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Kil Song

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I had been in contact with Ed of No Boundaries for this GT popping trip over a year and finally I am in Salalah, Oman now.

It was very tough to have three overseas trips in a month, but I can not complain all the trips are valuable and priceless.

This trip is for big GT over 50 kg and the Sourthern Oman is famous for it.
It took about 25 hours from JFK to Salalah, Oman and it takes another three hours by a car from Salalah to No Boundaries. But I am not really tired. I think it is because I used to long flights and I could watch many movies on the flight. :)

I brought only two popping rods and two jigging rods to make luggage as light as possible. I put two 8' Black Hole Cape Cod Special Nano and Graphite rods in a PVC rod case and I carried 5' Black Hole two-piece 250g and 80g in a carry-on rod case.

I was scared when I didn't see my rod case at luggage claim belt in Salalah Airport. I asked them to look for my rod case. After waiting 15 minutes someone brought my rod case.  Salalah Airport is very small and it didn't take much time to go through immigration/custom process.
They checked my DVD movies one by one. 
I took a free shuttle bus to Crowne Plaza Hotel which is about 4 miles from the airport.  The hotel room is very clean and they are very kind and courteous.  The No Boundaires are three hours away by a car and taxi will be here by 10:00 am.
6 days fishing starts from tomorrow (March 23).

Barry steel

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 :) hey mate hope you have a good trip! Was there in oman a couple weeks ago and stickbaits worked quite well.Very quiet with the poppers.. Although the fishing was slow for the most part of the trip,the good sessions more than made up for the lulls with some good fish boated...and lost! Tight lines

Kil Song

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I brought proven Carpenter Gamma and Heru lures.
I also brought some custom lures made for me by my friend Ryan. Some of his lures worked for GT on the Fiji trip.
I am sick and tired of using stickbait for bluefin and I hope I get some nice GT on poppers. :)
Here are Ryan's lures to be tested for GT.



Trevor Skinner

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Kil,

Use the ones that create the biggest disturbance...at the moment you need to get their attention!


Trevor

Jay Burgess

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Good to meet you in Shuwaymiyah, Kil. Hope you and Mark smash it!

Jon Viney

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Jay how many fish did you get?

Kil Song

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I just arrived at Dubai Airport waiting for a flight to the US.
I didn't catch any 50kg GT, but I had a chance. Ed got a 60 kg and Mark got a 50 kg yesterday. 
GT fishing has been slow here, but we saw 30 -40 GT cruised under boat in ginger clear water yesterday and some were monsters.
I can say GT bites are officially on from yesterday.
Detailed report and pictures will follow.......



-----------------



www.jignpop.com
www.jignpopforum.com
www.blackholeUSA.com

Jay Burgess

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Jay how many fish did you get?

Jon we didn't really catch any fish at all we had very bad weather for most of the trip and fishing was slow.

Kil Song

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Good to meet you in Shuwaymiyah, Kil. Hope you and Mark smash it!
Nice to meet you there.

I just arrived at Washinton DC Dulles Airport and is waiting for a flight to NJ.
Ed sent an email to me and he said he got 45kg and 50 kg while Mark lost a huge one.
Ed also landed a wahoo with the same 8' Black Hole Cape Cod Special Graphite rod and Heru Cubera 150.
It looks bites become consistent finally.

Hani Maher

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Hi Kil ,
whats the best color works out there !!!
floating or sinking stick baits ..or poppers ...what works best !!
Thanks
Cheers
Hany

Kil Song

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1st Day GT Popping


We left the lodge around 5:30 am and it took about 10 minutes drive to the boat ramp. The first run to our first destination in Hallaniyat Island is about 25 miles. Jay's group on the second boat went to the other side of Islands.









I love this boat. The boat is specially designed for GT popping and three guys can cast comfortably on the bow.
She cruises about 27 - 29 knots with twin Yamaha 150 hp engines.
They even have bean bags on the boat !!




We started fishing by 7:00 am.
On the first drift, Mark had a hit by missed and a few seconds later, Ed got a nice GT on stickbait  What a start.

Ed fought the fish expertly  and the fight didn't last long, but the first GT was about 45kg - 50 kg (estimate).























After quick tag/release of the GT, we concentrated on the area. Mark had a hit, but the fish pulled hook after fighting briefly.




