Musandam Oman with Mogi-san

[Ocean Active]

As always it is fantastic for us to have Mogi-san and group come and fish with us again, but this time it was in Northern Oman in the Musandam. It is great to be able to fish another couple of months in the North after the season finishes down in Hallaniyat Islands Southern Oman. Musandam is our original GT destination and where we first discovered GTs in Oman. So it is our home base and holds a very special place for us and it usually fires towards the end of the season with big GTs coming in from the deep waters of the Indian Ocean to hunt and feed around the cliffs that drop directly into the sea. Musandam is definitely one of the most beautiful places I've had the privilege of experiencing!


Mogi-sans group arrived early morning on Emirates Airlines into Terminal 3 at Dubai Airport. I met them at the airport with two of our captains Cameron and Damon. The group was Suzuki-san and Mori-san with his wife who just got married and this was their honeymoon! Some people have all the luck!! After catching up on news and fishing, a coffee and quick bite to eat we headed out to our villa in Dibba Musandam. We arrived early so still had most of the day ahead, so we did a bit of sight seeing around Dibba. We headed to the marina, Six Senses Resort, drive through the mountains and the only Dam I think I have ever seen in Oman which has about 5L of water in it!!



Meeting up with Mogi-san and group at the airport

Our mighty Dam in Dibba, don;t think dams in the desert work to well!

The view from up top of the mountain towards the Six Senses Resort.

Honeymoon couple having a fruit juice at the luxurious Six Senses Resort

Sight seeing wouldn;t be complete without seeing our faithful 40Ft Al Sayyad.


After a good day out and about Dibba we turned to the more serious business of setting up tackle. This is always one of the highlights of any trip to see what rigs clients are using and thoughts behind the set ups. Mogi-san showed us a few new tricks, and after a great few hours watching and discussing different set ups all the tackle was ready. Then one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time Mogi-sa asked Mori-san to take her rod and he was going to give her a lesson in GT fishing as she had not caught a GT before, so Mori-san got onto our small boat outside the villa and Mogi-san proceeded to run around pulling line and fighting like a GT with all the right actions. Mori-san was fighting Mogi-san and finally when GT Mogi-san was landed we got some great pictures of an 83kg "GT"!! Very funny! After a fantastic dinner made by Anura and his wife Mungala we turned in early to get a good nights sleep.



GT Mogi-san pulling line!

Mori-san fighting like a pro!

83kg GT!

Setting up the tackle in our fishing room.

Mogi-san in action.


Early the next morning all of the team was up and ready. Cameron was going to be our Captain for the trip along with Hassan. The guys had all of the gear down and on the boat and we followed after a good breakfast and headed out for the top of the Musandam. The water was looking very clean and blue on the East Coast side and we stopped at the first location which was full up with fusiliers and almost immediately we started hooking up small GTs, which was great fun to get the group warmed up and everyone was on the board. We tried a few more spots and caught a few good queenfish and saw a couple of big GTs come up and miss the lures.



The team ready on the boat!

Capt Cameron and Hassan

Casting action.

Suzuki-san in action

First Arabian GT for Suzuki-san

Mori-san in action

Honeymoon!

First GT! All the practicing the day before paid off!


Finally we were coming towards the end of the day and thought we would try one more spot. On the first drift Mori-san hooked into a monster on light tackle and after trying to work the fish off the shallow section got reefed. A lot of excitement and on the next drift Mogi-san was fishing with a Carpenter Bluefish 120gr lure had a small GT come up and miss the lure when all of a sudden a huge bow wave picked up behind the lure, by this time everyone on the boat was shouting and excitement was through the canopy! The fish missed the lure on the first attempt and came back really angry and engulfed the lure on the second attempt! Mogi-san hit the fish several times and the fight was on. We managed to work the fish into deeper water and Mogi-san fought the fish like the master he is and was great to watch! After an excellent and tough fight the monster from the deep came up to the surface. Cameron and myself leadered the fish and landed a fantastic GT by hand. A lot of high 5 and congratualtions! We measured the fish at 137cm and got a few quick pictures before Mogi-san released the fish to swim another day!!



The master in action

Still during the fight Mogi-san is having fun!

Awesome fish! 137cm


Then to end off the day we were traveling back to base when we came across a whale shark, Cameron and myself managed to jump in and have a quick swim with this amazing animal. End to a great day!!



Beautiful animal!!

Not scared of the boat at all!

Catching a ride.


For the next 3 days we had some great fishing with a few more good GTs being caught with the best one been Mori-san catching a good Honeymoon GT along with a lot of queenfish, emperor and grouper. Also a lot of wildlife around with whales, dolphins, turtles and ospreys. Really great time of year in the Musandam. All the rods used were Carpetner rods and lures Bluefish and Gammas in various sizes. Really great to watch the guys working the lures and getting a better understanding on techniques.



Nice queenfish

Big cuda!
]
Lunch and some snorkeling in one of the bays

Whales

Tons of baitfish around

Small GT

Honeymoon GT with special heart design!!

