Morning, Hope everyone is well! I totally agree with Brandon and the comments in this thread. We are right in the middle of this with weights, lengths sizes, girths etc. It has almost become an obsession if you come to Southern Oman it is only a successful trip if you have caught a "50kg" GT, it is almost like the adventure of a trip and sport have been lost to some extent. We are very very lucky to be in a place that has amazing fish and yes there is insane fishing with enormous fish. But I always tell clients even when they get a small fish 10kgs that a GT is a GT and be happy that you have had a privilege of catching an awesome fish. As often there is a look of distaste at catching a small fish or a comment thrown that does not make me to happy. As an operator we don;t have 50kg GT on tap and have to work hard for fish and use all of our knowledge and a big portion of luck, so when we catch any fish we are happy and know we are doing our job right.
I think with modern techniques, unbelievable fishing equipment and experience we have been able to land bigger fish than what we could have done when we started 8 years ago. But also I think for us the focus is selling an experience and adventure rather than selling trophy fish. Oman is a magical place with history and an amazing culture, which is something special to enjoy along with the fishing, no one in GT fishing circles new about Oman till a few years ago when we started to catch GTs in Musandam Northern Oman and the flood gates where opened and now it one of the top destinations (at least in my biased opinion....) but as with everywhere there is a honeymoon period and this will fade over time as with everything new but we will continue to promote our sport and sustainability to ensure that we still catch good fish and provide a good service . There have been many queries about sizes, weights, pictures, camera angles and it has all raised doubts about a fantastic trip, rather than just saying it was a great trip we now get queries on camera angles, weights etc. This has taken away from the true reason for a fishing trip which is adventure and getting out on the water. If a trophy fish is caught then it is cream on the top of a great trip.
I think it is a great idea to post the measured lengths and possibly girth of a fish and readers can make their own decision on weight. I think if a fish is weighted then you can put the exact size. Personally I don;t like weighing fish as there is a big risk factor to the fish (especially hanging or with sling) and also it takes away time for taking photos of the fish with the client which at the end of the day is more important in my opinion and lasts forever. It is not easy to move a big fish around on a boat sometimes with current, waves, wind and then to put the fish safely onto a clients lap for pictures and then to release, this is all time sensitive to the fish.
I'll be fishing in Tokara next month and am very interested in Fukui-sans method on Big Dipper of weighing fish on a flat scale, this is an easy and accurate way of doing it with minimal damage to the fish and can be done as soon as a fish is loaded. We will try set up something similar next season to weigh trophy fish if the clients wants this rather than more pictures.
I have just finished a 5 day trip in Musandam and we did not get any big fish but we caught a good number and had a good bunch of guys on the trip and it was one of my best trips this year because it was good fun with a lot of banter, jokes, hard fishing, good food and most of all good experience! Plus we were done over more times by small fish than our last month in Southern Oman with all the big fish!! Just shows a GT of any size can humble any fisherman no matter how experienced or how new to the sport!
We will obviously keep posting fish we catch as they are amazing specimens and we are proud to have caught them but as I said before a GT is a GT and any size fish is worthy of taking the time to post about it and to also give a story not just pictures so we can all enjoy everyone elses adventures and learn new techniques or from other fishermans experiences.
At the end of the day I post pictures and try write full reports to give people an idea of what we are doing, how we are doing things and to try promote our sport. I don't post because we have caught "50kg" GTs, I post because we have done a trip, not all trips are successful but all trips should be an adventure and the good ol saying "a bad day on the water is better than a good day in the office!" is the best and easiest way to put it!
Cheers,
Nick
