Four great mates return to the wonderful fly fishing on offer in the remote wilderness of Gabon including a last day of mayhem to cap a fantastic week with Arno and Kyle.
A slow start…
With Covid, Shutdowns & delayed travel, Kempy, Coxy, Westy & Pete had been waiting to return to Port Gentil with the Guides Company for close to 3 years. Travel took the group via Addis with cold beers in Libreville to the Port Gentil coastline & our hotel.
It was great to catch up with our good friend Arno and meet Kyle for the first time. It didn’t take long for the Tarpon stories to start flowing (along with a few Johnny Roux’s) & the boys were amped for the weeks fishing. Westy of course spent most of his time changing his leaders and debating which fly to start with (Russell Crowe’s A Brilliant Mind comes to mind here).
The first couple of days were tough with some inclement weather. The Guides and Anglers persevered and with the right spirit managed to jump & land a few fish. On the second last day, a big system moved in which limited our opportunities. As with any week, the last day was upon us and there was some apprehension about what tomorrow would bring!
A day to remember…
With overcast but clearer conditions, the 2 skiffs headed out to the fishing grounds. The boys shook off the after-effects of a big night out in the town and readied themselves for what was to come. It wasn’t long before the first boat got stuck in with Poons rolling and aggressively feeding all around the skiff. What followed was mayhem! 4 double-ups, 20 fish jumped, 10 landed and one cast resulting in 3 fish eating the fly & jumping within 15 seconds of each other! All this happened before 10 am on one Skiff!
Unbelievably, the other boat had not had a touch! It’s at these times that one goes through a bit of mental anguish and questioning! Intermediate lines were changed to floating, flies were switched and it wasn’t long until the Proprietor and the Goliath Heron got into the action!
In all, close to 40 Tarpon were jumped with many landed in a day’s fishing that will be imprinted on our minds for the rest of our lives. It was incredible to see this fishery firing and highlighted what a special place it is!
Fish of the Week
Westy again proved to be the Pig of Port Gentil landing not only the most fish but also bringing a fish of around the 200lbs mark to the boat. Kempy came a close second with a good fish that was brought to hand but not without some difficulties – we had to recover half a rod and undo a massive Kraaines (the mother of all knots “crows nest”). All this happening whilst the fish was close to spooling us.
Thanks, Arno and team for a great week in Gabon.