Fishing from the shore oman

[wilson.alasdair]

Hi guys

I am going on holiday to Oman in march and was wondering if there was an oppurtunity to either go fishing from the shore or if anyone did boat trips out there? Looking at the terrain it looks quite good for lure fishing off the rocks but i am no expert so your help will be much appreciated.

[Kleftiwallah]

Spent time out there at Seeb and then Thumrait, wasn't into seafishing then. If you find the Airwork Beach Club, I'm sure there will be someone to help you. Make sure you see Tim Severin's Dhow on the roundabout.

As Thumrait is about 75 clicks out into the desert.......We drove the bus down to Fisherman's beach near Salalah to water ski. Not much help I know but do tell us how you get on.

P.S. Don't come home without a bag of Francinsence and Myrrh, the best in all the world. Seek it out down the Souk (next to the chicken dip shop)! ! ! Tony.

[PanamaJack]

Hi guys

I am going on holiday to Oman in march and was wondering if there was an oppurtunity to either go fishing from the shore or if anyone did boat trips out there? Looking at the terrain it looks quite good for lure fishing off the rocks but i am no expert so your help will be much appreciated.

Although specifically tackling saltwater fly fishing this link - http://www.oceanactive.com/destination_southern_Oman.asp - will demonstrate the range of species available.

Albeit several years ago one of our Club's German members did fish from local commercial boats, not much more than 'big' rowing boats, and caught big Jacks and 40/50lb Yellowfin Tuna.

Might be as well doing a search on Oman, from the Asia home page. I recall members like MarktheShark has shore fished areas of the UAE - not a 'million miles' away.
Dave

[marktheshark]

Hullo Alasdair
Which resort or hotel are you staying at? I was at the Shangri-La so can advise if it's anywhere near Muscat/Barr al-Jissah
Mark

[wilson.alasdair]

Hullo Alasdair
Which resort or hotel are you staying at? I was at the Shangri-La so can advise if it's anywhere near Muscat/Barr al-Jissah
Mark

I will be staying in the Chedi hotel in Muscat did you go fishing out there ?

if so what was it like and what methods did you use?

[marktheshark]

Hi Alasdair
Yes, I did. I did some spinning off the rocks at Shangri-La, caught three barred needlefish about 4ft long on a silver/blue Toby. My session was rather interrupted when hotel security asked me to leave (long story to do with guests' privacy; Gastards!). However, snorkelling around the coral reefs revealed plenty of fish there, including snapper, trevally, grouper and sweetlip.
However, I believe the Chedi is on open beach, without much structure (I may be wrong - I'm going by brochure pix). On the open beaches at Barr al-Jissah the water was bit stirred up, and there were a lot of small guitarfish feeding very close in at low tide. Also some stingrays. You'd probably get some trevally in there too, so it might be worth trying with poppers and calling the fish to you.
Offshore was good. I took two charters (I'm not quite sure how: not via the hotel, but via a friend of someone who worked at a dive centre nearby). The fishing boats run from Bandar al-Rowda marina, west of Muttrah (near the Al Bustan Palace hotel). The marina is full of small scad (locally called seema), so the boats fill the live tanks with those using strings of tiny goldhead feathers.
There is a big fishery of big yellowfin tuna offshore, but it's better in summer, apparently. We stayed inshore. The first day was spent bottom fishing with live seema around some rocks which produced a mixed bag of trevally, grouper, snapper, barracuda and a dorado of 10lb.
The second charter, we spent a lot of time trolling plastic lures (my own) around the small islands off Muttrah. We caught three dorado to 22lb, and a load of small yellowfins and bonito tuna - the sea was alive with them. We also lost a big kingfish that bit through 100lb wire. One of the other (commercial) boats drifting next to us took a kingfish on a handline that looked as big as a torpedo - at least 50lb. All this was very close in - less than a mile offshore.
Tacklewise, 20lb boat gear or even heavy spinning gear and braid would be fine. You'll need something heavier for offshore work as the tuna grow to more than 100lb, and there are shark and sailfish too. I was able to catch some tuna on the fly from the boat - you can chum them close with live seema. The dorado took either small (8in) skirted lures or 6in red/yellow muppets with a 1oz ball weight in the nose. The tuna preferred smaller muppets, but we did get a few bigger yellowfin on the skirted lures too.
The boat came with a couple of very battered rods and some handlines (which the skipper preferred to use), so it pays to bring your own gear. A charter cost about £160 for five hours, I think, so not cheap. One of the days I went out was Friday, so the skipper was prepared to take me out, but could not fish or help with tackle on religious grounds. Finally, if you go back via Muttrah, I'd recommend having a look at the fish market: it's fascinating watching, and you get a very good idea of what's in the sea there.
Hope it's of some use. Let us know how you get on.
Mark

[Dbroughton]

Hi guys a year on and I just arrived in Muscat for the foreseeable future. Has anyone done any more fishing in the area.

