Fish to eat

Most travel to Thailand for the hotels, beaches, the food, the night life and entertainment. But what about those who’d like to travel here to fish? Some of us fish to eat, some fish for fun but in the end its fun to fish to eat especially when it’s somewhere beautiful like in Phuket, Thailand.   Many of the hotels around the Island of Phuket are located so close to the beach that you can simply hire a rod and line and out head of for a bit of beach fishing. Trevally, barracuda, and needlefish are some of the tasties you’d be aiming for but virtually anything fished in the sea here can be eaten. Take your catch back to the hotel and get the chef to do a special for you.  On the other hand, if you are feeling a little more adventurous, why not go on a fishing excursion? To give you an idea on what this may entail, I have picked up the following excerpt from a travel writer friend of mine who recently visited Phuket.

After spending the first few days here lounging in the sun, in the sand and on the beach, then enjoying the seasoned nightlife which combines the exoticism of Phuket food, culture and good old fashioned romanticism, my wife and I decided that on this holiday we’d spend part of our week’s vacation doing something new. A fishing excursion! We were picked up at our hotel at 8:00am; (contrary to popular beliefs that Thais are never on time, we could see the minibus pulling up in front of the hotel at 7:30am from the hotel breakfast bar). Our boat was due to depart Chalong beach pier at 08:30 and head out to the high seas after a crew of four; including the captain, and another six adventurers had boarded. Unfortunately two of the six had not been waiting at their hotel and so there was just us four for this one night, two-day trip.  So anyway, we finally setoff, now in the hands of a Thai captain who, with pretty good English explained to us that we’d head for what he considered a good catching spot for the first part of our excursion. This trip’s being fully catered, plus eat-what-we catch, supplied everything from rods, reels, to flashlights for the night fishing and bandaids for cuts-we didn’t have to worry about a thing. Sleeping bags and soft foam mats were also provided for some of the shut-eye that we’d be allowed and of course, on deck at night-natural air-conditioning with a view to-die-for; a breathtaking night sky heaven-a glittering blanket for our souls to rest. Fishing for us, of course, was a learning experience. Something I hadn’t done since grade school but the crew were always at hand to help out. I caught some trevally and my wife Sheila caught a small King Mackerel which was barbied along with the rest of the catch for our delicious evening meal.  Apart from the fishing, the whole trip was very beautiful and picturesque and I remember thinking that being there was far better than staying at our hotel, relaxing on beaches or having to travel to some distant zoo. All too soon, our travel adventure came to an end and we were back on the squeaky white beaches and surrounded by coconut groves again. The thing I remember most distinctly about this trip was seeing huge Sailfish jumping and tailing the surface, then feeding on balls of baitfish – truly an amazing sight and one which I’ll never forget.