Tips and advice:

Fishing in Dubai has changed dramatically over the years due to all the ongoing construction of the palm and world islands offshore.

The once prolific Sailfish have all but disappeared and gone are the days of live baiting for them a mere 15miles offshore and releasing around 10 to 15 fish on a good day. Having said this, we have had to adapt the way we fish off Dubai in order to target the many species of game fish that we encounter.

Barracuda, king mackerel, Cobia, Queen fish, Bonito, Grouper and various species of Travally are all hard fighting fish that we enjoy now and we concentrate on trawling artificial lures and live baits combined with the technology of global positioning system, echo sounders, down riggers and years of local knowledge and past records.

Our fishing grounds vary from 14 miles to around 60 miles offshore and depend on the time of year or season, or species that we target.

The Barracuda is an abundant species that we encounter in huge schools all year round and they generally patrol the many ship wrecks and manmade reefs that hold the smaller baitfish for them to feed on.

They are mainly caught trawling artificial lures like Rapalas, plastic skirts and metallic spoons, however a small live bait such as a Goggle Eye, Travally or Snapper will prove deadly if rigged correctly and allowed to swim just above the wreck or structure that you are fishing.

The King/Spanish mackerel is a hard fighting and highly prized game fish that is encountered during a few select months of the year. They are highly prized for their eating qualities and are sought after by restaurants throughout the city and are always to be found on the menu.

They are weary predators and they can often be seen launching meters into the air chasing fleeing baitfish. In times like these, they will eat a trolled lure if it is presented in a perfect manner with very thin wire and tiny power swivel. But if you do not get any results after a short while, then a change to live bait fishing will definitely tempt this top predator into feeding. Our live baits of choice are Horse Mackerel, small Golden or Silver Travallys, small Snappers or Scavengers and the ever present small Barracuda. These fish are all rigged with a thin wire trace, tiny swivel and 2 extra strength Mustad treble hooks and allowed to swim freely around 30 meters out the back of the boat as we slow trawl over the wrecks, ledges or high points. Our biggest fish to date out on a charter is a beauty of 33kgs.

The Cobia in another fierce predator which inhabits the many wrecks and sunken barges off the coast of Dubai.

The smaller fish up to 8kgs usually swim in small schools while the larger fish are usually found in pairs. It's not uncommon to reel in one cobia only to have another one free swimming with it all the way to the gaff. We get the majority of our cobia on trawled lures using our downrigger where we pull our lures just off the bottom or just over the top of the wreck were the baitfish are found to be hiding.

The cobia have a very large mouth with rough sand paper like teeth and will eat most fish such as Snappers, Triggerfish, Parrot fish and Batfish.

The Cobia is often confused with a shark with its dark brown coloured skin when it’s circling under the boat, but it’s hard fighting capabilities and its trade mark swim along the surface before it comes to the boat, all make this a prize catch with lovely eating qualities. Our biggest Cobia on a charter to date is a specimen of 38kgs.

Many species of Travally are to be found here in the Arabian Gulf waters and they are a found on most wrecks and shallow areas where there is some structure on the bottom.

The most common Travally is the Yellow spot, the Bludger/Fulvy, the Indian Mirror fish and the Giant Travally which we only find in the remote Musandam region of Oman. These fish eat lures trawled on the downrigger at deep depths as well as small metallic spoons, vertical jigs and casted poppers and plugs. We also have landed out biggest Travallys using live bait and that weighed in at 28kgs.

With such variety and abundance of fish to be had, charter fishing in Dubai still holds many surprises for fishermen and woman from all around the world who come to enjoy our perfect weather and balmy Arabian Gulf teeming with hard fighting prized game fish...

Team Soolyman...