Ed Truter was once a geologist and has meandered through nearly every inch of Africa. He’s always carried his fly rod along and in turn has become one of the most knowledgeable anglers of the dark continent. He knows his fish species and how to catch them on fly and has been a location scout for African Waters destinations since they began nearly 20 years ago. I had the good fortune of meeting Ed on an exploratory mission to the Red Sea flats of Sudan back in 2014. We clicked and have shared a few other adventures on his home waters in South Africa. Today he took TJ and I deep into the Loango National Park estuary to bang poppers and Clousers against the woodpiles and rocks in search of snapper.
It was nearly a bluebird day. These days aren’t common in the jungle. The rainforest was vibrant and monkeys and exotic birds hollered and sang at every stop. TJ took the bow with a popper but soon after went with a Clouser. I took my usual task of managing the stern launching a Clouser with my 9-weight Winston from the get-go.
If there’s a family of fish that fly anglers know the least about its snappers. I don’t fall into that category because I lucked into a few big cubera during my younger years in Belize. There was one in particular that made all species of snapper a target of mine for the rest of my life. The way they stalk a streamer or explode on a popper is magic and the fact that even smallmouth bass sized snapper can break a 9-weight makes them beyond a worthy quarry. The power of TJ’s first hook up of the day took him by surprise.
TJ gets the hang of things quickly. Ed teased him when his first snapper of the day doubled him over. For snapper we use a straight 60lb leader and exert the art of not letting them run an inch. It sounds unfair but if you give a snapper an inch he’ll take a yard and that’s enough to bury you in the sunken logs and you’ll lose them every time. TJ bullied a handful of this size beautiful Gorean snappers. This size snapper is great fun.
Unfortunately the big boy snappers didn’t come out to play. Actually we can’t be sure. I got broke off by my first of the day but at that time I was fishing 40lb not 60lb. He felt big but all snappers do so who knows. While I didn’t land many, this Gorean snapper was a stunner showing off his mid-life colors. Gorgeous!
We wrapped up our morning with Ed just in time for lunch. Ed wasn’t happy with our results but TJ and I were. We landed about eight snapper and a Guinea barracuda. The good news was that everyone had a fun morning. Scott and Randy went outside the estuary in the open ocean and landed some hefty jack crevalle like this one here.
After lunch most of the guys enjoyed their naps. Most have a nap as part of their normal routine now here in Gabon. The naps were short however and soon everyone was gathered round sharing stories over ice cold beers. The trip is winding down but its been a great one and everyone has found their groove.
There’s a big change in our evening fishing schedule for our last two evenings. The prime tide that we purposely came for is now over. Last night was the obvious indication when we experienced our first slow night. Therefore we didn’t head out in the middle of the night but rather left the dock at 5:30 PM to fish until around 10. As much as we loved our incredible middle of the night success, leaving during normal evening fishing hours was a welcome change.
Another adjustment was that instead of fishing the south beach side of the mouth of the estuary we fished the north. Its interesting, on my trip in 2016 we fished the north every session. African Waters has learned a lot since my first visit and the way the tides were early in the trip the other side was better. Now during the smaller tides its best to be dropped off on the north.
The guys know what they’re doing. Tonight was easy compared to attacking the water in the black dark. Jacks and snappers and Guinea barracudas were tormenting mullet in the middle of the channel. The guys did their best to reach them but it seems when beach fishing the targets know how to always be barely out of reach.
The fishing was tough. There were some chances at fish busting close to shore. The guys rushed in and made good casts. But sometimes the game fish are so focused on the real baits our flies go unnoticed. What was not unnoticed however was the beautiful sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. By the way, many anglers watch the sunset over the Pacific, but few can say they watched it over the Atlantic.
There were two fish caught tonight. Hard earned fish I will add. Just at dark Randy stuck and landed a giant African threadfin. Later, Mike landed a tiny cubera snapper. It’s hard to believe two nights ago everyone landed numerous fish. But that’s tides and timing for you at sea.
We returned and enjoyed late night dinner and cocktail hour. Despite our relatively slow evening everyone was pumped. This has been a magnificent trip, not only the fishing but also the comradery throughout. I could not ask for a better Yellow Dog Flyfishing group to host. Tomorrow we’ll all be up for a 5:30 AM departure. Tomorrow is our last day.
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