Gabon Season Opener: Week 3 Fishing Report

The trip began under favourable conditions with the arrival of a new moon, and the group arrived eager to get amongst the fishing. After settling in, the first order of business was lunch, where the guys enjoyed fresh threadfin while receiving a briefing on what to expect over the coming days. Following lunch, everyone headed to their Savannah bungalows to set up gear in anticipation of the first night’s fishing.

The first night delivered plenty of action, with loads of threadfin coming to the boat and a few cobia mixed in. Tarpon, however, were noticeably absent, either holding elsewhere or simply not feeding. The following days played out much the same. On paper, the conditions looked ideal, but in reality, the tarpon just weren’t interested in anything we presented. Despite this, there was still plenty of fun to be had on light tackle, targeting the wide variety of species the estuary has to offer. The group also enjoyed what could only be described as a threadfin massacre, landing some seriously solid fish.

The first three days proved challenging, but the guys never gave up, fishing hard through rain and storms, and always returning to camp with smiles on their faces, rehashing the day’s fishing over a well-earned beer.

Over the next couple of days, the fishing improved, with the group landing some impressive cubera snapper. There were plenty of double hook-ups, and one standout fish tipping the scales at around 30kg. Unfortunately, increased rainfall put a dampener on the trip, creating periods of unfishable conditions, and the tarpon continued to refuse to show themselves.

On the second-to-last night, things finally turned chaotic. After a quiet week on the tarpon front, two solid eats finally came our way—only to leave us with our heads in our hands. Both strikes were from big fish. The first tore off over 200 metres of line before throwing the hook, while the second, hooked on light tackle, nearly spooled the angler before busting off while trying to stop the runaway train.

It was a tough week overall, but the guys still landed quality threadfin and cubera snapper and had genuine shots at trophy tarpon. While the trip looked great on paper and delivered some memorable moments, it didn’t quite live up to its full potential. That said, this is fishing—and that challenge is exactly why we keep coming back. If it were too easy, we probably wouldn’t.