Southern Oman (Hallaniyat Islands)

[Clem]

Hi All,

I'm off to fish Southern Oman tomorrow with a few friends - fishing Thursday and Friday

The fishing has been great down there recently with good catches of huge GT's; hopefully we will get into some big AJ's if there about..

If you have wondered why the fishing is usually so good there, check out the chart below showing the immediate area around the islands...in fathoms (add this to a favorable water temp!!!!)

Weather looks good so far...so here's hoping...

[wallacewt]

hi clem
where is that bathymetry site or did you buy it
thanks.

[Clem]

Hi Wallace,

buoyweather.com

14 USD for a month...

[Keta]

Have fun and post more photos.

[redsetta]

Good luck Clem - looking forward to the report and photos.
You're on a roll!
All the best, Justin

[Clem]

Hi All,

Just a quick one before I head off to Italy on holiday...

I went down to Southern Oman last week for a fish with 3 friends, the fishing down there recently had been red hot so we were keen to get amongst the action. The drive from Dubai to Shuwaymiyah bay takes about 10 hours, through a few small towns but primarily through the desert...good roads all the way.





We dropped into the bay late Wednesday afternoon and caught up with Ed (http://www.noboundariesoman.com/) who we were fishing with (check out the link for more info)



The villa is well setup with all the basics and about 5-10mins from the ramp. We unpacked our gear and started to get ready for the following day. Ed had advised us earlier of what we should bring regarding tackle - We had all re spooled with PE10+ (120-130lb main) and 300lb leaders, we all had a variety of poppers/stickbaits using Owner ST76 5/0 (barbs removed)...they are a decent size treble that's for sure. The plan being, if you hooked up strike hard and move towards the stern and we would try and drag the fish away from the reef...(theory was sound).

We head away early the following morning, flat sea and a 60 min run out - Ed runs a nice 30 odd footer (center console, twin 150's) perfect for what were about to do.



Nice trip out and we started to close in on the island's (Hallinyat)



Ed put us on a nice open reef and away we went, it seemed like only minutes before Richie (on the Saragosa 18000) was into something big...struck hard...moved to the back and started to move away from the reef. Now, I need to go back a step...the night before we had tested our knots etc and talked about the amount of drag we would run...I was using the Stella and was comfortable with a quarter turn of max drag...I hadn't bench tested it but I could turn the spool with my hand and it still felt relatively smooth...considering the strength of the main etc it would be OK.

I could see Richie was holding on for all he was worth, he had lost a bit of line and then I saw the rod lurch downward and bang...the 130lb main snapped. Upon inspection the line had cut into the spool...I checked his drag and it seemed extremely tight (could hardly move it by hand?). I told him to back the drag off and palm it if he had too and we would check it later.

Popping can be hard work but it is really enjoyable and I'm hooked...we had some huge fish swipe at our lures, some less than 2-3 meters from the boat...lots of near misses that's for sure so it kept it interesting. The fish life around the island is amazing, milk fish everywhere...manta's jumping from the water, dolphins and the odd whale popping up close to the boat...



Day one come to an end throwing some of the light gear at Trevally and bluefish which put an end to a great day.

That night I checked out Richies drag to see what had happened (apart from the line digging in to the spool). The reel was relatively new and Richie had told me he had upgraded the washers under advice from the retailer who sold him the reel. This model Gosa already had carbon washers so it actually wasn't required but it did have something to do with the problem. I removed the washers to have a look and fortunately Richie had the originals with him. In short the original stack is shorter than the aftermarket stack (small difference in thickness between factory/after market)...this is not a problem if you are aware of it...unfortunately Richie wasn't and he had also put them in dry. I put the originals back in just to eliminate the possibility of over over tightening the following day.

Second day started off slow...a few fish raised but nothing hooked. Late morning Ben put a popper on the spot, struck hard but was quickly broken off on the reef...the early afternoon was spent trying all all the tricks to get hooked up, changing from poppers to stickies and back again. We then moved on to a long reef with a shallow patch through the middle, Chris was using a trusty old Halco and bang he was on...this time maybe?...everything as planned, struck hard...straight to the back and tow it off, finally we had one off the reef..Chris was into it and slowly it came to the boat



This was a nice looking fish...around the 35-38kg size...



I was on the video by this stage..Ed had the leader and lined it up...



Difficult to see but the fish was hooked on the outside of the mouth and we were using barb-less hooks...Yip, a head shake and it was off...



It was a nice fish though...Ed had the leader so we called it for Chris...

Back to it..we started to get into the fish now (a few smaller ones) and Richie got a nice 20+



Lots more near misses but it was time to go...

It was a great trip...I didn't put one on the boat but that's fishing. Great guys and an excellent host made for a great weekend. I had a 50+ in the sights but that will have to wait until October when we go back. Back up to Musandam on the 12th of May so looking forward to that. The water temp will be up a bit then so should be starting to fire.

In regard to Richies drag...something to remember when going aftermarket!

I can recommend Ed and Noboundaries if you want to go to Southern Oman. Well I'm off on holiday tomorrow and will catch up with you all soon...take care

[wallacewt]

good one clem
you go fishing for a couple of days and knock off to go on holidays.ha!

[redsetta]

Good call Wallace - was thinking the same thing meself.
Great work Clem. Been showing the pics around tonight at my local RSA.
Everyone's impressed with that epic GT.
Cheers mate, Justin
PS Happy Easter lads.

[Keta]

Thanks for the report and photos.

[alantani]

very nice!  one more trip for the bucket list!