Preparations
We had been looking forward to this trip for weeks: our first fishing-trip to (sub)tropic shores, with warm weather, strong fish and turquoise water… we were heading to the province Dhofar in Southern Oman. Somehow, this trip felt like a long-awaited return, as we had learned fishing at the Arabian coastline as kids, here it had all begun, some 30 years ago!
Where were the good spots? What flypatterns and lures would work? What time of the day would be best, and at what tide?
The answers could have been easily provided by a local guide, but we wanted the full adventure, a DIY-trip, even if it would be tough! We wanted to fish exclusively from the shore, earn every fish by ourselves.
The last few weeks before the departure were filled with evenings of tying crabs, poppers and various streamers… studying satellite images and absorbing almost every youtube-video in existence… we were full of joy in anticipation.
My brother was meanwhile spooling heavy braid on his Saltiga-reels, sorting huge stickbaits and poppers into boxes and practicing knots for heavy saltwater-spinfishing.
Fishermen’s dreams
My greatest hope was to catch my first permit, of which two species exist in Omani waters.
The permit is a highly prized gamefish among fly fishers, probably because it holds the beautiful aspects of both freshwater and saltwater flyfishing: other than with most saltwater predators, catching permit is not about the frenzied strip-as-fast-as-you-can, but about the perfect presentation to rather spooky fish, a feeling for the right moment to set the hook and of course the ability, to spot the fish in the surf or on the flat. If you do manage to hook a permit, the fight is truly of ocean-kind, this fish is stronger than most freshwater fish you will encounter in Europe. Even a 20lbs pike does not equal the strength and dynamics of this wonderful fish!
In general, I was looking forward to fish the ocean with the fly rod for the first time, it was a premiere for me! My brother hoped to hear the brakes of his reels scream, and to feel the power of any of the big saltwater predators, be it barracuda, any trevally or a tuna.
Close range explorations
After a long flight through Munich and Doha, we arrived at our hotel in Mirbat at sunrise. Only little later, we were already scouting the surrounding cliffs and beaches, each of us equipped with two rods, and a backpack full of equipment. We were so full of excitement, that we did not realise we hadn’t had any sleep for 24 hours.
The shoreline around the hotel was not too bad after all, even though we constantly saw fishermen with their boats setting nets and fishtraps. We saw eagle rays jumping high out of the water, sea turtles, and of course we did catch our first few fish:
Triggerfish were abundant, they were curious for anything that you would throw at them, and they are surprisingly good fighters for their size! Absolutely no comparison to a freshwater fish of similar size, the strike of a triggerfish really is a hard hit! Though, after the first few of them, they started to annoy us, as we did want to catch anything else!
The needlefish played in a different league! You could see them splashing on the surface, chasing small baitfish. There were huge ones up to around one meter in length, and with highspeed, they were after small flying fish, sometimes flying behind them through the air. When I threw a streamer near them, there was almost suddenly a strike, but with their hard mouths and the relatively large hooks I was fishing, they were hard to hook up. Nevertheless I managed to land a midsized one.
So the first day ended, after 36 hours without sleep, and roughly 10km scouting the coastline on foot… we fell tired in our beds, only to wake up again one hour before dawn, getting ready to fish.
We wanted to explore some further bays and rocky ledges, and had some 16 km before us. The spots we saw were extraordinarily beautiful… white sand, blue water, but the fish were scarce! Without the “protection” of the hotel, the ocean had been looted almost entirely, and we saw hardly any noticeable fish. Only the occasional needlefish produced some action.
Secluded spots
On satellite images we had noted some interesting secluded bays and ledges that were reaching far into the deep. We hoped to find more fish in these spots, as they were farther away from villages and harbors. So we rented a 4×4 car and got on the road… following GPS data… and driving paths I never had thought possible for any car to drive… slopes, where we could not see the path in front of the engine hood… the but the Nissan did its job, and we got used to this kind of driving. Our thoughts were with the Rallye Dakar (and its accidents), which took place in these days 😉 !
On these exploratory trips, we found THE BAY, as we only named it. It is one of the most beautiful bays I have ever seen, a long sandy beach lined with dark rock… “There must be permit here!”, I thought.
