Billfish Roundup Gabon 2013 Gabon – The forgotten Fishing Eden

Billfish Roundup Gabon 2013 Gabon – The forgotten Fishing Eden

Its not often that one begins a fishing trip stuck in traffic in a panic, trying to get hold of the airline to hold the plane because you are going to be late. Having left home with plenty of time to spare, a hectic traffic jam in PE had me thinking about African omens and superstitions and the plane had not taken off yet. .
Apart from a few stories I had read on Bom Bom and the difficulties of reaching the destination via Libreville, I knew nothing about Gabon. My numerous internet and fishing forum searches had yielded nothing except the fact that it was on the West Central African coast and was sparsely populated due to heavy tropical jungle. Having had some interesting and sometimes less than successful travel and fishing experiences into Africa, it was a case of pack and hope for the best. The trip had been born from a chance meeting with Andrew Bell, when I popped in to say hello to Ted Horne at the Big T factory in Plettenberg Bay, a month earlier. It was an invite to join Andrew and some mates to show them the ropes in a marlin competition out of Libreville and help them bring home the trophy. I had nothing better to do and the unexpected adventure and challenge, was great motivation even if it was a somewhat tall order.
Missing the plane under these circumstances was going to be a huge embarrassment and very hard to explain. Luckily we made it just before the gates closed and my first trip to Libreville and Central Africa had begun.


Andrew had sent me some mails with the competition rules and area, all in French – Eish French? What French?????
From the diagram and the bathometric chart he sent me, it looked like blue marlin area, as we would be fishing from 100 – 1000m depth.
The first comp in the Billfish Round up had already been fished out of Port Gentile (Pog) 2 weeks previously and was won catching sailfish. The winner was skipper Bertrand Bourchard of Bom Bom fame, on his boat Deceiver. I had no idea what we would be fishing for off Libreville. To make it more complicated there were line class categories( 16-80 lb) and a points system based on size of the fish in pounds. I had prepared as best I could on the scant information and packed light tackle to catch sails(16/20lb) as well as some heavier 80lb stand up sticks for the marlin. We had 3 practice days set up on the 33ft Grady White called “Agombenero” and I was hoping that after that we would have a better idea of how to go about fishing the tournament.

On the advise of the check in clerk I didn’t check my luggage straight through to Libreville and collected it at OR Tambo before checking it on further. All went swimmingly until we reached Libreville and I was left with the clothes on my back, my computer, camera and reels in my hand luggage. The rods, clothing and lures were missing and the African bongos and evil omens were starting to feel very real in my head. No one at the airport spoke English and no one could help. I had that feeling that it was either going to be a total disaster or a roaring success! I stood there looking at the empty conveyor and hoped truly that it would be the latter.
The good news was that Andrew was there and there was transport and a bed waiting, the rest would have to wait.
Fortunately the next day my wife discovered that bags had not left O R Tambo and called to say that the bags would be delivered 2 days later when the next flight came in. It would mean waiting 3 days without clothing or tackle in hot central Africa – a perfect start and therefore no problem right? Then there was the charm that is Libreville and its surrounds that takes some getting used to. But that is another story! I had to borrow a few things from the guys at the house and survived the first 2 nights without aircon before it was fixed. Ah Africa!

We had one day to sort out some tackle from what Andrew had available, before our first practice day dawned. It was great to be out on the ocean again even though we did not have the tackle we needed. Having fished Ghana a few times I was sure we would need my heavier 80 lb outfits for the marlin. The light tuna sticks with Tiagra 30’s, spooled with 50 lb line, were looking very frail on the boat. There was no chair so it was all going to be stand up fishing and the crew were pretty inexperienced to put it mildly. Good thing I had my black Magic harness in my hand luggage.
We fished three days on the area called the “Callou” and pronounced Cayou.

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The 75 km run to the "Callou"

The results were numerous tuna, many of which were bitten in half before they could be landed. We released one sailfish and we saw a small marlin chasing one of the tuna we were fighting??? Not what I had expected!

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Andrews first Saily!

This was the first time I had seen so many sharks (Silky Sharks) in 300-500 metres of water. Tuna counted for points, but they were impossible to land on light tackle. I also wondered how many Marlin would make it to release and if there were indeed that many around.

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Taxed!
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Half Taxed!


The good thing was that we had plotted the current edge along a debris line and even though the water colour was not that good, there was plenty bait in the form of small Bonito in patches under birds. All the action was around them along the debris line, so we had the area pretty sorted before the comp began. The billfish action had been further north where we had spent limited time, while most the sharks and tuna were in the southern area. We were going to concentrate on the north.
I had explained to Andrew how I would work the area along the current line and the bait as unfortunately our echo sounder and temperature gauge had decided to go MIA. It was all we had to go on.

