My father was not a big game hunter! Even though he never opposed it, he was never much on hunting at all! However, if he had a moment in the day and a body of water, you could bet your last dime on where he could be found. I think being left out in the freezing rain all day, after being dropped off may have something to do with his lack of luster for the hunt? Regardless, he grew up as a fisherman! His obsession to fish is about the same, (maybe a close second) to my passion for the hunt!
I can not remember the first time we ever went fishing together. I am sure I was probably in diapers! I assume this as to this day you can still find a diaper pin or so in his older tackle boxes. Over the years, I could never count the number of times we have fished together. I guess fishing was one of the things that actually instilled the love I have for the outdoors that is so deeply rooted in my soul. So as an adult parent, I have my hat off to my dad! The true man who introduced me to the outdoors and the one I dedicate this story to.
I guess this opening is a bit off of the subject when writing a story about fishing in the Adaman Sea, off the cost of Burma and Thailand. However, if it was not for my father introducing me to the outdoors, I can only wonder if I would have the desire for such as I do today?
Around 1997, I met Khun Surisak in Phuket, Thailand. He is the owner of a fleet of nine offshore sport fishing vessels custom built for the waters in South East Asia. Surisak, a local to the island of Phuket, has been in the sport fishing business or over 20 years. Since meeting him, I have taken a number of day trips to the outer islands and had both good and bad days for tuna, sailfish, barracuda, snapper and even a few small sharks. Although I did not know this at the time, the upcoming trip was to be the best one yet!
With the family away in the States for the Christmas holidays, I knew that the upcoming week would drive me up the walls if I did not get out of the house! I knew that the high tourist season was at its peak and any arrangements would be hard to make. Regardless, I pulled Surisak’s card out of the file and gave him a courtesy call.
After talking about the weeks catch and the boats being booked, I was a bit let down. Tourist, fully booked boats and the high season prices that come with such. I guess with the movie release of "The Beach.” Many people want to find their own private beach paradise. This comes close, as the location which the movie was shot, is a fantastic diving and fishing area. Khun Surisak had often tried to convince me into taking a two-day and one night charter out to the Similan Islands. This was not the first time we had discussed such, but with limited time and knowing I would be out of contact, I had passed and stuck with the single day trips.
The only boat he had that was not booked was his new vessel the Big Game 9. It was built for the long trips out to Similan and no one had booked it for the long weekend.
Although the sailfish were hitting good on the day trips, I am just not the type to go with the crowd. After a bit of haggling on the price, I got him to offer the trip to Similan for costs. With the business I had sent in the past, he knew it would pay off to have me take the trip and write about it later. (Or so I assume!)
I caught an early morning flight out from Bangkok to Phuket and was able to catch a launch to my boat by 09:30. I should have made it earlier, but I had to make the normal stops before the trip! (Beer Run)
I was very impressed with the new boat and was surprised to see Capt. Laradee, an old time skipper whom I had fished with before, greet me from the launch! After offloading my personal supplies, we headed out from Platong Bay, NorthWest to Similan. With the outriggers down, 2 triple lures running shallow off the transom and 2 doubles off the outriggers we were in the fish! Unfortunately, it was black fin tuna. Although good eating of a fish it maybe, I like and was after the sweet taste of a yellow fin or the fight from a tropical water sailfish.
We continued into the deeper waters making speed for the islands. Top speed was around 12 knots, but the tuna kept me constantly reeling. No lack of action on the start of this trip and a good size black fin can put up one hell of a fight. Not to mention the hard action when you have 3 fish on the shallow lines at once.
We continued to trawl to the islands, picking up a few fish here and there. As night fell, we anchored on the leeward side of the islands outside of the refuge area and sat down to a good dinner and wine, whilst the deck hands rigged up for bottom fishing.
In our position, we were over a reef 70 feet below the surface. This made the hits hard to notice. More than one time I had not hit bottom before the bait and line was being pulled with the rushing current. Capt. Laradee had been successful many times in this area on large sharks. With the calm water, he felt sure that we were in the right spot to hook a large hammerhead or white tip shark. Unfortunately, this was not to be the night as the full moon and fast running currents had pushed the larger sport fish into the island coves or further into the depths. During the next 4 hours we landed various types and sizes of reef fish, including snapper and grouper.
Around 21:00 hours, the flight, long boat ride, tropical sun, along with the wine had taken its full effect, I decided to go up top for a nap, whist the deck crew watched the shark lines for a good hit. If the bottom rigs screamed out, I would be up and in the fighting chair in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately this was not to be for this night. The gentle-rocking swell compounded with a cool breeze blowing through the open canopy was enough to put anyone in a deep slumber. So, sleep I did and without dreams or disturbance.
Through the first day and that night, I had boated approximately 40 fish. Not a bad start for the first day out. Out of habit, I awoke at 04:00 and turned on the back deck lights to rig down for a chance at some early risers in the slow current. The fishing was slow, but the groupers I boated were big enough to awake the sleeping crew. The cook had started his morning breakfast, whilst the deck crew continued to clean and ice the previous days catch and assist me in gaffing the larger reef fish.
