Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Phuket fishing report.
Today around the island we’ve had classic southwest monsoon conditions: **humid, hot, and breezy from the west-southwest**, with afternoon showers pushing through in patches. Temps sat in the low 30s, but it felt hotter on the decks. Seas outside the bays ran a bit lumpy, around 1–2 meters, but the lee sides of the islands stayed very fishable.
Sun slipped over the eastern hills not long after six this morning and dropped into the Andaman just after six this evening, so that **golden two-hour window at dawn and dusk** fished best. The tide ran a typical Andaman mixed semi‑diurnal pattern, with a strong morning push and a softer evening drain, and you could really feel the current along the drop‑offs.
Inshore around **Chalong Bay, Cape Panwa, and Nai Harn**, the bait schools have been thick: glass minnows and small sardines spraying on the surface, with longtail boats and squid jigs working until late. That brought in the predators. Local longtails reported steady action on **queenfish, small GTs, and trevallies** smashing bait along current lines, plus a few **barra and mangrove jacks** pulled from the rocky points and harbor structure.
Offshore, boats running toward **Racha Yai/Racha Noi and the drop‑offs west of Phuket** picked up **Spanish mackerel, tuna, and a few sailfish** working the color changes. A couple of charters also brought back **bottom fish – red snapper, grouper, and some solid emperor fish** – from 40–70 meters where the current eased up.
Lure-wise, the hot producers have been:
- For casting: **20–40 g metal jigs**, white or sardine pattern, ripped quickly through the surface feeds.
- For trevally and queenfish: **small stickbaits and poppers** in bone, blue-silver, or green mackerel patterns worked fast with sharp pauses.
- Around structure: **soft plastics on 3/8–1/2 oz heads** in pearl or dark green, slow-rolled near the bottom or bumped along pylons and rocks.
If you’re fishing bait, the locals are still doing best with:
- **Live prawns and small live baitfish** for barra, jacks, and inshore predators.
- **Fresh squid strips and cut fish** on the reefs for snapper and grouper.
- Light fluorocarbon leaders in the bays, heavier shock leaders offshore for toothy macks.
A couple of **hot spots** to circle on your mental chart:
- **Racha Yai / Racha Noi**: Work the reef edges and drop‑offs for mackerel, tuna, and the odd sailfish. Early morning jigging and trolling diving minnows along the contour lines can be excellent when the current is moving.
- **Cape Panwa to Koh Mai Thon line**: Drift live baits or trolled lures along the current edges for Spanish mackerel and tuna, then switch to bottom rigs over any hard marks or pinnacles for snapper and grouper once the sun climbs.
Closer to home, evenings inside **Chalong Bay** around the moorings and channel markers are still giving up a mix of small trevally, squid, and the occasional surprise predator, especially on light tackle and tiny metals.
That’s the word from Phuket’s waters today from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report.
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