I did a trip to Tokara Japan in May this year to fish with Capt Fukui-san on the famous Big Dipper. So it was fantastic when Fukui-san asked if he could come and fish with myself in Oman, plus most of the same group were going to come along on the trip. But also it was a bit nerve racking as I had a excellent trip to Tokara catching 4 GTs for the trip with the biggest weighing in at 46kgs. So hopefully I could repay the compliment to Fukui-san and his group and give them a great trip showing off the best Oman has to offer.
I arrived on the Hallaniyat Island at our lodge the day before to catch up with Cameron, Ashraf, Kareem and the team. Always love staying on the island it is a whole different pace of life and the local Omani fisherman are really old school and gives you a taste of a by gone era. The fish had been a bit slow the last couple of weeks but when the fish did come up they were all monster fish so I was very excited that the Japanese group could have a few shots at big trophy fish and is why they were coming to Oman. Everything was ready for the trip. The guys arrived late in the afternoon at Salalah so they stayed in our lodge in Salalah for the night and then came through to Shuwaymiyah early in the morning where we picked up the guys at the marina and headed out to the island for 5 days for adventure filled fishing! The group consisted of Fukui-san, Ajiti-san, Tanaka-san (Yoshifumi), Sassa-san and Tanaka-san (Takahisa).
The group at Hallaniyat Island.
The first day we got to the island still early in the morning, had a good breakfast and set up the tackle and headed out for the day. The tackle that came out was jaw dropping, all Carpenter and a lot of prototype rods. I have been talking to Konishi-san about field testing heavier rods for Carpenter and Tanaka-san brought over two 7.9ft rods for me to test in Oman, Tanzania and a couple of other destinations we have planned. This was a very special moment for me and a great honour. Then Fukui-san presented me with two amazing GT Gyotaku Prints from Tokara. The first one was of a GT that Fukui-san himself caught 17 years ago and had in his fishing room and then the second one was one of a big 150cm GT. Really amazing gifts and will be treasured for the rest of my days! Now the pressure was really on to produce some good fish!!
Gyotaku Prints
Ajiti-san setting up his arsenal!
We were going to stay out for the whole day as we were starting late so we took packed lunches and we were going to cover as much water as possible to try and find where the fish were holding. The weather was amazing with flat sea and the water was the cleanest I have ever seen in Southern Oman. It was like floating on gin, we could see small fish swimming on the bottom at 20ms! Very idyllic setting if you want to lie on the beach and drink ****tails but for GTs not the greatest conditions. But as fisherman we always have a complaint or reasoning either it is to calm or to rough, water to clean or to dirty, to much wind or not enough wind etc etc. But I have come to learn to accept your conditions no matter what and make the best of the situation and fish as hard as possible and the rest is up to luck!
We headed to a few spots close to the lodge to get warmed up and on the first drift Tanaka-san (Yoshifumi) had a good fish hit his popper which turned out to be a nice sized yellow dot and a good start to the trip. We fished a couple more spots and then Ajiti-san had a hit and turned out to be a big bluefin! For the rest of the day we explored around and fished a few of the tried and tested spots but we had no luck Finally late in the afternoon Fukui-san got up and had a turn as he was letting his clients fish. I have seen a lot of GT fisherman but none are quite the same as Fukui-san and I can see why he is the legend he is in Japan. He uses a very light set up a Carpenter Endless Passion 90/37 rod, Stella 10000XG, PE6 and a light leader with a Kevlar cord bite leader and an extremely light drag to the extent that the reel drag would let line off while popping. It goes against most of what we tell clients and how we fish, so I was very interested to see how this was going to work out, but when I saw the first cast go out the lure came down with ice and I think it landed close to Socotra Yemen, I new he had a solid game plan! Amazing distance and action on the lures. He was fishing with a Carpenter 120 Popper and most probably was getting 100-120m distance! But you can see he reads the water before putting in a cast and after a few casts he raised the first big GT of the trip, the fish came from under the popper and the sea erupted but the fish did not hook up and left a massive swirl that we just stared at with open mouths and what could have been, then all the guys just burst out laughing!! Classic! Unfortunately this was the only fish we raised for the day. As the sun was setting we called it a day and headed back for the marina and to enjoy a great dinner up on the open terrace over looking the sea and marina.
Tanaka-san with the first fish of the trip, a nice yellow dot
Ajiti-san with e big bluefin
Last couple of casts before heading back to the marina, awesome been so close to the fishing spots.
