2008 Arabian Gulf Report: Mega Giant Guitarfish!

Last weekend on the 9th and 10th of May, I went fishing at the same section of beach I caught the last blacktip reef shark. Friday night I arrived at my spot a little after midnight. I casted out deep and had a nice pickup within an hour. The shark took several nice runs of 20 test line, before the line broke, maybe 30 meters from the beach. Losing the shark was disappointing, and it seemed like there would be more sharks out there in during the next few hours. Wrong!...the tide moved way out and the fish were gone.

One of the problems that emerged was the arrival of the seaweed.

Next night, I got to the spot again earlier. The tide was forecasted to move out and then come in a full 7 feet. Well the fish did not do much, but the seaweed was running all night long. The bait was large oversized squid. No clicks, no runs.

Here is an improvised spider weight made with paperclips and electric tape.

Weekend of the 16th and 17th, headed back out to my spot.

Another guy was going to fish with me down south, but he changed plans and wanted to fish closer to his home. I headed back to my beach spot. The weed was really nasty; place looked like Corpus Christi, Texas. Another night without a pickup.

Well it was time to go to ‘Plan B’. I found a new location and recon’d it during the day (PICTURE ABOVE). As night fell I started the 800 meter walk to the objective with all the gear. After setting up, I got lucky and caught this Sobaity Seabream about 11 inches long. Now there was fresh bait. Two rods were rigged with 6’+ casting leaders and circle hooks. The leaders were constructed from #131 test piano wire; the heaviest wire I have found in a tackle stores over here. Time to get into the action….

The water was beautiful and deep, with 12’ to 15’ available straight down from the concrete structure. The rods were casted out, and it was time to settle in for the night, waiting for the scream of a reel. Not much happened and I changed bait around 2 am. The baits were untouched. Hmmm….I casted out figuring something was going to happen sooner or later, and I was going to wait it out till I got a bite.

I started to think about “Bullfishin”, Mike Chaney. Mike said he was ready to go on any trip I would ever go on. It was kind of strange, but I did not feel alone out there. It was really quiet and the sky started to light up as dawn moved in. There were some small baitfish working the area…Time to get the sabiki rig out and try my luck.

While working the sabiki rig and trying to see what was in the morning surf, I notice my 10’ American Rodsmith going slack. After picking up the rod and reeling in the slack, I whip the rod back to see if a fish was on. The rod bows down good and the line starts peeling off. I tighten the drag down as the fish keeps on moving out for the first 100 yard run, steadily peeling line. What a thrill!...This is starting to feel like Port Mansfield, lol. As the fish is about 150 yards out, he finally lets off the steam and it is time to start putting on some pressure to turn him and bring him in. I sort of like to fight a fish by letting him have his initial burst of energy, then slowly applying more and more drag pressure, gaining control from the fish.

After about 10 more minutes, I have the fish within 20 yards of the concrete. Man he is big and heavy. More drag and more drag, as I try to force him to the top of the water. He passes from left to right underneath me and I see a large white flash deep in the water…it’s a fish not a ray! Wow…the suspence is killing me…..I tighten the drag more and the line sounds like a guitar string singing in the wind. The reel is my trusty Daiwa HV 50, packed with 30 test mono line and a 50 test mono topshot.

The topshot connection knot clears the water and there is about 20’ of line to go. I pump and reel, gaining a foot at a time. After a little progress, the fish powers back and the topshot knot is submerged again. Back and forth, pumping and reeling, losing and gaining, the trophy appears. Oh My Gosh! It is a Spotted Giant Guitarfish going 6 feet and weighing about 100 lbs. He is gorgeous, with a beautiful spot pattern like whale shark. He has two large dorsals and a fat thick shark-like tail. He looks like a sawfish without the saw. What a powerful fantastic creature. I pull out my cell phone and snap a photo, just in case I loose him before I can get a picture at landing. Oh My Gosh, he has a full sized remora swimming with him that must be 14” to 18” long. What a fish.

But the battle is not over. After getting him to the surface, he gets a second wind and goes down again with the topshot knot disappearing below the beautiful blue green water. He is strong, with more good bursts of power and speed. What a fish!

Slowly he is force to the top again and I try to keep his nose out of the water, keeping him from powering down. Next I grab the topshot and slowly continue to hold his nose out of the water until I can get my hand on the long piano wire leader. Next I finally grab the leader with one hand while hold the rod with the other. As he seems to settle down, I jump down to a lower level in the pier, and pull him onto a concrete slab. Wow what a fish. He is really big. All I can do is shoot some pictures with my cell phone. He was so beautiful.

Here is the spot he was landed at.

Here are some pictures of the fish...

Here is a shot from above. If you look at the bottom of the picture you can see my foot, to give scale to the fish. I put a glove on it's nose to scale size. The glove it 9" long.

Close up of the head and back...

Here is the back from above...

Here are other pictures....

Quickly the piano wire was cut close to the mouth and he was pushed back into the water. He was full of energy and rammed his nose into the concrete wall below my feet, before swimming off like a rocket. I sat there in sort of amazement, and started to pack up. Nothing was going to top what I had just experienced. I thought about Mike Chaney and the fact that here we are, continuing to catch the fish that other people do not even believe exist in these waters. I did not have a kayak. I did not have help leadering the fish. It was first pickup in three nights. The spider weights I am using a have been made with electric tape and paper clips, and I am fishing with a 10’ $45 rod that I carried over here on an aircraft with 30 test line.

This giant spotted guitarfish catch is dedicated to Bullfishin. Bullfishin really loved all of us, and I felt he was my best friend. This one was for you Mike.