Best Cities In Thailand For Fishing

[gray42]

Which cities in Thailand are the best places to live if you are an avid fisherman? Preferably somewhere that is accessible to both saltwater and freshwater fishing.

[quiksilva]

Define accessible and best.

I live in Nonthaburi but regularly drive 2-3 hrs to fishing spots getting up in the middle of the night (I was bitten deep by the fishing bug). I fish freshwater spots all over the country but mostly within a few hours drive of Bangkok, but occasionally get up to Kanchanaburi too. I get my saltwater fishing fix by chartering boats out of Pattaya to fish the Gulf of Thailand.

IMO Bangkok, Hua Hin, Pattaya & Phuket are all good. The first three probably have better access to freshwater fishing (although there are some fine spots in Phuket too) but Phuket has by far and away the best saltwater fishing in the Andaman sea.

[gray42]

Define accessible and best.

I live in Nonthaburi but regularly drive 2-3 hrs to fishing spots getting up in the middle of the night (I was bitten deep by the fishing bug). I fish freshwater spots all over the country but mostly within a few hours drive of Bangkok, but occasionally get up to Kanchanaburi too. I get my saltwater fishing fix by chartering boats out of Pattaya to fish the Gulf of Thailand.

IMO Bangkok, Hua Hin, Pattaya & Phuket are all good. The first three probably have better access to freshwater fishing (although there are some fine spots in Phuket too) but Phuket has by far and away the best saltwater fishing in the Andaman sea.

Thanks quicksilva, exactly the answer I was looking for. I know to find good fishing you need to travel at least a couple hours, so cities along the sea that aren't hundreds of kilometers from good freshwater fishing is what I'm looking for. In Samui you need to travel far and away to get good fishing, freshwater and saltwater. Phuket is definitely tempting with the great sea fishing, but I need accessible freshwater fishing as well. From the looks of a few Google searches, there are lots of swampy marshes with good snakehead fishing. Maybe I will look into Phuket... I've also heard very good things about Hua Hin... might start looking into that more seriously too. Only thing I don't like about Hua Hin is the cooler temperatures in the winter. I love the heat.

[robblok]

Define accessible and best.

I live in Nonthaburi but regularly drive 2-3 hrs to fishing spots getting up in the middle of the night (I was bitten deep by the fishing bug). I fish freshwater spots all over the country but mostly within a few hours drive of Bangkok, but occasionally get up to Kanchanaburi too. I get my saltwater fishing fix by chartering boats out of Pattaya to fish the Gulf of Thailand.

IMO Bangkok, Hua Hin, Pattaya & Phuket are all good. The first three probably have better access to freshwater fishing (although there are some fine spots in Phuket too) but Phuket has by far and away the best saltwater fishing in the Andaman sea.

I live in nonthaburi too, my 2 favorite fishing spots are Shadow lake and Bungsamran. Both are affordable and house big fish.

[Gonsalviz]

Krabi is good too and cheaper than Phuket.

[gray42]

Do you guys know anything about Phang Nga? It seems to be pretty close to Khao Sok for freshwater fishing and also looks to have decent saltwater fishing...

[captnhoy]

better late than never . . . .

Howdy - I have my own 15 meter boat that I have lived on for the past 5 years on the Andaman Sea.

I lived in the Phuket area for a year. IMO the catching there is pretty marginal with considerable commercial and sport fishing pressure. I did take a few good fish there but nothing like I now get living in Ranong. Ranong is what? 300 kilometers north of Phuket. I follow the Thai example and fish the moon phases. I've been fishing for 54 years and never believed the importance of this until the last year or so. My catch rates are up dramatically in water that I used to believe was fished out. We catch nice GTs here from 2 to 12 kilos and we've lost monster fish SIX times this season. The bottom is rocky and a big fish can pull your line over the rocks until it is cut off. Barracuda are also common and my biggest is 5 kilos. Bottom fish are not as much fun for me but we do ok on those too. I know 2 Thai brothers who fish saltwater with me and fish fresh water on their own.

BTW - Ranong is the gateway to fishing the famous Burma Banks. It's too expensive to take my own boat there but I went on a good charter trip last April ( the very end of the season) and did quite well on many species including the prized king mackerel. Tuna were abundant too. We were a party of 10, 4 of us farang and we came home with about 250 kilos of fish for our group of 4. It's a 5 day trip @ 24,000 baht. I'm from the US and my buddy is coming over to repeat Burma Banks with me, departing Jan 11. I believe there is room for more. The boat is 70', fiberglass, comfortable with real bunks for sleeping, 4 years old and in good shape. They provide fishing and meals, no gear, no alcohol provided. Contact me if you want to join in. I have no financial interest in this - I just see it as good value as I've fished charter destinations from Alaska, Canada, Mexico and Phuket. This is good catching!

I could post some pics but I haven't sized them down yet.

[samuisteve]

Gray42

Talked to you earlier when I was bringing my boat into Samui. Change of plans and I now have it in Phuket. Am headed out to find some blue water this weekend, or Monday-Tuesday, and am looking for a few bodies to buy some gas. If you are in the Phuket region drop me a note and maybe we can hook up for an offshore trip.

steve