Phuket Fishing March 2016

Ahoy me hearties and welcome to another month of Pirate Jimmy’s ramblings.

A couple of months ago I wrote about the El Nino affect which unfortunately for the PGFC’s (Phuket Game Fishing Club) annual competition was still causing unseasonal weather which seemed to have lured all the billfish down here to Chalong rather than their usual Similan’s habitat, for as we continued on our “Billfish Bonanza” which has now lasted since November, while this very popular annual event, although seeing the beasties caught none. The trials and tribulations of fishing, or: – “It’s better to sit in a boat and think of God, than it is to sit in church and think of fishing.”

As the competitors will have found, wind does not necessarily mean swell but it does create chop, white caps or white horses as they are known as back in my “pirate” homeland, Aarrr, Scotland, where the infamous Blackbeard came from. Ow Aarrr. White caps make trolling much more luck dependant as you need to steam right over the fish for them to see your lures amid the surface commotions caused by the “chop”. Trolling multiple lines also needs a lot of expertise, as the slightest mistake or lack of attention and lead to an abundance of “knitting” (fishing expression for tangled lines) and the inexperienced can spend most of their time untangling line and if they are really raw and using “braid” would spend their time cutting and destroying lots of this much more expensive line, which in my view was not designed for multiple trolls especially, in weather, when no one volunteers for Crow’s Nest duty.

This year’s competition was also adversely affected by the fall in the price of oil, as many of the PGFC’s members are in the industry and had been “laid-off”, which in turn led to a few cancellations. So it’s fingers crossed for next year, best of luck guys.

I am often asked about the dangers of fishing and forgetting normal boating hazards it’s knowing your fish and knowing how to land them. For example, the Queen Fish, a very innocent looking fish, but this nasty has a set of extremely sharp barbs along its dorsal which sting like the cat-o-nine tails. And there’s also a method for pulling in a bill fish which will help you avoid getting skewered like a kebab  which involves handling the bill from above as opposed to, the more natural way, from underneath. As from above your elbow will break away from your body if the fish decided to kick. Best advice, leave it to the pros.

Basically it’s mostly common sense and really, there is nothing out there as dangerous as a Chinese guy riding a rented motorbike, on the wrong side of the road, taking a “selfie” at Nai Harn view-point.

And this month’s Hot News. Trish is now speaking to me again. I ask you.” What was wrong with “his & hers” spinning rods and reels for Valentine’s Day ?”

Tight lines

Jimmy