After many weeks of preparation, planning and excitement the 2016/17 season is upon us. The Arabian Fly Sport Fishing companies first client of the season, Garreth Coombes, had arrived with every piece of kit imaginable, a selection of spinning and fly fishing rods were lined up ready for the first day on the water, along with 3 Recommended Permit Fly Patterns chosen by myself.
The first few days were tough as the monsoon had not ended on schedule. The sea was a thick pea green colour and unusually cold. The swell had not yet subsided making any sight casting from the boat for the 2nd species of Permit we find in Oman, out of the question. Although the waters were alive with bait – huge shoals of sardines and mackerel appeared which usually means great fishing conditions will follow shortly. A few days fishing from the boat produced some Barracuda, mackerel and small trevally.
3 Recommended Permit Fly Patterns
Garreth had his mind set on landing his first Africanus, so a game change came into play. The boys ditched the boat and set out by car early doors, heading for one of our favourite beaches. Geared up and ready for action they set off along the beach. It wasn’t long before Brandon spotted what they were looking for, a dozen or so forked tails frantically tailing from behind the rocks. Trachinotus Africanus are like the street fighters of the permit species, aggressively feeding in packs, not a care in the world as they’re constantly pounded onto the jagged rocks by the surf.
Fly fishing was out of the question as the wind was blowing far too hard and the swell would just wash your fly line all over the rocks. Locked and loaded with an extremely realistic crab lure on a light spinning rod Garreth set to work, dropping precise casts right into the melee of feeding fish. The line went tight and he set the hook.. fish on!As
After some rock hopping a few minutes later, Garreth had his first, slightly stunned, Africanus laying in his hands. An absolute beauty, these fish have been known to grow up to 20+ kilos and they like to fight dirty.
No rest for the wicked and the boys were off again. A little further down the beach and Garreth had his second shot. A bunch of fish were tailing inside a gully making it easier to present the bait to them. This time, he was not to be so lucky, after a nail-biting fight trying to keep the fish from running out past the rocks, the fish managed one last run and broke the leader just as he got it close enough to land.
As they commiserated their loss and tied another crab lure on, another single tail appeared. It took a few casts for this fish to see the crab, but once it did, it made a beeline straight for it and ate it. Brandon managed to tail it, a smaller fish than the previous ones we’d seen, but both their surprise, it turned out to be an Indo- pacific permit (Trachinotus Blochii).
What a day, I’m not sure I know anyone who has caught both species of Omani permit in one day, a truly outstanding achievement. An awesome end to what had started out as quite a challenging trip.
For more information on fishing Oman contact us at info@arabianfly.com or visit our website: www.arabianflysportfishing.com
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