After motoring for some time past the islands off Sattahip, Dene discovered that the bait was a smallish bag of shrimps and made it clear this was not acceptable. The trip then descended into farce as the skipper motored round other boats in the area begging or borrowing some squid. He then sulked for the rest of the day, was persuaded only with reluctance to cut up the bait for us and declined to clean some of the catch at the end of the trip.
Jeff with his stingray.
The squid he did get was pretty ropy, and we all had small catches, Dene doing about the best with around 4 kilos. Jeff caught some interesting variations from the normal pla daeng, snapper and grouper with a Leatherjacket, a Lizard fish and a Stingray (see picture). Needless to say, the tribulations already described plus a highly dangerous scramble to get on and off the boat have dissuaded us from considering this provider for future trips for the Club.
The six members who set out on Tuesday 12th Feb had a much happier day. The barracuda were still running off Koh Khram, and between them the guys hauled in nearly 40. This provided plenty of excitement, and Bill and Jason posed for the camera with some of their catch. For aficionados of the Ban Chang scene, Bill has recently taken over the Kiwi Bar, now renamed B & K.
Later on, fishing for our normal species was a little slow. Nevertheless, most went home with a decent icebox-full, with Dene, as so often, coming out on top with around 20 kilos.
The two remaining trips in February are fully booked. Trips in March are on Saturday 2nd, Tuesday 12th, Saturday 16th and Tuesday 19th. Contact Pattaya Sports Club or call John O’Neill on 085 391 7045.
Bill and Jason pose with their catch.
