After months of work without a break and having to endure a few operative procedures for an unwanted illness, I had reached an intensity of “cabin fever” that necessitated emergent action. It wasn’t necessarily the best time of year to go fishing for the type of prey I usually seek, but it was the only time I had available. Therefore I searched my memory, my collection of new and old fishing magazines, and the internet for a place for my wife Teresa and me to escape. I remembered what my old friend, long since deceased, Captain Glenn Jones from Australia had told me about the southern part of Thailand and specifically Phuket. He had ventured up to that area many times and raved about its beauty and the good fishing. There were a myriad of small black marlin there during the summer leading him and others to believe that there was a black marlin spawning area somewhere nearby. In addition there were many different types of tuna available, an abundance of Indo-Pacific sailfish, and a myriad of other inshore, offshore, and bottom-dwelling species that made this a perfect fishing destination. I long had wanted to investigate this part of the world, so I decided to heed Captain Glenn’s advice and check it out.

There are several different ways to get to this, the other side of the world. Teresa and I chose to go east this time as that route fit our time schedule the best. After over thirty hours of travel we arrived at Phuket International airport from Seoul, Korea just after midnight local time. The car I had arranged to pick us up and transport us to the hotel was nowhere to be found. Therefore after clearing customs and immigration we found an extremely friendly taxi driver to transport us to our hotel in Patong Beach some 40 miles to the south. When we arrived there we were profoundly enamored with the Burasari Beach Resort, a beautifully ornate typical Thai hotel with an extremely friendly and attentive staff.  I had mistaken our arrival time to be 12:30 in the afternoon not in the morning so we really didn’t have a room reserved for that night. They graciously found us a lovely room which required an upgrade and didn’t even charge us the difference. We found it difficult to sleep despite the very comfortable accommodations because of the 11-hour difference in time zones.

Later that morning we explored the gorgeous beach area and purchased some trinkets for friends and family. The beaches are made of beautiful white sand and despite the myriad of tourists were not unduly crowded. There were many shops and vendors lining the street in front of the beach as well as numerous hawkers trying to entice one to go see presentations for hotels, condominiums, and time-shares. They also had numerous scratch-off games with prizes for the same purpose. Prior to the Tsunami they enjoyed a 96% occupancy rate in their hotels and condos but even though it is climbing the occupancy rate currently is only about 80%. That is why the people and government are working so hard to get the tourists back. The Thai are a very hard working people and the current increase in unemployment bothers them a lot.
 
 

Captain Jonas Nyqvist	40' Pace "Gecko"	The Three Thai Mates

Early the next morning after breakfast our Swedish captain Jonas Nyqvist picked us up at the hotel and took us to the boat “Gecko,” a 40-foot Pace convertible powered by twin Caterpillar 3208 turbo-diesels, which was at anchor off the beach on the other side of the narrow peninsula. Via the internet and email I had arranged a three day live-aboard trip to the Similan Islands with “Fish Koalak,” Jonas’ and his Brit partner’s corporation. One of the Thai mates came and ferried us and our luggage out to the boat on a small outboard-powered inflatable dinghy. After meeting our three remarkably friendly Thai mates, Tio, Toi, and Au (I hope they forgive my attempts at the spelling) and a short safety briefing we headed northwest to the Similans. The nine islands are located about 48 miles offshore atop a large underwater plateau which is dotted with a number of unique but very effective FAD’s composed of bamboo, Styrofoam blocks, and old fishing net. We started trolling shortly after getting underway and picked up the sporadic skipjack and kawakawa (little tunny) along the way as well as a decent-sized dorado off of one of the FAD’s. As we neared the islands I caught a nice-sized trevally over one of the many reefs and we saw some sailfish free-jumping in close. No matter how hard we tried though we couldn’t entice another fish to bite during the remaining hour or so we had before dark. Captain Jonas then steered the boat offshore about 12 miles to an underwater seamount where we anchored for the night. After a lovely Thai meal we bottom-fished until after midnight. I caught another nice trevally and a number of other species I had never seen before despite having bottom-fished the GBR and a number of south Pacific islands.
 

