Gary and Bert fish with Wahoo

Gary at the Wahoo Office

Quality Shimano tackle onboard

Reel Hooker is a superb craft complete with air conditioned, experienced staff and top cuisine

Roaring out for fishing grounds

Bert with the Thai skipper

Bert in the fighting chair trolling for tuna

Gary hits the tuna!

Gary and Bert are into their 5th day already of their 10 day stay with me.....and what a delight they are to have around. They are keen to make the most of their time and have been busy!!

Yesterday they chartered Wahoo's (http://www.wahoo.ws/index.html) mid range Game Boat Reel Hooker. Now I might as well tell you what it costs because this is not for everyone...but the lads reasoned that this was a rare (maybe a once in a lifetime only) opportunity to try for a big fish on a quality game boat. Game Fishing IS expensive. Those of you who have tried it around the world will know what I mean. The boat cost 44,000 Baht for the day which is £880. Because I now have a registered business in Thailand I am able to act as the booking agent. I have no desire to benefit from this so am able to pass on the discount to my customers..thus we were able to get £120 deduction (which is what I would get as the agent) taking the cost down to 38,000 Baht which is £760. There's up to 4 people max on a Game Boat but Gary and Bert wanted to have the boat for the 2 of them.and why not!! Good for them.

The day starts at 0830 and finishes at 1730. The boat is fast, superbly equipped with top range Shimano tackle and offers top quantity service with excellent cuisine (it's called that on Game Boats). Wahoo have an Australian fishing guide onboard Reel Hooker and the lads were full of praise for his obvious expertise and enthusiasm.

But Game Fishing is all about trolling all day in the hope of raising a sailfish or marlin (there's stacks of small tuna about) or maybe a wahoo or dorado. If you get a good billfish on...it's another matter to get it in because they are manic and leap all over the place.

Anyhow, to cut the fishy story short...the boys caught plenty of tuna...so we are fine for dinner at the house...but did not manage to and the elusive marlin or sailfish....one of the photo's shows Gary's exhausted state after trying to land his fish...ha ha

Big 'un on!!!! But it got off......

It's up to you what sort of fishing you want...and of course it depends on your holiday budget. Tomorrow evening we will pay £20 each and have 4 of us on the longtail boat with my friendly Thai skipper and fish from 1600 to midnight using my tackle. We will catch barracuda, grouper and snapper plus some other bits n pieces. It's cheap and it's fun. There are mid price range 'wooden warrior' boats (£220 for a 12 hour trip split between up to 8 of you on the boat if you charter the boat) or you can go as an individual at about £55 per person. Lunch and drinks are always provided.

At the other extreme, I have 2 customers who have chartered the Wahoo Game boat for a 7 day 'Liveaboard' big game trip to the Andaman Islands at the end of March. I leave you to figure out how much that will cost!!

Phuket is good because you really can have fun on whatever budget you have....sure you 'get what you pay for' but there's plenty to do that is very cheap or even free...it's all to you!!!