ULTIMATE ANGLING - the Ultimate SA Fishing website
General Angling Topics => Rock and Surf Fishing Reports => Topic started by: Harvard 16 on October 29, 2014, 04:12:32 PM
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I thought it time to make a more meaning full contribution on UA, by sharing a report of my recent warm up trip in Southern Oman, before joining KP11, 7/10’s and Malcolm in Musandam for the ‘Epic’. I just hope the photo links work, if they doesn't it's 7/10's dodgy instructions to blame. :hehe:
To set the scene.
This was my 3rd third fishing trip to Oman in the past 12 months, the first, late last year in Muscat area, which produced fish every session, most of the time was spend teaching my 4 year old son to fish but we still managed some decent grouper, greedy target fish and bream off the rocks , just hidden out of view from Barr Al Jissah Resort security and plentiful Dorado offshore from Banda Rowdha Marina.
That trip really wet my appetite for a fishing trip to Salalah and in Feb this year I tagged a 3 day one onto a Dubai business trip, and set off lightly tackled and with sky high expectations and in true Robson fashion ended up Oman 5 Me 0.
I blanked for the first day and half of solid fishing in the Mirbat area , after working through all the lures I had with me and out of frustration I entered the water with some fins :diving: to see what the hell was going on, only to be amazed by what I saw, solid pompano, various trevally species, bream in numbers cruising the edge of the rocks some 10 metres from shore, and lurking in the shadows large shoals of cob and snapper salmon. The day sessions continued to produce few fish but as soon as the hours of darkness came those shoals of cob came to life and produced a fish every few casts. But fishing wise I counted the trip a character builder that made me more determined to return to this wonderful part of the world and give it another go. Better equipped and with a different set of tactics.
So in early October I set off from Dubai to Salalah well equipped and importantly this time I brought along my Straitedge Angler inflatable fishing kayak. The savior of the trip. I’d also decided to forgo the comfort of a decent hotel and rough it a bit, sleeping on the beach to maximize the fishing and just experience more of the freedom this place has to offer.
Arriving late in Salalah, I headed to a cheap hotel and got ready for an early start. I headed out in the dark to the familiar breakwater in front of Juweira Hotel .The result a small shark on the very first cast followed by a long session of the mother of all wind knots. Took multiple leader reties to realize my error in that in my haste to get going I failed to us a clip swivel with my labo lure. Once fitted problem solved, but not before losing about R250 of Gosen braid. I was annoyed <: [size=78%], [/size]the air was blue [size=78%] swr [/size][size=78%] , [/size]as I saw several good fish coming out while I was buggering around with my line.[size=78%]
Small shark on the first cast
(http://s1373.photobucket.com/user/harvard16/media/IMG_0749_zps1fe4b286.jpg.html?sort=3&o=16)(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/IMG_0749_zps1fe4b286.jpg)
What a waste , must have lost 120m of Gosen
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/IMG_0774_zps15f73ff0.jpg)
Putting the morning behind me, I head to Carrefour to start the real business of getting equipped to spend 3 nights on the beach, I’d already maxed out my luggage in gear so couldn’t bring anything extra , but after spending about R1800, I had a tent, sleeping gear, braai stuff, food/water and essentials and set off for some of the prettiest Omani coast about 50 km west of Salalah towards the Yemen border
[/size]Descending down the escapement to the beach in the distance. Reminds me of Clifton or Camps Bay, except there is not a single house to be seen anywhere, it like a forgotten land. Everywhere you look things are interesting, rock formations, plants, there was still some greenery evident from the recent Khareef (monsoon) which brings an almost constant drizzle to the region for 3 months of the year at a time when the gulf is sweltering in 50 deg C.
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/IMG_0765_zps87e9e823.jpg)
Pzzie for a few days , Tent 6 Rails (R180), beach all to yourself , priceless.
