Fishing in Thailand, vacation diary in Phuket and Krabi!
Turn your face towards the Sun and the shadows will move behind you.
How did we end up fishing in Thailand? A few years ago, more precisely after the pandemic, we promised ourselves as a family to check off at least one exotic destination a year, necessarily in winter. And when to do it? When you have two free weeks related to and free from the child's school or work? At Christmas and New Year's Eve. Well, isn't it more expensive during that period? Yes, but if you book your plane tickets and accommodations in advance, the budget allocated to such an adventure starts to become much friendlier. As friendlier as two vacations of one week each in Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey or other closer neighbors. The budget was of course also helped by the lack of holiday expenses where we all tend to waste money on food, drink, gifts, clothes, attention, etc. But Thailand wasn't just about savings or sunny beaches in winter, it was also about unexpected fishing stories, like the duel with an alligator gar fish in a pond near the bungalow we were staying in. From the challenges of fishing in the Andaman Sea to the unique moments on the islands, each day was a combination of adrenaline, culinary and cultural discoveries, and spectacular landscapes.
Before fishing in Thailand it was the Dominican Republic
Coming back to fishing, for as long as I can remember, I have fished on all vacations where there was a stream of water. Okay, since this is a larger, saltwater fish, which you inadvertently become addicted to over time, the preparations were more complicated. It all started in dominican republic when I put together a few after my head travel rods, reel with monofilament yarn (that's what I had left from barbells in Slovakia), oscillating Typhoon Berti and some tools flyfishing, equipment that the ocean fish tore at me like sticks and spaghetti, his word Cox, head of marine fisheriesFind the whole story here, and hereThe fact is that after this experience I listened to Cox and before I went fishing in Thailand I revised my equipment a little more. To be good.
Fishing needles, razors and hooks in Thailand
Before any fishing trip, like in Thailand, within the time limit (which is getting shorter and shorter, I don't know about you, but it seems to be getting shorter and shorter for me), I try to inform myself as much as possible, on the internet, on Facebook, on Youtube, about good fishing locations, techniques, fish species, equipment, fishing guides. As I said above, first of all I went with my hat in hand to Cox for a meditation session for fishing in the Andaman Sea. After many soldiers of malt fallen in the line of duty in the session with the marine expert, I upgraded my equipment, multifilament thread Daiwa J-Braid X8 Multicolor 0.24mm, two four-piece travel rods, 2.44m, 20-50g and 30-80g, and two reels with higher line retention capacity (Emeraldasmy drums having shallow drums), a Daiwa Ballistic brand new and an old generation Daiwa Caldia (about 10 years old). Both reels are saltwater friendly, equipped with generous drums that can hold over 150m of 0.24mm diameter line. Because these saltwater fish take line as if it were free. Oh, I almost forgot, I put the old anchors on all the lures with Mustard Jaw Lok 3x, 4x, 5x, much stronger and saltwater friendly.
Mustad Aji Mezashi Jig, the genesis!
If you go fishing in Thailand, you should know that in the Andaman Sea, jigging with metal cast jigs (a type of pilker that evolves both on the fall and on the pull) is the most popular and effective style, Cox told me.
He gave me a few from his kit and suggested I check out Arrow on the website at Mustad Aji Mezashi Jig Casting. Said and done, ordered, solved, cool lures. As a small parenthesis, Cox caught trout and large pike with them in freshwater in places where he could not reach the bottom with other lures, more precisely in very deep waters or with strong currents. That's how they seemed to me, some all-round lures that should not be missing from the fishing kit, in any water, fresh or salt. In addition, they are launched bullet-like due to their weight and shape, so effective both from the shore and from the boat. Anyway, there was a big like at first sight with these lures, I bought more, to be sure, and I gained confidence in them before they touched the water, which does not usually happen.