The entrance to the mangroves at Qurm looks interesting but the beach is busy.

Any recommendations welcome and if anyone else in the area wants to hook up and explore then that would be great.

Danny

[robbym]

I was out in Oman in Nov last year and had a great day's fishing.

Went out with my Father in Law who lives out there (He works for 'The Wave' ). We went with a company called http://www.gulfleisure.com/gamefishing.htm

Having only been charter fishing in the UK it was a bit of a culture shock - in a good way!!. The boat was about 30ft, narrow, fibreglass and good for about 50 knots!. The tackle was Penn international 30's and matching Penn rods - a bit battered but fully functional.

Fishing was a bit restricted at the time due to an algal bloom called red tide that was turning the water anaerobic and killing fish inshore.

We went about 25 miles to some offshore islands and drifted using livebait for Dorado. In about an hour and a half we caught about 10 ranging from 20-40lbs - boy did they fight hard!!.

On the way back we spent an hour or so trolling lures around the island that you can see from the Intercon hotel - should have seen some Trevally but didn't catch any - probably due to the red tide.

My Father in law and brother in law had been out previously trolling for tuna with the same outfit and had a really good day.

They reckon there is room for 4 on the boat - there probably is but I think it would feel a bit cramped if you were all into fish at the same time - which is highly likely.

Between 2 it isn't cheap by UK charter standards - especially given the current exchange rate - but I believe that £250-300 is pretty good value for game fishing?.

I'd definately give them a try - let me know how you get on?.

[DaveIrving]

Check out this popping/jigging website....do a search on Oman and there are lots of articles about the fishing.

I remember there is one very good Catch Report about the excellent shore fishing.

http://www.deepjigging.com

Cheers

Dave

[Dbroughton]

Hello Dave (again - just posted in FL keys thread)

Most of the reports focus boat based fishing either offshore Muscat (Tuna etc) or Mussandam (GT). I will get up to the Mussandam at some point but it is a serious drive or flight and involves going into the UAE and then back into Oman. It is not do-able in a day.

I have come across a few other reports from way down south where the shore fishing looks great for big bluefish etc. Again though this is a 500km plus trip with some offroad at the end which means a long weekend trip for a minimum.

I am more interested in the area around muscat +/- 100km. There are some really fish looking spots but I have caught only a few tiny grouper on soft plastics. I understand the red tide is bad and is now hitting almost the entire top half of the (very long) country. I am also told the high population density around muscat undertaking unregulated netting on a massive scale has pretty much cleaned out the waters there.

I guess I am needing to find out if I can access some half decent fishing without having to undertake an expedition. That being the case then it is almost as quick to fly to the Seychelles!

Cheers

Danny

[Dry Fly]

Quote from local UAE newspaper today about the red tide "The algae was first observed around Dibba and in Fujairah in August and has since wreaked havoc on the activities of dive operators and hoteliers on the east coast. Hundreds of tonnes of fish have suffocated becasue of a lack of oxygen in the affected waters, and there are signs that some of the most heavily visited coarl reefs are starting to die". Things don't look too clever at present!

[DaveIrving]

Check out this latest report, shore fishing in Oman....

http://www.deepjigging.com/showthread.php?t=4705

Cheers

Dave

[Matt Cumbers]

Hi all,

My folks live on Azaiba beach in Muscat (near the rocky groyne thing) and have been talking to the guys fishing off the beaches there recently. Apparently they're still managing to catch things like Queenfish, various flat fish and rays on fresh sardines ledgered from the shore despite the lack of oxygen in the water and very heavy netting in the area.

I'm heading out there on holiday from Sunday (05.04.09) for 2 weeks and will be taking a lot of my gear with me so I can try with bait, flies, spinners or plugs.

Let me know if you guys have found any other productive marks in Muscat, I'll probably be fishing Azaiba most mornings and afternoons so if anyone's about see you on the beach!

Tight lines,

Matt