01 June 2016
Muscat - A top Canadian fishing tourism and travel company and the American Sport Fishing magazine have placed Oman among the top game fishing destinations in the world. 

In its Top 10 Popping and Topwater Destinations In The World, Pesqa, the Canadian travel company which arranges trips to the world's finest fishing destinations, starts its list with Oman. "Halaniyat in Oman came to our attention five years ago and has since provided exceptional Giant Trevally (GT) fishing year after year, which cannot be described as anything other than world class."

The other nine places in the top ten include Socotra in Yemen, Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Tokara in Japan, Madagascar,  Ranfurly Banks in New Zealand, Gibraltar, Sri Lanka and Ascension Island. "The numerous shallow reefs and rocky islands of Halaniyat are favourite haunts for GT that average 40-100lbs, (18 to 25kg) with many monster-sized fish there to keep you coming back. Ocean Active operates a slick lodge within minutes of the monster grounds and No Boundaries offers daily charters from their lodge based in Shuwaymiyah," stated Sam Franklin, founder of Pesqa.

The Sport Fishing magazine continues to list Oman among the ten top popping sites. "Nothing's more exciting in fishing than massive topwater strikes," stated the magazine. And Oman finds a place among ten places in the world that rank among the best to experience that rush, it said. "While you can fish here year-round, mid-September through April is prime period."

While another game fishing provider Fishfishme, which has offices around the world and in Dubai, stated that if someone is travelling to the Middle East and is a fishing enthusiast, then one of the best locations to check out is Oman.

"Oman has numerous fishing grounds that will yield great numbers of game fish."

According to Fishfishme, Muscat, Salalah, Quriyat, Khasab, Masirah, Shuwaymiyah and Hasik are the best options to get lucky on huge catches.

Most commonly targeted in the waters of Muscat are the yellowfin tuna, sailfish, dorado, grouper and kingfish. While the targeted fish in Salalah include trevally, dorado, yellowfin tuna, sailfish and the king mackerel.

In Quriyat, the fish species that are found include yellowfin tuna, dorado, grouper and sailfish. While Shuwaymiyah, an island on the southern coast of Oman, is considered one of the best fishing destinations in the world for GT. Hasik too has abundant GT.

Mubarak al Qartoobi, a fisherman from Khabourah, said, "One of the great pleasures of fishing in Oman is catching fish the traditional way, using a hand line. Be it catching yellow fin tuna from the waters of Salalah or trolling in the waters of Dibba, each destination has its different magic."

© Muscat Daily 2016