As the sun started to rise, we pulled anchor and set up the outriggers in search of sailfish. In less than 30 minutes, one of the deeper rigs screamed out and I grabbed it knowing that I had hit an early rising sail fish! The line played out as faster than I could take it in! We came to a dead stop to start to back-down on the fish, who had the advantage on speed and maneuverability. The short stout rod was bent to what seemed to be its breaking point. We backed down on the fish in hope to gain line and hope that it would surface. As the fight continued over the next 40 minutes, my arms started to ache and I could only hope that the fish was starting to tire as well. I caught my second wind and pumped the rod in an attempt to gain line.
Reeling closer to the boat, the Capt. pulled ahead to avoid the fish from going under us. As we did, the sailfish decided to go deeper and take more line. All I could do was to hope that I could play him down, before he took the line. The effort was paying off, or so I thought, as I was able to reel in the line that had been taken on the last five runs.
Without any idea of what was going to happen next, the sailfish decided to surface and danced sideways about 15 feet across the waters surface! With this once in a lifetime sight, and while admiring such, I neglected to notice that I had 50 yard or more of line to take in. I reeled as hard as one could and finally felt the strong tug at the lines end. The fish decided to surface again less than 30 yards from the boat. I could clearly see his battle-scarred fin and dark blue markings. I can only wonder if this fish was attempting to free himself, or coming to the surface to size up its captor. With the final dive, it seemed almost like I was trying to pull the reef from the sea bottom itself! Then as quickly as it all started over an hour before, the fish played to the boat as if he had surrendered. I can not put in words or honestly know what this fish was feeling, but I knew he had earned my respect as a fighter! And if he was as tired as I was, he was indeed a worthy opponent.
What seemed to be little effort, I reeled the fish to the side of the boat and yelled to the cook to bring out the camera. As the cook fumbled with my camera, Capt. Laradee stopped the engines to come to the back deck and help land the fish for some pictures before its release. I had already advised the crew that if we were to catch a marlin or sailfish, I did not want to use a gaff and would release him after taking pictures. This was unusual to the crew, as the thought of releasing any fish that was caught was something the Thai’s are not accustom to doing. Regardless, this was my request and they respected my decision of releasing such. As the deck hand grabbed his bill, in an attempt to lift him, the lure slipped from the corner of the fish’s mouth. Everyone on the boat, including myself, attempted an all out effort to get this fish aboard, without using a gaff. Although every attempt was made to land the fish for a quick photo shoot, it all ended with one quick whip of his body. This was all it took to earn its freedom. All we could do was watch as he slowly returned to the depths from wince he came. My only regret was not landing him for photographs. But then again he left me with the memory of a great fight, that will remain in my minds eye for the rest of my life.
This had indeed been a very eventful day for both the fish and myself. I had not noticed, but my fingers were bleeding in various places from contact with the line. The rush from the fight had dulled my senses to the point that I did not feel any pain. My only hope was that the fish was strong enough to live and fight another day.
We continued to trawl around the seven islands that make up the Similan chain. We picked up the occasional yellow fin and a few barracuda. But a second sailfish was not to be found. At mid day we anchored with other fishing and dive boats in a protected cove. The emerald blue water was crystal clear, with visibility of the bottom down to 40 feet.
While waiting on lunch, I donned snorkel gear and slowly swam around the reef to the shore. I was truly amazed at the variety and various sizes of the fish living on this beautiful reef. I dove down to a deeper part of the reef to come in arms reach of a huge grouper. These fish are accustom to contact with humans, as divers come to this protected reef on a daily basis. The underwater world around the reef is indeed a sight that everyone should experience at least once in your life. I can see why this area was chosen to film the movie “The Beach.” I snorkeled back to the boat, took a quick fresh water shower and ate lunch. I watched the fish swarm in to consume the scraps from the meal. Seeing this many fish, I was ready to head out to start trawling again.
We changed our course and headed back to the mainland. We continued to catch the occasional fish and made headway at a good trawling speed. As the sun set on this day, We enjoyed our evening meal and I went up top to enjoy a few beers. This had indeed been one of the most exciting and productive trips I had taken on any of Khun Surisak’s Big Game Fishing adventures.
With the cool breeze easing the burning of my sun baked skin, I stretched out on the upper deck and fell into a deep slumber. Around 22:00, we had returned to Chalong Bay to end the trip. All of the fish were cleaned and iced down for me to take home. I was surprised that during the trip, I had caught a total of 87 fish of various types and had approximately 21 pounds of fillets for the freezer.
Khun Surasak dropped me off at a bungalow he had arranged for that night and the next day. The view overlooking the harbor from a high point on the hills was wonderful. I could not help but to hike down the steep edge to the rocky shores below to take a few photographs and watch the surf pound the coral reef. The hike up was a bit steeper than I thought and even at 09:00, I worked up a good sweat! After taking a shower, Khun Surisak, picked me up to go for lunch before departing. To top off my adventure, we sat at an outside table overlooking the bay. Lobster, grilled fish and king prawns, provided a fantastic feast.
So ended a fantastic trip fishing in the Adaman sea. I look forward to returning to see if I can finally land a sailfish from these tropical waters.
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