Another GT

Mori-san modeling the new OA shirt.

Lima Rock

Emperor caught on jig. Fantastic Sashimi

Grouper on jig

Grouper on finger!

Another good grouper on jig.

GT

Cameron and Mori-san with another GT

Another bay another lunch

Queenfish

Light tackle queenfish

Team photo!


After the trip Mogi-san had arrange for the group to do some sight seeing around in Dubai with afternoon tea at the restaurant at the top of the Burj Al Arab Hotel and follwed by a tour of the Burj Khalifa the tallest building in the world.



Burj Al Arab Hotel

Views Bar

This is how we roll!

Honeymoon couple at Burj Khalifa

From the top of the Burj Khalifa

Brave!

Aquarium at the Dubai Mall.


The whole trip was good fun with a lot of laughs and memories. The whole OA team learnt a few new tricks and I look forward to Mogi-san next trip.


Cheers,
Nick

[lebaka]

wow  :shre:

[REEFMAN]

  Must have been an awesome priviledge to fish with Mogi-San...!!
Another epic report Nick...  :shre:

[Willie]

Eish!!    awesome report and fish   (admin can we ban people from posting trips like this  )

[Ocean Active]

Always a privilege to fish with Mogi-san. He is always really good fun to have on a trip and he is always playing tricks and it is a constant laugh!


Maybe we can make a special offer for the Ultimateangling forum to put a trip together to come and fish this side?? Everyone has been awesome on this forum and would be great to get some guys out here! At least then I can call a bloody BBQ a braai!!

[Prego]

@ Willie totally agree its plain torture 

Fantastic fishing and some amazing photos and scenery.

Top stuff a per norm 

[SAfish]

Awesome report like always.  I would be happy to catch some of the GT's that you call small.   

[MIKE PIKE]

Shoowiee...... monster post again Nick and crew.... looks like great time was had by all ... small GT... ... great stuff guys keep it up .......  

[super_daav]

Superb stuff Nick!!!
 
When you have a moment it would be superb if you could do a tut on your photo technique, tips, processing etc as you have some insane photos particularly fish ones? Or is just natural talent!?!

[Ocean Active]

Hi Daav, Many thanks for the comments, I wish I could say it was natural talent but I have had a lot of help on the way from clients and friends. For me I tell all our captains and guides that if there is no picture then the fish was not caught. As they say a picture speaks a thousand words. For us as a business the best way to promote it is to have happy clients with good fish and especially good pictures to go and send to all their friends, FB, forums etc. You can catch a monster fish but a k*K picture makes it look like a livebait!


I have been through a long process with taking pictures and the way we take them at the moment has it pros and cons. There is a lot of guys that don;t like the wide angle head shot or holding the fish out. My argument is that the fish is the center piece of the picture and also why not make your fish look as big as possible, you have spent a lot of time and money to catch that fish. Then the next thing is to always try and get action shots and setting shots so you can tell a story with the pictures rather than having pictures of just fish.


Unfortunately when you start playing with higher end cameras and lenses it does become expensive but it is definitely worth the money when you get results. Just remember to insure the gear as one wave over the boat can wipe out all your gear. The other issue is that it becomes bulky and if you are anything like me I want to take all my rods, reels, cameras etc. So it becomes like moving a small army.


But with all that said it is a fantastic addition to fishing to be able to take good pictures and also I enjoy taking the pictures and almost get the same satisfaction at a great picture as a great fish. For the gear I normally use a Canon 50D with a 10-20mm lense plus have a 70-220mm lens. Additional to this I have a small Olympus Digital Waterproof camera for going into the water or fishing from the shore etc.


The main points I can give is that the most important part of taking a good picture holding the fish is that you have to frame the fish and not the person and especially not the scenery in the background. So when you take the picture make sure the fish head and tail is as close to the edges of the frame as possible. With a wide angle you are getting up to 30cms away from the fish, you really have to get in the fish and anglers face as they say! Also have a few big memory cards and shoot as many pictures changing your angle and distance from the fish. On a 5 day trip I will shoot on average about 2000 pictures. Always have the sun behind you and I prefer the person on the bow of the boat so there is no obstructions in the background and again everything is focused on the fish and person. The last thing is it sounds quite corny but you must get the angler with the fish to move or hold the fish how you want, you need to sometimes get a bit vocal to make sure you get the right picture. Work it baby!! Sometimes people don;t like it but the end product is what the angler is going to remember and be very grateful for.


I hope this helps a bit. I'm also coming back to SA in June and doing a presentation at a mates fishing club up in Hilton on Oman, Japan, Popping, Jigging, Equipment and now maybe a good idea taking pictures. Not sure if anyone is keen to come along, it is more a social thing with about 30-40 people so far. It is on the 21 June not sure the location but will find out if anyone is keen.


Cheers,
Nick

[Skaap Tjop]

Some great tips...

 :shre:

[J-Rock]

 :shre:

[super_daav]

Nick thanks for those tips!! Good reading!!

[Kumz]

  .... :shre: ....

[Manuel Junior]

 :shre: