Thursday, 3 April 2014

FatFisherman and Tackle Shops

FatFisherman Info
I have been in contact with http://www.fatfisherman.com/links_geo/middle_east/kuwait.html and have been asked to write an introduction for the page and provide an image of fishing to use on that page for Kuwait.
This has been put on the back-burner as I have yet to get around to it.  At the moment it seems like the water may finally be warming up (April has just arrived) and inshore fishing by fly may yet improve.
With that in mind I have been searching the web for information on fishing in Kuwait and thought that the following would be useful as a starting point.
Tides and weather -Kuwait
http://www.met.gov.kw/Forecasts/marine.php
The following link also shows the range of the tide, demonstrating the little tide and big tide effect of the Gulf.
http://www.tides4fishing.com/as/kuwait/kuwait
and
http://www.tides4fishing.com/as/kuwait/al-funnayhil
It also relates the solar and lunar effects to highlight fish activity for fishing times in the south and north of the country.
Deep Sea fishing link
http://www.fishfishme.com/blog/fishing-in-kuwait/
This link shows the variety of fish available
http://afishtec.com/

Many of the comments on forums are about where to get fishing equipment in Kuwait. Decathlon, the French sporting equipment chain has opened a shop in the Marina Mall in Kuwait (N29 20.449 E48 03.925 )and is well stocked with rods etc.  Nearby is (The Sultan Center), Salmiya (N29 20.520 E48 04.496) which has rods, reels, spinning/trolling lures and lead sinkers/weights.
Update - As of my visit of 10th Oct 2014, "The Sultan Center" Salmiya did have a much better selection of fishing gear than Decathlon, who have certainly let an opportunity slip by, given the extensive range they have in their French shops..

In Qatar, Carrefour at City Center mall was well stocked with line rods, reels, hooks etc. and their were tackle shops around Al Khor also (under the dark mark on the map).
There was a useful little shop for fishing and snorkelling supplies near the Qatar petroleum gasoline station just after the Gharaffa interchange beside the post box.

Carrefour in the Landmark Mall, Abu Dhabi was not as well stocked.  There were a few fishing shops tackle shops at the northern end of Hamdan Street grouped together around a block.


In Abu Dhabi the Environment Agency building is located at N24 27.797 E54 23.337 for getting your annual fishing licence - ID pictures required.  If hiring a boat from a hotel, they will sort a temporary licence for you.


After a visit to Bahrain (28th March 2014) I was located at the Ramada Palace Hotel and just 100m west beside the road junction opposite the Casablanca hotel was the Dasman Center.  This holds a branch of The Daiso.  This is a shop that stocks thousands of different items, among which are a small selection of hooks, weights  lures and other small items to do with fishing.  There is also a branch of The Daiso above the Gold Souq near the central post office in Abu Dhabi.  The Daiso may be connected with other Dasman Centers around the Gulf area.



For fish identification I would suggest http://www.fishbase.org/ and then go to the relevant country under all fishes or games fishes.  The following are the game fish links.

And with summer coming along......