wreck fishing Gulf of Thailand 1-4/9/'06

[jaidam]

Hello folks,

Happy to be a new member of the forum.I am a fishing guide in Thailand.We are based in Koh Tao which is a tiny island about 40 miles out into the gulf.Bluewater fishing starts just meters from the shore.Recently a large number of wrecks have been located, most are a long run out and requiring a minimum 3 day liveaboard.I will post reports on these trips if anybody is interested.

Wreck fishing aboard MV Trident 1-4/9/06

Slowly dropping his bait down into the dark night water it wasn’t long before Stewarts’ rod twitched slightly and then bent double. After a hard strike the fish was firmly hooked and the fight began. The fish was taking line in fast short bursts and shaking his head violently. This could mean only one thing. Bigeye trevally were on the bite. Five minutes later Stewart had his fish under the sodium light in gaff range. Half an hour later we had about ten of them flapping on the deck. Whilst they will bite all through the night, an hour after sunset is generally the peak time. The action is often so intense that it is impossible to get a bait to the bottom without a hungry bigeye snapping it up.

HTMS Phangan is a newly discovered WW2 wreck. She lies approx 60 kms north-east of Koh Tao in 62 meters of deep, clear blue water. At 2,000 metric tonnes she is a large fully established artificial reef, well out of the range of most fishing boats. Instead of anchoring, a diver goes down and ties off a rope to the structure, and the fun begins.

Standard tackle for bottom fishing would be a stiff boat rod and overhead reel filled with 40lb mono line. The terminal tackle consists of a 40lb leader just over a meter long, and as light a weight as possible running free above the swivel. Small sharp hooks like Gamakatsu no14 are perfect. The best bait are live sardines jigged up with a small sabiki rig but failing that either squid or plaa thu(a small mackerel with very oily flesh) work OK. Whenever possible I also like to keep a live bait about 8 meters under a float just in case any king mackerel are around. Light coffee coloured Malin wire seems to work well for the leader as it is thin enough to be near-invisible in the clear water but also resistant to the mackerels’ jaws.

The main targets on these wreck fishing trips are African pompano (Alectis ciliaris) in the daytime , bigeye trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus) , and gold snapper (Lutjanus johnii) at nighttime. Occasional catches of cobia, barracuda, shark, mackerel and grouper keep things interesting.

At about midday on day 2 the weak current was against the wind, which meant that we were upcurrent from the wreck. This is prime time for African pompano fishing. Hanging the bait about a meter from the bottom is the most productive technique, and every minute or so dropping the weight to the bottom and retrieving to the meter above position is a good trick to make the pompano take notice. After taking a few small snapper, I felt a strong, fast pull on the rod. Setting the hook it was clear that this fish was no snapper. Line peeled out against the stiff drag, and the battle began. Ten exhausting minutes later the fish was gaffed and boated. Unlike king mackerel, which soon tire, the pompano will fight all the way to the boat without tiring . The next 3 drops all resulted in a pompano, average size 4 kilos. Wreck fishing at the Phangan doesn’t get much better than this!

Adventure Center Ltd
Maehaad,Koh Tao,Thailand
adventurecenter@gmail.com

[Deep C]

Welcome aboard... Great to see new faces from exotic places with us. Very nice detailed report . Thank you good sir for sharing and please do keep reports like that comming...

[SeaBiscuit]

Welcome Jaidam!
Thank you for the fine report and pictures. We'd like to hear all your stories and see lots of pictures.
It's nice to have a fellow bottom fisherman's perspective from the other side of the world.
SeaBiscuit

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Very cool report. I love the bottom fishes myself. Thank you for posting. I look forward to hearing more form you. Holwachagot.