Top Tips to Choose the Best Freshwater Fishing Charter in Vietnam

For a fishing enthusiast, a great location is always a concern and a topic close to their heart. In this regard, Vietnam can be a wonderful fishing destination. With 3600km of seashore, 400 rivers and 2000 islands, Vietnam provides rich fishing opportunities for saltwater as well as freshwater fishing. What’s more, all these locations offer stunning scenery that help relieve stress. The fresh air and peaceful environment refresh your mind, especially if you belong to and spend all your days in the bustling city atmosphere. Whether you choose to go in a group or privately, you are sure to create memories that will please you always in the coming days. If by now, you are eager enough to go on a saltwater or freshwater fishing charter in Vietnam, read on to get just the right info. Here we will mainly discuss freshwater fishing, that too lure and flyfishing.

Vietnam – Heaven for Freshwater Fishing Opportunities for Both Lure and Flyfishing!

Yes, for enthusiastic anglers, Vietnam is indeed a heaven for freshwater fishing, as there are a number of locations that will offer you full enjoyment of both lure and flyfishing. Here are a few of them.

Mekong Delta

The Mekong’s waterways and tributaries are brimming with a variety of freshwater species, such as catfish and snakeheads.

DA Lake

If you are particularly longing to catch yellowcheek, you should essentially include the DA Lake in your fishing trip as it has abundance of this species as well as other species like bream, peacock bass, catfish, carp and eel.

Ba Lake

Famous for its large populations of snakeheads and peacock bass, Ba Lake is a hotspot for lure and flyfishing. It has abundant snakeheads, butterfly peacock bass and skygazers. No wonder, it’s a popular destination among anglers for fly as well as lure fishing.

Fishing in Vietnam’s Rivers and Lakes

Freshwater fishing in Vietnam refers to fishing in its lakes and rivers.

Rivers: Commonly done on a small boat, river fishing in Vietnam can also be done by wading across the river and finding the fish, the river water being quite shallow. Not only is the freshwater fishing charter in Vietnam is fun but it’s also fun in living with the nearby locals and watching them catching the fish. The three most important rivers here are Red River, Hau River and Tien River.

Lakes: Lakes and small channels in Vietnam also offer excellent fishing opportunities. These also include mud fishing which includes catching fish in the mud with bare hands. But this makes your clothes dirty and can even be dangerous as you put your bare hands in the mud as some fish have venomous spines. So, you should wear fishing gloves before putting your hands in the mud. However, you can find a great variety in Vietnam’s lakes like giant gourami, shark catfish, bronze featherback, eel tail catfish, climbing perch, eel and even shrimp, and so, enjoy mud fishing in the lakes.

More Rivers and Streams

If you are wondering whether VN has any other fishing destinations, let me tell you that the country has so many rivers and streams, some of which are remote and challenging, perfect for adventurous anglers, longing for various freshwater species with flies and lures.

Unique Species

Vietnam has some unique freshwater species that will offer you real enjoyment of fishing. Here are some of them.

Yellowcheek

Yellowcheek (Elopicthys Bambusa), also known as kanyu, is a large freshwater pelagic predator native to only a few select rivers in VN, especially the Red and Lam Rivers, and China. It is considered to be a cross between a tiger fish and a barracuda, and develops distinctive yellow cheeks upon maturity. it can reach the sizes of over 50kg. in Vietnam, yellowcheek is found to migrate from shallow rivers to deeper lakes during the winter months. During the summer months, Parentals will migrate up river to spawn. Juveniles stay in the lake and dam area until they reach maturity at 6 years of age. During the winter, the parentals come down from the river to spend the winter in the warmer waters of the lake. The Da Lake being 80,000m (50 miles) across and about 100m (0.06 miles) deep on average means the warmer waters is perfect during winter time. Yellowcheek are predatory fish, eating small baitfish, Skygazers, tilapia and even juvenile yellowcheek. In order to catch these pelagic fish, you watch for the billions of baitfish swimming in tight balls, once a yellowcheek spots a bait ball, they hunt them and often break the water surface in a big splash. As an angler this is what you should look for. A popper, jerkbait or wopper plopper cast quickly and precisely near the blowup often attracts the fish to strike. Yellowcheek are built for speed, the initial bite is very strong, after which they mostly hold their weight, but losing focus during the fight can be a fatal mistake as they can switch up into high gear in a heartbeat and make incredible dives. The mouth is soft as they have no teeth, so fighting a yellowcheek is a slow and methodical process, and once you have landed in one, the shimmering silver scales glistening in the sunshine makes all the effort worth it.

Peacock Bass

Peacock bass has long been a popular game fish native to South America and was introduced to Vietnam too. You can find it in various locations including Ba Lake and Tri An Lake. This hard-fighting fish offers you full fun of fishing with its aggressive fighting skills, mighty jumps and strong striking habits and its big size and vibrant colors with shades of blue, green and yellow are just rewarding. Catching peacock bass is an adrenaline-pumping experience that you can never forget.

Toman Giant Snakehead

Known as Toman in Indonesia and Malaysia, and also as Channa Micropeltes, giant snakehead is a large freshwater fish native to Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam. It is a very popular sport fish because of its aggressive nature, razor sharp teeth and powerful fighting habits. It is considered as a most powerful predator in its territory. It’s named so due to its elongated, cylindrical, snake-like body. Its dorsal fin running the entire length of its back and anal fin underside and the powerful tail provide the fish a great stability and maneuvering ability, making it a powerful swimmer and predator.

Tay Cau Fishing

If you are planning to go on a freshwater fishing trip to Vietnam, we recommend you to book a tour offered by Tay Cau Fishing. Yellowcheek Carp, peacock bass and Toman Giant Snakehead are their specialty tours. They offer group as well as private tours mostly for yellowcheek, but also for peacock bass, Giant snakehead and mahseer (Flyfishing streams for phoenix barb, trout and wolfbarb (WB is one of the rarest stream sportfish). Their guides speak fluent English and give you excellent information and perfect guidance. They even record the entire trip and edit the best parts and take pictures. All the recordings are sent to you later which you and your friends can watch and enjoy. They offer one-day trips as well as multiple-day trips. On both these, delicious breakfasts and meals are served to you which include salads, rice, fish soups, chicken, fish, vegetables, omelettes and more.

Bottom Line

If you wish to enjoy something newer and more exciting than your regular fishing trips, freshwater fishing charters in Vietnam can be a great option. It’s full of stunning scenery, fresh air, luxurious fishing charters, well-informed guides and excellent food. Hospitality of the welcoming Vietnamese people is an added bonus. Take pleasure of the delicacies of fresh catches prepared by expert local chefs, communicate with the people to learn about their adorable yet simple culture. All in all, this is going to be an unbelievable and unforgettable experience for you. So, don’t miss it and then share your experiences with us in comments below. Go through this website to get more such fishing tips and give us feedback.