Hi Matt,
I lived out in Qatar many years ago back when it was just a small capital Doha, a big desert and an oil refinery at Um-Said. We used to go offshore from Doha and hand line for reef fish, some very big groupers out there. Best place was to cut across the country due West to a place called the Inland Sea. Area around the refinery was trashed but drive south along the West coast (4wd necessary) and you will find pristine coral reefs. At least...there used to be...
Funny thing though, I don't ever recall GTs but back then I was a kid mucking about in boats and had never heard of a popper....