The plane ride to Dubai from Manila took almost 8 hours and 30 minutes. With my girlfriend (now my wife) beside me, we walked briskly through a long tunnel so we would be in front of the pack for the visa line. It was my first time in Dubai and I was very worried about a lot of things. I didn’t know if I would be able to adapt to the city and more importantly, where the heck was I going to fish?
I didn’t know a single fishing soul and the only contact I have that fishes is a cousin of mine that said he doesn’t fish that much anymore.
“There should be some fishing here … it’s a city by the coast…” I said trailing off.
“I’m sure you’d find some fish waiting for you when you find a spot, take out your passport, it’s almost your turn.” she said.
About two weeks into my stay in Dubai, I went home with a few Spangled Emperors, much to the delight of the little lady…
Within a couple of weeks, I’d met a few guys who shared my passion for fishing. We would go around the UAE and fish places we thought were pretty far flung. We discovered a few flats around the country that offered some fishing; walked mangrove swamps; shore fished from several fantastic beaches and rock hopped almost any fishy looking breakwater. Although it sounds silly to people outside of the region, I also kayak fished around The World and got into fly fishing and went after some terrific fish; jigged for tuna; trolled for marlin and fly fished for dorado off Fujairah. I did all of that and more…and I’m still doing it today.
Progression…not
As the years have passed, I have seen quite a few places ruined because people are not taking care of the environment they camp and fish in. What I can say is that there is rubbish everywhere. People just don’t dispose of their rubbish properly when they are out camping and fishing. What used to be the pristine flat that we fished for some time is now littered with rubbish from the start of the water to the other end of bank. It got so bad that they closed the flats side for fishing. I don’t blame the authorities. There are protected birds there and I’ve seen quite a few guys shamelessly putting nets at the edge of the water. When I can, I do draw their attention if possible. They grumble and take their rubbish with them when they leave, but had I not said anything, they would have just left it.
Fishing an open beach one time, a friend of mine was hooked in his leg by a rigged leader left in the sand by some guy. This happened despite the fact that there are rubbish bins provided by the government near where you park your cars.
We need to be more responsible. Most of us are visitors to this country and we should help maintain the areas we enjoy. We each have to do our part.
It’s not only the rubbish, there’s also the matter of managing the fisheries. It is uncommon for someone to release fish here. People just take everything. When fishing in Ajman once, I saw a few people netting close to the shore, they caught a lot of fish and quite a few eagle rays. They took all the fish and left a few huge eagle rays to die in the sun. They’d got tangled in the net and they just pulled them to shore and left everything there. They were pretty angry as the eagle rays had messed their nets up.
We also need to think of how our children would be able to enjoy the things we love doing. Managing the fish stocks of the areas we fish in is not only up to the authorities, but up to us. We need not take more than we can finish in one meal. I know that a lot of people are fishing to give the fish to their friends and family, but if you do this often enough, there will not be anything to catch down the line.
My wish this Christmas is simple: it is that we take it upon ourselves to clean up the places where we fish and practice responsible fishing.
Leave footprints, not rubbish. Take a fish or two and plenty for our kids.
Have a blessed holiday season to all.
Till next tide change,
Kit
