July Fishing News

Well me Hearties,

July went out with a lot of wind and hiss, didn’t it just. I was out with a couple of South African friends on a four day three night trip round the Koh Ha, Koh Rok, Hin Dang circuit in pretty “lumpy” conditions so much so that we had to run for cover at Phi Phi Island, when the seas rose to 3 meters 7 seconds, talk about adventure fishing! Sorry to say we had nothing sizeable to report although at Koh Ha we ran into a shoal of, good sized, Rainbow Runners and were pulling them in 3 or 4 at a time on multiple lines, something I have only experienced with large schools of Tuna. Considering the weather I was impressed with how stable Thai2On was under these atrocious conditions and how well the crew handled her. Well done guys. On the trip I was asked the old question, “What is worn under a Scotsman’s kilt” so I replied with the old adage, “Nothing, as everything’s in perfect working order.” OK so I’ve run out of pirate jokes.

The beginning of August   saw a slight improvement in the weather and on a couple of day trips out Tuna were in abundance and Queen Marlin reported catching a Sail Fish as did another local Thai boat but I won’t mention them as they sadly landed it, unfortunately we never even got a smell of them, but that’s fishing for you.

The two main fishing clubs the RBFC (Rawai Beach Fishing Club) and the PGFC (Phuket Game Fishing Club) had a joint meeting at the end of July, to sort out some of their differences and there is now talk of more collaboration. The new president of the RBFC Dave “Flob” Roberts chaired the meeting and among the topics raised was doing a feasibility study on placing F.A.D.s (fish aggregating devices) around Phuket’s fishing grounds. The 2015 RBFC “Classic” Fishing Competition which has changed its previous dates to the 18^th – 20^th March to avoid Chinese New Year and accommodate our friends from Singapore etc. Fishing for kids (not literary) to promote the sport and a BBQ day for parents and kids where they could catch their own meals, while Mike Bailey from Exotic Fishing Thailand, which I wrote about last month, proposed a two day, fresh water, charity event at his extraordinary venue when all proceeds would be donated to the Make a Wish Foundation who make dreams come true for terminally ill children. Nice one Mike you have my backing and that of the Phuket News.

As usual, tight lines to all and let’s get out there as the weather permits.

Jimmy