WT G.Loomis Cross Current. For tippets, he uses exclusively the Rio brand.
Big up to Richard Hart for his recent fishing achievements!
I’ll keep you posted if the man catches anything of interest before he flies back to Florida at the beginning of December.”
Contact
Jean-Francois Helias
IGFA Lifetime Achievement Award
258 IGFA World Records
Richard Hart and his magnificent 11lb Giant Snakehead caught on the fly