Musandam Day trip

[Gareth Branicki]

Due my cousins wedding in the last week of august we headed of to the uk and did a whirwind tour of the uk which lasted 2 weeks however my parents have spent the last 12 years in the U.A.E in Al Ain and my sister and her family moving out to Dubai over 3 years ago. we had unforntuanly only 3 weeks to catch up with family see Dubai and let my kids get reacquainted with their cousins who they haven't seen for 6 years. Somehow i was determind to get some fishing in . ,usually this means with my father chartering a game boat
 However as a landbased game fisherman mainly spinning for tuna and Spanish mackerel the chance to do some gt popping is rare .
I had heard of the Musandam due to this  forum about the musandam and did some research and watched some clips on utube.
Luckily enough i found out that ocean active ran day trips from Dibba and they were no chance i could escape for 3 days for example what was even better was we had booked into the Fujairah Rotana Resort for 4 days which just happans to be less than a 10 minute drive from Dibba.
 I contacted Nick from Ocean active and asked if there was any availability during our stay also with the season just starting their was it worth going out .
Nick reassured me the season had started and they had been catching gt's the previous weekend . So  we quickly sent of the booking form for the 21 st and Nick sent back driving directions from the resort to the marina and that we were to meet Federick who like Nick is originally from S.Africa at around 6 in the morning  also we needed our passports as the town is divided in half one side in the uae the other Oman so part way through town we had to go through a small border post.
Their was me, my wife, father and my recently turned 11 year old son who unlike the other 2 could actually cast a rod . so off we went Fedrick met us and who's first comment was ' welcome to the wild west" once you enter the musandam you can understand why the scenery is mind blowing. So off up the musandam we went  and the water was flat as a pancake however the heat by lunchtime hit 50 degrees . Federick turned out to be a brillant guide and very understanding of the fact of our inexperience my wife chose not to fish however my son who could cast was allowed to give it it a go . first stop was some basic popper training Felix like me had no trouble and we set of for the first spot .

[Gareth Branicki]

At the fist spot my son on his third cast his reel starting screaming and unfortunately he had hooked a 40 kg reef shark shark we battled finally Federick was able to bring it carefully on bored unhook it and release it . however my arms were shattered as a result .  we headed to what is know as the lion jaws and started again my father hooked a decent size gt on a stick bait however after 10 minutes the fish had manged to get deep enough and cut his line off . Me and my son both proceeded to hook a fish and lose it also our poppers were hit and chased on  a number off occasions .
Finally i hooked up and and after what seemed an eternity in in temperatures i cannot describe i landed a gt around the 25 kg mark . So i finally got my fish .
 we tried for the rest of the morning and into lunch time but failed to hooked up again . however we did enjoy a swim and chased some tuna boiling on the surface on the long trip back with Felix managed to catch a longtail however he had foul hooked it in the side which meant he had an arduous battle landing it on his on with no help .
Fedrick has a wealth of experience and was great company the trip takes you right to the top of the musandam so roughly 75 mile one way we also stopped on the way yup for tuna unsuccessfully as they dive as soon as they here the boats engine so its 2 cast and their gone.
We were told April and march were the best gt times but their are gt their except December and January which is mainly tuna yellow and blues  as it winter . All in all we had a fantastic time . best thing was most gt destinations are unsuitable for wives and families the resort is a fantastic 4/5 star hotel so if you had the time the family can enjoy the resort wile you take off early and back by 3.30 each day. so if you face the problem of family and gt popping clashes defiantly a destination to consider
so

[Gareth Branicki]

Anyway it was definitely worth it an experience i will not forget . the guys at ocean active are exceptionally friendly and and experienced and next time I'm visiting family i will be back and defiantly doing a 3 or 4 days and bringing my own gear.  Here are  some photos
 

[Mark Harris]

Well done Gareth and thanks for the information. Having spent time in that part of the world I know what you mean by the brutal temperatures (and unbearable humidity in the May to September period!).

The angle of quality GT fishing on a family holiday is an interesting one. Musandam certainly fits the bill in that respect.

[Gareth Branicki]

Hi mark the temperatures was nothing i felt before it was worse when we did a 2 day stop over on the way to uk 51 degrees at lunchtime even when we went fishing 2 weeks ago it was around 48 . I mentioned the family aspect simply because while trying to find gt destinations such as kadvu and new Caledonia most are live aboard or they are basic angling diving accommodation fine for me and the mates but not  for wives and kids mine are 11 and 8 so they want activities swimming pool etc 
the Fujairah Rotana resort is damn nice place defiantly go the the garden villas its got 2 pools plus giant slide the usual beach and water sports and 3 bars ones in the pool and restaurants etc price wise very affordable  secondly 10 mins drive to where ocean active are moored also before you go to the resort you Will have to fly into Dubai which is great for kids we did ski Dubai and wadi water park and other stuff.
  so if anybody on the forum has a family and find it hard to get away for a gt adventure a holiday to the uae is defiantly something to consider  your family can enjoy the resort and you go out with  fishing march April they get the big gts 50 kg monsters
cant wait to go back definitely need some time in the gym though

[Mark Harris]

51 degrees and that humidity is just frightening. I once passed out from heat exhaustion in Abu Dhabi in August, so I know exactly where you are coming from (and I live in the tropics!).

There are not too many world class GT fishing destinations I can think of which suit family holidays, so your information on that is certainly interesting.

[Gareth Branicki]

mark i am in brisbane one advantage of the time we went was the season had just started so they tend to get quite a lot of  fish Nick when i spoke to him had told me not only had they landed and lost gt's the weekend before but also one guy had hooked and lost a sailfish on the pop secondly being so hot the rates at the resort are much cheaper that in the march period ocean active might be able  organise accommodation  and probably more affordable but for family the resort was great however the sand burnt your feet running on hot coals is the only way to describe it
cheers gareth

[Gareth Branicki]

A final note we didnt bring any gear with us and they suppled smith rods with stella 20000 fa all rigged 2 with poppers and 1 with a stick bait mine and the fish my father lost was on a big stick bait however both fish me and felix lost were on poppers however if you are a serious gt fisherman you might want take your own gear if you want a large selection of poppers as the the majority of clients are expereinced  gt poppers and tend to bring their own gear however they are fantastic outfit and they know their spots and the fish well and are quiet happy to take out complet novices even my son was able to pop and Federick set the drags on each of us to make sure we could handle it .

[Sami Ghandour]

Glad you had a great time,
Ocean active have a very knowledgeable staff and the guys fish on regular basis, they can tell you when and where at a certain tide,
the scenery of Musandam is a breath taking, one my favorite spot,
as you mention March and April are the best time to catch 50kg+ and for some reason the GT in this region fight like no other GT due to current and depth,
definitely will put the reel and rod along the angler to the task
you sound to pay them back a visit 

[Gareth Branicki]

sami definitely will be visiting them again as for the fish fighting hard my left arm was in pain for 3 days defiantly need gym work before you go if i had hooked a monster i doubt i could have landed it federick said the depth at one of the spots was about 80 m which is really deep  when my father lost his fish he let get right down and he didn't have the strength to stop it and ended with his line cut 

[Nathan Cefai]

Nice report mate,I'm looking at Fishing with them boys in April next year roughly,been on the drawing cards for the past few months..They get a big Variety of fish there also some big sized Kingies on poppers..

[Gareth Branicki]

Thanks Nathan you will a fantastic time if manage to go next april i amplanning to go again but not till the april the year  after this time just spend some time in the emirates with family and then pop for 4 days cheers gareth