Friday 8 April 2016

Oman Adventures, back to No Boundaries!

There is no reason ever in this world why you wouldn't head to Southern Oman and chase mega GT's! To re-enforce this, the huge variety of other species on offer creates a challenge in keeping gear under airline weight limits!

When Sean Tieck, Mike & Hayley Bonnici, along with Mark & Matt West of Darwin barramundi fame were all keen to head over and experience the sensational No Boundaries Oman operation that Ed Nicholas and his crew have established over 5 epic seasons, excitement swiftly built and gear was madly packed! How could I not also join them to venture back after 2 years away from this iconic place!

March and April are renowned as peak times for mega-beast GT around Southern Oman and as always, these fish don't get big by being silly. Chances are though, if your body can stand up to chasing beasts here over 6 days, you are likely to at least get the opportunity to tussle with a Giant. With reels spooled with PE10 Toray braid, the strongest hooks and terminals packed and lures to accommodate them, IT WAS GO TIME! (GT Fishing here is PE10 territory, minimum)

Being greeted with news of consistent opportunities at good fish in the lead up to this trip, we crossed our fingers we would get the chance and convert! Matt was first on the board, after only about 15 minutes into our first day with Yassir & Ed, BANG! the Adhek Big Buffalo FMJ was inhaled and he was on the board with his best GT yet!
Matt West with a solid trip opener.
The day cruised on, until in a fury of commotion, a pack of Mahi Mahi lit up all around the boat and next cast saw the one thing every GT angler lives to witness, GT PACK ATTACK! Things didn't go as planned and we failed to convert onto the scoreboard. Heading back, we were left ruing our missed chance to begin with the perfect day.....

Sean, Mike & Hayley eased into the trip with a light tackle morning session on the famous Omani bream and had a great arvo on the GT grounds. The trip continued to produce solid chances every day for both boats in our group, with Sean and Mike rewarded with both their new personal best GTs of 43 and 47kg respectively. Great fish anywhere in the world!

Over the course of the week, ourselves and another group visiting the lodges consisting of Jussi, Henrik & Christer also had great fishing on the reef thugs guided by Mo. After day one, we returned to hear the destruction that Christer was subjected to having being absolutely destroyed on PE12 gear, with mega drag and clamped down hands on the spool. The GT just laughed and kept on powering to the reef. Yes that's right... PE12 fished to the max by our friendly giant Viking and destroyed!
Mike's 47kg PB!
Sean's new big GT, Oman GTs are brutes



































The week drove on, with chances and fish coming each day. Bodies were becoming a touch weary and a chance to experience the variety available in Oman had to be undertaken. Friendly banter before the trip saw a PE1 challenge laid out, with Ed bragging about his mega bream of 64cm (fork!) taken on PE1 tackle recently. The ever reliable 100mm Tackle House Contact Feed Popper doing the damage. We couldn't say no and the challenge was ON!
Ed's benchmark 64cm PE1 bream to beat!
(Pic credit: No Boundaries Oman)
Everyone started in solid form, with a large variety of species including the sought after Omani bream hitting the deck for a quick pic and release. Then it happens, Sean whips out his now trademark "reverse over the shoulder super cast" and hooks a beast Mahi Mahi on PE1 gear..... How could we counter this and the seemingly obvious winner of the challenge?

Serious Mah Mahi on PE1 to Sean!
The stakes for bragging rights were high and slipping away.....

Then this happens.....

Andy's PE1 Permit on stickbait!
I cast into a bombie wash zone and bang, smacked on the drop after one twitch. I'm potentially in a LOT of trouble on PE1 but the permit plays nice and after a crazy powerful tussle he hits the net and my bucket list is ticked! A permit on a stickbait, Bassday Bungy Cast!

A solid offshore breeze limits the run to GT grounds the following day, so creative thinking by guide Chad sees Sean, Matt & Mark get into some sweet tight water polaroiding action with the famous Aussie designed Cranka Crab to the local Two-Bar Bream population!




The week of fishing rolls on and it's back into GT mode for the last component of the trip. As often happens, the last day sees the bite fire up, with Hayley landing her biggest GT of 36kg. Mark, Matt and I have a great final day with guide Chad with some mega queenies in the morning, followed by a quick jig session that saw about 8 species hit the deck in about an hour and a sweet arvo GT bite! There's no other way to finish this, except with pics!!
Hayley locked in, Oman style!
The smile says it all!!
Mark's 62cm bream!
Shout Stay 160g







Chad loves a GT swim on release!


Shout Lighten Jig
The Crew!
SEE YOU AT NO BOUNDARIES OMAN!
Thanks to Sean, Mike, Hayley, Matt & Mark for a great week! Also, it is always fantastic to meet other anglers from across the world, Jussi, Henrik & Christer, it was a pleasure and look forward to seeing you all again one day!!

Finally, a huge thanks to Ed and the entire team at No Boundaries Oman. If you want to experience this truly unique place for mega GTs, insane huge bream and a host of other species in an environment that continues to suprise and be treated like royalty, look them up at www.noboundariesoman.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NoBoundariesOman/
FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON THE TRIP!