Any recent trips to Oman?

[maarsbotha]

Good morning guys

Has anybody recently been to Southern Oman? Planning a trip to Hasik to fish the Hallaniyat islands in November. Any advice will be appreciated.

There are a lot of information on spinning but not that much on flyfishing. Most of the flyfishing reports are only about Permit. I would prefer to target a variety of species so any first hand experienced advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Marius

[Kevin James]

I've fished southern Oman with a mate that stayed in UAE.

Try dropping Matt (Beefbovril) a private message.
He knew the places better than the locals.

I can tell you first hand though the places are netted to hell.
There were baitfish work ups in shore break and not one gamefish or any fish for that matter chasing them.

Miles of abandoned nets and rubbish on the beaches and dead / dying turtles.

Hope you find it different to us.

[maarsbotha]

Hi Kevin

Thank you very much for your response.

That does not sound very promising at all. I truely hope we have a different experience where we're going.

Will chat to Matt and do a trip report on our return.

Thanks again.

[Nepptune]

Hi Marius,

I've fished Southern Oman 5 times in the last 4 years, and heading back for my 6th trip end of September. The fact that I've returned time and again should say enough about the fishery.
Granted my focus on my Oman trips has been on the spinning side, but that being said, the opportunities for fly fishing are fantastic in the early season as its around this time that the "light tackle" fishery around the offshore islands goes off its face, as well as inshore along the cliffs for a huge number of species.

Offshore you have amazing opportunities for Yellowspot Travelly,Black Tip Trevally, Amberjack on Topwater, BIG rainbow runners, Blue Spangled Emperors,big Bonnies and insane Shad to 8 kilos.. I'd suggest a 9 or 10 weight set up for these..
Inshore you've got Omani Bream, Queenies, Permit, Emperors, Golden Trevally, Diamond Trevally and more.. again a 9 or 10 weight would be your best bet.

Of course Oman is famous for its big GT's... I personally wouldn't have any wish to target these fish on Fly gear, but it could be done... but you would need to be throwing massive flies a long way for long periods of the day!

Bear in mind this is a boat focused fishery, so you need to be comfortable fishing off a boat, and you're casting will need to be on point to get big flies out in often windy conditions. I'd say an intermediate line would be your most often used set up, as you can fish poppers on it, as well as subsurface patterns.
A heavy sinker might be good to have as well when targeting Spangled emperors etc around the bommies. Or over deeper Reefs for AJ's..

Its not the easiest fly destination on the planet, thats for sure, but the rewards can be incredible because EVERYTHING grows big in Southern Oman.. so whatever you do tangle with is likely to be over size..

Which operator are you fishing with for your trip?

[maarsbotha]

Hi there Nepptune

Thank you so much for this reply. I was getting worried that we've made a big mistake booking this trip...

We have booked through GTfishingOman who gave us a very good package in comparison with some of the other quotes we got. We will be staying in Hasik( landing in Salalah ) and we'll be fishing from the boat everyday. I have sea legs and I'm quite happy casting from the boat. The wind is a different devil to deal with though...

We also booked the trip with mainly spinning in mind but I would really like to catch a few fish on fly. My planned itinerary was:

12wt with both deep sinking and floating lines
10wt with intermediate line
And possibly my 9wt with deep sink and floating line
A variety of clousers, poppers, crab patterns and NYAP's

I have no dreams of catching one of those monster GT's on fly but a few smaller fish would be more than welcome. I think to catch on of those monstrous Oman GT's on fly you need lots and lots of experience, and I'm not there yet...

[maarsbotha]

Hi guys

Just a quick report on our recent trip to Oman.

The fishing was dismal to say the least. I did however manage some fish on the flyrod. Black tip trevallies, Big eye trevally, Blue fish(Shad) and Bonnito. None of them was big enough to brag about though.
We got some decent sized Dorado on spinning though and some Bluefish as well. We did not have one strike or chase from a GT. Nor did we even see any GT's.

The area where we were are definitely suffering from over fishing and illegal netting. We found boats with no identification and flying no flag moored right on top of reefs busy netting the reef. The locals also do their part by keeping every fish they catch regardless of species or size. Our guide actually admitted that the fishing has deteriorated drastically in the past two years.

We met a group of guys at the airport whose experience were actually worse than ours because they were only targeting monster GT's. Not one fish between the 6 of them over 6 days...

If it was only the weather and the spots we fished or maybe a lack of skill on our side I can't say. But my feeling is that there weren't any fish. I would most definitely not do this trip again.

[Kevin James]

Sorry to hear your experience was pretty similar to ours.

Pretty long way to go for a blank.
Perhaps Neptune has access to areas where those sport fishing boats head miles off shore to reefs un-netted and un-pillaged.
Who knows????

At any rate, the landscape is pretty spectacular and the rock formations and aridness makes up for something.

Have a great Christmas.

[Nepptune]

Hey Marius,

Sorry to hear you had what sounds like a pretty dismal trip...
Yup there has been a huge increase in the local fishing, main damage being done by the local panga fishery which are owned by Omani's, by crewed by Bengali fisherman, who unfortunately believe that the ocean is the rubbish heap and quite literally in a small space of time have turned what were once mind glowingly perfect beach into trash heaps.. Once more the lack of education and care means the environment suffers..

If I may ask, what dates did you fish? Did you run out to Hasik Island? Did you run to Sawdha, or Halliniyat, or Schnizz, or Quibli Islands?
Did you fish inshore? Along the cliffs? If so how far did you run from Hasik Town?

Reason I ask is I'm curious to find out how the fishing was during that time while you were there, with my mate operation fishing over the same time period.

Cheers
Dre

[maarsbotha]

Hi.

Thanks for the replies.

We ran out to Sawdha, Halliniyat and the one just after Halliniyat which I never got the name of. We even slept on Sawdha one night to get some extra fishing time in the evening and the next morning. We fished the cliffs as well as all the reefs around the islands with a huge variety of flies as well as poppers, stickbaits, spinners, jigs.... we really gave it our best shot.

We were there from 20-25 of November.

I truely hope that it was mainly the abnormal weather that gave the fish lock jaw syndrome.... and I know very well that not all trips are fireworks... but our guide did admit that the fishing has deteriorated drastically which makes you wonder... and to not even have one chase or hit from any size geet on the whole trip makes you wonder even more...

Will have to start planning a new trip to shake this one of as quickly as possible 🤔😂

[beefybovril]

Proof of the deterioration:
Check how many facebook posts Ed from No Boundaries makes now....compared to a few years ago.....few and far between.....
Yes, the Reef Raiders trips early in the season generally smash it, but I reckon these will even decrease in the near future.
Why did Ocean Active can their S.O. operation? Perhaps because they saw the writing on the wall....
Arabian Fly are now fishing close to Salalah, catching Dorado, Queens and the odd sailie. They also target the 2 species of permit when possible, but even their posts are decreasing.

Trust me, it is only a matter of time before Hallanyiat etc. will be decimated too, unless the government step in. The mainland coast is now accessible to any and all boats because of the new road infrastructure, so even the more productive areas along the cliffs are now netted.

I fished Ras Mad for 10 years, and literally watched it go from the most productive fishery I had ever seen to a garbage pit with no life.

Just ask Ray Montoya, who has fished the coast for over 18 years...

They have really f#$cked it up over there, and the lack of laws, policing and education mean it is never going to change....

Over and out....

Beefy