I tied on a velcro crab and started to stroll the beach, my eyes always on the shallow water. And suddenly, there was a slender shadow swimming towards me, and I instantly knew, that this was the moment I had been praying for: The first permit I saw in my entire life, followed by the first cast of that day… in my head I heard the voices of numerous guides in all the youtube-videos I had watched: “don’t stip, don’t strip”… “SET!” and it was hooked! The permit was on the line!!!!! On the first cast, was it even real?!!!
The permit started to run, and I was impressed with the power and dynamics of it! It glinted bright in the sunlight, a silver disc in the surf… and another flight, and I now had it on the reel, and adjusted the brake. Every other fish I ever caught in the freshwater was nothing against this fish, I was deeply impressed and full of admiration.
I am not sure how long it took me to land this fish, maybe 3 minutes at most, but it felt like eternity! It all work out, and I was able to land it, and even though there was no one to save this moment in a good picture, my holidays had turned to a complete success in this instant! I had caught a nice indo-pacific permit! My first one! I needed a break, sat down on the beach, and looked onto the endless ocean… and there was another permit!!!! I made a leap forward, ran towards it, pulling line off my reel… but the fish had disappeared into the deep already… and it was fine, I was already happy and done for the day, and so I gathered all my stuff and walked off to find my brother who was casting big lures from the cliffs… and I was enjoying the thought of the fish I had caught, smiling as I walked.
My brother had meanwhile just been as lucky! He greeted me with sparkling eyes, as he had caught several good bluefish in the 2kg-range and many small trevallies, mostly blacktips, which had been great fun on his lighter rod.
The next days were not as successful, although we went to this spot again. But the swell had risen, and turned into a direction which hit the bay directly… “the set” almost measured a man’s height! It made spotting the permits hard, and as soon as I had found one, I had difficulties following it with my eyes in the turbulent water. I once thought I still had him in focus, as I saw a shadow moving in the sandy surf… 
I cast for it, the shadow moved towards it, and when I set the hook it felt strange…. What was that??? I reeled in, and was surprised to find a large pufferfish on the other side of the line… time and again really astonishing what you can catch on a fly!
When wind and swell got too strong in the afternoons, we retreated to the area around the hotel, or tried casting from the quay walls of marinas in the vicinity.
We did not catch the biggest of fish there, but we witnessed beautiful moments, with dolphins jumping high into the air, and dolphins chasing small baitfish.
In the evenings I also sometimes grabbed the spinning rod – blind casting with the flyrod can be tiring, especially with the 12wt that I carried for larger streamers.
We caught small barracudas and many more blacktip trevallies, more needlefish and a wolf eel (didn’t know this fish before) asf. It was always great fun, although we did not hook any really big fish.
RESUMEE
As a first step into the salt, it was ideal. We had great fun, caught some good fish, and all on a very low budget. I caught my first permit, and I am super happy about that, as this fish was completely self-earned, from tying the fly to landing the fish! My brother was also very satisfied with the biggest of his barracudas, which took quite some line although it was no giant. All the other saltwater fish similarly provided good entertainment!
We are both hooked on saltwater fishing now, and although trout season is approaching, we are already discussing where the next trip will take us!
Unfortunately, it is also necessary to state some negative things… especially, how the ocean is treated by the locals. As people told me, the last 10 years have seen a dramatic decline in fish populations, even mussels and shells are heavily exploited, and the garbage on the shore is getting more and more. The ocean is overfished, and because of the many nets and fishtraps, the number of fish decreases EVERY DAY! There are hardly any restrictions for the fishermen, and we think that the Omani waters are really on the edge. If nothing happens, fishing will be over soon. Those who are practicing a sustainable fishery, trying to guide international fisherman and tourists of all sorts without doing harm to the environment will need a lot of perseverance and we hope they will succeed with their enterprise. The Oman is a wonderful country, and entire Southern Arabia was known to the Romans as “Arabia felix”, the “happy (=fertile, rich) Arabia”. We hope the Omanis will soon realize what a natural treasure their country is!