I had a hit on my Heru Skipjack when we moved to other area, but I knew immediately it was not the size of fish I was looking for.





We decided to do some inshore fishing with light tackle.
I found Ed loves inshore fishing as much as hunting for trophy GT.





Mark Harris

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Eeekkk!!!! We are both posting reports at the same time Kil!

Kil Song

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We spent 2nd day and 4th day for GT popping, and 3rd day and 5th day for inshore popping.

We didn't go to the area where we had GT on the 1st day and fished other areas looking for GT for nothing.
On the 4th day, Ed ran the boat  120 plus miles in search of GT.
Ed said they had excellent GT trip in March last year, but GT fishing has been very slow this year. He think main body of GT didn't arrive yet because lower water temp this season.



Inshore Fishing

When Ed told me we would go inshore fishing, I had little idea what to bring expecting GT fishing every day. So I didn't prepare any tackle for inshore fishing.

On the 3rd day we headed to north.
Ed used Yamaga Blue Sniper 75/4 with Stella 5000 spooled with PE2 line
and Mark used Carpenter inshore rod.

They used several different small poppers or stickbait.
It was very pleasant to watch Ed and Mark have constant action with many differetn species. I am glad Ed chose inshore popping. I never expected bream (kind of snapper) hammer  poppers.































There was no internet service in town. All I did was sleeping,eating and fishing everyday.
Food was great for me. I didn't miss Korean food at all for the whole trip.




On the 5th day, we fished south of the boat ramp. I was very glad Ed brought us to this beautiful area.
I had to stop fishing to appreciate pristine, rugged beauty of the shore line.

















































It is time to sleep for last day's GT fishing in Southern Oman tomorrow. :)

Andrew Smith

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Fantastic images and looks like a great trip!

Must get there one day, soon!

Kil Song

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It was our final day of fishing.
We went to the area where we found GT on the first day.
Mark started first by catching a blacktip trevally.


Ed with a blacktip trevally using FCL sp260. He used the lure by skipping. He had a huge GT on this lure, but this blacktip trevally took the lure as soon as the big GT pulled the hook.


I was using Heru Skipjack, but I switched to Carpenter Gamma 75-190.
It didn't take long when I had a hit on my lure, but it was not a GT but a different kind of trevally.





I had my moment. A huge GT followed my Gamman lure and missed it by making huge swirl. I stopped breathing for a moment.


As there were not much action anymore, we moved to other area.
 Then we witnessed incredible sight under the water.
There were 30 - 40 big GT swimming around under the boat in ginger clear water. Some are true monsters. What shall I do ? Should I grab a popping rod, video camera or a camera ? I decided to grab a camera, but it was a bad decision because I couldn't get a clear picture because reflection of light. Mark hooked up a GT immediately which turned out to be a small(?) 35 - 40 kg. I jokingly said "how come you chose the smallest Gt among so many big GT ?" :)







We now know there to fish. :)
I switched back to Heru Skipjack 150 and had a small yft tuna immediately.



It didn't take long Mark had another GT which is close to 50kg.



There were so many queenfish in the same area. It was fun to catch queenfish on poppers, but it became nuisance as we hooked up so many while we tried to hook up big GT.



Ed had a huge GT estimated over 60 kg as GT pulled the hook from Heru Cubera 150, but he revenged later by land a GT close to 60kg on the same Heru Cubera 150. He fought both big GT using 8' Black Hole Cape Cod Special Graphite popping rod.   





I didn't hook up a 50 plus kg GT on the trip. The reason was simple.
I couldn't cope with Mark and Ed who relentlessly cast after cast.
I could cast for 5 days in a row in Fiji in hot weather  a few years ago, but I realized I couldn't do it anymore at the age of 65.
I had to pace myself by resting when needed.
Nontheless, it was a wonderful trip for myself fishing with new wonderful fishing friends Ed and Mark in the wonderful place.

I have fishing trips planned every month this year until Dec, but I like to come back again. Ed suggested me to come back again in late Sep/early Oct. I have three trips for giant in Prince Edward Island, Canada in Sept and I fish bluefin in Cape Cod for the whole month of Oct. But I accept those dates already.
My chance of hookup of a 50 plus kg Gt will be much better as I have a pretty good idea what I should do next time. :)

Thanks Ed, Angela and all staff of No Boundaries for your hospitality  shown to me. I shall be back. :)