Fred Davis of Feathers and Fluoro goes fly fishing on a SIP for queenfish in Doha. Yes, he still fishes…

Sometimes…

Time is limited these days. Ask anyone with kids – especially if they were silly and had a second before the first was 2! But no matter, they are sparkling bundles of cheeky joy. Days are spent entertaining, being entertained by, cajoling and negotiating with the tiny-tot dictators of our lives.

The past few weeks have seen the subtle change in seasons here in the desert. The short winter, of cool days and cold nights, has been quickly giving way to the hot days and warm nights of the looming summer. And with the change comes long spells of windless nights and oil-slick mornings on the water. The milkfish rise like trout and frustrate the hell out of me and the queenfish gorge themselves on the little sprats that are the progeny of who knows what fish.

This year the Eid holidays fell right over some fantastic weather days. Mornings so still you can see fish moving from the 17th-floor balcony. This added to the fact that the girls’ nursery school was open, meaning Mom and I had some time to ourselves. So we did what any parents would do with some time off; one lazed and read at the pool and the other went fishing.

The queenfish were not their normal greedy selves – it’s usually a case of them sprinting down any fly or lure presented in their general location. They were being fussy and were keyed in on the tiny silver baitfish that have been around on masse recently. Frustration, however, gave way to stoke when I dug a gummy minnow out the box. This little fly was a game changer and resulted in more than enough fish being brought to hand to make up for the spans of time between sessions.

I took a GoPro with me so that I can remind myself how good it can be once the heat sets in here again! Below are a few shorts from the fun. Enjoy!