Don't drown like the Thai man on the beach in Phuket
Since we are talking about two overcrowded tourist locations in Thailand, Phuket and Krabi, where I was going to spend my vacation, I knew that fishing would not be easy, especially from the shore. After digging through all the corners of the internet, the only tangible options seemed to be private ponds (small ponds) with exotic fish species piled in a few hectares of water. For me, non-existent, I prefer fishing on natural waters and pleasant surprises like in dominican, but I also embrace failures, simply dipping my tools in the water, watching, dreaming or listening to my thoughts. Even without fish. So for Phuket I studied the map in google maps looking for a quiet place near the hotel where we were staying, Phuket Graceland Resort and Spa and I found it in the area Sea Salt Beach, a beach with many rocks where it seemed like a few fish could hide from the infernal traffic of long tail boats and excessive tourism.
Krabi, The Real Fisherman
If Phuket is not a fishing destination, in Krabi things are changing positively in terms of offers. After long searches on all social networks in search of optimal boat fishing solutions in Thailand, after talking to several fishing trip operators, I stopped at Yunut Chuaphet, passionate fisherman and guide at Krabi Real Fisherman. Krabi Real Fisherman is a group of real sport fishermen, as the name suggests, in short, exactly what I was looking for. We exchanged a few more messages and with Delvin Tan, fishing guide to Krabi Fishing Team, a friend of Yunut, who, unfortunately, was not available on the days we had free for fishing, a character we will meet again in our story. Yunut reconfirmed to me that in Phuket fishing is not an option due to excessive tourism, that jigging with cast metal jigs (thanks Cox) that's what we need and that's what we'll do in Krabi, and for the shore fishing I'll take a few more wobblers and some rubber bands in my kit. The rubber bands caught well, I'll tell you more at the end of the article. Yes, I left something good for last. Anyway, I bargained with Yunut for a full day of boat fishing for 4 people (two adults and two children) with transfer from the hotel and back, lunch and drinks included for 10,000 baht, for approximately 280 euros.
I swear I won't go fishing in Thailand again except with Mustad Aji Worm
All said and done, Phuket was as I suspected, far too crowded, from early in the morning until evening. Among the hundreds of long tail boats that were lapping the water, it was hard to believe that you could catch anything from the shore. Some fish are still moving there, judging by the people who are playing around… Anyway, in Thailand, if you move, you die, anything that walks, flies or swims, gets eaten. Everywhere. We headed straight for the stone place discovered on google maps, I tried everything I had in my kits without success, but I saw a few fishermen fishing with micro rubbers in rock fishing style. Small fish, but rare, exotic and good to get your fingers a little dirty and proud. We would have liked to do the same. It didn't occur to me to take ultralight equipment and I missed them Mustard Aji Worm, we were sure to tick off a few old people, but at least we learned a valuable lesson for future expeditions. On the way back to the hotel, so that we could still smell the fish and fishermen, we stopped at the stalls with street food and we devoured a giant, fresh mackerel, impeccably grilled in front of us. And some chicken, we catch what we eat, right? And beer, of course. Dream.
You have Mustad, you don't have Mustad, you go fishing in Krabi
After a few full days we moved to Krabi to the hotel Krabi Resort, super location, super accommodation in some bungalows on the shore of a pond. Of course there were fish in it and not just any fish, we counted no less than 4 fish from our veranda alligator gar per meter. It was clear that I would not resist and would try to catch at least one.
My wife saw my gaze, read my thoughts: SI won't catch you fishing for these!
No, dear, how can I do something like that… right in front of the hotel I have a great place to fish in the sea, a platform guarded by several rocks. How can I fish here in the resort, do you realize what the fines are? – I feinted.
To avoid giving away what I was planning, I baited the alligator gar with Oreo cookies for a few days. It stifled my efforts for two days in a row in the wild, nothing. Then some fishermen showed up with ultralight gear and caught some smallmouth bass. Where are you? Mustard Aji Worm When do I need you? But anyway, we have the day of fishing from the boat, which I've been waiting for.
So how did he end up with alligator gar?
