Fishing in Thailand
Each year a lot of visitors went in Thailand attracted by natural beauty, art and culture. Among the favourite destinations there are the resorts on the Andaman Sea or within the Gulf of Thailand, with their beautiful white sand beaches along its coastline or in the countless islands in the immediate vicinity. These are a real paradises for who love relax in a tropics warm sun, but also favourite destinations for who love diving and sea fishing. The crystal waters near the Thai coast are, in fact, full of marine life and offer world-class sport fishing and angling, with many coveted prey to catch, such as Black Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna, Sailfish, Amberjack, Dorado, Barracuda, Grouper and various species of Rockfish. With such a wide variety of prey, the techniques practiced in Thailand are equally varied. The most commonly practiced include the trolling in deep sea, the small coastal trolling, shark fishing at anchor and the spinning. Also fishing from the shore offers a good chance to catch.
Among the various destinations Phuket deserves a special mention. The island, commonly called the Pearl of Andaman, is recognized like the capital of the Deep-sea fishing in Thailand, home to several races of Big Game Fishing World Championship. In Phuket you have the opportunity to fish throughout the year, with high chances to catch and a wide range of prey. For all those ardent fans of Big Game Fishing in the waters off the coast you can catch Sailfish, particularly abundant between July to October, Black Marlin, present in good numbers between October to March, Yellowfin Tuna, Wahoo, Shortfin Mako Shark and Sand Tiger Shark. Ultimately the best season is between December and April, a period when you can take all the species in the Andaman Sea. The fishing techniques commonly practiced are trolling with artificial, sometimes combined with dead or alive baits, trolling with the downrigger, casting poppers, jigging, spinning, drift and also bottom fishing. Near the shore, at the river’s mouth or near the mangroves can catch Snapper, Sea Bass and even Barramundi, with weight well over twenty kilograms.
In Phuket, as well as be a prey’s multitude, there are good Fishing Boats number. The most part are so large boats, between 30 to 40 feet, local building equipped with divergent, fighting chair, rods, reels and all that may be necessary. On boats not always the equipment is on first choice, usually 30 and 50 pounds, like the crew, sometimes, not always is very experiences. Obviously the price are different if costumers ask to fish in the immediate vicinity, or if you prefer the more remote islands, such as Surin and Similan Island where the main target is the Black Marlin. You can rent these boats individually, or join organized groups by specialized agencies. There are stalls everywhere in the Phuket streets, which sell fishing packages all inclusive. The cost of a one-day fishing excursion depends on the vessel type, the number of fishermen and the destination. Indicatively a day trip to Racha Island costs from 2,000 to 3,000 THB. The price of individual chartering a boat in Phuket is very cheap, compared to Western standards, from 15,000 to 30,000 THB per day for the nearest destinations, like Racha Islands. The costs of hiring a boat to reach the Similan or Surin Islands are higher, due the great distance and the most performing boats necessary to venture into the open sea, usually from 30,000 to 50,000 THB.
One of the main areas, and more interesting, to fish is about ten miles from Chalong’s marina, in the south of the island. Here there are two beautiful islands, Racha Yai and Koh Hei, with backdrops mixed with sand and rock formations with corals, this area is the all oceanic fishes feed, from small to big Barracuda, Black Marlin, Wahoo and Dorado. The fishing grounds are located around these beautiful islands; this is the perfect excursion for fishermen novices or for who search a single day of challenges at sea. The fishing trip starts just emerged from Chalong Bay, you start to tow at about 7-8 knots with big-jet head, the favourite boats charter bait in Phuket, and with small octopus to catch small Blackfin Tuna that they are then used to the strip preparation and then are used as bait. Reached Racha Yai and Koh Hei islands are placed two teaser, in the boat’s wake, and they replace the artificial starting to pull out at lower speed with the exclusive pursuit strip of Sailfish.
Racha Yai is particularly famous for the Sailfish’s presence, which they go up into the shore below to catch small fish. Fishing in this island is always in the downwind side, and a few dozen meters from the shore. A special feature of this fish is that he moves in flocks of five or six copies and that is why you can have in a day multiples strikes. The fish’s average size is between sixty to ninety pounds, but normally you can catch specimens of two hundred pounds. In the water around Koh Hei Sailfish are less frequent, but is so many common sighting and capture of Black Marlin, Wahoo and Tuna. In Phuket there are boats specialized that they organize fishing trips to shark catches at the night or in a day, in the surrounding waters the islands near Phuket, but also on the distant reefs, with stopping even more days. All prey is then released, obviously after having so much time to the classic souvenir photo. In this particular fishing type, you attract sharks with anchovy’s blood, trying to catch Sand Tiger Shark, particularly abundant in these waters
Other interest fishing areas are the Similan and Surin Islands; both protected Natural Park, with beautiful reefs and beaches with white sand. To go to fishing to these archipelagos, located about 60-90 miles north of Phuket, you need a real safari of three or four days, with overnight aboard a boat and also the opportunity to fish during all day long. Charter fishing departs and returns from Khao Lak, Phuket or Ranong, and allows remaining several days in these wonderful places. Similan or Surin Islands are the best areas to catch Black Marlin, and more numerous ocean predators, but strangely not very productive to Sailfish. The best season for these islands corresponds to dry season in south Thailand, from November to March, when two National Parks are open and waters are calmer. In the other months you can still fishing, but the sea is very rough and the incessant rains certainly don’t favour fishing action. The crystal clear waters around islands are full of marine life. The imposing structures and the insulation offshore of Similan and Surin make these islands real centers of attraction for marine life, with huge shoals of plankton and baitfish that attracting predatory fish from many miles away. Hard corals, gorgonians and anemones serve as shelters to Seahorses, Frogfish, Harlequin Shrimp, Cuttlefish, Octopus and Lionfish. Around outside the rocks there are large shoals of Barracuda and Dorado. Big Groupers are lurking around the islands base. In the deeps waters near the islands there are Sharks, Manta Rays, Black Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna, Kawakawa Tuna and Dogtooth Tuna. For Black Marlin fishing the best time is from September to April, but the highlight is in February and March. The specimens caught are approximately an average weight of two hundred pounds, but they were also captured nine hundred pounds. Tuna, Dorado, Wahoo and Barracuda are frequently catches essentially all year. Usually Tuna caught here, especially Yellowfin Tuna, are not very large size, more interesting Dorado catches, also with weight over forty pounds, or even Wahooo with specimens of 90 pounds. Among the most common species may be captured are Barracuda, with weights very close to the world record. A tip: to have best chance to catching fish in Similan or Surin Island try to arrange your fishing trips in the days before full moon, or in the days immediately following, there are the best times thanks to great water movements produced by tides.Show More