Trolling The Similan Islands	FAD (Fish Attracting Device)	A Nice Bull Dorado
Terry & Teresa Aboard the Elephant	Buddhist Temple	Teresa at Monkey School

The next morning breakfast was followed by a trip to another nearby sea mount that was noted for holding dogtooth tuna, yellowfin, and black marlin. Despite trying both top-water and deep-water techniques we couldn’t scratch out a single bite. We trolled the rest of the day and covered a lot of water but could only snag skipjack, kawakawa, and the occasional dorado. The skippies and kawakawa we caught though were fairly large and the dorado were in the 10 -25 pound range. I had come hoping to catch a longfin tuna, a small Indian Ocean species of tuna somewhat similar to the Atlantic blackfin and one that I had never caught, as well as perhaps some large dogtooth tuna. The water though was just too warm. The weather had turned unusually hot and they were in the middle of an “el nino.” The water temperature was an astonishing 91.1 degrees Fahrenheit! Late in the afternoon Captain Jonas saw one black marlin swirl and I spotted several sailfish jumping in the distance but these fish like the ones we saw the previous afternoon wanted nothing to do with our baits. The day turned out to be incredibly hot and I damned near suffered a heat-stroke despite my extensive past experience in hot humid climates and drinking a great deal of water. It was over 98 degrees with about 96% humidity before the afternoon was over. Maybe it was good we didn’t get a bite from a “real” fish.
 

Terry on a Fish	A Nice Trevally	Terry on Another Fish

That night we anchored on a different sea mount further from the islands. We once again fished into the night after dinner but didn’t have much luck at this location. We did catch some small fish which like before defied my attempts at identification. The Thai boys knew what they were but my lack of ability to speak Thai made that fact somewhat useless.

Our last morning we headed offshore an additional 20 miles to a drop-off hoping that the attendant upwelling would provide some water cool enough to hold the fish we were seeking. Still we caught nothing but skipjack and large kawakawa as the water only cooled a tenth of a degree. After several hours Jonas decided to head the “Gecko” south to the waters off Phuket where there was another large reef that tended to hold longtail tuna. This time of year Jonas fished for a wide variety of species at the same time. We had seven lines out. There were three 30-pound Shimano Tiagras off the transom, the lateral two of which were rigged with tiny squid daisy-chains placed behind small birds and the center one was rigged with a tuna feather. Another two 30-pound Tiagras were positioned facing slightly outward off the port and starboard sides with deep-diving Braid Marauders or large Rapalas. The last two outfits were armed with 50-wide 2-speed Shimano Tiagra reels rigged terminally with 9-inch and 11-inch marlin lures hung off the riggers. We were therefore ready for anything from small tuna to larger tuna to wahoo to sailfish or even larger black or blue marlin.
 
 

A Skipjack Tuna	Terry on Yet Another Fish	A Decent-Sized Kawakawa

We found the water to be a bit cooler when we finally arrived at the reef but it was still 88.5 degrees. Once again there was no longtail, dogtooth, sailfish, or marlin action; just the usual skipjack and kawakawa fare. I did get another decent-sized dorado though and Teresa caught three skipjack at the same time on a chain of small “king-kings.” Those were her first tuna. At least it was not as hot this day making it a great deal more tolerable. It was overcast in the morning although the sun did break free in the afternoon warming it up a bit. April is right before the rainy season begins and is typically the hottest time of the year in Phuket but according to Jonas who has lived here since 1985 it typically is nowhere near as hot as it was this year.
 
 

Another Nice Dorado	Another Buddhist Temple

About three in the afternoon we headed back to the dock which is located on the east side of the peninsula. It took about an hour-and-a half to get there. When we arrived Jonas’ Thai girlfriend and his two year-old son Alex were there to greet us. They took us back to our hotel where I had booked a suite for our last two nights. We had a great time but there still was some disappointment since I had travelled literally half-way around the world to catch a longtail tuna which historically are abundant here year around only to be foiled by the extremely warm water! As we boarded the plane to return home I thought “Oh well, that’s fishing!”
 
 

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