An overview of adventure fishing trip to Meemu Mulah, Maldives

With the famous boatman Shawn

Maldives still is one of the best fishing destinations that all anglers dream of. The crystal clear waters, the pristine beaches and the occasional catch report from the fishing forums all scream to us. A few weeks back, when a chance to go for a fishing trip (with some exploration of course) came knocking, I knew there was no turning back. I grabbed the famous Shawn from www.singaporefishing.org and he too said yes without any hesitation.

He asked me, “So what’s the fishing like and what’s going to happen?” My reply was, “I really don’t know. We hear stories from our friends but those are from the big game charters, luxury fishing boats and people pay thousands to fish from these. I think we’ll just go with local fishing boats and cast our lines from the island. Should be decent fishing but light tackle is okay.”

So both of us just packed lightly, did some research and at the end of the day, our main fishing gears weren’t really what one would call “big-game fishing tackle”. On my own end, I packed some micro jigging, light jigging and lure casting tackle. I also brought along my slow fall fishing setup for novelty – a Shimano OCEA Jigger Infiniti paired with the Ocea jigger 1500. It felt alright then but after the trip, it felt foolish because we simply got out-gunned by the fishes in the Maldives and after the trip I set about finding a Shimano Twinpower SWPG 10000.

Our trip lasted about 5 days in Maldives (we took night flights) and during the trip, we didn’t engage any luxurious fishing boats but rather, we explored a rather quaint island name Meemu in the Mulah (Mulaku) atoll. We made some brief arrangements for some local fishermen to take us boat fishing (on their traditional dhoni) and would (try to) spend the rest of the time casting from the beach. I was apprehensive about the fishing and I thought, well either it would be super good but we would lose many fish or we would be thoroughly disappointed.  

We took the Maldivian pick up and a ferry to Meemu

After we touched down at the airport, we took a 2 hour 45 minutes ferry ride to island and I was quite excited at the raw potential because the waters around the island were teeming with life. The waters were crystal clear. One could see giant trevally, blue spot trevally, and hump head wrasse patrolling the waters.

We got our accommodation at a guesthouse at the island and what really got my blood boiling with anticipation was that there was a little jetty just behind the guesthouse. This jetty extended all the way to the drop off and like all enthusiastic fishermen, I quickly put my things down at the guesthouse, unpacked and went fishing.

Accommodation was clean and spacious but most importantly, outside was a decent jetty where you could fish from!

Tried fishing at the jetty for awhile. Many chases but zero big fish. Popping was better at night where I got a massive take but it didn't hook up.

The "top-view" of Meemu Mulah. Apparently the jetty is one of the deepest points.

I’ll have to stop here though and will talk more about the fishing in the next few blog posts but first, I’ll write down my takeaways from this “adventure cum fishing trip” to the Maldives. This takeaway would serve as an overview to the fishing action which would otherwise be void of any useful context.

1. Such a fishing trip involves an island and a community. Over the next few days, we were exposed to the people of the island which was pretty cool. Curious boys, men, women all came to see us and they were happy to share with us their local culture and fishing spots. It gave a different angle to the fishing.
2. The island was for many parts, quite rustic and deserted. Most locals didn’t see a lure before and there’s massive potential just fishing off the beach. I landed a few small fishes doing this although there were huge misses and chases. Other than that, we landed no substantial fishes by beach fishing but that’s mainly just laziness on our part.
3. Boat fishing with the locals was an eye opener. While they didn’t have specific “sport fishing” spots, they definitely had local fishing spots which they fished with baits and hand lines. I lost some of the biggest fishes of my life fishing such spots and almost all of them were probably double digit (above 10kg) GTs.
4. Cuisine and culture became part of the experience as our hosts cooked some traditional meals for us. There were no “American breakfasts” but traditional Maldivian curry, fried rice with tuna, bread, fish dishes and so on. It felt like a home away from home for the most part and money usually can’t buy you such experiences.
5. I’m a certified PADI diver and an avid snorkeler so I was thrilled when I had the whole beach to myself. Our hosts even brought us out to private “special spots” using their boats and I was the only one snorkeling in the area. No other tourists, boats, divers or anyone came to snorkel. It was like I owned the island.
6. Don’t underestimate the fishing at Maldives. I was brought down to earth by the GTs there. It’s not like in Singapore or Malaysia where light tackle lets you get away with things. The fishes here play hard and dirty. All the GTs I hooked onto reefed me within seconds or busted my hooks no matter what trick I used.

Experiencing the community was truly an eye opener

We had authentic Maldivian food. My favourite dish was the tuna fried rice!

Nothing like snorkeling alone in calm clear waters.

My next few posts will be on being well beaten by the monster GTs and also a light jigging round up of the place so do stay tuned!

I got into many big monster fish but couldn't land any due to light tackle limitations!

Like they say... you win some and lose some but you live to fight another day.

If you’re interested in joining such a rustic fishing trip, I can arrange one for you and although there are certain packages available, such trips are purely exploratory and still at an infancy phase. If you have good fishing finesse skills though, you’ll probably do very well. Contact me at nigel.lian@gmail.com