These are some of the fish that I've caught, either in the gulf or otherwise. Each one has a unique and separate story. I'll still have many pics to add, just don't have access to them right now. Most of the fish you see on this page were caught and released.
PERSIAN GULF 1998
There is one thing that can be said about the Persian Gulf. It abounds with sea life of all sorts. Sea turtles, dolphins, sea snakes, and large schools of feeding tuna were all common sights as we cruised around supporting flight ops over Iraq. Below are some pics from those few times we did actually pull in port and we got the chance to wet a line. We were in the Gulf from February until June. During this time, I watched two of my friends watch their rods get jerked right off the pier, so quickly, they could do nothing.
| A nice saltwater cat from Bahrain. | Half a day's catch of saltwater cats we kept for a BBQ. | My 55-60 pound cobia. |
PERSIAN GULF 1999
Came back to the gulf in March 99, only to find that nothing has changed with the fishing and it is still as great as ever!
The catfish that thought he'd knock down my rod holder and drag my new "Innerline" rod in the water. Luckily I jumped and caught it in the air, landing on the pier with a thud! There is something to be said about Shimano "Baitfeeder" or bait casting reels with line-out alarms! Needless to say, that's all I use there anymore.
A blue swimming crab I caught... At night you can see them swimming on the top of the water with their hind legs.
A nice skate that put me through a workout, actually sucking down to the bottom to where I couldn't lift him or do anything for a while.
Yin cast out, hooked something decent only to have thought he lost it. He brought it up, all that was left was this head! Some shark received an easy meal.
Speaking of sharks, here is a baby nurse shark that I caught and quickly released.
And two sharks that Yin caught. I think they were small blacktip reef sharks.
A small trevally that nailed a jig.
While at the Hilton in Bahrain I decided to test the waters. Using ultra-light tackle I found non stop action for small queenfish. Great fun to catch and highly acrobatic!
A nice sea bream of some sort, highly sought after and called "tai" in Japan.
Sunset off the pier in Jebel Ali.
Tim and I with yet another decent catfish.
Yin with something that I have never seen before.
