Advice on Shore Fishing Malaysia/Thailand

[Pompey_Nick]

Hi All,

Am after a little a advice on travel rods/reels. The wife and I have decided to chuck it all in and have an early mid-life crisis.....we've sold up and are off traveling for 9 months around Malaysia, Thailand, NZ, Austrailia and India.

I looking to take a reasonably decent travel rod/reel combo to have in the rucksack but had better not spend more than £150/£200 or so.

When I get the chance to fish at home here (not oftern enough living in London) and having grown up on the beach in Portsmouth I use a 12ft Daiwa carbon 6-8oz with a big Okuma fixed spool and would like to try shore fishing whilst going thru Malaysia and Thailand.

Have looked at them but have no experience of telescopic rods as have always avoided them and think I would rather have a 6 or 7 piece buts its gotta fit in the ruck sack so gotta keep the kit small.

Am imagining using lures on the whole (again suggestions of what to take, or look out for over there really welcome along with any general fishing tips for the area). Was looking at some of the Shimano rods, but am unsure what length/casting weight or what size of reel to go for to give me the most flexability for the type of stuff I'm imagining doing.......wife on the sunbed, me stood knee deep, in a warm sea, waves gently lapping......sorry, will stop now - I want a reply to this :)

Am of course intending to go deep water a few times but will always do the charter thing and rent gear. Once in Aus it'll be easy of course - I'll just get meself a couple of Rex Hunts kits...Yibida Yibida and all that!!!

Any ideas or suggestions really welcome.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

Nick

[samfish]

Hey Nick,

I've just spent 4 months travelling and fishing in India and Australia. I took a 6 piece shimano travel rod.

I bought the 'shimano exage STC' travel rod in the heaviest version. 9ft and casts up to 3oz no problem. It is technically a spinning rod and managed lures of 1 + 2 oz with ease. It has an excellent action considering it is multi-piece and did not let me down once.

I caught Barramundi upto 18lbs and Mahseer upto 26lbs on lures with this very rod and it was more than adequate for a beasty-fish. It has quite a backcone to it!

It was also fine for light ledger work from the shore and even floating out live-baits. It excells at lure fishing though. You need a fairly small reel (Shimano baitrunner size) to fit on the seat however, so it's important to get the rod first and then size up the reel afterwards if you were to purchase.

It will not suffice for long-range shore work or heavy currents as you are not able to use enough lead.

It is a good allrounder that comes supplied in hard tube/carry case which you can carry on the plane as hand luggage or strap to your backpack no problem.

They cost around £60 from tackleshop.co.uk under the 'travel rod' section.#

It did me proud and several of my mates also have them for travelling purposes. I hope this helps you in your choice. Good luck out there and keep us posted as to how you got on.

Sam.

p.s. You could always buy a cheap telescopic beachcaster that can handle lots of lead too. Then you've got all your options covered.... They are cheap as chips!

[samfish]

OH yeah....

As far as lures go you cant go wrong with the following:

Bomber long - A's
Storm Rubber swimbaits
Big rapalas
Silver wedges/spoons
Mepps spinners (4 + 5's) (for any freshwater)
A couple of nice surface poppers.

[Pompey_Nick]

Hey Samfish....

Thanks for the reply. I eventually went for the exage stc with a baitrunner to cover bases for any live/deadbaiting. Have brought a dozen different lures including some of those you mentioned and added a couple of Shads, a couple of dexter wedges and a couple of spoon style spinners. Have been out a couple of times on the essex and kent coast after Bass just to get a feel for it still, no comparison to what I'll hopefully get up to whilst travelling!

Absolutly loving the rod, it's a really nice bit of kit but is still taking a little getting used to as the whole lure fishing thing is totally new to me.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply - much appreciated!:notworthy

Cheers,

Nick.