Thailand CR Phuket

[hdmcgatha]

11/09/2007
The day was a bit overcast but we had some sunshine. We had just rigged the boat up and wanted to head out for a test day to check everything. We were just South of Racha Noi and hooked up with a nice sailfish. As the day went on the water became choppy but we continued to fish. We managed to land a nice King Mackerel 7Kg on a red and white Storm. We were also running Repala X-Rap Mag 30 but the fish did not even look at them. Here are a few pics from the day... Enjoy !!







Update.. 26-09-2007 report. The weather was not good but we went out anyway. We hooked up with a nice dogtooth tuna about 500m south of Racha Noi. The dogtooth tuna was taken on a red / white Storm. Later in the day we hooked up with a nice king mackrel and a small mahi mahi. It rained most of the day and water conditions were rough. We still had many lines out. We had the downriggers, outriggers, and flat lines all out. Here are some photos of our trip out.

[Din]

Dan..gd to see u're back in action!!Great catches there,btw,the last pic,what was on the end that got hooked?

[hdmcgatha]

Dan..gd to see u're back in action!!Great catches there,btw,the last pic,what was on the end that got hooked?

Din, Good to be back but I only have one week and I am off for a month. But then I am bach for 3 months.... Nov - Jan Megga fishing That was a Mahi Mahi but it got off at the boat.

[hdmcgatha]

Sorry for the delay but my internet was down Anyway Friday was a Great day out. The weather was very nice and the seas were as calm as I have seen them in a long time. We had four hook up's but only landed two Wahoo. One was about 7 Kg and the other was about 5 Kg. We tried many luers but just could not get on the fish good. Well all in all we had a very nice day out. Here are a few photos from the day. Enjoy

[kemejan]

awesome catches there bro.

[hdmcgatha]

awesome catches there bro.

Thanks Bro..... We are just waiting on the weather before we try our luck again.

[Sportfisherman]

Hi Dan ,

You use stickbait as trolling lure ?

Jon .

[hdmcgatha]

Hi Dan ,

You use stickbait as trolling lure ?

Jon .

Jon,
Yes we used stick baits as a trolling lure. They seem to work well about 4-5 knts. Shotgun position about 50m back. We pulled 100grm baits.

[Sportfisherman]

Jon,
Yes we used stick baits as a trolling lure. They seem to work well about 4-5 knts. Shotgun position about 50m back. We pulled 100grm baits.

Hi Dan ,

NOMAD charter troll stickbait quite a bit targetting various species in Coral Sea .

I noticed a logo on the back of that sticbait hanging out from the sailfish , is it NOMAD logo ?

Jon .

[hdmcgatha]

Hi Dan ,

NOMAD charter troll stickbait quite a bit targetting various species in Coral Sea .

I noticed a logo on the back of that sticbait hanging out from the sailfish , is it NOMAD logo ?

Jon .

Jon,
Yes the stick bait was a NOMAD but we also have the Black Jack from Blue water. We will be going out again on Friday.... I hope the weather here will be good.

[Sportfisherman]

Jon,
Yes the stick bait was a NOMAD but we also have the Black Jack from Blue water. We will be going out again on Friday.... I hope the weather here will be good.

Hi Dan ,

Good luck for Friday , we are not having a good season this year in the southern ocean , big wave , high swell , strong wind and colder water + a few earthquakes !

Keep the report n photos coming in , please .

Jon .

[hdmcgatha]

Hi Dan ,

Good luck for Friday , we are not having a good season this year in the southern ocean , big wave , high swell , strong wind and colder water + a few earthquakes !

Keep the report n photos coming in , please .

Jon .

Thanks Jon, We will give it our best baits.... I just hope the weather gets better. I will post a report as soon as I can.

[hdmcgatha]

UPDATE 05-10-2007
Well guy's this will be my last CR for about a month.... I have to go back to work. The weather was very choppy and we did get tossed around a lot but we managed to land 3 nice Wahoo and one Mahi Mahi. We landed two of the Wahoo on Repala X-Rap Mag 30 SBM and the other Wahoo and Mahi Mahi was taken on a stick bait. We ran the boat at about 5 kts but it was hard to maintain a constant speed due to the sea conditions. It took a long time for us to get back in and we had a few tangle problems where we lost some gear but all in all it was a good trip. Here are some photos. Enjoy.

[Sportfisherman]

Hi Dan ,

Good to hear you still scored a few wahoos n mahi-mahi .

5 flat line out ( not counting shotgun ) + 2 on outriggers , no wonder you get a few tangles , should consider tag lines .

What do you do in Phuket , if you don't mind me asking ?

Jon .

[hdmcgatha]

Hi Dan ,

Good to hear you still scored a few wahoos n mahi-mahi .

5 flat line out ( not counting shotgun ) + 2 on outriggers , no wonder you get a few tangles , should consider tag lines .

What do you do in Phuket , if you don't mind me asking ?

Jon .

Jon,
I do well with all of the lines out even in rough weather but this day we hit a fish trap line that was not long enough and my captain did not see the marker floats because they were underwater. I do not run that many lines at one time on a charter. My max is about 6. Thats because I let the Deck hand take care of them. Myself and Team (Team Reel Action) can run many more but we keep them sorted not the Deck hand. Anyway.... Weather, trash and fish traps.... We still had a good day. Ummmm I can run 14 lines hehehehe 4 downrigger 4 flat 4 outrigger 2 shotgun (if real brave 4 there too) hehehe Crafty..... Just have to be on top of the lines.... All of the time. Only about 10 lines in choppy weather.
I just live here (My Thai Wife and I) and fish here. I also have a small Bar here in Kata Beach. I work offshore so I am in and out often

[Sportfisherman]

Jon,
I do well with all of the lines out even in rough weather but this day we hit a fish trap line that was not long enough and my captain did not see the marker floats because they were underwater. I do not run that many lines at one time on a charter. My max is about 6. Thats because I let the Deck hand take care of them. Myself and Team (Team Reel Action) can run many more but we keep them sorted not the Deck hand. Anyway.... Weather, trash and fish traps.... We still had a good day. Ummmm I can run 14 lines hehehehe 4 downrigger 4 flat 4 outrigger 2 shotgun (if real brave 4 there too) hehehe Crafty..... Just have to be on top of the lines.... All of the time. Only about 10 lines in choppy weather.
I just live here (My Thai Wife and I) and fish here. I also have a small Bar here in Kata Beach. I work offshore so I am in and out often

Hi Dan ,

14 lines ! Now that is more than I ever tried , the most I have tried is 10 lines out ( 2 tags , 4 outriggers n 4 flats ) but don't like it , most of the time we only put 8 lines out . Too much works reeling in those lines when a strike occurs as we only have 1 deckhand + 1 captain + 3~4 anglers at most .

In the future with smaller boat I may even go down to 6 lines out ( 2 tags , 2 outriggers n 2 flats ) , don't do much trolling nowaday except when targetting marlin . More likely we will have 3~4 guys with popping outfits targetting YellowFin Tunas n Mahi-mahi around the FADs .

Jon .

[hdmcgatha]

Jon,
We have a Great bunch on Team Reel Action but I would never try more than 6 lines for a charter unless I knew thee anglers and there experience level.... As you know anything over 6 or 8 lines can be tricky at times and the guys on deck and the Captain have to be in tune to everything going on. Anyway I am off tommrow for work for a month so I hope you guys enjoy the good weather comming up soon. I will be thinking about you all..... Wishing you all of the best and Great catches... Keep what you will eat and let the rest get bigger....