Sind Halfbeaks get active

Things have been quiet in the water by the beach since October with the surface predators such as Needle fish and Sind Halfbeaks disappearing until a couple of weeks ago with the onset of warmer water and hotter air temperatures.

The take.

I have been wading out the last two Fridays and had one half beak on the 17th and lost one, plus today 24th  landed 2 (largest 14" and smaller 10").  There were many lunges and takes but given the smooth, hard beak its tough to get the hook to lock in.

Played out

Given the activity, I was pretty much kept busy for the 1.5hrs I was in the water on the "little dip" low tide, the full low coming at about 10pm tonight.  Its quite windy today and I timed the visit to coincide with the lowest winds of the day (12-14km/h).

About to be unhooked and released

At time of fishing; humidity was 51%, Wind S & 10km/h, with 1008 millibar pressure

New Moon at Mangaf

Low tide. Nearly a full spring tide.
Weather:  High of 30^oC low of 19^oC, Sunny, Wind 8kph from SSW.  Sea calm.
New Moon (0%).  Oct 24 2014.
Sun rise 0554 Sunset 1709
Moon rise 0609 Moon set 1736
Fishing prediction from "Fishing Times Lite v1.2" app for iPhone was "Good".
Low tide 0540 (0.6m)  High tide 1210 (2.3m)  Low tide 1730 (1.1m)  High tide 2340 (2.7m).
MLWN 1.5m  MHWN 2.2m  MLWS 0.6m MHWS 2.7m.  Full Spring tide due 25th Oct.

Tidal data  for Mina Al Ahmadi : 29^o04.0'N 048^o10'E from "Tide Planner v4.3" app for iPhone.

Views at low tide after last week's rough seas.

1. Looking North

2. Underwater obstacles

3. Looking East to Fahaheel Sea Club marina entrance 

4. Rocky outcrops

5. Underwater obstacles

6. Rocky outcrops

7. Old Coast Guard vessel

From 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. the water was quite busy with needle fish and half beaks chasing the boobies, though not actually greeting the hook points attached on their bony mouths / "beaks". Switching to a white sparkly fly in this water of 1m depth, I then tempted this short-fin goatfish on to the line.

Short-Fin Goatfish (Upeneus oligospilus Lachner, 1954), 

with a 10g lead weight for comparison

Not having caught one of these before, I went to www.fishbase.us to find out what it was, from the Kuwait list of fish species. It turned out to be easy to ID with its bright yellow barbels.

Rough seas

North, Towards "Miral" Coffee Shop on Beach

(Caribou Coffee/Costa Coffee/ Red Bean etc.)

I was hoping to see a  high neap tide this morning but the wind did get up overnight, coming onshore from the northeast at 15-40 km/h. The sand was blowing around the buildings and off the beach with waves 1-2m ( moderate to rough).

Entry Point to Beach

Given that the beach was being over washed to the encroaching building edges and the small promontories/ piers were also being washed over, I decided to err on the side of caution and give the fishing a miss this morning. I don't need a storm surge making the water higher than last week's spring tide blocking access and compromising safety.

Towards Fishing Site

Sport Fishing Licences

I was 5 years in Qatar, from 2004 to 2005.  I was teaching students who had parents in the police force and other high-up roles and checked about licences for fishing. At no point was a requirement for a licence for sport fishing mentioned as being a required option or available. The number of fish did seem to decline close to shore due to netting in the final year.  This was because groups of low skilled workers were clubbing together to buy 25m long and 1m deep surface nets that they used to clean up fish wading through the shallows.
On arrival in the UAE, I was informed by the concierge at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Abu Dhabi that an Abu Dhabi Environment Agency licence was required.  This was purchased easily on a one year basis and required a form (the same one as for commercial purposes) to be filled out and a ID photo.  The online application requires the details from the Emirates ID card. When you book a hotel fishing trip in the UAE they sort this out for you. Abu Dhabi is not really organised for shore fishing with rod ans especially not for fly fishing, with a lot of the shore built on or fenced off by oil companies. 

For Dubai the licence is FREE (use the this link http://dubaifishingclub.com/page/how-to-get-fishing-license-in-dubai )

As far as I can tell, Kuwait doesn't required a sport fishing licence except for commercial fishing boats http://www.un.org/depts/los/general_assembly/contributions_fisheries/2012/Kuwait.pdf ) .