Where to fish?
Offshore - Until you become familiar with Qatar's fantastic waters, hastily navigating to marks far out to sea is inadvisable unless you are both an experienced and confident navigator and have a good boat with sufficient range. Try inshore marks first, get around the islands and look out for deep holes to try drifting over them. Get used to navigating the marked sea lanes. Inshore waters are very shallow in places particularly at low tide and grounding is not only common but also expensive. Tide difference in Qatar is only about 1.2 -1.6m at best.
Islands & Channels are dotted around Qatar offering good fishing grounds, these are all worth exploring, they hold numbers of quality fish and a fair bit of exploring to find the better areas offering structure to fish on or drift over. Beware shallows prevail around most islands and great care should be used when working them.
Al Aaliya island and Al Safliya island reside off the east of Doha. Both of these islands can be fished and are worth skirting around with lures or drift fishing. There are also a number of man made structures and developments linked to the shore that are worth investigating too.
Rubble Tower or Rubble Rocks Located in the region of RUQQ QURAYNAYN east out of Al Wakrah is an area of shallows called Halat Umm al Khayfan. In its center is a lighthouse. The light house is surrounded by shallows with small drop off areas which produce good sport fish and is well worth a trip.
Hawar islands to the West of Qatar are disputed over with Bahrain. It is wise to steer clear of them until more information is released.
Marked channels such as those linking the various bays, marinas and islands are mostly only a few meters deep but offer fish all the same. Anchor up and live bait or troll baits or lures slowly. Stick to the edge of the channels where the dredging has created shelves or walls of limestone. Stick to the quieter times of the day too when the least amount of traffic is on the waterways. Fishing the main channel from Doha SSE to the Doha Buoy reveals water up to and just over 12m deep. It usually produces good sport fish. Past Banana island and to the SE the sea steadily deepens to around 25-30m in places as you head toward Al Wakra.
Wrecks & Divers wrecks produce good fish when located. Check your GPS and charts for marked wrecks and give them a try. Often they hold a good head and variety of fish. Many wrecks are frequented by divers. Respect divers, check for diving flags and avoid the area.
Doha Main Navigation Channel
This is used by some pretty heavy traffic at times including container ships, freighters, the Qatari Navy and privately owned vessels. Keep alert and get out of the channel if you see them bearing down on you. It only takes minutes for these big vessels to reach you and the wake they leave can flip small craft over so take great care. Finally ensure your activity does not interfere or disrupt other commercial boat traffic and remember that boats with engines always give way to sail.
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