We decided to dump the idea of fishing light in order to land the weighable Yellowfin (over 15kg) in one piece and make sure of any points we could get on them, and any billfish. We decided on three 50lb outfits and two 80lb bent butt stand up outfits for the tournament. I was just hoping that if we had big pulls they would come on the 80’s. Ghana and Bom Bom are not far from this area and there and I was sure there had to be some big blues around. The medium and smaller Big T lures would go on the 50’s for the sails and tuna. There was no Ballyhoo available and we decided against strips due to the Yellowfin, which would make it tedious remaking rigs. The bigger Big T “TT’s” would go on the 80lb rigs. We were going full plastic!

Opening Function
There was a very well organised opening function sponsored by Heineken and the local businesses at the Lodge at La Baie des Tortues (Bay of Tortoises) on the Pont Denis peninsula some 14 km across the bay from Libreville. It is a beautiful eco lodge owned by Andrews boss, Abbad. The lodge is set on the beach against the African jungle where wild forest elephants and buffalo (no joke I saw them personally) can be seen roaming wild. The lodge would not look out of place along any beach in the tourist hot spots of the world. It was a far cry from the African mainland and Libreville just 14 km away!

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It was to be home base for the tournament of 16 boats and anglers. The omens and demons were almost forgotten now, especially as all my gear had arrived and everything was looking on track again. Our other crewmembers were Eddie Orton(South African) and a young local Gabonese friend of Andrew by the name of Damian Zissman. Even though my crew were first timers on billfish there were some serious bets and challenges thrown our way at the function. It was getting serious. Andrew was nervous as hell having brought me there, and Abbud had upped the anti by placing bets between his and our boat. For myself it was a case of doing all we could to be as organized as possible and then letting the chips fall where they may. The bets were done and it was time to roll the dice!

Day 1
Charged up by a good breakfast and the lingering effects of the previous evening, the boats motored away at 6 am on the 75 km run to the “Callou”(small pebble). The seas here are calm most of the time, but a rain jacket is a must as we were in the small rainy season, which starts in November. Rain is a given here on any day in November with heavy falls most nights. I’m sure the rest of the competitors were somewhat bemused at the sight of the SA contingent on “Agombenero” charging out bare chested in the middle of the rain squall that greeted us on the way out. The boys were amped and we had a cooler full of cold Heineken on board to keep us warm later.

Lines-in, was 7.30, and we duly reported the first Yellowfin landed, before going tight on a sailfish 10 minutes later. The sail crashed a Big T “TT” on the short left on one of the 80 lb rigs. Once tagged and released I was having difficulty hearing any bongo drums in my head, but that was probably because the music was turned up so load and the boys were having a gas. We had had a dream start and we were just 30 minutes into the first day.



There were some more small tuna and later we landed another weighing Yellowfin, while Faymar released 2 sails. The other boats dropped some marlin and sails and more tuna were landed, and lost to sharks. It went quiet until the top of the tide at midday, when we went tight on a small blue on a Big T Assegai behind a bird on the shotgun. The fish came on the Damien’s bigger 50 lb rig with a Tiagra 50. Damian did a good job on his first blue and we tagged her (150 lbs) after 20 minutes. The crew were going nuts even though Faymar had tagged another sail.

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(Damian 1st Blue and a picture in honour of his best friend who died of malaria two weeks previously)

We dropped another good blue (350lbs) on the same rig 30 minutes later, when it slammed the bird and got tangled up with the whole rig. It almost spooled the 50lb outfit before turning back to the boat and coming off. The rig was a mangled mess and had to be re rigged from scratch. A huge pity but we were ecstatic when we returned to base and found out that we had a slim lead after day one.
The northern area had produced some great action and a good number of blues had been lost for various reasons but mostly due to tackle failure of the lighter tackle.
This was more action than I had expected after the practice sessions and it was turning into great fun. The comp was really on now and with much higher expectations and pressure, the team was gelling well and having a ball.


Day 2
Its one thing having a lead but keeping it is always hardest. We dropped another good blue an hour in when it threw the hooks on the same Big T Assegai behind the bird on shotgun on 50lb. I was starting to wonder if our luck had run out. We stuck to the plan and plugged away looking for the pods of bait, while Faymar released another sail and some more weighable tuna were caught. A few more marlin and sails were hooked and tagged, but even with Damian on board it was difficult to hear and understand the radio conversations and keep record of who was doing what. The pressure was starting to grow and I was telling the guys how I hoped that the next fish was on the shorts and the 80lb rigs. We were now seeing and hearing about bigger fish. I was eyeing the two rigs with 50lb line on 30 Tiagras, with more and more suspicion with each passing moment. Damian’s rig had 50lb line on a Tiagra 50, at least it had the capacity to survive a big run. I knew we could not afford to drop another blue.
We landed some more weighable tuna before something unexpectedly smashed the short 80lb rig with my favourite Big T “TT” and took off without jumping. We cleared lines while the line peeled off the rig furiously. About mid spool and with line still peeling off at a rate of knots, the ocean opened up behind the boat and a charging blue marlin came careering out. I was on the rod and so grateful it was 80lb line as the fish grey hounded away from us going over the horizon. We backed up for all we where worth with the 350hp motors screeching. The 33 ft Grady White is more pleasure boat than Marlin machine and Andrew was doing his level best to keep us attached with his limited experience of such techniques. He did a great job and we survived the run, settling into a dogfight that lasted a lot longer than expected. It was a 500lb fighter and she gave me carrots for an hour and a half before we got her up and next to the boat. The guys did an awesome job of getting her tagged and measured on the marlin ruler we had loaned from Bertrand Borchard the owner of Deceiver.
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Filling up!
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Nice Blue!

