Salt water, I wonder if?

[jackinbkk]

Every time I visit Thailand for the freshwater fishing I always wonder about spending time going for something big in the salt water. I'm wondering if I headed over to Chon buri and soaked a bait over night if there is the slightest chance of it getting hit by a black tip or even a bull shark, maybe even a ray? My time spent in Phuket would tell me that the chances are very very VERY, low, but I've never tried for a shark in Thai waters. Now that I have some experience catching sharks from the beach in Florida and I know my gear is capable of landing 7ft bulls, I'm thinking about giving it a go. I wonder how low the fish numbers actually are. Maybe I should just head for the Bang pakong for freshwater rays.

Thoughts?

Is it even safe to fish the sea at night or am I likely to be mugged. No seriously! Chon Buri is maybe not as bad as Phuket,

[impulse]

One of my coworkers has pictures of some real nice 5-10kg mackerel caught offshore Pattaya.

He says a few buddies go out occasionally and do pretty well when they do.

Under our platforms out of Songkhla, we get quite a few nice barracuda and see an occasional 3-4' cobia that would bbq very nicely. Other than the very rare (and protected) whale shark, we see very few other sharks of any size under the platforms. (No fishing allowed within 500 meters of the platforms, so they become a haven for fish)

Still, I'd be reluctant to risk the dollars and the prized day off for an offshore trip, given the size and quantity of the fish I can catch at BSR and Pilot 111 with 99% certainty. No salt corrosion, no sunburn, and back home in 30-45 minutes.

[jackinbkk]

I stuck to the pay lakes in the end. I kept saying to the wife we should go but she wasn't interested. I'm pretty sure I would have caught nothing and I'd never have found anything that put up a fight like the catfish.

[Jotham79]

A few years back I saw a guy catch 2 small sharks in Jomtien. He was by some rocks right outside the beach gate to the water park. I would think that the south end of jomtien would be a better bet.

[jackinbkk]

A few years back I saw a guy catch 2 small sharks in Jomtien. He was by some rocks right outside the beach gate to the water park. I would think that the south end of jomtien would be a better bet.

I am waiting for another trip to Florida for the sharks. The Thai catfish are really spectacular. It's the capital of freshwater fishing. I don't think a shark other than a blacktip has pulled as hard as the cats. Sharks seem to need to be dragged in. They're not used to something targeting them I guess. Although the hammer heads are apparently phenominal fighters and usually very big.

[gavin310]

I've done a bit of saltwater fishing... everything from the more expensive chartered trips, to just going out on tiny Thai boats with friends, to fishing off the piers, to fishing off the beaches. I live a bit south of Chonburi in Trat province. I'll give you a rundown of some of my trips. Hopefully it'll give you some useful info.

The chartered trips have not produced for me, although i've seen some companies in Pattaya that seem to have nice results. 7 Seas Pro Shop (the shop at Bungsamran Lake) has a fishing boat that operates out of Pattaya. They do lots of jigging trips. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=7+seas+jigging It's expensive though. At the islands around Trat and also at Koh Samui and Koh Tao I've done boat fishing trips. About 3,500 - 5,000 baht for a big boat for the day. The only fish I caught out of 3 fishing trips was a 1 kilo golden snapper.

As far as sharks, I've heard of people catching them, but they're small... like 2kg. There's definitely bigger sharks around, but I don't hear about anybody catching them.

A Thai friend of mine took me out on a small boat. We were catching small barracuda (~1 kilo) all night long.

At the islands I've done a lot of fishing from the piers with my Thai friends. I never got a big one, but my friends have. Out of 30 trips to the pier, he caught 2 queenfish at about 5 kilos each. A nice sized cobia went for my baitfish as I was reeling in and he missed it.

On the mainland I've fished a lot at the piers. Lately I've had good luck with the saltwater catfish (plaa got). Each time I've went I've got a 1.5 kilo catfish. I used cut squid and the bait was sitting out for about an hour. Last year I fished at the piers in the daytime. On one trip I caught 2 stingrays: one about 8 kilos and one about 4 kilos. The other times I caught nothing.

