Hot Water

Ahoy me Hearties

As an obvious observation “it’s been HOT very Hot” and while I hopefully, correctly explained the El Nino affect in an article a couple of months ago, in relation to our game fishing situation, as of the beginning of the month, it has gone from great to grotty, although between storms “cooler water” we did manage to get out and me old pal Jim Moaddab (Mena 1) pulled in a good Sailfish, so hopefully they are still about. (picture)

In “Hot Water”, pelagic fish (surface predators) tend to go deeper to cool down and like you and I, tend to eat less when submitted to unusual temperatures. So it’s our turn to reap the disadvantages of global warming, as fishing went from superb to sucks in the space of a week. Welcome to “Green Season” as the tourist authority like to call “low season”.

I much prefer the definition of our two seasons “hot and dry and hot and wet”. April/May are by far my most unpopular months, as when the humidity and temperatures rise I have noticed, over the years, that people tend to get short tempered and this year was no exception with many friend falling out over trivia and the fishing club reportedly having another of its internal tantrums. Yea a bad time of year for an AGM.

Still on the “hot” theme, many of my friends and I developed that nasty skin disorder “prickly heat” clumps of itchy red spots designed to drive you crazy. Chris a local boozing buddy when he saw me itching suggested I apply Head & Shoulders and spent some time convincing me to give it a try. Two days later I was as clear as the ships bell, so there’s a tip well worth remembering for next Songkran period.

Did you hear about the Essex girl with dandruff? When her pal suggested Head & Shoulders and she said “How do you do shoulders”.

Mid-month we had a visit from Cyclone Roanu which kept the boats in port as no one in their right mind goes out when there are 50mph winds with a 3 meter x 8 second swell. Thunder rumbled pretty constantly for about a week with rain, although very welcome, once again disrupted our laid-back lifestyles.

I also noted, this month that Koh Tachai one of the Similan Islands, just north of the main group as been placed out of bounds and closed indefinitely. Thai logic at its best, close the island rather than restrict the amount of speed boats that were inundating the place and thereby denying more eco-friendly visitors a chance to see one of the jewels in Thailand’s maritime crown.

Tight lines,

Jimmy