Samui Fishing Challenge
(April 2025)

With the low season upon us, we were pleased to kick off our friendly fishing competition for expats with bars or other business ventures right here on Samui.

As you may recall, this is more of a species hunt than just being all about weight, providing a great chance to mingle and socialize. The winner is decided on a points system, and anglers are asked to use their skill and judgment to achieve a winning points tally within the 4-hour afternoon session. There are 42 species to go after, and the rarer or harder the fish is to catch, the higher the points score, ranging from 1 point for a Siamese carp up to 15 for a Ripsaw or 30 for a Juliens Golden Carp.

Pegs are drawn, and the teams then decide if they want 1 boilie rod and a deadbait rod, or 2 boilie rods.

The day started with a small problem as Coco Beach Bar, the usual stalwarts of our competitions, had to drop out at the last minute due to illness. This meant I had to make up the numbers with one of the guides. As Juice drew the short straw, we were called Juicy TopCats. With Juice doing most of the fishing, we were given a 10-point penalty, which seemed fair.

It was a hot and humid day, and the fishing was slow going. I think we might have won easily, but Juice seemed to get bored, and we soon became a team made up of youngsters helping Juice out and, in fairness, having a lot of fun.