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

[Ajohn]

I bought a fladen maxximus travel beachcaster. It's a surprisingly strong rod but I suspect you will need something that can break 10kg line - not sure if it's up to that. There is also the fox trek beachcaster. Might be more of a casting tool than the fladen. The fladen isn't bad in that respect though it's just unusual.

Maybe you should ask in the overseas section of the forum.

John

[marktheshark]

Hullo matey
Lucky, lucky man! However, I fear you may have a trip of two halves as far the the fishing is concerned. I can't speak of Oz/NZ except to say that the shore fishing will probably be a bit better than Malaysia/Thailand. When I've tried there, I've found the shore to be fairly poor. There is quite a UK-style beachcasting scene in Malaysia, but the fishing is usually better offshore there and in Thailand, and I'd consider taking a rod you can use off a boat. Good fishing can crop up unexpectedly - one of my best trips in Thailand was an unplanned speedboat adventure exploring some pretty remote islands off Krabi/Phuket, but the boat had no fishing gear and luckily, I had brought my own.
The shore fishing will probably be spinning for trevally, barracuda, needlefish and small groupers, and baitfishing for snapper, guitarfish and rays. If you can get into mangroves there might be barramundi as well. In both Thailand and Malaysia (as you can see from other postings) there is also a flourishing freshwater scene, including jungle trekking for kelah, the Malaysian version of the mahseer. If you go after big catfish in Thailand, you'll need a boat rod.
So if I had to narrow it down to one rod I'd take an uptide which can be used from beach and boat at a pinch. The Fladen one mentioned in the previous bulletin is available for £90 from tacklebargains.co.uk. If I could widen it to two rods, I'd take one that's more comfortable for spinning and baitfishing, and a light (20-30lb) boat rod. The Shimano Exage and Beastmaster multipart boats are pretty good and can handle dorado, tuna and barracuda comfortably and also pack down quite small. The Shimano spinning rods are good too, especially as they supply an extra section to give an option of length (either 8/9 or 10/11ft). I'd go for the latter (£60-ish) if chosing one of those - it's a bit stronger and the extra length will help you cast better.
However, I bought a Greys Missionary 9ft spinning rod in March rated to cast up to 100g, and it's proved to be brilliant. Foregrip is a little short but it's very strong, casts superbly, and breaks into 4 pieces. Bit pricey at £130 but worth it.
For spinning reels, I use a big Shimano Baitrunner (superb line-lay, and the freespool is excellent for baitfishing). I've also found that smaller Baitrunners won't let you spin fast enough for quick predators such as trevally - you need a big spool. I also got a new Biomaster XTA 8000 to go with the Greys rod, but I regret doing so: the line-lay is poor and the Baitrunner spool is fiddly; worst of all, line keeps getting behind the spool and wrapping around the spindle. For boat reels I'd get the best Penn or Shimano multiplier you can afford, preferably lever drag. You can cast Shimano LDs 50yds-plus on an uptide if you're careful with your thumb.
I've already vented my views about budget reels (and rods) on this forum: IMHO they're a false economy and don't last.
Good luck, and let us know how you do
Mark

[Pompey_Nick]

Hi Mark/Ajohn,

Thanks for the replies - both very helpfull. I have been wondering whether I'd get away with an uptide rod for shore spinning, so thanks for the suggestions Mark.

I've been looking at the Shimano BeastMaster STC pilk 30-120, but at 79cm transport length, its a little long to go in the ruck sack, and didn't really want to get into carrying an additional hard case - you know it'll get separated from the rucksack at some point! Was also looking at the Beastmaster STC 20-50g spinner as you mentioned, but with a max casting weight of 1.76oz I'm not sure it'll be man enough on the beach or have I completly missed the point and won't need more than a 1.5oz casting weight.......I've just never fished anything that light off the beach and it's hard to imagine doing so! Then there is the whole issue of of Johns comment on having a rod man enough to break 22lb line - whats all that about??? How bloody big are these fish likely to be????

