Mother nature had gave us all it is best on this adventure, according to Socotra standard I believe we did not do what we were supposed to do as per getting the opportunity to be the first to pop the area and open the season,
Sergey, Igor & Micha meet me in Sharjah airport, we than took the flight to Socotra through Makkalah airport, the flight was smooth all the way to Socotra, upon our arrival we get greeted by our contact and been informed of high wind, the guys tried to put the tent and failed to keep them steady, so they suggest to stay the night at the hotel and move in the early morning and start fishing, under cloudy sky we headed to our destination only to get welcome by heavy rain.
It was impossible for us to get out to the reef and pop for GT's, knowing we have plenty of time we decided to jig and pop next to the camp, we were hoping for the weather to improve but the condition kept on getting worth and worth every day till we had a break on our 5th day, during those days we caught a lot of species and the jigging bites was not bad at all as long as you put your time into it,
the wave were high but we were eager to make it to the reef and the guys were anxious to wet a line on the outer reef, finally it happen and we took position and casted in all different direction, on my first cast my lure get smashed by a GT, set the hook and asked the captain to move me to a deeper water, struggled a bit but I finally get it under controlled and landed the fish, nice hefty healthy GT's made it to the lap, took a few shot and release it, on the other hand the other boat had Igor and Micha and they just get reefed by a monster fish, I ask my captain to put us in a position and pointed to Sergey where to cast, he only popped his lures once and boom the fish charged him and gave him all what she got, with heavy locked drag the fish manage to peel line and ended up reefing Sergey, Sergey on the other hand was so happy just to experience the power of those fish in this kind of current,
on that day we went 4 out 10, the guys had their shot but failed to deliver with harsh condition and big weaves but still had so much fun to talk about it for the whole night.
We decided to run the same schedule for the next day, early morning to the shallow reef and later we go for the GT's spot, in the late afternoon the other boat had 6 strikes but again failed to land any, breaking line broken rod, you named there was some big unstoppable fish on that day, I quitted early on that day for some reason and the other boat get their 6 bites within 30 minutes and right before sunset, all in all they were very happy.
We were running out of time and still battling with mother nature, heavy rain flooded seashore and strong wind is all what I remember from this trip,
I gather the captains and ask them to stick to each other at all time as I notice at some point we were too far from each other and in case of an engine problem we can bail each other's, they both agreed to do so.
right before we head out I briefed both captains with the plan, we headed first and the other boat was supposed to follow us, the plan was to jig next to the camp for 30 minutes before we head to the GT's spot, the jigging point is only 1/2 miles away from the beach, upon our arrival I saw the other boat heading to the opposite direction, we dropped our jigs and drifted a bit, our captain was praying on the boat so I waited for him till he was done to ask him to move the boat and do another drift, all this took less than 3 minutes, the unexpected happen and he couldn't start the engine, I couldn't see anybody nearby and I was worry as the wave is getting bigger, the Captain said that most likely there is water in the gas tank so he start working on it while Micha and I took our shirt and tied it to the longest rod we have on the boat, we were both waving to the abyss and honestly I tough we were done, during that period our collage passed that point and headed to the reef, I think they would not think for second that we were in trouble, my biggest regret was why I did not bring my satellite phone on board with me, I was so frustrated from myself.
after an hour and 10 minutes passed the island start to look a bit far, darkness will come upon us in another hours and our chance to make it to shore will fade away shortly, our captain was getting tired from starting the engine as it is manual but the progress is there as he manage to get the water out of it, I asked to let me try to start it, so on the second try the engine started we smiled like we were born again and I quickly get the image of my kids in my head, that was a good sign he took over and after 6 or 7 strikes the engine started and with a high five we headed to the shore in full speed,
the guys made it to the reef and could not find us, so they decided to turn back and look for us, they headed to the camp to see us waving with anger at them.
we had a long talk that night about what happen and how to avoid such miss communications like that in the future, I asked to meet with the sheik of the village and we had a long talk of what should be done in the future and he totally understood what should be done to avoid problem like that from happening in the future, there is a say in Arabic for all fisherman and sailor that go out to sea( you enter the sea as a dead man and you get out from the seas as a new born ) I will remember that as long as I will live!
We have 3 hours of fishing left before heading to the airport for our departure, the guys were excited as the condition was perfect, I casted a nemo Gamma to the shallow area and saw a big head sticking out of the water inhaling my stickbait, I set the hook 2 time and start running and shaking it is head and all of a sudden the line get slack on it, I retrieved my line and end up with the wire only, Misha all of a sudden pointed at the lure from a distance, the fish broke the wire took the back hook and the lure floated, in 2 words I will describe it, that was the biggest GT I had ever seen in my career not because it get away but the massive head that fish had is just unbelievable!
I still landed one on next drift but not near that size that I saw at all, we called the trip off and headed to the airport only to be notified by Felix airways that the flight is canceled at 5:00PM, it was such a mess and they were going to bounce us left and right if it was not for the big German group that they were on board, they called in their embassy to put pressure on the airline, Igor and Misha lost their ticket and Felix Airline would not do anything about it, we manage to get to Dubai on the next day,
all in all I had a great time with the guys and they still wants to come back to Socotra, however I will be equipped better if a condition like that will ever arise in the future.
Tackle used:
Rods: Race Point 300, 150, Patriot designs, El Maestro 77H Prototype, OBX 500 & OBX 400, Carpenter Prototype, Seven seas Big Pop
Reels: Shimano Stella & Daiwa Saltiga, Shimano Saragosa SW 10000 Prototype,
Line: Power Pro Hollow 130, Sunline Monster Hunter PE8, Sunline Jigger
Lures: Siren (New Prototype) , Carpenter, Shell Shaping, Craft Bait, Patriot Designs,
Jigs: Hot's, Haoli, CB One, Shout.
Tight lines
Sami
Bait getting chased on the beach
Found a little bird in the jaw of the fish