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/IMG_0750_zps71e0f7d7.jpg)
I never actually used the braai much I just meet interesting people every day that invited me over for dinner at their beach or cove further along the stretch of coast, I was setting up camp on the first afternoon and got quickly invited over to braai/beers with Martin Mulder and his family from Mossel Bay, the friendliest bunch of South African you could ever meet, been living in Salalah for the last 6 ½ years. Living the way most South African’s dream of, they were saying in camping regularly on the beach all that time, they’ve never had any problems with theft of harassment, campsites can be left all day and nothing goes missing, amazing that life CAN be that way.
The next night got invited to braai at an inspiring Alaskan couple’s camping in the next cove for fresh grouper, freshly caught crays and to help polish off a bottle of gin. What a life, they work 2 months a year, one month in Alaska, wild salmon fishing and the other selling Christmas trees in New York, the rest of the year they travel, awesome, love people that refuse to fit the mold of society.
Spectacular back drop of the mountains
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The coast nearby, deserted, no one in sight for miles
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Yak ready to go. Worth every penny, many good spots on this coast are hard to access due to the rugged coast, the kayak made it very easy this trip, and I was able to get to a number of rocky outcrops about a km offshore.
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/IMG_0766_zps0fbe0e9c.jpg)
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Yawn - early morning from the tent - like a dam out there, on the water in a few minutes
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I fished the morning and late late afternoon as apart from the heat, typically the wind picks up during the middle of the day, I spent most of that time exploring and collecting rubbish, unfortunately litter is a problem in Oman, but I was determined to leave the place cleaner than when I arrived.
It’s like fishing in an aquarium, in the still of the morning saw several large spotted eagle rays gliding under the yak, some large reef sharks, numerous turtles and if ever there was a quiet 20 minute fishing spell without anything happening a quick look over the side gave inspiration as there was always some type of fish to been seen below.
My main target area was the numerous offshore reefs a rock outcrop about 5o meter long about 1 km offshore, the sea was surging onto the seaward rocks /reef with a lot of white water, when the current was running it was prime spot for smallish GT’s , casting right into the white water with pin tails/living dead /hammer 130mm and Node 130mm/FCL Labo 110. Living dead was the dogs bollocks, I did shed a tear when it finally got reefed as I didn’t have a spare.
After overpowering a few with a Stella 6000 and Xzoga Taka-G 90, I switched down to a Penn Fierce 4000, 15lb Sufix and a light spinning rod it became much more fun.
Ended the 3 days with :
9 smallish GT’s (5-6kg)
1 Black tip travelly
1 Emperor
1 Garfish
Numerous Trigger fish
One I call it the ‘evil fish’ because he was seriously pissed off with me and gave me the hair eyeball, could get him off the yak quick enough.
And several more solid tugs and failed hook-ups
Some of the pics (sorry on some forgot to clean the condensation in the go pro housing )
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/FILE0024_zps99c24417.jpg)
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/FILE0027_zpsab43e269.jpg)
Probably the best little GT, this was the last time I saw my ‘living dead’ lure, got reefed the next cast.
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/FILE0030_zps7d14033b.jpg)
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/FILE0019_zpsad9c1550.jpg)
Finished off with a hamdsome little kingy from the rocks on a pintail.
(http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag369/harvard16/IMG_0785_zpscc5bf29d.jpg)
All in all an awesome trip and enjoyed the time on my own, I think guys get depressed looking at all the great pics from pricey offshore Oman trips, but there is definitely scope for great fishing in this awesome country that doesn’t break the bank and worth planning in if you are ever in the gulf region for business etc and can manage it.
But best thing, I’ve convinced the family into an Oman camping trip next March, so get to do it all over again in prime fishing session, yeehaw!
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Ayy! bollocks, links didn't work, any idea how to get the links to show as pics and not as links?
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Harvard, if you go to the original pic on Photobucket, click the direct link, that copies it, then you click the Insert Image icon here on Ultimate, paste the link in and that should work. I did your first pic like that. It works.
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someone please sort out the pics PLEASE!!!
I think i will die a slow painful death after reading that and not being able to view the pics.
great report, thanks for sharing.
