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Nick Bowles

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 04:42:31 PM
Hi Vincenzo, We definitely got smoked a few times! On the first day I lost 2 lures in a row 1 x Gamma 200 and 1 x Siren 300. I think I lost one more for the trip. I now Luke had a few big break offs along with Barry and I think Sami was the lucky one to get away with 1 break off. In total I think we lost about 12 lures! A very expensive trip lure wise, but we found using a lighter drag and palming the reel in the heavy drag helped increase our chances and landing fish in the end. Great place and very technical fishing which was enjoyable, can see why you guys loved this place, piece of heaven!

Hi Alex, Happy to keep you ticking over in the Uk till the next trip. Save the money and hit a few GT spots rather..........not sure you could land a 90kg fish without about 99% luck but would definitely be worth a try with all the large lures and great rods and lines on the market. Amazing what the tackle nowadays can do!

Howzit Matt, did not want to put you into to much depression..........next time big guy!

Hi Martin, many thanks was a great trip. I'm heading tomorrow for the next trip and the fishing has been awesome down South so will get all the pictures and reports from the last 3 weeks in Southern Oman and post an update. Quite a few 140cm+ GTs. Socotra is a great place but it is nerve racking going into the unknown!


Nick Bowles

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 05:12:55 PM
Day 6

Finally the last fishing day had arrived and it is always sad you now that you are going out for the last time and that you are not sure when you would be back in such a beautiful place and the daily reality called life in the modern World would return, back to work, emails, mobile, BBM, Skype etc. But for a short while we had lived carefree and enjoyed every second, but I must admit towards the end of a long trip I always miss my family and start thinking and looking forward to see them so there is both a happiness and sadness for me usually on the last day.

I unfortunately I think I drank some water that had been contaminated in the cool box from bad ice and had a torrid night with a stomach bug and cramps which is something that usually happens very easily on a trip if you not carfeul but we were prepared and Dr Luke helped me get sorted out and some medicine from my first aid kit. But I decided not to do the morning session and build my energy back up for the afternoon and last session. Luke and Sami headed out to focus on popping and to try and look for a new area for GTs. Barry headed out to jig and see if he could get a beast in the deep that had kept on eluding us!

Luke and Sami fished the normal GT area for a while with no success and then carried on up the coast to try a few new points and shallow reefs. But unfortunately had not luck on the GTs but Sami got a nice Bohar Snapper for lunch. Barry headed for the deep and got reefed jigging by a big fish but did not managed to land any beasts. But the guys had a great morning and it was a perfect day with no wind, clear skies and nice comfortable temperature.


Good Bohar on popper. Great eating and safe to eat in Socotra

I had a good sleep and felt much better by mid morning and so ended up swimming in the shallows and relaxing till the guys came back. At almost low tide I was sitting waist deep in the clear water when I saw a big black shadow coming towards me, I initially thought shark and started to back out the water slowly, but then the dark shadow started to change into the shape of a kingfish (Spanish Mack) in about 1.5ms of water it was huge +-35kg kingfish and came into the bay. I turned and ran up the beach screaming for a rod. I picked up the RP150 and ran back down to the beach and had a long cast at the king but he was already just out of range. Totally amazing to see that fish in such shallow water and just confirmed that I think the land based and light tackle fishing around the island would be insane in the correct conditions!

The guys returned and we all had lunch and a bit of an afternoon rest. We got ready for the last and final assault on the Socotra GTs. We packed into the boats and headed back out to the GT reef. Again we arrived and were greeted by strong current. Amazing how a place can change in a few hours from looking good to looking exceptional!


Sami in action

Awesome healthy 137cm fork length fish.
Tackle to land a monster!

A lot of high fives and happiness on the boat. We got the fish into position quickly and got a few pictures and released this beauty to fight another day and hopefully maybe even get to 90kgs! A very well fought fish and would be the biggest of our trip.

After a bit of a break and a lot of excited talk of the fight and fish we got back into position. I out in a few casts and bang I had a good hit just under the surface and did not see the fish, I hit it a few times but could feel it was not a big fish. I worked the fish to the boat and up came a nice little GT which for me at this stage was perfect. I was more than happy to catch one last GT in Socotra. We got a few pics and released the fish. We were both now very happy with our trip and the results and could now leave the island trip a success and everything we had hoped for!


MH80H in action on a small fish!

Feeling the pain!

Very happy with my biggest fish of the trip.

Luke Wyrsta

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 05:32:17 PM
Some epic Geets on the final day to polish it off :)

You guys slammed it  8)  8)

I battled and lost more monsters than I care to divulge! It was my turn hahahah

Anton Haakman

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 05:49:48 PM
Mind blowing. The is the spirit of true adventure and is what I believe forms the cornerstone of what we love about artlure angling.

Mark Harris

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 05:54:09 PM
Epic report boys, truly epic. Well done to you all and thanks very much for all the effort involved in posting such a long account.

Socotra is clearly an extraordinary place and long may it remain so.

