Tag: Exotic Fishing Thailand

FREE PRESS BOUGHT BY PUDDLE JUMPER

Well, me Fisheroos and fellow fish fumblers,

That’s me totally independent from the Phuket News as my articles are no longer required due to Exotic Fishing Thailand’s new advertising concept which obviously will concentrate on EFT’s Fresh Water fishing and being based on the mainland, not Phuket, I think Mike will have great difficulty in keeping his finger on the pulse and relating to the trials and tribulations of us “Phuket” Salt Water warriors.

From the limited amount of fishing reports, probably due to lack of tourists and not forgetting the weather, it’s great to pass on the news that the Sails are still here in abundance. As the old saying goes, “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good”. I just wish it wouldn’t blow just so strongly 555.

As October begins to bring the “low” season to an end as usual the sun-rise and sun-sets are at their most spectacular, the photographers dream season. Coming back to port with the sun setting behind Buddha Island, it was the most amazing sight as everything was bathed in the fiery light of the setting sun. As I often say, “Fishing is not always about catching fish”.

Fish (f i s) n.pl. - fish fish-es - An animal that grows the fastest between the time it’s caught and the time the fisherman describes it to his friends.

For those of you familiar with fishinginphuket.com please be advised that the “Facebook” page “of the same name” is actually something else purloined by EFT, so hopefully this will give all you guys an' gals out there an insight into the character of someone I went out of my way to help when his business was in its infancy. So don’t be surprised if my Fresh Water reports come from closer to home in the future.

****STOP PRESS****
!!! Chalong Fishing Park now has Arapaima !!!

July Phuket Fishing News

Ahoy once again Shipmates

Prior to the big mid-month storm, excellent fishing reports came in from Neill C. on Fish Eagle with a good sized Sailfish, Fish Eagle also released a young Black Marlin, while Ali a pal from Qatar landed a nice King and Queen with Mena 1. and all the boats seemed to be impressed with the variety of species caught, Barras, big Long Toms, Rainbows, Dorado and of course lots of Tuna which all came in at around 2kgs. In fact the only thing not here at present seems to be Wahoo.

Following last month’s article about Jez at Chalong Fishing Park, I was reminded by Mike of EFT (Exotic Fishing Thailand) that I have not mentioned him since he added first class, lakeside, mountain-view, bungalows to his already magnificent and most scenic facilities, even if he did neglect to mention his latest Thai Cooking lessons for the wife / GF that doesn’t fish.

Although both venues are considered “fresh water fishing parks”, that’s where the similarity ends, with neither being at all comparable; it’s a bit like comparing the Cutty Sark to a canal barge (Sorry Jez – “quality” Thames barge.) While EFT should be on every keen, fresh water angler’s bucket list, for every conceivable reason including potential records, Jez’s place (Chalong Fishing Park) is “an affordable”, chill out, drop in and get your rod wet sort of watering hole with 20 / 40kg sized fish, relatively easy and plentiful sporting fish, nothing compared to EFT’s monster cats and Arapaima, but: – “O’ Arrr, but ye gets what ye pays for”. Details on Fresh Water Fishing.

Pirate’s philosophy

Between bells, speaking to an old Greek shipmate, he posed me the question.” Do you know we are all idiots?” “You mean, judging by the people we vote for and allow govern us?” I retorted. “Yea, your half right”. He replied. “It’s from an old Greek word, which basically means, everyone who is NOT a politician.” I looked it up – IT’S TRUE – and you wonder why there are pirates who like to run a finger up the mast from time to time.

Remember:-

September 19^th – “Talk like a pirate day” – Admit it, it slipped your mind. — TRUE – newsflash from America

Since the demise of the Phuket Fishing Club and its associated “Phuket Classic” fishing competition, I was even more saddened to read Uwe was winding up our only other major competition P.I.S.T. after 12 years at the wheel, but fear not me hearties I have been advised by Walter, the latest captain and CEO, a new and simplified P.I.S.T with a new name P.S.T. (Phuket Sports-fishing Tournament) is now on the stocks and ready to launch. There will be a few cosmetic changes such as “all bill-fish to be released” – “increased points for all other species, except Tuna” and junior anglers can enter free and in unlimited numbers, (when accompanied by an adult I would presume,) are among the few rule changes. Registration will be from 3 -7pm on the 22^nd November with fishing commencing on the 23^rd for this 3 day event. The venue will be the same as before and further information, such as “early bird” etc. can be found at Phuket Sportsfishing Tournament on Facebook or e-mail Walter at phuket.tournament@gmail.com.

