This catgish is almost 650 pounds. WOW….

The Mekong River at the Golden Triangle or where the Mekong river confluence meets with three nations of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand Photo: EPA The construction of a particular dam in northern Laos would disrupt the migration of four of the world’s top ten largest freshwater species to crucial spawning grounds, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said. In its report River Giants: Giant Fish of the Mekong, WWF said the catfish that grow up to 350kgs (772lbs) and freshwater stringray that can weigh in at 600kgs (1,320lbs), would be threatened with extinction if the plans go-ahead.

China has already completed four hydro-power dams on the Mekong, while another 11 are being built or planned in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. Other smaller dams are proposed along its tributaries. The Mekong is south-east Asia’s longest river, rising in Tibet and flowing through southern China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before reaching the South China Sea. But WWF’s most pressing concern in the hydropower plant planned for Sayabouly province, in Laos, which boasts ambitious plans to supply electricity to south-east Asia in an effort to become the battery of the region. The elusive giant catfish swims from Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake up the Mekong to breed in Laos and northern Thailand. A fish the size of a Mekong giant catfish simply will not be able to swim across a large barrier like a dam to reach its spawning grounds upstream, said Roger Mollot, a freshwater biologist for WWF in Laos. Yet the river plays also host to a many unique fish including the vast stingray the world’s biggest freshwater fish a giant barb and dog-eating catfish, so-called because of its pension for dog carcasses. More giant fish live in the Mekong than any other river on earth, said Dang Thuy Trang, co-ordinator for WWF’s Greater Mekong Programme. Currently, the lower Mekong remains free-flowing, which presents a rare opportunity for the conservation of these species, but the clock is ticking. The plans for the new dam are currently under scrutiny by the Mekong River Commission an international body made up of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. But WWF is urging it to veto the plan on the grounds of its effects on the wildlife, fishing and agriculture in the region.

There are all kinds of ways to catch walleyes, but some of them work better on certain days than others do. Keep the author’s tips in your bag of tricks for days when you need a little something extra to put fish in the boat. Photo by Gerald Almy

By Gerald Almy

What better time is there than right now, when cold winds rattle the treetops along rivers and ice covers your favorite lakes, to renew your walleye wisdom? February is a perfect month to evaluate last year's walleye expeditions, analyze what worked and didn't work, and learn a few new tricks and tactics that should help improve your results for the coming fishing season.

Here are 25 tips I've learned from plying waters big and small, flowing and still, for more than 30 years, both on my own and with some of the top walleye experts on the water. Some of them you can use right now; others will be best applied later in spring, during the dog days of summer, or when maples turn crimson and gold along the water's edge. Study these tactics and, I'm confident, you'll learn a trick or two that will help you increase your catch of this tasty, challenging quarry.

1. In late winter or early spring, walleyes in many lakes make spawning runs up major tributaries. This occurs when the water rises into the lower reaches of the 40-degree range. Not all fish make these runs, but enough of them do to make them worth targeting. They may migrate for miles or just a few hundred yards, depending on the type of feeder stream they're ascending. Sometimes rapids or dams will concentrate them on these runs, usually just slightly downstream from the obstruction and in calmer water.

Try bucktail or marabou jigs on these spring-run fish. White, yellow, chartreuse and pink are good colors; the proper sizes can range from 1/8 to 1/2 ounce, depending on the current and depth. Both plain jigs and those adorned with either a soft-plastic tail or a pork-rind strip are deadly. Cast the offering out and across or slightly upstream, let it sink near the bottom and reel back slowly and steadily with an occasional twitch or lift of the rod tip. If strikes are slow in coming, add half a night crawler or a live minnow as enticement.

2. One of the best ways to catch spawning-run walleyes is with a floating/diving thin minnow plug rigged with extra weight. Tie the lure onto an 18-inch leader off of a three-way swivel with a few split shot trailing on a short 6-inch dropper leader fastened to the third eyelet. Cast and retrieve this offering slowly and steadily near or just off the bottom. If you hang up, you'll usually lose just the split shot and not your expensive lure.

3. Try a plain live minnow for spawning-run walleyes. Yes, jigs and plugs are fun to fish, but sometimes - particularly in clear, cold water - a plain live minnow is the way to go. Hook a 2- to 4-inch minnow through both lips from the bottom up on a size 1 to 4 hook and add a couple of split shot a foot or so up the line. Cast across and slightly upstream and allow the bait to settle near the bottom. When you think it's close to bottom or it actually touches, begin a slow, pumping retrieve. Reel a turn or two, lift the rod and let it settle back down. Don't expect dramatic strikes, but rather sudden extra weight on the line followed by a slow bucking as the walleye feels the hook and comes to life.