What's the next stop?  Djibouti?  :)

Jonas Holmsgard

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 05:56:03 PM
Thanks for a week of great reading Nick. Now I am left with that feeling you have when having finished a good book: You rushed it because you wanted to know how it ended, but now it feels kind of empty because you will miss not having any more chapters waiting!

Great respect to the four of you, this is one part of the world most of us only dare to dream about. I think your story once again has made us all think about and question our own prejudice views on countries, people and cultures.

Now my own Hallanyiat adventure in a couple of weeks don't feel that adventurous at all ;-) But hopefully we will catch some really good ...

Nick Bowles

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 07:18:16 PM
Howzit Luke!! I'm just happy you left a few fish for us! At one stage I thought you were going commercial with the number of fish and hits you had! Big respect to the skill and you ended tops of the leader board if we were keeping count which I was secretly........Look forward to March and many thanks for a great trip and wealth of information!

Hi Anton, 100% agree, fishing is awesome and to catch a fish is great but I feel in this day and age things happen so fast that we lost the art of taking time and discovering something and experiencing something properly. And for once we had a bit of time to explore and enjoy. Now the problem is I want more and to discover and experience more. The bug is strong and alive!

Hi Mark, many thanks appreciate it. It was a great place and hope it stays as it is with limited influence from the outside world. You read my mind...........

Hi Jonas, Appreciate the words, very flattering! Hopefully we will have a few more trips and adventures that we can add not only by myself but other members. It is a big mission to put everything down but the satisfaction once completed is immense. Socotra is one of the finest places I've been and is the type of place that everyone can have their own adventure to rival explorers of the passed as there is still so much to discover. Don;t worry there is plenty of adventure and fish waiting for you in Southern Oman! I love watching people arrive and see the place for the first time. The wonder and excitement is one of the main reasons we go through the effort of running in such a difficult place. You are going to have an awesome time and hopefully catch some big fish!

cheers,
Nick



Vincenzo Caccico

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 07:20:04 PM
12 Lures is quite good, hope you fished barless or better Single hooks  ;)

My costumers last year loose more or less 50 poppers in 5 different trips, 8 of those we found some days after floating and all of this lures where with single hooks barbless, with treple never found one  :(

I understand that for costumers is exiting this monster who breaks but in my situation i hope we will loose less every years!  ;)

For example this is one of the fish we found dead on the top of the water after breaking the 300 lb shok leader, it was one of the first trip  we made in 2010 and we were fishing with st 76 treple hooks.



Just a consideration from me and i hope that all Gt fishermen will understand that it will be a small starting right way to preserve.

Best regards Vincenzo  :)

Nick Bowles

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 08:37:37 PM
Hi Vincenzo, Still was not happy to break off to many fish but initially we had to work out how to catch them and lost a few due to breakage and the strong current. We all used barbless both for the safety of the fish and fisherman. We encourage all our clients to fish barbless but this is an education process. We have got it down to a fine art in Hallaniyat with hardly any break offs anymore which is a huge help for both the fish and our own peace of mind!

Cheers,
Nick

Vincenzo Caccico

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 27, 2012, 09:33:46 PM
I am very happy to heard this from you, maybe one time i will come to fish in Hallaniyat to enjoy miself only!

Peace of mind is important!  ;D

Best regards Vincenzo
Last Edit: October 27, 2012, 09:38:38 PM by Vincenzo Caccico

Alex Jordan

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 28, 2012, 02:25:02 AM
Awesome report - but I hate the way you have strung me out all week hanging on waiting for the day by day accounts!!!

The last picture Vinny has posted is food for thought - I was very fortunate not to get reefed at all on our trip to Hallaniyat but I did lose two fish which I put down to using pure barbless hooks - c'est la vie!

So glad the trip paid off and I love it when a plan comes together! (did you guys have the A Team on tele or was it just us in the UK?)

Roll on the next exploratory trip to keep me dreaming!

Matt Born

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 28, 2012, 05:46:20 AM
Big nick!! What a report! I'm sure anyone who reads this cannot help but feel a bit of jealousy, not just for your epic fish, but for the wonderful adventure!! Which is at the heart of all our fishing trips.  I am truly sad I missed out!

Congrats to you all!

And thank you for taking the time to write such an incredible account of what happened!!! I'm sure we will all agree that literary passages like this are few and far between!!

nicola vitali

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 29, 2012, 12:20:53 AM
Imagine what i feel when i discovered the place, at the 3rd cast the first monster come on the popper...
Socotra is a drug, i hope that will remain like this, place is very small and very fragile.
About barbless hook for my customer is a rule, these fish are old.And olso the line or pe 12 or tuff line 130 lb, if you fish lighter you get the fish but you will always broke on the huge, the bottom is full of rock, wreck strong current.
Sure is the ultimate fighting destination...

Grant Marshbank

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 29, 2012, 02:10:23 AM
Incredibe report Nick and well done to all four of you!  An epic adventure that makes it so much more special!

Lars Nielsen

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Re: Socotra Island Yemen - The Last Frontier
October 29, 2012, 09:40:26 PM



If you could fish West of the island, you wouldn't run out of spots for a while.  :o