Shore fishing around Phuket

[Mad Dog]

Dear all,

I'll be spending 2 weeks in the northern part of Phuket in February and am looking for any useful information regarding shore fishing in the area. I am an avid fly fisherman respecting the catch and release rule.

Maybe someone can help me out here:

- Are there any spots where we can wade out and have fun?
- Can we fish from Mao Khao beach or is it forbidden due to the nearby National park ?
- Is there any possibilities further North to do some mangrove fishing?
- Does someone know a reliable person who can bring me out to some reefs for a decent price?

Any info or personal experience is very welcome!! Happy New Year to all of you.

Tight lines!

[Tord]

Hi

You are not very specific about what fish you are targeting, but I assume you are looking for some shore/coastal flyfishing opportunities.

I haven't visited Phuket but I made some half-hearted attempts trying to find some coastal saltwater flyfishing while visiting the mainland Andaman coast on non-fishing vacations. I gave up. The options that were offered to me were offshore fishing for sailfish, marlin, trevally, dorado, tuna. Not that I did not want but again, it was non-fishing vacations and I did not want to break promises --124-3 .


Bonefish, Indo-pacific permit are rare and there is no flats to speak of.

Sand beaches are beautiful :) but usually deep and not very productive.

I don't want to rule out shore fishing totally, but almost.

I would rather try to search for productive coastal areas (estuaries/mangrove ), aiming at Barramundis, Barracudas, Queenfish, Cobias, Rainbow Runners, Snappers... Anyhow, I guess you will need a boat, and be prepared to spend some time. My experience is that Thai people are extremely friendly, a local should not charge a fortune to bring you out with his longtail -- and local people would certainly be happy to see tourists returning after what happened 26 dec 2004.

Try googling for saltwater fly fishing Thailand and see what it returns.

/Tord

[mctrout]

Was in the Phuket and Phi Phi Islands in the summer of 93. was one really big flat on the west side of Phi Phi Don but never saw any fish to catch on it other than grunts and stuff. did a bunch of snorkling.Did a wall dive at a place called Shark point on Phi PHi Li. also did not see allot of the fish we would want to catch with light tackle but was on vacation with my wife, so the fishing was not much of an option. Ive always wanted to see the coast north of Phuket. Wish I was of some help...Have a great time. the people are really beautiful

[Mad Dog]

many thanks for the info guys ;) ! I feared that I would get such feedbacks for shore fishing when I looked at the coast line on Google Earth (which is a great tool to prepare coastal fishing by the way). However there seems to be a powerful current on the western shore so maybe the rocky outbreaks could yield some good surprises early in the morning or at night.

I guess I'll do the same I did while in Mauritius (walking, snorkeling & fishing accordingly) which takes time but highly enriching and sometimes rewarding (nothing like discovering a new spot and releasing a fish you just caught with your own fly).

That's what I like the most when SWFF from an unsknown shore, you never know what will come up (most of the time nothing but when a small 4lb GT hits you, it's a delight!)

I will continue studying the maps and try my luck! In the meantime, if anyone wants to share his experience in how best fishing this area or overall SWFF strategy in coastal (unknown) areas, could be an interesting topic for all of us.

I will post my travel report when I get back!

[albacized]

I almost hate to ask....but how do you pronounce 'Phuket'?

[Soundking]

I almost hate to ask....but how do you pronounce 'Phuket'?


Now thats funny.

There is some really good wreck fishing in the Gulf of Tonkin from what I hear....

[Tord]

I almost hate to ask....but how do you pronounce 'Phuket'?
Pronounced [pu:'kIt]

[Tord]

Mad Dog,

I found this forum. Singapore based, but also discusses Malaysia and Thailand so you may hopefully be able to get answers to your questions.

http://www.fishingkaki.com/forum/index.php

[ikan besar]

I've attempted shorebound as well as boat fishing off of Phuket, various islands in Malaysia, all through Indonesia and the Philippines. The results have led me to stop taking fishing tackle with me when I go to Asia. Overfishing has really taken a toll on that corner of the globe and makes me appreciate the fishing that is closer to home all that much more. Go ahead and give it a try, but limit your expectations or you may end up disappointed.

[Mad Dog]

Well, I'm back from Phuket and, as promised, here is a short summary of what I've experienced while aborad:

- shorefishing: just forget about it. When you see the number of people fishing either from boat or from the shore, it's like trout fishing in a reservoir during a competition! I have snorkeled around in the sandy beaches (north -west shores) and could only see small fishes. I did see a few hunts here and there, but nothing to get your heart racing. The only place which could have potential was at the Sarasin bridge, especially where the strong currents go to sea. But you'll have to compete against a dozen of longtails boats, each carrying 4-6 fisherman. Had a strike on my fly by a small barracuda.
- went out to see with a longtail boat skipped by a knowledgable and very friendly fisherman. Equipped with gps he has been working really hard to provide me with some decent fishing. Nevertheless we needed to get to 10km offshore to start getting decent fishes. Lost a big fish while spinning and we went once 17.5 km offshore and got a nice barrucuda and a big snapper.
- went offshore (Similan Islands) with Blue Water Anglers company where we hired a boat for myself and my wife. Great service and their danish staff is very knowledgeable. I can really recommend them over some others I've been in contact with. Got one sailfish, skipjack tunas on the fly, small dorado, etc.

In short, as stated by many locals and other people I've talked to, Phuket was great 20 years ago but now, most of the good spots have been emptied thanks to the big fishing industries and their netting practices. To top it off, looks like the 'eco-friendly' tourists have a nice tendency to throw away their plastic bottles out to sea. Each dive spots on the Similan was full of thrash.

So if you go to Phuket, go West to the deep waters or lay on the beach have a drink! Thanks to all of you who've helped me preparing my trip.