Another time I went out with some friends on a small boat. This time it was at the mouth of a river that goes to the ocean in Chanthaburi province. The water was muddy, but we caught small (0.25 kilo) saltwater catfish all day.

Basically, the best thing to do is to go fishing with your Thai friends. You'll start getting invited onto boats, or to places foreigners don't go to or know about.

For bait, at the piers I prefer squid over shrimp because there's so many small fish and crabs that will eat shrimp pretty quickly. Squid stays on your hook for much longer. I've used live shrimp quite a bit, but that hasn't produced for me in the ocean. In brackish waters I've caught some nice sized catfish (plaa dook) on live shrimp. At the piers and on boats I like using live bait... sometimes with a float, sometimes flylined.

Edited January 16, 2014 by gavin310

[jackinbkk]

I've done a bit of saltwater fishing... everything from the more expensive chartered trips, to just going out on tiny Thai boats with friends, to fishing off the piers, to fishing off the beaches. I live a bit south of Chonburi in Trat province. I'll give you a rundown of some of my trips. Hopefully it'll give you some useful info.

The chartered trips have not produced for me, although i've seen some companies in Pattaya that seem to have nice results. 7 Seas Pro Shop (the shop at Bungsamran Lake) has a fishing boat that operates out of Pattaya. They do lots of jigging trips. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=7+seas+jigging It's expensive though. At the islands around Trat and also at Koh Samui and Koh Tao I've done boat fishing trips. About 3,500 - 5,000 baht for a big boat for the day. The only fish I caught out of 3 fishing trips was a 1 kilo golden snapper.

As far as sharks, I've heard of people catching them, but they're small... like 2kg. There's definitely bigger sharks around, but I don't hear about anybody catching them.

A Thai friend of mine took me out on a small boat. We were catching small barracuda (~1 kilo) all night long.

At the islands I've done a lot of fishing from the piers with my Thai friends. I never got a big one, but my friends have. Out of 30 trips to the pier, he caught 2 queenfish at about 5 kilos each. A nice sized cobia went for my baitfish as I was reeling in and he missed it.

On the mainland I've fished a lot at the piers. Lately I've had good luck with the saltwater catfish (plaa got). Each time I've went I've got a 1.5 kilo catfish. I used cut squid and the bait was sitting out for about an hour. Last year I fished at the piers in the daytime. On one trip I caught 2 stingrays: one about 8 kilos and one about 4 kilos. The other times I caught nothing.

Another time I went out with some friends on a small boat. This time it was at the mouth of a river that goes to the ocean in Chanthaburi province. The water was muddy, but we caught small (0.25 kilo) saltwater catfish all day.

Basically, the best thing to do is to go fishing with your Thai friends. You'll start getting invited onto boats, or to places foreigners don't go to or know about.

For bait, at the piers I prefer squid over shrimp because there's so many small fish and crabs that will eat shrimp pretty quickly. Squid stays on your hook for much longer. I've used live shrimp quite a bit, but that hasn't produced for me in the ocean. In brackish waters I've caught some nice sized catfish (plaa dook) on live shrimp. At the piers and on boats I like using live bait... sometimes with a float, sometimes flylined.

Thanks mate,

I did a fair amount of fishing from piers, beaches and long tail boats when I was in Phuket. Never caught much myself. Needlefish, reef fish, little grouper, a tiny queen fish and what may have been red snapper. It was a while back now. I rode up to sarasin bridge a few times at the north of the island. There were reports of GT. On those boat trips for tourists I got the little tuna and queenfish but it's not fun on tackle suited to sailfish and marlin.

There were little blacktips caught at Karon beach. Big ones never seem to survive but then it's hard enough catching them in shark infested florida.

Videos like this made me hopeful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPXGR6OtGNI

Edited January 28, 2014 by jackinbkk