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LAST UPDATE: Thursday October 23, 2003

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Fishing the waters around Phuket
 

Depite heavy commercial trawling, Phuket is surrounded by a sea rich in fish, with few operators and few serious game fishermen chasing them. The number of sailfish here during many months of the year is so astounding that this is gaining the reputation among those in the know as the ‘Sailfish Capitol of the World’.

The sailfish are so plentiful near the Racha Islands, just an hour south of Phuket, that during a single day the fisherman will often see hundreds of adult sailfish jumping and splashing, or sometimes swimming right by his boat in schools with their fins out of the water. But he will commonly catch only one or two during the entire day of trolling lures past their bills. Still, one or two or four sailfish in a day is excellent for many fisherman, and some come from around the globe for this grand sailfish spectacle and one of the most reliable sailfish fights in the world.

While sailfish are the reliable stars of any fishing tour to Phuket, the waters here hold all species expected in tropical waters: wahoo, dolphin fish, mackerel, tuna, barracuda etc. Bottom fishing, night fishing and shark fishing are also available, though boats usually have to travel a couple of hours or more away from Phuket Island, which has been heavily overfished. Even today trawlers scour the sea around Phuket island taking everything in the ocean with fine mesh nets, including, sadly, countless millions of baby fish that are turned into fishmeal for chickens.

The great future hope of Phuket’s fishing world is the continental drop-off into the deep Andaman Sea. Few boats have fished this, for few have the range to travel the 70 odd kilometres out to sea. This is beyond the Similan Islands, which can be used as overnight anchorage and base for boats venturing on multi-day tours. Hope abounds that this continental drop-off is home to the grandaddies of the juvenile marlin that are quite common in the shallow island waters.

Phuket has less than a half dozen modern, international standard game fishing boats, most operated or owned by foreign expatriates (see list below). This is augmented by a dozen or more wooden Thai boats converted for fishing convenience. The Thai crews on these boats are also knowledgeable though they do not always follow the billfish catch-and-release policy followed by all international operators.

We have more information and photos coming, including some stories that have been published in Phuket Magazine in the past:

Collin’s sailfishing story- P Mag

Other fishing stories – P Mag