Spearfishing Reports UAE

So I went out today morning with a Greek friend of mine.
Water's getting nice and cool, and some good fish are showing up.
Today the viz was pretty 'grainy', because of high winds and some chop. I could see that the water was clearer, but particles were everywhere.
We both caught a nice barracuda each!
I saw something MASSIVE in the water just before leaving, but I just saw it's tail. It would have been over 20 kilo's for sure! The viz didnt allow me to identify it properly though.
My friend saw a big spanish mackerel as well, but it swam out of visible range very quickly.
Regardless, it was a nice day in the water, and here's a pic of both of us with our catch! (I'm the one with the super short blue shorts lol). They're around 2.5 to 3 kg's each.

Marco, Thanks, man!
After recalling the shape of the tail, it was probably a greater barracuda, or a large milkfish. I ruled out spanish mackerel because the tail was not too pointy, and I've seen some big spanish macks at that spot before, so I know their general shape. It could also be a big queenfish, but I can't be too sure.

Dude george, I'm not sure what species of barracuda they are, but I saw a LOT of juvenile ones of the same species swimming peacefully there too. It's funny how cute juvenile barracuda look, as compared to the larger ones. I'm not sure how much bigger this species of barracuda get, but they don't get too large (from what I've seen in the fish markets in the country).
A friend of mine caught a large greater barracuda in the same murky waters though! It was bigger than him, and fat! I can't imagine bumping into that in the murk!
I suppose that's why I use a 110 cm gun in bad viz here, as you can land monster fish here in less than 7 metres depth! We need the penetration power:D! An arab guy caught a 25+kg cobia in less than 5m of water recently! Monsters in the murk!

It's been a long time since I posted on this thread, as work and other things have gotten in the way of spearfishing for me.
A couple of my friends had caught some nice fish recently though! I thought I'd share photo's of their catch since they're not on Speardiver yet. All of these fish were landed in the waters of Sharjah, UAE at depths ranging from 5 to 8 metres.

Here's my dive buddy Kyriakos with a monster cobia he shot (with a Rob Allen 110) at the same spot:

Her's another buddy of mine, Lawrence, with a Pompano and an Indian Mirror Fish he shot (with an 85cm Salvimar Roller gun):

I've gone for a few short dives recently, but with no luck. I'll be going to a new spot this weekend, so I hope to run into some nice fish there!

Quote from Linghunt

Nice posts, Add some pictures of the fish cook and prepared.

Be interesting to see how you prepare them.

Hey Linghunt. I'm Indian, while my buddy with the Cobia is from Cyprus, and my other buddy with the 2 pompanos, he's filipino. So we have very different ways of cooking our catch. I'l take some post-cooked pics next time :).

Quote from hank

Nice fish. did you kill that cobia with one shot?

Hey Hank! That's not me with the Cobia, It's my buddy Kyriakos. Yes, he stoned it! Apparently it was very curious, and came right up to him when he was at the bottom!

Quote from Dude george

Your buddies got some skill getting those amazing fish with small guns...yes I!

Thanks Dude! The viz in certain spots is pretty bad here, what with the construction of countless man-made islands. The spot where they caught these fish has even worse visibility. A short gun would work well here, the ideal length being 110cm for clearer waters as well. Lawrence has caught some big fish with his 90cm Cressi comanche as well! Here's a not-so-clear video of his shooting a spanish mack at the same murky spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-SvYRBt1dQ

Quote from Linghunt

Thanks in Advance, A touch of info on spice and methods would be great too. I like to try different styles at times.

Hopefully your Mommas helped train you guys how to cook.

Hey Linghunt,

Most meats in our household are cooked in a spicy style, with a lot of "Garam Masala" powder (a mix of ground red chillies, turmeric, and other spices). In fact, for fish, my mum marinates whole fish or fillets in a dash of vinegar, salt, pepper, garam masala, and then cooks it in different styles (fried, with gravy, etc.)
Personally, I prefer more simpler ways of preparing fish, with just salt and pepper:).

Quote from hank

Nish, what part of India are you from? I spent time between Visakaputnam and Chenai (formerly Madras) down to Tuticorin back in the early 90s. Made four trips there working for Indian Tobacco Co looking for shrimp hatchery sites.

But the food…..whooaaaa. Really good. But the guys that are here and own this shrimp farm are Muslim and from the SW side. They only eat meat and rice pretty much It's ok but the food on the east side was way better. More vegetables. And the ….curd?….like sour cream?….with doll….or some kind of spiced bean….my mouth is watering thinking about it.

So yeah, share some of your secrets. :thumbsup2: I had some really tasty fish there too.

Hey Hank,

I'm from Mangalore, a coastal city on the West coast of India, located a little south of Goa. The food all over the south of India is fairly similar in style, especially the vegetarian food (Dosa's, Idli's, dal, etc.). Fish and meats are cooked somewhat differently though (all styles being fairly spicy!). Also, smaller fish species (indian mackerel, sardines, anchovies) are far more popular in comparison to larger species. I don't know why that is, but I suppose that's just the way it is. The only large species I've eaten in India was Kingfish (spanish Mackerel).

It's a whole different scene here in the UAE though. The Arabs over here LOVE grouper.