On a sunny afternoon, I go out in Romanian, wearing only my underwear, onto the veranda of the bungalow with a beer in my hand, to give enjoy visually at the fish in the pond. Let's take some pictures of them, right? But of course I had forgotten my phone and card in the room and I was stuck outside. What are we going to do, Ariful, in this situation? I walked slowly through the resort to the hotel reception, with the beer provided in my hand. I said at least I'd look a little bit pinched, not just stupid for being stuck outside in my panties. I get to the reception, go in as if everything was ok, I explain my case to the receptionist, who, amused, tells me that I have to wait a few minutes until someone from maintenance comes to open my door with a master card. And while I was still standing like that, me in my panties propped up poker face on the edge of the counter, we start to want to chat. He asks me where I'm from, I ask if it's possible to fish in the pond. The answer comes categorically "no!", but he asks me what fishing gear I have, I tell him, I also tell him that we're going fishing in the next few days by boat, to which he says: Aaaaa, you're Andy, we talked on messenger, I'm Tan, I'm sorry I couldn't come with you, it's a busy time here at the hotel, this is my second job besides fishing. Aha. Well, how do we do it, Tan, because I have to catch a train. Well, I can't. Well, I have to. Well, I can't. Well, I'm going to catch one anyway, I can't help myself, you know? Well, what can he say, he understood, and he told me to make sure no one sees me. To be continued…
4 in a boat, everything in a bag, fishing in Thailand
We were counting the days until we were going out by boat to fish the chest, spines, drills, jaws, teeth and stomachs of the fish in the Andaman Sea. In Thai style, the reason was to keep everything, that is, everything. On December 30, 2023, Yunut fished for us (catch&release) from the hotel and offered us the experience that you can find in the photos and video. I won't go into too much detail, the fishing equipment calculated at home worked optimally, metal castig jigs are much more versatile lures than I expected, with the deep sea jigging style we have to get used to a little. But, no, they gave too, we took too… after putting all the caught fish (legal and tasty) in the caisson, I told Yunut that big, small, the kids eat, and of course they want fish. We asked him to give us a bag to put them in and to recommend a restaurant where we could cook them. He told us that he normally did this with all his clients after the fishing trip, but the restaurant he collaborates with is closed. Pffff, let's solve it somehow, we got in the car with the fish and everything, because hey, that's what the kids wanted.
We have a fish, where do we fry it?
Arriving back at the hotel with a bag of fish that we still didn't know where we were going to cook, we still had a plan B, to take them to the street food stalls or the night market. We were sure we had a chance, but we wanted a culinary experience that was worth the effort we had put into fishing in the Andaman Sea. When we landed the fish and equipment in front of the hotel, our receptionist, Tan, came running, asked us how the fishing was, we opened the bag and told him the second question, where should we cook them? Tan made a few phone calls, solved the case, gave us a more than reasonable price for the cooking services, and explained to Yunut where the restaurant was. Noppharat Seafood where we had to take the goods. Okay, we have dinner with freshly caught fish, what more could you want? Two hours later we were bursting with fleas on our stomachs. The fish was cooked according to traditional Thai recipes and in the oven and on the grill and with sauces and spices and with Tom Yam soup, what a dream! Thank you Yunut, Tan and the girls and/or boys at the restaurant.
Hello, hello, well, did you catch the alligator fish?
It's not right to say caught, I only caught him a little. Not completely. The secret is to be a little angry, and I wasn't. Since my wife was always watching me to make sure I didn't do it, it was quite difficult. My son knew, I had promised him that we would catch him before we left home, it was our secret. One day I left the beach early for the bungalow with just my son, it wasn't premeditated, I wanted a cold beer, he wanted to take a shower. He finished his shower, I finished my beer, continuing for a few minutes to stare in silence at the alligator in the pond. A box of lures and the rod were leaning against a clothes dryer, not by chance, I had just washed them of salt water and they were put to dry. Coincidence or divine signs? It doesn't matter anymore. I told Andrei to pick up the phone and film it, I quickly mounted a Piglet Shad on an offset hook (it was bigger and I thought I would be able to get it out of the victim faster) that I had in my kit on Yunut's recommendation for shore fishing. You can see what happened in the video. What you can't see anymore, because my son stopped filming, is that the fish went into the pond with the mini plastic grip attached to its snout. It was clear that I couldn't leave the fish like that, fine, plus scandal both at the hotel and at home.
I: God, what an idiot.We are yours! (Especially me) Look, dad, can you see that flu somewhere in the water? Maybe the fish released itself...
