When a Farlows staff member travels to one of Africa’s wildest lagoon systems in pursuit of tarpon, expectations are high. What followed at Sette Cama in Gabon was a week of broken rods, screaming reels and silver kings that refused to be beaten - until one final cast changed everything. This is Ashton Pohl’s Fish of the Year 2025.
Months of prep and hours behind a vice, a long-haul flight plus a small charter followed by an hour-long boat journey across one of Africa’s largest lagoon systems… I finally set foot at Sette Cama, a destination I could only have dreamed of! It was going to take a whole lot more than missing check-in luggage to wipe the smile off my face.
Sette Cama, on Gabon’s Atlantic coastline, is one of Africa’s most remote and productive tarpon fisheries.
Fly Fishing for Tarpon in Gabon’s Sette Cama Lagoon
The City Flickers group settled in and before we knew it, we were rigging up for our first evening session. The plan was to head to the mouth of the lagoon a few hours before sunset and fish into the night. Possibilities were endless, and I felt the mixture of uncertainty and excitement as we loaded off the boat. To the right was dense rainforest and to the left a long sand spit met by the last hour of African sun stretching across the Atlantic. Such beauty was needed to nurse the reality of hauling a 6inch deer hair fly on the end of a 12wt.
Darkness had set in, with the crew lined along the shore casting away, I saw a commotion as the beams of headlights lit-up in the distance, the crew gathered claiming a front row seat as an epic battle unfolded between Tad and the first tarpon of the trip…his reel being stripped of backing, followed by a big splash, the fish was gone. We were no match for the silver king.
Longfin Jacks, Cubera Snapper and African Lagoon Wildlife
The next morning a 9wt rod was welcomed after the previous night of 12wt madness, George and I set off in search of the longfin jack crevalles, the feeding frenzy fish that wreak carnage. They terrorise and herd their prey forcing mullet and bongo shad to tail walk, some even jumping ashore in hope of evading these predators. It didn’t take long until the water started to boil, it was as if a breakfast bell was rung.
Pelicans and Palm-nut vultures lined the banks waiting for the concentrated groups of jacks to push the baitfish ashore. What didn’t get pushed up the bank was either gulped by a jack or cleaned up by the cubera snapper that lurked below, it was orchestrated. I frantically started to cast and as you can imagine it didn’t take long until fingers were burnt and I was left grinning from ear to ear.
With plenty of fish under the belt we headed up an arm of the lagoon that was a sanctuary, off limits to fishing, we were able to spot a group of about 5 hippos, one which had a baby bouncing off its back, followed by a group of juvenile tarpon rolling amongst themselves.
We then disembarked from the skiff and walked up the beach close enough to get a few snaps of a bull elephant. The wildlife viewing didn’t stop…we came across swimming monkeys, a group of chimps and it wasn’t even midday yet.
Night Fishing for Tarpon - Tactics, Tackle and Chaos
Our evening session awaited, would we be able to tame the silver king? Nothing could have prepared us for what unfolded... rods were broken, reels were spent, not to mention the hook pulls.. once again, we were no match for the beasts that lurked this coastline, we returned semi-deflated, starting to doubt the odds. But the silver king wasn’t going to get the better of us.
We rigged our tarpon fly rods, serviced our saltwater fly reels and debated fly colour or if it even mattered at all? We returned, paired up with our guide Ollie positioned on a hot spot, we started to go through the motions, complete darkness with the moon peeking out behind the clouds.
There was a large splash and Lucy was hooked up, all hell broke loose but as quick as it started it ended. We resumed, things felt fishy, it all turned into mayhem once again with Lucy holding on tight, the plan was to beach the boat and fight the fish from the north shore trying to turn it before it went out the mouth, but before we could make any progress the backing failed. I continued to fish, gripping onto every hope of encountering one of these fish, there was something special about being in the complete darkness.
The Final Cast - Landing the Silver King
It was time, we only had one fly working the water, odds were better with two. With a fair chance at the silver king I was happy to head back, I started to reel up my slack line and Ollie said:
“You might as-well have one last cast, I’d rather take the boat in with a fish on than not”
I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to have one last cast on this trip. I stripped even more line off my reel, made damn sure I was gonna give that fly every chance of getting to wherever it needed to be, a true stab in the dark. I lifted the fly and began to cast, it whistled past and reached its destination. Clenching onto my rod handle slowly stripping line, ready for whatever might happen, as ready as I thought I was, I was not. My tarpon fly line went straight and before I could barely strip set, my reel was screaming at me quickly followed by a big splash and then another one, this time catching a glimpse of a large silhouette.
We headed straight for the north shore, as we approached the bank my reel still dumping line I was met by a beaming crew all with their head torches ready for the action. I jumped off the boat and started running down the beach. Now just imagine a remote beach in complete darkness then picture eight crew and two guides all running along it with their head torches lit.
We soon gained backing and noticed that there was some kind of tangle that had developed between the backing and fly line, I wasn’t going to be able to reel the tangle through the rod tip, we resumed trying to manage this wild ride while watching the silver king franticly jumping trying to shake the hook, we continued along while Ollie got hold of the problematical tangle and started wrapping it around itself, trying to get it small enough to fit through the eyes.
Finally the mysterious tangle made its way through the rod rings and it started to look like we were making serious progress, I only hoped that the fish didn’t go on another big run and pull that tangle back through the rings. If we did not land the fish soon, we would be headed towards very sharky water.
I started applying pressure and we managed to get the fish close enough for the guides to practice their grab skills. My fly flew straight out of the tarpon’s mouth with the hook slightly bent open, Mike and Ollie confirmed their grip.
I immediately had a rush of emotions, Lucy compared me to a golden retriever spinning in circles, we took some quick snaps and made sure the fish returned safely. Once the action faded I could not but help shed a few tears as it was such a special moment shared with an excellent group.
We finally put the silver king at bay, the fish gods were now on our side, with five Tarpon, over a hundred and forty jacks, thirteen cubera snapper, three barracuda, two threadfin and a couple sharks, between the group we almost ran out of chalk for the tally board! A big thanks to the African waters team and guides Ewan Kyle, Oliver Santoro and Mike Dames!
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