We sometimes tell ourselves that we have no expectations from a trip and that, whatever happens, we will be happy just to be there. That was Ewan Naude’s approach on a recent trip to Gabon, but then tarpon pitched up and everything changed. Photos: Ewan Naude, Devon Naude, Ollie Santoro. As featured in The Mission Issue 48 (Nov/Dec 24).

Gabon: Meeting the king 

We had just cracked our first quart of Régab – “la bière du Gabon!” – at Hotel Tropicana in Libreville and, like the name of the city (Libreville meaning “free town”), I felt light and unencumbered. The trip had begun in earnest and all thoughts of the real world started to fade. By the second Régab the tightness in my shoulders had completely disappeared. I need fishing travel. It makes me a better father, husband and colleague and this trip came at the perfect time after a particularly busy period at work and a brutal Cape winter.

Having visited Sette Cama in 2012 in the infancy of African Waters’ operation, I had been meaning to get back for a while, specifically to throw a fly after so much had been pioneered and learned in the interim. Guys like African Waters’ partner/pioneer/head scoutEd Truter had fly fished in West Africa for many years. However, it wasn’t really until a pioneering trip in 2016, which included Conrad Botes and Arno van der Nest, that shore-based fly fishing in Gabon became a realistic option. Building on those initial experiences, an incredible fly fishing destination emerged in the years that followed. 

This trip was a slight gamble in that it was before the arrival of the summer rains in Gabon which are so vital for the ecosystem and the fishery, but we had a great tide timetable and were confident that, if we worked hard, we would find some fish. There was also the hope that the “mullet runs” that happen at this time of year would coincide with our week and bring the predators close to the estuary mouth. Personally, I had no fishing goals for the trip and just wanted to fish the conditions and hopefully catch some of Gabon’s iconic species which include the cubera snapper, giant African threadfin, longfin jack and of course the tarpon. Of all those the tarpon is undoubtedly the toughest to hook, let alone land, but I wasn’t fixated on catching one… until I saw that beautiful bastard of a fish for the first time. 

Team Sette Cama 

Flying over the Loango National Park in a Eurocopter EC135 owned by the Gabonese military en route to Sette Cama, you can’t help but be awestruck by the landscape and sheer vastness of the waterways and tropical jungle. On landing we were greeted by Rob Scott, one of the owners of African Waters who had a few ice-cold Régabs in the cooler, and our spirits were high after a memorable flight. The crew for the trip included Paul Robinson whom I had fished with in Farquhar, my brother Devon and Nic Hubner, a friend and colleague whom I had never fished with before. We were also joined in camp by Kyle and Jess Reid (ex-Alphonse Fishing Company in the Seychelles and The Delphi Club on Abaco) as well as their friends David and Jeanne Paddison from Georgia in the US and Tom Hradecky, another former Seychelles guide. 

“Fishing at night is an amazing experience. What we lost in sight heightened all our other senses and very soon our ears picked up the unmistakable sounds of mullet being massacred.”

As a bonus Ed Truter, who is also a Sette Cama shareholder, was in camp during our trip and his knowledge and experience of this fishery was a great resource. To hear Ed speak in the dulcet tones of the Eastern Cape is a thing of great marvel. It is rumoured that French spoken in a lower Albany accent is one of Africa’s most powerful aphrodisiacs and if bottled would create wealth beyond one’s wildest dreams. All I know is that when Ed “talks foreign” best you keep your lady away from him because she will lose all self-control. 

Running an operation in a remote area in Francophone West Africa is difficult and I witnessed first-hand the daily challenges that the African Waters team faces. Despite this, the product is world class, and the team deals with challenges in a calm and efficient way. The venue is not for everyone. Fishing there is tough and it’s physical and fly fishing success often requires casting a 12-weight non-stop for hours, often in the dark. The rewards, however, can truly be out of this world. Fishing at Sette Cama typically revolves around fishing the light transitions as well as considering how the tides affect baitfish and predator movement. This often involves very early mornings and fishing into the night. A lot of the fishing is centred around the estuary mouth and the adjacent surf zone that can be fished from both the north and south banks, again, depending on the tides. The estuary itself can also be very productive and jacks especially can move through in big numbers as the baitfish move in and out with the tides.

From a conservation perspective, African Waters have a good relationship with Gabon’s National Agency for National Parks (Parcs) and together they try and navigate the fine line between protecting the resource from over-exploitation while ensuring the subsistence needs of the local village are met. It’s an incredibly difficult job that requires resolve, diplomacy and a genuine care for the resource and, due to their vigilance and care, we were about to experience this incredible place.  

“Ollie dived on the fish like Kwagga Smith scrambling after the loose ball and I howled in disappointment as the tarpon wriggled free.” 

Read the rest of this story about fly fishing for tarpon in The Mission Issue 48 below, for free, forever.

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