Andrew: Yes, I see him, he's here next to me.
I: There is more in fish?
Andrew: I don't think so, it seemsThere's no fish, let me take a closer look...
The child leans over the pond, slips and falls into the water. He puts his hand on the grip and shouts with joy: Dad, look, he's here.Stars! Take pictures of me! ...and pulls the monster out of the water in all its glory. What can I say, the pictures turned out to be worthy of National Geographics or a study of parenting to the “Not like that!” category. The spirit of a responsible father was not completely lost, I started to shout panickedly at the child "B"Ah, release him from the grip!" even though Andrei was fully living his story taken from the movies River Monsters. When he was released, my little Jeremy Wade was smiling, I too, because I had escaped from trouble.
Me on the shore, him in the water... I tell him: Do you hear? Don't you want to get out of the pond? All right.and there are 5 alligator gar swimming right next to you and you saw up close what their teeth are... In a short scream and a split second the hero child was on the shore. As we checked the pictures together he asked with a smile: BHey dad, we're not normal. We'll show him too. Mommy?
Thailand information, what we did, what we liked
Family vacations are about compromises, a little fishing adventure for me, a little relaxation for the others, and the rest, stories to share. Knowing that any information is welcome, from hotels and restaurants, to excursions and practical details, that's kind of what we did. And we really enjoyed it. I won't tell you about the culinary and cultural experiences, I'll let you try them yourself.
Hotels: Phuket (Phuket Graceland) and Krabi (Krabi Resort) – we liked both, like location, prices, cleanliness, services, staff
Restaurants: In Phuket I appreciated the restaurant the most Fouquet's Phuket, and in Krabi Noppharat Seafood, naturally, they made us the coolest fish meal ever and the market Ao Nang Landmark Night MarketOtherwise, I ate well everywhere, even on the street or at the night market.
Fishing in Krabi: Yunut Chuaphet, fishing guide to Krabi Real Fisherman (+66 93 670 4045)
Delvin Tan, fishing guide to Krabi Fishing Team (+66980133943)
Telephony and Internet: Airalo – I had 5G on the Andaman Sea and signal everywhere, a service I use through Esim wherever I travel.
Fishing equipment: Arrow International
Water excursions:
I'll start with what I didn't like. The trip to Similan Islands, the journey by water is very long, and the schedule was like being in the army in a hellish mess. Otherwise, gorgeous island, I recommend a private trip and a relaxed program – operator Smile Travel or something like that, booked through Easia Travel. (day trip, speed boat, lunch and drinks included. )
Trip Phang Nga and James Bond, Ice Cream Cave, Mangrove Cave, canoe ride, snorkeling, visit and lunch in the floating village Panyee, super experience, super crew, super locations, everything superlative. – operator JP Andaman Tour, also through Easia Travel. Big Like! (day trip, speed boat, lunch and drinks included.)
The best trip was the traditional long tail boat trip, 4 Islands Tour Floor, Tup, Chicken, beach Phranang. – local operator reserved by TP TRAVEL&TOUR. (day trip, long tail boat, lunch and drinks included.)
Car trip:
This trip was on request, wanting to combine a tour of Phuket in one day, to admire panorama, let's visit a temple, let's go to tigers and at elephants. – operator Royal Silk Holidays, the company I made all the transfers with. I also visited, as a bonus company, on the way from Phuket to Krabi, The Big Buddha Phuket.
And because no good story started with a salad, let's not forget about...
Beer: I liked it very much. Chang (lager beer)
That's about it from Thailand. I'll stop here. There's a lot more to tell, if you're interested in other aspects, I look forward to additional questions here or on social networks, after you like, share, subscribe and tag 3 or 5 friends, or as many as you want 🙂 After all, as an old Asian proverb adapted into Romanian says, he who doesn't get into trouble doesn't eat fish!
PS1: If you've already fished in Thailand, leave a comment with your experiences!
PS2: If you've fished in another exotic location, let us know so we can go too. I've been to Mexico. Shall I tell you how the shark ate a quarter of my Wahoo fish?
Will follow…