Our day was done and we headed back happy that we had another good tag and very good points due to her size. The news at the lodge was even better, as we had won the day on points with our two tuna and were now even further in front. Some other boats were now in contention but they needed at least two more fish on the last day. Faymar was our closest threat having released 4 sails. Anyone landing a blue on 30 lb could change the picture drastically due to the multiplier factor. Even a big blue on 50lb would do the job. The beer tasted good but the tension was high.

Day 3

Andrew was really feeling the pressure but had been doing such a great job working the area and running over the fish, that I was super comfortable and let him be. He had slotted into my pattern of trolling that I like using, and was producing the results on the helm. He had the mojo going for sure. I was left to guiding the traffic on deck and keeping everyone well hydrated on the sponsor’s product.
We ran out on day three into one of the most hectic electric storms and rain that I have ever experienced at sea. It seems that the clouds form at such a low level here and one feels as if you are inside the thunder head. Holding onto the wet aluminium framework of the bimini top on the boat, soaked to the skin while the sky is illuminated all around you and the thunder is crashing so loud that it hurts, is no joke. It was frigging scary! Fortunately everyone got through unscathed. Africa they say, is not for sissies, and they aint joking!
It poured with rain all day with heavy squalls and even our bimini top was useless. We were soaking wet and cold. I really felt for one or two of the smaller boats. To their credit they all stayed to the end.

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(trying to keep warm)



We had dumped one of the small 50lb outfits and were running the two 80’s further back( long corner and long rigger) to try to avoid the blues on 50lb. The biggest 50lb rig was behind the bird on the long rigger on the other side. We ran a squid daisy chain teaser and bird short with a small 50lb outfit and a medium Big T “Vanatu” a few metres behind the teaser. The idea was that if a sail came up on the teaser it would hopefully take this lure for better points. It was a slow day in the rain with little action in the darkness. The high tide was around 2pm and it was around then that it started to clear and we started seeing bait again. We were working a big bait ball close to Faymar and had turned close to them when they went away on a blue and raised the stakes.
I had been talking about Murphy and had just moved the short lure right up behind the teaser, as close as possible to avoid the Murphy factor. I had just placed the rod in the rod holder and was looking at the lure when Murphy stuck its bill out of the water and swallowed our offering on 50lb, not 70 meters from where Faymar was busy. Pandemonium ensued as we cleared lines. Fortunately it was a 250lb Murphy that came grey hounding out the ocean and away into the distance. It cleaned up the 30 Tiagra in seconds, but Andrew managed to turn and chase quickly enough and we survived the run. Damian took the stick and 40 minutes later and she was tagged and measured. The points were in the bag and the news that Faymar had dropped their fish meant that we were almost there!

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We counted down the minutes to lines up and slugged a few cold ones down. It had been a cold miserable day but there was nobody complaining on “Agombenero”. The boyz “from Gombe”(Agombenero) had done it!!
Safe to say there were no beers left when we got to base!

Closing Function
It was with huge satisfaction that we were called up to collect the trophies. Not only had we won some good side bets, we had won all three days. Damian was top angler, and we were top boat.
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Damian top angler!

The big surprise came when it was announced that we had scored enough points to win the Champion of Champions trophy sponsored by Heineken for the combined results of the two comps in Gabon.
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Thanks Heineken!

It capped off one of the most memorable tournaments in my lifetime and the feeling of pride was overwhelming. We had achieved a clean sweep of all the trophies!

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Da Agombenero "kids"

Abbad and all the local guys from Libreville were over the moon. This was the first time that the trophy had been won by a boat from Libreville and it would be the first time that the trophy would stay there. A big thanks to Andrew and Abadd, all the people at the lodge and the fisher folk from Libreville who made me feel so welcome.
Hopefully we will be back to defend our title next year.
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“Merci Beaucoup” till next time!



Soooo shweet!!


Ps: It is not only billfish that frequent this coastline. The number of Jacks we caught on plug from the boat while fishing inshore after the comp, was staggering. We also saw nice sized Tarpon tailing, but failed to get a bite. Next time we will come prepare and they will not be so lucky!

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Who's the Jack!


Some more shots from the comp.
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Refuelling barge
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Big Release!
 
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