The Season at Its Deepest
February sits at the heart of the Andaman peak season with a quiet confidence. The sailfish are still here — still here in numbers, still eating, still jumping — and the conditions that have made the offshore grounds so productive since November show no sign of relinquishing. If January is the fanfare, February is the sustained note, and it rings just as clearly.
The month has a particular quality for anglers who have been fishing the Andaman across the arc of a full season. There is none of the excited novelty of the season opening or the frantic energy of peak December liveaboard demand. February feels settled — the fish are where they should be, the captains know the grounds intimately after three months of fishing them, and the whole operation has a confidence and efficiency that produces some of the best fishing of the year.
Conditions: Northeast Monsoon Holding Strong
February 2026 delivered a textbook northeast monsoon performance. Winds remained predominantly light from the north and northeast, with the characteristic clear skies and good visibility that define the peak season. There were a handful of short-lived north wind events through the month — the kind of two-day blow that creates some chop on exposed reef faces — but these passed quickly and were not sufficient to disrupt liveaboard schedules or substantially affect the offshore fishing.
Sea surface temperatures held steady in the 26–28°C range, with liveaboard captains noting that the thermocline was sitting at a slightly shallower depth than in January — a subtle but fishable change that was concentrating baitfish in a thinner surface layer and keeping sailfish activity focused and predictable. The blue water clarity that had been a feature of the season since November remained outstanding through most of February.
The slight shallowing of the thermocline through February actually improves sailfish fishing efficiency. Bait is stacked closer to the surface, sails are feeding in more accessible water, and kite presentations can be placed right in the strike zone without adjustment. Pay attention to these subtle changes — they explain why the bite can be even tighter in February than in January.
Sailfish: Peak Consistency
The offshore sailfish action through February was as consistent as any month of the season. Reports from across the main grounds — from the south coast grounds accessible from Phuket on a day charter, through the Koh Rok area, and northward into the offshore waters around the Similan chain — described steady sail activity with multiple encounters per productive session becoming the norm rather than the exception on the better days.
Kite fishing continued to produce the highest hookup rates on calm days when the light sea breeze allowed a good kite to be flown. The technique — presenting a struggling live bait on the surface film while keeping the line off the water — remained the most reliable way to trigger a visual strike from the cruising sailfish that were visible in the clear conditions. On the windier days, conventional live-bait outrigger presentations produced well, with captains favouring sardines and small mackerel from the bait suppliers at the major Phuket and Khao Lak marinas.
The February sailfish are the same peak-condition fish that arrived in January, and they have had another month of excellent feeding. Hookup rates are high, the fish are strong, and the battles are worth every hour of the flight to get here.
Marlin continued to appear as a bycatch on trolling grounds, with black marlin representing the majority of encounters. These fish are not the primary target on an Andaman charter, but their presence is a reminder that the broader pelagic community is well-fed and active — a sign of a healthy, productive ecosystem that benefits all the species above it.
GT Popping: Reliable Across the Northern Circuit
The GT fishery showed no meaningful sign of slowing through February. Koh Bon remained the headline venue, with fish active on both the incoming and outgoing tides over the reef plateau. The consistency of the Koh Bon GT bite through the long northeast monsoon season is one of the most reliable features of the Andaman fishing calendar, and February 2026 upheld that reputation.
Koh Tachai added variety for liveaboard crews who wanted to work heavier gear on more exposed structure. The pinnacles there tend to hold bigger individual fish and the topography rewards more aggressive popper selection — crews using larger cups and heavier lures on 80 lb braid outfits were better positioned for the larger resident GTs.
When the GT bite feels slow at Koh Bon, try shifting to a subsurface stick bait rather than a surface popper. February GTs are occasionally reluctant to come all the way to the surface for a popper but will commit to a subsurface presentation that swims just beneath the chop. This is particularly effective in the hour after dawn when the surface water is at its coldest.
Jigging: Dogtooth Numbers Holding
The jigging grounds of the northern Similan pinnacles were still producing dogtooth tuna in reasonable numbers through February. Crews working the deeper structures — particularly those with bottom at 60–80 metres — were finding the fish on slow-pitch presentations, with the best action tending to come in the first two hours of daylight before the sun angle affected the structure's shadow and changed the fish's feeding position.
Amberjack and jobfish were reliable secondary targets on the shallower jigging marks, providing consistent action between the less frequent but more dramatic dogtooth encounters.
Liveaboards: The Quality Peak
February marks the month when liveaboard operations reach their most refined peak. Captains have three months of season behind them, the crew are working smoothly, the fish behaviour on the regular grounds is well understood, and the boats themselves have been running long enough to have any early-season mechanical quirks resolved. Trip reports from February departures consistently describe a sense of efficiency and quality that even excellent January trips sometimes lack.
Richelieu Rock was producing well for operators who included it on their northern itinerary. The seamount's GT population was active and the water around the pinnacle was holding impressive concentrations of bait — a feature that tends to attract both the target species and the whale shark encounters that Richelieu Rock is justifiably famous for.
What Changes in March
The northeast monsoon begins to weaken through March. The change is gradual at first — the wind drops, the sea becomes even calmer, but a hazy warmth starts to build in the afternoons that feels different from February's crisp peak-season air. The sailfish remain on the grounds well into March, and some of the best individual sessions of the season occur in the first three weeks of the month. But the window is narrowing, and March carries the awareness that the season is entering its final chapter.
For anglers still planning a late-season Andaman trip, the first half of March represents excellent value and solid fishing. After mid-March, the calculus starts to shift.
See our February seasonal guide and sailfish season Thailand article for more detail on timing. For planning a late-season liveaboard, see our liveaboard operators Thailand overview.
