Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) > Reports & Expeditions

Musandam Oman, May Madness!!

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Nick Bowles:
The last couple of months we have had some crazy fishing in Musandam on our 2 boats and it has carried on the last couple of weeks. It has been a great ending to the season for us especially when Southern Oman blew out a couple of weeks early in April. The really cool part is we have had loads of different groups coming through as most trips are short and we had a lot of GT beginners that have been catching some nice fish and also getting smoked big time! I always tell the guys that you cannot call yourself a GT fisherman till you have been smoked in spectacular fashion! But great to see Musandam starting a lot of new fisherman on the GT path. There has also been an abundance of smaller gamefish around with queens, kings, tuna, sails been around in good numbers.

Musandam GTs are still in my opinion the strongest GT pound for pound that I have come across, not sure what it is they seem to be smaller and rounder than the Southern Oman cousins but I think due to the deep water and very strong currents they have become powerhouses. A small fish can come to the boat after a hard fight and you are expecting a fish twice the size! Musandam we fish up against cliffs that drop straight into the Ocean from 200ms above sea level to 60ms below sea level. Shear cliffs and the GTs sit right against the cliffs in the strong currents, once hooked they use the current and disappear into the depths, leaving the fisherman a tough job of getting the fish back up to the boat! Awesome fun!

It looks like the weather has just started to heat up but the water temp is holding and I think we going to have another few weeks left of good fishing into June when it'll become to hope and we will finally close the season in Oman. We have our end of season live aboard trip planned for 29-31 May which I hope we will have some good fishing, laughs and memories. Then June we start the cycle all over again starting to plan and work towards the new season starting in Musandam in August and Southern Oman in October.

Here a heap of pictures from the end of April into May.


Love the Musandam sunrises. We run about 50 miles up the coast and the sunrise is always a time to admire and watch it come up over the sea.

Bit of time for reflection early morning, sunrise and calm seas. Life does not get better.

Bending on a good fish

Happiness!

It gets quite emotional on the boat at times.....



Bending

Dave bending on a good fish

Dave with a big Musandam GT.

Bringing the heat!

Another good Musandam GT





Deep burn!















Very happy!!


Sail on surface lure

Release

Capt LB getting in the mix

Backing into deeper water!

Love at first sight!

Bending off the bow.














Cheers,
Nick

Nick Bowles:
The last week has been a hectic one but one of the best weeks of the season! We welcomed our new baby daughter into the World, Ava Michelle Bowles, a 3.33kg bundle of joy with healthy set of lungs!! So all been running around sorting out pink rooms, cots and more toys than a toy shop! Might have to make space in the fishing room to store everything! Her name initially was going to be Stella but then we thought better of it as at the age of 13 when she finds out she was named after a fishing reel might have cost me a lot on therapy! But it is a great new adventure and both Mum and baby are doing very well! The next generation has started!


Family picture!

Back to the fishing. Musandam has still been fishing very well and our captains Cameron, LB and Damon doing a great job with finding fish although a lot of bad weather is starting to push in with the monsoon blowing offshore. Most of the bigger GTs have moved deeper at the moment but there has been a lot of smaller GTs along with some great light tackle fishing for queens, long tails, kings etc. The weather is getting very steamy so a proper work out throwing poppers all day long!

I'm heading up this weekend with a pink slip from the wife and family and look forward to hopefully getting some nice fish, got a couple of prototype Shimano reels to test so very excited to see how they do against the Musandam GTs.

Then next weekend we have the final live aboard trip on the 80ft Dhow along with our two boats Al Sayyad 1 and Al Sayyad 2. We have one slot left if anyone is keen so it will be about 10 guys altogether and going to be a great trip along with a few sneaky prizes!


Bending on the Hots in a big current

Strong fish in the current

Craig bending







Craig into a nice fish












Backing off the cliffs




Light tackle spinning off the sheltered beaches at lunch time, always an awesome stop on the trip!

Nick Bowles:
Some of the light tackle action. Musandam is a great destination as there are a lot of different options if the big GTs are not around from chasing smaller GTs on light tackle to queenfish, big eye, orange spots, long tails, kings, sails etc.


Big queen

Bending

Another big queen









What would a trip be without a smelly bobcat to try and chew off a lure or two!!


Good old trevela keeps on catching, we have caught thousands of fish on these charter rods, still amazes me the punishment they take!


Nice queen on a pink needle nose plug.



Nice king on surface lure


Big smelly Bobcat!!

Cheers,
Nick

Jeen Raj:
Hi Nick,

Congrats on the new addition to the family. Lovely baby Eva.
Yes Musundam is a special place, where it all started and still producing some good results.


Cheers,

Jeen

Josh Tan Peng Siong:
Hey Nick,

it must have been an awesome trip and congrats on the new addition to the family. She looks lovely.

Cheers.

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