Write Angler - Rick Hordin Copywriting, Fly Fishing and Snorkeling in Thailand

Necessity is indeed the mother of all invention. This particular need arose while on Beach Klong Dao in Koh Lanta, a quiet southern island in the Krabi province of Thailand. My wife and I had been in Thailand for almost a month already and found Koh Lanta to be one of those as-of-yet still relatively unspoiled islands. Most of the businesses here are family-run by a harmonious population of kindly folks that have laboured hard to rebuild here after the Tsunami struck a few years back. On that note, the people of Thailand are beautiful, with legendary hospitality and reasonable rates for just about anything one can imagine including hour long massages for about $3 US! I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience here. We can get into that another time.

Though I'm not a strict purist, fly fishing accounts for most of my time on the water, or in this case in it. I had gotten a good fishing fix in a (borrowed) kayak, but I still wanted to tie into another rockfish (snapper) before we left this paradise for the congested craziness of Bangkok. The locals had tipped us to some nearby reefs that could be accessed with a half hour stroll along the beach. So, off we went with our street-purchased snorkel bags (cheaper than the airport) to catch the low tide. Once out in the water, I discovered a lot of snapper (and lionfish - a recent invader) out there hugging the reefs which dropped from 8 down to about 15 feet. I had carried my fly gear along with us (just in case), but there was no place to stand out there to cast, and we were a long ways from where the kayak was. (Hmm) Hastily, I swam back in to shore, rigged up, and swam back out with my rod aloft to try something new.

Now I can't recommend that everyone tries this because casting does present a bit of a physical challenge. Holding myself up like a dolphin by kicking my fins, and laying out line quickly (before my legs gave out); I could actually throw a decent cast! Once I resumed breathing through the snorkel (to catch my breath!), the underwater views of all the fish taking swipes at my flies was downright hilarious. The snapper I had originally coveted landing had vanished, but the dozens of aquarium-variety specimens I saw were amazing. There were times when I had between 20-30 colourful fish chasing my flies at one time. Interestingly, these fish did not make themselves visible when simply snorkeling. So, the food factor must be the key. In Hawaii, we had used dry pet food to lure the fish out of the reefs but I never really liked chumming water I was swimming in... This was a whole lot more fun, and the prospect of landing something sizeable while swimming in the water with it was just too intriguing.

I suppose any piece of tinsel might have worked, but stop-stripping a small white clouser with a scud dropper on a floating line was working quite well. I'll be the first to admit this fish-eye perspective gave fishing a whole new twist. Watching a fish on the end of my line diving for the reefs and then unhooking that fish, all the while breathing underwater with it looking back at me, was strange and fascinating. Concealment appeared to be of little concern because the schools of darting marauders seemed indifferent to my blazing yellow fins. I found myself wanting pictures (heck, movies!) of these silly scenes, but my trusty "waterproof" camera had given up on snorkeling a day earlier (right before a swim through a sea cave to a secret beach). Next time.

After an hour of this new exercise, I was starting to feel a bit fatigued and was thinking that a life vest would make this a whole lot easier (and safer). I was improvising here. If you travel much, one starts hearing things like, “Yeah, we used to do that all the time here, but then a bunch of tourists died". I'd witnessed several places where death was an imminent possibility. And though I can float and swim for hours, it seemed prudent to head in and join my wife who was already on the beach waiting for me. Making her wait too long could be dangerous in itself.

My travel rod and reel (March Brown HW 8wt, Redington CD) had gotten quite a dunking to say the least. I was thinking about how my favourite outfit (left at home) would certainly be right out for this. Yes, fishing tackle is made to get wet. But I'm sure the manufacturers were not exactly thinking of this (extreme?) salt bath during the design phase. I gave it an extra thorough rinse immediately upon returning to our bungalow at Banana Gardens.

Since I didn't pull in a snapper, we headed over to the EZ Bar where fresh fish dinners were readily available (and cheap). Afterward, we lounged on the beach being swept by gentle ocean breezes, and watched an awesome sunset transform into a canopy of moon and stars. I wanted to absorb it all completely. It was a beautiful ending to this chapter of the trip. I chuckled at reviewing my “in-depth" experience that afternoon as I held my wife's hand. "What?" she said. "Nothing, I just feel very lucky right now."