Hi Marius,
I just chatted to Ed at No Boundaries, as I wanted to check in with him on how the fishing was for his groups over the same period, before commenting further on this thread.
As Beefy stated, there has been extensive degradation on big parts of the Omani Coast... Ray Montoya has chronicled this demise very well, and quite sadly.
That being said though, No Boundaries continues to have better and better and better fishing each season around Shwayimiyah and the Offshore Halliniyat islands.. in fact this October was their best on record in 7 years.. both for GT's and smaller species and inshore.. Ed and his family spent New Years at the lodges with some friends and absolutely HAMMERED the Bream and Queenfish on ultralight gear.. as they have done on multiple trips this season..
For GT's, Southern Oman has never been a numbers fishery, its about big fish... Ed's team landed multiple fish over 50 kilos this season, including a 65 kilo, and 2 x 55kilo fish, with dozens in the 40's and high 30's ( which are considered rats there )... As I said in a previous post, I've fished this area 5 times over the last 4 years, and can attest to the GT fishing being tough, hard fishing.. but with incredible rewards when you put the hours in, and luck is on your side.
The light tackle and inshore fishing has at times been beyond ridiculous, with other days having greener/colder water and being quite tough... But thats fishing.
One thing that stands out for me though, is fishing with the right people, who know the waters, and know the style of fishing to put their punters on the fish... This is not necessarily a No Boundaries advert, but having fished with them so often I can attest to their crews being some of the best in the world, and the 7 years spent fishing hard, learning everyday, has put them so far ahead of everyone else who tries to fish these areas.. and their results show in their catches.. a difference of 50 meters on a drift can be like night and day... if your drift is off, you can cast till you blue in the face... but when its right, you'll know because the fish will be on...
My advise, as always, especially when flying a long way, spending a lot of money, is go with the people who know... it might hurt the bank account a little, but in the long run, its worth more than that money could ever be...
*** TO RIDE, SHOOT STRAIGHT AND SPEAK THE TRUTH ***
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