Dubai

Dubai is a magical City with huge skyscrapers, the tallest building in the World, the tallest hotel in the World, the World’s only 7* Hotel, the World’s largest Shopping Malls, concerts, sports events, exhibitions, indoor ski slopes, vast deserts and many more amazing attractions. Dubai has truly become a Disneyland for Adults and Dubai is perfectly situated as a hub for business, travel and tourism between the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Hemispheres. With fantastic air travel to more than 150 destinations in 80 countries, sunny climate, friendly culture and facilities Dubai is one of the World leading tourist destinations that just happens to have amazing fly fishing and the best part of all is that it is within sight of the city making this a very unique urban fly fishing destination.

The Fishing

Fly fishing off Dubai is truly unique, so much so that we refer to it as urban fly fishing as you are at times fishing right in front of the 7 Star Burj Al Arab Hotel, Atlantis Hotel, Palm Islands, World Island or the 200 skyscrapers in the Dubai Marina. Our trips are easy and usually a half day in the morning or afternoon leaving enough time to explore the many sights of Dubai. Dubai is the perfect destination for a quick holiday, lay over on your way to another destination or even if you live in UAE and want to cure the fishing bug. We offer 4 and 6 hour charters which leave from Harbour 3 in Umm Suqeim close to the Burj Al Arab Hotel.

Species

QUEENFISH, Queenies, as they are fondly known, are purpose built for fly fishing. They are visual, aggressive, jump, take flies easily and are an amazing looking fish plus the majority of the time we are sight fishing for them! 

GOLDEN TREVALLY, Goldies as we know them locally, are what we refer to as Dubai Gold! These are very special fish to catch and certainly brighten our day when we manage to catch one!

KINGFISH, known as Kings, this member of the razor gang normally cuts off our flies and keep us entertained with big aerial smashes followed by cut off flies!

COBIA, these tough customers don’t show up too often but if we are lucky enough to find and hook up to these opportunistic predators, they are strong and will bury you in structure if you’re not careful

BONITO, Bonnies are truly the speedsters off Dubai and we get a good run of big bonnies in winter that will tear off any backing until your able to turn and chase them. To hook them is one thing, to land them totally different!

Equipment

Dubai is a great destination to stretch a saltwater fly line. The fishing is all from boats and we can get up close to the fish but you will still need to be able to cast a decent accurate line to access the best there is to offer. Ocean Active Fly provides top end fly fishing equipment on the boats and use Thomas and Thomas rods, Shilton, Abel and Hatch reels, Scientific Angler and Cortland lines and all flies custom tied by Flyz Inc. But if any rods or reels are broken there is a USD250 repair and courier charge to send the items to the US return.

RODS: We use 9# or 10# quality fly rods like pur Thomas and Thomas Exocett rods. The rods need to be fast action and are required to cast a decent line with a heavy fly plus able to lift a big fish when it’s under the boat.

REELS: We use quality cork or mechanical drag reels that operate smoothly and can stop big fish. We use Shilton, Abel and Hatch reels.

LINES: We mainly use floating lines so that we are able to sight fish to busting fish, but we will also use intermediate lines to fish lower in the water column if the circumstances demand. Occasionally we will use 350 or 400gr lines to fish for goldies on the drop offs

LEADERS: We mainly use good quality 25lbs Flurocarbon leader of about 9ft long. If the big queens are around we will go up to 30lbs.

FLIES: We mainly use clousers tied in natural colours (grey, tan, olive, blue, black and chartreuse) on a 1/0 SL12 hook. These flies are sparsely tied with a slim profile and minimal flash to imitate the schools of small sardines off Dubai which are long and thin and have a darker blue/green back. Other baitfish patterns will work and for a bit of fun we use gurglers or poppers tied on 2/0s to get some epic surface bites.

ADDITIONAL: Always bring your passport on the boats for Coast Guard clearance. Generally our weather is warm so wear UPF quick drying clothes with a decent cap, polaroid sunglasses and suntan lotion. Bring a camera but generally our guides will take the pictures and send to you via the internet.

Pricing

Charters
Available on request. Price is per boat and charters are 4 or 6 hours in duration
Equipment and cold drinks provided.

Essential Information

• Ocean Active Fly are licensed to carry 4 people plus 1 crew on the 27-foot boats. If fly fishing, we restrict the capacity of all the boats to two fly fisherman per boat at any one time. 

• There are no bathroom facilities on any of the boats

• All clients must bring either their original passports or, if they’re UAE residents, their Emirates IDs. 

• There is no alcohol allowed aboard the boats and, in addition, we reserve the right to refuse boarding to intoxicated guests. 

• Payment in full must be completed 7 days before the charter date. Last minute charters booked within 7 days of charter date must be paid in full on the date of the booking confirmation unless otherwise agreed. In either case, failure to pay by then could result in the cancellation of the charter at the client’s cost.  

• Our cancellation policy is detailed in our full Terms and Conditions (www.oceanactivefly.com). Rest assured, we will try our hardest to ensure that our guests get out on the water and that they catch fish. However, we understand that unforeseen circumstances sometimes get in the way of plans and will try and work with our customers to ensure that both Ocean Active Fly as well as the client isn’t unfairly disadvantaged. 

• Ocean Active Fly provides quality fishing tackle at no extra cost to those clients that request it. In order to be able to continue providing this service breakages to rods or reels will be charged at a flat fee of $250 for each breakage.  

• Fishing charters are priced for departure from our marina berth in Jumeriah with return to the same marina. Other services such as transport, accommodation, tourist attractions and special requirements can be arranged on request and, if arranged through us, will receive our full support. However, services arranged independently of Ocean Active Fly are at the client’s responsibility.

• Tipping is optional for good service. An industry standard of $100 per charter is a good rule of thumb.

Additional Information

• Capital of United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi

• United Arab Emirates is made up of 7 Emirates’s Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah

• Dubai has a population of about 2.8 million people

• The local currency is the Dirham (AED) Exchange rate is USD 1 = AED 3.67

• Time: GMT +4hours

• Language is Arabic but English widely spoken

• Clothing should be respectable and not revealing.

• Strict no drug policy including some medicines like codeine.

• Fishing season: September till June

• Weather is generally great October till March averaging 26 degrees Celsius then May till August 35 degrees Celsius+ hot summer months.

• Daylight hours in season is light at 06.30am and sundown 18.00pm on average

• To travel to Dubai you’ll need a valid passport with minimum 6 months validity and 2 full free passport pages.

• All clients arriving in Dubai will either receive a visit visa on arrival or require a pre-trip visit visa depending on their home country/passport, please check here.

• All clients require travel insurance to cover any accidents, loss of equipment or charter.

• All clients will require to fill out an indemnity form before their charter

• Drink bottled water in Dubai, all Dubai tap water is from desalination

• Electricity is 220V AC. British-style three-pin wall sockets are standard, although some can also accommodate two-pin plugs

• Transportation around Dubai is easy with many taxis, buses and metro train plus Uber and Careem app taxi services