Thailand Andamans

[Makaira]

Hi Guys,

Just back from a pretty uneventful trip to the Andamans via Phuket. Had a nice time relaxing cruising the islands of the Andamans though

The most exciting memory is my first experience at watching an erupting volcano at Barren Island. Didn't do much fishing as we experienced "xi lao" most of the trip even when it was suppose to be spring tides. Very weird! Managed to jig myself an estimated 20kg yellowfin & two doggies about the same size as the yft in 300ft of water anchored off Barren Island. Sadly no pics as I was the only one out on deck with one of the crew as everyone else was hiding from the constantly falling ashes from the volcano I was thinking "What the heck!! Since my lungs are screwed from years of smoking anyway, what more damage can some volcanic ash do!" Wahahahahahahahaha!!! Then around midnight, the anchor slipped & we decided to leave the spot as we did not want to risk screwing up the boat's air-intake systems with constantly falling volcanic ash which became worse when the wind changed direction. Oh, ran into my buddy John Pearce at Barren Island. He was there with both his operation's boats -- the Reel Hooker & the Reel Blue.

Apart from the usual razorgang in the form of wahoos when trolling deep open waters, the highlight of the trip was a estimated 45kg yellowfin caught on the troll at the 1000m drop-off about 100nm off Phuket en-route to Port Blair. Lost an estimated 200kg black marlin at a seamount in the vicinity of the same drop-off on the way back to Phuket. We could see long lines laid by the commercial fleets at this drop-off. Clearly, this drop-off in the path of the tuna's migration route in the Andaman Sea.

A point to note was the devastation of the the tsunami all those years ago was still evident. Many of the Andaman Islands are still littered with fallen trees & dead vegetation as high as over 100ft from the water line. Another very sad thing was we encountered was an empty raft drifting in the middle of the open ocean about 80nm from Port Blair. It probably belonged to the Burmese Rohingnya refugees. A very eerie but sad encounter indeed.

That's all folks!

Best regards,
Makaira

[edylie]

Thank you for the CR KK, what a nice YFT. No bottom fishing this trip?


Best Regards,
Edy

[stickbom!]

Nice report Field Marshall!

Hope the poor blokes who were on that raft have been taken in by the authorities from the area...

[Makaira]

As always .... you are more than welcome Edy! Didn't bother with any bottom bashing as there were hardly any currents at most of the places we were anchored.

Mikey ....... I fear the worst for whoever was on that raft. While in Port Blair doing the immigration, health & port clearance procedures, they told us that over the past few months, hundreds of bodies have washed ashore at the Andamans and a few hundred refugees were rescued. A very sad situation to say the least.

[MarkR]

Thank you for the report Mak!

[Narc]

Waited a long time for your CR... finally here it is but a little short in terms of photo numbers.
at least you enjoyed the cruise...

Thanks nevertheless!

*hails the Master*

[Blackfish]

Great report Makaira, I'm pretty jealous.

[Makaira]

Thanks guys.

Went on this trip with the understanding that I will fish as & when the opportunity arose because most of the kakis were divers; not fishermen.

This is the fourth time these guys have been to the Andamans; pre & post tsunami, and based on their past experiences, the quality of the sea life in the reefs have significantly deteriorated .... certainly not as prolific as before. There was certainly a lack of the species that the Chinese markets crave for ... if you know what I mean. I suspect the locals may have been trained to target them for the live fish market; just as had happened to many parts of the Indonesian archipelago. They may well have been wiped up by some reef disease for all I know. Just speculation on my part though.

Fishing for pelagics is appears still to be very healthy though based on my half night experience at Barren Island. Pity we did not get to go to Narcondam.

I am sure the CR from Pelagic Hunters will provide a better picture of fishing in the Andamans. I can hardly wait!

[MachoMarlin]

Wow! Nice place with lots of surprises!