Gabon Surf Fishing

Gabon surf fishing has a habit of making you adapt, and this week at Sette Cama was a good example. Neap tides and a stubborn sandbar made the usual water difficult to fish, forcing eight South African anglers to change their approach. What followed included steady lagoon fishing, a rare wildlife encounter and one tarpon that pulled an angler nearly a kilometre down the beach.

Finding the Right Water

Conditions were mild across the board, with no rain, moderate temperatures and manageable sea and wind. The neap tides, however, shaped much of the week’s fishing.

A considerable amount of sand had built up around the mouth, while a shallow formation on the south side meant the smaller tides simply weren’t pushing enough water through to fish the area effectively.

Rather than persist with unproductive water, the group shifted their attention to a gutter on the north bank, where there was enough depth and movement to work with.

It proved to be the right decision.

A Tarpon and a Long Walk Down the Beach

During the second evening session, with the group back on the north bank and fishing the dropping tide, Dave Cairns connected with the fish that would define the week.

A tarpon took his Britt stickbait but managed to throw the lure during the fight. Somehow, rather than ending there, the fish became hooked beneath the fin.

What followed was less a conventional fight and more a tow down the Gabonese coastline.

The tarpon steadily pulled Dave along the beach towards Point Milongo. Nearly a kilometre and just short of an hour later, the fish was finally brought under control and landed.

It would prove to be the only tarpon hooked for the week.

That scarcity made the fish matter all the more. Nothing about it came easily: the group had first needed to find fishable water, read the dropping tide and then stay with a fish that seemed determined to take Dave all the way down the coast.

The surf quietened considerably afterwards and remained that way until the final evening, when the water suddenly came back to life. Three kob, two sand sharks, two threadfin and several jacks were landed on the bait rods in a strong finish to the week.

Productive Mornings in the Lagoon

With the surf inconsistent, the mornings were increasingly spent fishing the lagoon around the mouth.

It proved far more dependable.

Jacks and snapper provided regular action, along with several barracuda that made short work of anything not rigged appropriately.

Hannes produced the standout lagoon fish of the week, landing an excellent snapper on remarkably light tackle after it ate a micro jig.

It was a very different style of fishing from standing on the beach waiting for a tarpon, but it demonstrated one of the advantages of having the lagoon and surf within the same system. When conditions changed in one, there was another piece of water to work with.

A Rare Sighting on the Way Home

Sette Cama is never only about what happens at the end of a fishing line.

The group made a trip out towards Bird Island during the week, and the journey back produced one of the more unusual encounters of the trip.

Two Pel’s fishing owls were spotted on the return journey.

For a group that had spent the week watching the water, it was a fitting reminder to keep looking beyond it. Some encounters here cannot be planned, and this was one of them.

Working With What the Week Gives You

This wasn’t a week of easy surf fishing or big numbers.

The neap tides exposed the limitations of the mouth, the sand dictated where the group could fish, and the surf produced only a single tarpon encounter.

But that is part of fishing Sette Cama.

You work with the water in front of you rather than the water you hoped would be there. This week that meant moving north, spending more time in the lagoon and being ready when the surf finally switched back on.

And when the one tarpon opportunity arrived, it turned into an hour-long fight and a kilometre walk down the beach.

Those are usually the fish that stay with you.

Interested in fishing Sette Cama? Get in touch with the African Waters team to discuss available weeks, seasonal conditions and what to expect from a Gabon surf fishing trip.