Oman, April 2017

„Long cast – big fish“ or where the monsters live…

This year I wanted to give it another try and flew to Oman for the third time in succession to fish for monster GTs with the No Boundaries operation. Having gained some experience on my last two trips I knew what to expect. The weather was good this time, a bit too good in fact for popper fishing. We had very little wind all week and at times it was flat calm which made the boat trips out to the fishing grounds considerably more relaxed and comfortable.

As everyone knows fishing is at its best when there is plenty of wind and waves but what should I say? Things turned out completely differently. It was to be an unforgettable week with mega action and extremely pleasant sea conditions. What more can a fisherman’s heart ask for? 

Summary:

Day one: Shortly after arriving at the fishing grounds and after the first drift it was clear that we were in for a cracking day. We had fish following the lures from the first cast onwards. However, these fish were not particularly aggressive. By the end of the day we had 6 strikes of which three were hook-ups. We weighed, tagged and released 3 GTs weighing 43, 47 and 43 kilos. A further 12 fish chased our lures right up to the boat. One monster GT (I have never seen such a huge one in all my life) jumped completely clear of the water but unfortunately failed to take the large stick-bait – which another GT literally inhaled a few seconds later.

Day two: The evening after our terrific start Ed Nicolas, the owner of the lodge, asked if he could join me the next day. Naturally I said he could as I was eager to learn more from this GT monster professional. It didn’t take long for the first GT to take one of our lures. After a short and violent fight it was weighed, photographed and released. The scales shot up to 43 kilos. An hour later a shoal of milkfish, bonitos, gars and other forage fish churned up the water behind our boat in panic, performing long jumps and somersaulting past our boat. A few seconds later the water about 30 metres dead ahead of us exploded when a good dozen monster GTs smashed into them. Ed cast first and boom, I followed up with a stick-bait and boom! A double strike. Ed had naturally hooked a giant while mine, which we quickly unhooked and released without a photograph, was well into the forty kilo range. Then a few minutes later Ed’s submarine weighing 54 kilos was on board absolute madness.

After changing spots a couple of times we discovered a huge shoal of permits under our boat. We grabbed our snorkels and dove down to have a closer look at this spectacle. There were about three hundred permits and we were able to swim in their midst.

In the afternoon we had the bite we had been waiting for and wrapped up the day with a 35 kilo GT.

Day four: Ed had to go back to Salalah. In the early morning we caught of GT weighing an estimated 35 kilos but after that nothing else happened unfortunately on this calm and hot day.

Day five: Yet another day in the blazing sun with hardly any wind. Towards noon, after hundreds of casts, a 27 kilo long-tail tuna took my stick-bait fished about 8 metres down and shot off – the beginning of a tough fight in shallow water☺

Naturally we mustn’t forget Ed’s 54 kilo. Somehow I get the feeling that Ed has trained these monsters to take his lures fish to ensure that his guests keep coming back☺ I for my part will be booking my place now for a week’s monster fishing in 2018. For further information on the lodge and the fishery go to: www.noboundariesoman.com

Stephan Kreupl, April 2017