Tiger shark

Tiger Shark: Spending my 30th at Sette Cama, Gabon, meant one thing: fishing. With no guests around, Chris and I had free rein, and my goal was clear—land a bull shark. Armed with a heavy jigging stick and a Penn Squall 50VSW, I rigged up a jack bait. The first attempt ended with a quick pickup and an even quicker bite-off. Day two, however, was going to be different.

Preparation for a monster

The sea was calm, so Chris pulled an old longfin jack from the freezer. We paddled it out 200m on the canoe using a homemade grapnel sinker—a rock tied with rebar cable. The trace was rebuilt: 10m of 275lb cable, 2m of 400lb piano wire, and a debarbed Mustad 14/0 circle hook. With the bait set and drinks packed, we waited under the Bedouin.

Hooked into the unknown

An hour and a half later, the rod bent. The shark swam straight in, and I locked down the drag. The fish was unstoppable, pulling me up and down the beach for over an hour. At first I was sure it was a bull—common here and often aggressive. But the power and the sheer distance between the dorsal and tail hinted at something else entirely.

The reveal: a tiger shark

Finally, with Chris and Olivier watching from the shade, I worked the fish into the surf. Chris waded in to grab the tail and immediately shouted back: “It’s a tiger.” The stripes confirmed it. Only a handful of tigershark have ever been landed here from the beach, making this catch especially rare.

Safe release

The 14/0 circle hook had done its job perfectly, lodged neatly in the corner of the jaw. With the barb crushed, it took seconds to remove. After a few quick photos, the three of us slid the fish back into waist-deep water. Watching that massive predator cruise off into the surf was as rewarding as the fight itself.

Landing a tigershark from the beach at Sette Cama wasn’t just the highlight of my birthday—it was one of those benchmark fishing experiences that stay with you for life.