The next morning we were all up early and after breakfast headed out the marina as it was getting light and headed back to where we raised the fish the day before. We got to the spot and set up the first drift and started fishing, not to much was happening and we did a few drifts and then started to move around looking for bait and a bit of current. Tanaka-san (Yoshifumi) was fishing off the stern of the boat with a new prototype Endless Passion 82/42 rod, awesome looking rod and great for casting and has a good bit of power. Tanaka-san is one of the Field Testers for Carpenter. I was watching his popper when a huge fish came in and tried to smash the popper but missed and turned back again and hit the popper half out the water, absolute picture perfect in the flat water. Tanaka-san hit the fish several times and the fish started pealing off line, he held on and crouched down with the high drag settings and managed to stop the fish and then gain a bit of line and then loose the line again. Epic battle and finally we had the fish under the boat and a tug of war ensued for a few minutes before Tanaka-san put in the last effort and got an awesome fish to the surface! We landed the fish and the boat erupted the guys were all ecstatic for Tanaka-san! Really great to see everyone genuinely happy for him. We measured the fish at 146cm and Fukui-san had brought a weighing scale and set up from Tokara with him. It was great having the guys on the boat as everyone helped with flushing the fishes gills with water, measuring, weighing, putting the fish on the laps, so everything ran like clockwork! The fish weighed in at 56kgs. Fantastic first fish of the trip and was Tanaka-sans biggest GT to date! The fish was released and swam away strong ready to dominate the reef again!
We fished some amazing looking water over the 5 days
Tanaka-san putting in a cast
My favourite lure Gamma 160H Black and silver!
Tanaka-san bending on the prototype Ep 82/42
56kg 146cm beast
Fukui-san and Tanaka-san
After a good few minutes of talking and going through the fight and fish, we had some water something to eat and the guys were ready to get back in action. We did a few more drifts but had no more luck, so we moved a couple of times and then Fukui-san was standing on the stern seat of the boat and putting out his long casts when he had a fish come up behind his popper and chase the lure down and engulf it! Fukui-san hit the fish a few times and the fish took off like a rocket! Fukui-san moved up to the bow of the boat and just lent on the fish and waited for the fish to stop and then fought the fish back to the boat. He asked for the boat to be left still to fight the fish from a dead boat. The 9ft rod he was using was bent double and took all the pressure and he had the fish up to the surface in no time to be landed and weighed in at 38kgs. We fished the rest of the day around but had no more luck, but the guys were extremely happy with the 2 big fish. But the great thing about the guys were that they did not sit down once and they kept on casting everyday for the whole day even when there was no current and most probably no fish around but the guys carried on casting and basically made their own luck and raised fish!
Fukui-san putting in a cast with the EP90/37
The legend in action
Fukui-san loving his first Omani GT!
Tanaka-san bending on the 8ft prototype
Tanaka-san with his 48kg GT
Group photo!
Sassa-san in action
Tanaka-san fighting his fish with some help and coaching from Fukui-san
Great fish taken on a white Gamma 160
Tanaka-san holding on with all his power!
Ajiti-san and Tanaka-san on the bow into the big fish.
Ajiti-san with his fish under the boat just before it broke off.
Tanaka-sans 57kg monster
Tanaka-sans 65kg beast, the fish was so wide that he could not see over the back of the fish and had to look around the side!!
Tanaka-san and Fukui-san with the biggest weighed GT in Oman! Awesome!
After a few snacks and drinks we got back into the action and after a couple of drifts and fish been broken off, Sassa-san hooked into another good fish and by now the guys had found their stride and the guys were fishing very well and everyone on the boat was working well together and we got another big fish to the boat and landed. A few pictures and the fish was released. By now everyone on the boat was loving life, laughing, telling jokes amazing what a high you can get from GT adrenalin. Then again Sassa-san was in action, he was on fire and a big fish hit his popper and he landed another good sized fish! Finally the current slowed down and we did not raise anymore fish so we headed back to the lodge for a well deserved lunch break and a bit of relaxation! The guys were happy with the day but I managed to convince them to do an afternoon session and we headed for a new area but unfortunately we did not raise anymore fish but it was a great afternoon relaxing and enjoying the weather.
Sassa-san in action
Another big Oman GT
Bending again!
Sassa-san with another good GT
Lunch on the terrace of the lodge overlooking the sea.
Happy and tired group!
Heading back out for the afternoon session after a bit of a rest!