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OK pics fixed...
Great report Harvard! :+ cred:
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Ok thanks Reefs, looks like we were both doing it at the same time, finally figured it out, sorry for the bugger around guys, first time dealing with a lot of picks.
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Wow great report just the camping alone makes me :envy
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awesome stuff.
I need to have a look at the kayak it looks perfect for traveling around.
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Great report, :envy
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Cool report - :clwn any caves down there?
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Harvard, have you done this sort of thing before? Takes huge kahuna's to go camp in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country?! :resp:
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great report,great pics and lov e the idea of camping on the beach and fishing... :tkx: :envy
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Great report, looks like a lot of fun thanks for sharing!
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Harvard, have you done this sort of thing before? Takes huge kahuna's to go camp in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country?! :resp:
No I haven't actually, but I did a lot of homework, I knew exactly which beach I was heading to, but probably my mid life crisis kicking in and the need for adventure, unfortunately there's not much of that in modern day life anymore.
I'd read a lot about camping in Oman, it's almost a way of life there given their nomadic past with no set rules but obviously there's a deeply ingrained culture of mutual respect, you can camp just about anywhere you want, and by all accounts very very safe to do so, no one will both you. I think that the beauty of it , lots of freedom to camp where you please with the knowledge you'll be safe and you space respected, irrespective if you are local or foreign.
It's quite strange as a South African, I was paddling back to the beach one afternoon and saw two omani guys on the beach near my camp, a few meters before beaching I was looking at them skeef and thinking suspiciously 'what do these okes want?' , only to see them come running down to the water with big grins on their faces, I thought the one guy was going to hug me, all they wanted to do was help me get my boat up the beach and a quick chat about the fishing, where I was from and take a closer look at the kayak before they went on their merry way, very disarming and innocent really, there's no animosity towards outsiders, Omani are well known for their kind and hospitable ways, which takes some getting used too given the nature of the 'locals' back home.
Recommend it to anyone.
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Man that seems like one hell of an adventure H16 :+ cred: for sharing
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the heat in the tent must be something els
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Simply amazing!!!!! :+ cred:
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What a report! now theres something you dont read about very often! really green with envy!
light tackle rules!
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Looks awsome - thanks for the report
UA camping trip anyone?
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Finally got round to reading the trip report. All I can say is WOW!!! I can soooooo see myself taking off for those shores and muddling away a month... Damn I hate work right now.
Great report mate. Thanks for sharing :+ cred:
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superb post, and very inspiring.... expect to be plagued by some PMs! :+ cred:
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This is an inspiring report. Thanks for sharing :envy
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Cool report I've wanted to do the same for ages but haven't got around to it and I live in Oman!
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Nice report Harvard, thanks for sharing with us.
Would give what to do that, but for the uninformed you cant imagine the heat in that place, I don't know how Harvard slept in the tent at night.
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Thanks Guys, thanks for the creds , I was wondering if I'd ever get any.
To 7/10th's I can see you never going to let me live that one down, I'm sure there were plenty of caves, fortunately unlike Musandam I was able to keep my popper out of all of them, haha.
About the tent, absolutely the tent was no place to be during the day, temps averaged about 32-34 deg C and probably much more in there, the place to find cool shade during the day was under the numerous rock ledge formations close by which have been formed by water erosion at the base. If I did it again I'd build a makeshift opensided lean-to with a building tarp for shade during the day.
Average night time temps were about 26 deg, used to in Singapore, that temp was no problem to sleep in, but I was surprised by the unexpected morning dews, which would soak anything left out overnight.
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Very nice report and pics thanks for sharing Harvard, I have had the good fortune of camping on the beaches of Oman a couple of times and can confirm that the people of Oman are some of the friendliets that you will ever meet, I have never felt threatened on a beach in Oman. I am taking the wife and kids down to Southern Oman over xmas and new year for a camping trip and cant wait to do battle with big sandies, flatfish and edibles that Oman has to offer. Anyone who has the chance to do a trip to Oman's coats will love it.