Staying with competitions, the “Islander – Rawai” and the “Walkabout – Karron” are having the second of their monthly “mini-comps” at Chalong Fishing Park later this month and any PB&FA (Phuket Fishing & Boating Assn.) Members wishing to join the fun can register at the park or either of the bars but please be quick, as there is a limited number of seats available at the lake.

This month’s side splitter:-

One day while driving home from his fishing trip with the Monsoon rains coming in horizontally, a local fisherman (Fred – name change to protect the innocent) got a flat on his bike just outside of a monastery. A sympathetic monk seeing his predicament came out and invited Old Fred inside to have dinner and to spend the night. Fred stranded and knackered after a day’s fishing gladly accepted the monk’s kind offer.
That evening overwhelmed by the most magnificent dinner of fish and chips he had ever tasted, he decided to compliment the chef. Entering the kitchen, he asked the cook, “Are you the “fish friar?” “No,” the chef replied, “I’m only the chip monk.”O Arr!”

The wife’s not here, so I’m off to box the compass. (how many “old salts” remember that?)

Tight lines

September Update

Hi once again my fellow Ofishinadoes

With the continuing inclement weather our trips to sea have been spasmodic to say the least, so in this month’s article I thought I would write about our favorite sports fish, “the wolf of the sea”, the Sailfish.

Apart from the occasional visit by a marauding cousin the Marlin, the Sailfish is the most sought after prize patrolling our local waters and needs all the concentration a fisherman and his crew can muster to catch, as this speedster of the deep can reach 60MPH and turn on a sixpence. Their color is dark to silver gray but watch closely when you land one, as they change color possibly 3 or 4 times as we hold up our prize, before releasing back to the depths. Growing very quickly, birth to nearly full size in only a year, these potentially 3M X 100Kg fish give the angler the best photo opportunity he or she will ever get as the Sailfish when hooked, is a notoriously powerful and acrobatic fighter.

Locally, feeding mostly on our ever diminishing stocks of squid, to view them in action against a “bait ball” of small fish is something to behold. The “Sails” circle the bait ball, compressing it and forcing it to the surface at which time they take it in turn to attack the swarm with their bills, stunning the little fish then turning 180 degrees, in their own length, at high speed, to pick up the injured remnants of the ball. The water is boiling with jumping Sails, shoals of the bait jumping for their lives and all the time Frigate birds are streaking past you, often at arm’s length, to picking off the jumping fry. It’s like watching orchestrated mayhem and a site to behold. On days like this I realize what fishing’s all about, yes catching is the basic principal but when it comes down to it, seeing sites as I have witnessed, a 500+ strong pods of Dolphins, a Killer Whale and many other magical moments – That’s why we call it fishing and “not” catching.

This month’s pirate joke, and they’re getting worse.

What’s a pirate’s favorite letter?

You’d think it’d be the RRR… But they love the C.

And finally, Exotic Fishing Thailand is holding the charity event I told you about last month on November the 25^th 8am till 6pm. The entry fee for the event will be 5500 Baht (5000 Baht to charity). Anyone entering the event is invited to fish at EFT the day before at a reduced price of 4000 Baht fishing 8am to 7pm. This will give competitors a good opportunity to work on some strategies for the event or just enjoy EFT at a reduced rate.

Trophies and prizes will be awarded.

There will be a pre-competition meeting at 7.30am before the main event “Nov 25^th” and a free BBQ after the competition with prizes awarded at this time.

The tournament will be in support of the Make-A- Wish Foundation and EFT will donate 5000 Baht off the main event entry fee to this worthy cause and guarantee a minimum donation of 60,000 Baht.

If any of our readers are interested in participating in this worthwhile venture please contact Mike at Exotic Fishing Thailand.

Tight lines

Jimmy

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.