Offshore fishing in the blue waters of Arabian sea had become so dull in the past decade or more because of illegal fishing trawlers that almost all senior anglers who used to fish in the continental shelf had stopped thinking about going to fish in this part of our waters… but thank God, for the past 2–3 years or more, the strike results are remarkably outstanding and all the anglers who make a trip to continental shelf do not return empty handed.
Alhamdulillah, this season has also started very well, and Anglers have made great reports of catching Dorados, Yellowfin Tunas and other species in great numbers, sizes and weights. Currently, there is some great action and fish biting due to loads of bait-balls and feeding.
Following the fish activity and pattern, on Saturday night Nov 11th, 2017, we 4 anglers, Irshad Junaid bhai, Shahzad Khan bhai, Shahzain Hameed Kath and myself headed towards continental shelf (Khadda) with another 2 boats, 1 of Mujtaba Karim, Asif Ahmed Siddiqui bhai and one of Asim Siddiqui, ToTo Mehdi, Syed Rafi Raza Kazmi to hunt giant Tunas and off course the Marlin.
As planned, we had to reach the destination by 6 AM, but unfortunately, before almost 15 NMs to the destination, our boat’s engine stopped due to its fuel pump problem. The other 2 boats also stopped to rescue us and, in case, to tow our boat, if the engine would not start.. (this is the benefit of accompanying another boat/ Sangari when you visit Khadda). Our boatman Mubarak and our great Angler Irshad Junaid bhai did their best and after almost one and an half hours of struggle, the boat’s engine started. This put loads of smiles on our faces and we felt like having another life. The moment our boat started sailing again, we gathered all our energies back and immediately threw our lures/lines in the water and started trawling, only to experience the heavy strike. As we just passed 50 mtr mark, our one of the reels started screaming and yes it was an strike, a tuna on Bonita, which was played by Irshad bhai who enjoyed great offshore game-fishing. Then, as we kept on going, we saw pins of Tunas jumping and feeding all over the way to Banana. These were the best moments of the trip because we seldom see such Tuna frenzy here in our waters. That time, our 2 rods started screaming like any motor engine, although they were on full drag. It was Shahzad Hussain bhai and Shahzain Hameed’s turn who played very well and landed 2 giant tunas successfully. The next turn was mine, as I was waiting for a huge strike… and after only 15–20 minutes of me sitting patiently, got an strike and then started battling with a huge Tuna. It was the biggest one out of all 4 catches we landed until then. It was a great fight with Tuna that jolted my all arms and shoulders joints. I just landed it in around 10 minutes. Then our reels kept screaming as after every 20–25 minutes there was a strike, we continued fighting and landing them aboard. During these fights, one tuna just took a run with the gaff after a moment it was gaffed, so we lost the gaff but luckily the fish stayed hooked, I reeled it in and this was then landed by our great nakwa, Mubarak with the help of a rope that he tied to its tail.
Shahzain after fighting with his 2nd Tuna got fully exhausted and his hand and neck got numbed. Even though he played 3rd fish and landed it so professionally with full confidence.
Until 11:30 AM we had successfully landed 11 Tunas after joints and wrist-breaking fights. We lost 3 “Stretch-30” lures due to line snapping and missed 3 strikes.
The most favourite lure was Yo Zuri Bonita (s) Orange and Blue colour.
Our boatman was Mubarak along with him he had Dilshad as his khalasi. Mubarak did his great job, gaffed and landed 9 Tunas all himself alone while Dilshad helped him in landing 2 Tunas.
Alhamdulillah, we all returned safely with bags full of fish and more than what we had expected.
Pictures and Video Credits: Shahzain Hameed, Shahzad Khan, Myself
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