Still a little confused at what to go for, but thanks for the effort chaps

Cheers

Nick

[Ken L]

Unless the fishing is going to be a really major part of your travelling, you could do a lot worse than a three piece travel spinning rod of about 7".
Mine's a StCroix Tidemaster and rated to cast 2oz (56g) but will easilly throw 3.
It's handled big barra and Mahseer as well as light bait fishing and comes in a hard tube for transport/strapping to a backpack.
There are a couple of cheaper rods of similar spec available from Cabelas

There's always the Shimano STC rods but for my money, they're too long for lure fishing and too soft for bait fishing.

Tackle is easy to get hold of and well priced in both Singapore and Malaysia so don't panic if you can't find anything. The only difficulty that you might have is in finding a proper travel rod.


Forget spinning with an uptider. It'll cripple you in a couple of hours and small fish will be no fun at all.

[PanamaJack]

Hi Nick
As Mark and Ken have pointed out it's an impossible task, attempting to square the circle. You're certainly not going to find a single rod that will fulfil all, or even most eventualities on such a trip.

And believe AJohn for many of the places you might end up shore fishing in in Australia or New Zealand 20lb test will seem ridiculously light. It's a salutary lesson, but try reading a couple of these threads on Oz - http://www.worldseafishing.com/forum...ad.php?t=23959 - and New Zealand - http://www.worldseafishing.com/forum...ad.php?t=23700 - to see what you might encounter.

So whatever you take it will end up as a compromise - attempting to balance portability against 'fishability'.

I always take a couple of Loomis 10 - 20lb - 7' 3-piece spin blanks - one made up for spin fishing and one to cast with a Shimano 400 multiplier - on my trips. And I've had sharks to over 60lbs from the shore on those and 100lb plus Sailfish and Tarpon from boats on them.

But there you're looking at a broken down length of just over 28". Not something you can realisically store in a backpack that's going through as 'checked in' luggage without a rod tube, unless you're prepared to accept the extra weight, as Ken has suggested. (Most airlines won't let you take them on as 'carry-on' now.)

So perhaps a 5 piece Shimano or a telescopic spin rod will best act as a compromise? Surely you'll be able to get one of those, cheaply, in Singapore? Then if when you're in the Antipodes the extreme style of fishing takes your fancy buy something there, cheaply, that's more appropriate and 'donate' to one of the locals on your departure.

Sorry I similarly can't give you a 'one solution fits all' answer - it's just that it doesn't exist.
Dave

[Pompey_Nick]

Thanks again Gents, all advice much appreciated.

I have decided to go for Shimano Exage STC 15-40g cw spinner. It knew it was always going to be a compromise, it has to go comfortably (in its rod tube of course) on the side of the rucksack, so length was always the main problem. I would have like to go for the 20-50g cw but that extra foot made it too long when broken down.

To go with it I've got a Wychwood 'pit' baitrunner. Not as expensive to loose as a real Shimano should anything go wrong and if it'll bring in a decent pike/carp then I'm guessin it'll deal with anything that the rod could take. Decided on a bait runner to cover the bases really - I see me doing some bait fishing at some point.

I really appreciate the time to post fella's, and I totally agree with what you say, but I'm really don't see my self doing anything 'too hardcore' until we get to Australia, where we'll have a camper van for 8 weeks of the 12 or so we're there going from Cairns to Adelaide, before we go up the top end, so will be doing the whole gold coast, sydney harbour, southern beaches etc. I know I'm gonna end up buying a 'bigger' outfit - probably more akin to how I fish here - 12ft 6-8oz carbon beach and a bloody big fixed spool, but I wanna go like 'Flathead' and 'Brim' fishing in Sydney (yes, I watch Rex regularly ) and the Shimano will be great for that. I also want me one of them big aussie Salmon, and gotta catch me a 'Baramundi' in the top end so there I think I'd switch to a stronger set up.

Am going to take a few spinners, plugs etc with some basic terminal stuff like a variety of hooks, swivels, a few weights and maybe some feathers of some description. Everything else I'll pick up locally....and like the wife keeps telling me - we're going on a 9 month holiday, not a 9 month fishing trip!

Have to get to web cafes over the 9 months we're away, so will try to post back when I get the chance.

Cheers again chaps.

Nick.

[geffaz]

seems the advice given is pretty sensible! tho i took
a 4 peice bass rod and seemed to cover most fishing eventualitys
from spinning bait fishing and float fishing!

p,s congrats on the midlife crisis!