Southern Oman - R&S and Kayak trip 'Bergie' Style

[Harvard 16]

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.
To set the scene.
This was my 3^rd 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  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%] [/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


What a waste , must have lost 120m of Gosen




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.





Pzzie for a few days , Tent 6 Rails (R180), beach all to yourself , priceless.




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



The coast nearby, deserted, no one in sight for miles







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.






Yawn - early morning from the tent - like a dam out there, on the water in a few minutes


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 )






Probably the best little GT, this  was the last time I saw my ‘living dead’ lure, got reefed the next cast.






Finished off with a hamdsome little kingy from the rocks on a pintail.





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!

[Harvard 16]

Ayy! bollocks, links didn't work, any idea how to get the links to show as pics and not as links?

[REEFMAN]

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.

[SPARODON]

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.
 

[REEFMAN]

OK pics fixed...

Great report Harvard! 

[Harvard 16]

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.

[Willie]

Wow great report just the camping alone makes me 

[Gerhard]

awesome stuff.


I need to have a look at the kayak it looks perfect for traveling around.

[CLS]

Great report, 

[Seventenths]

Cool report -  any caves down there?

[REEFMAN]

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?! 

[Lofty]

great report,great pics and lov e the idea of camping on the beach and fishing...

[L Hooker]

Great report, looks like a lot of fun thanks for sharing!

[Harvard 16]

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?! 

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.   

[Prego]

Man that seems like one hell of an adventure H16  for sharing

[Rory mundy]

the heat in the tent must be something els

[WalkersKiller]

Simply amazing!!!!! 

[GT Mayhem]

What a report! now theres something you dont read about very often! really green with envy!
light tackle rules!

[sardinella]

Looks awsome - thanks for the report
UA camping trip anyone?

[FishStyx]

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