Africa's last Eden

Sette Cama - Gabon

Fishing Gabon

Africa's Last Eden!

Your trip begins with a flight to Libreville. The journey takes approximately eleven hours, depending on your connection and stopovers.

On arrival, our local partners will meet you at the airport and transfer you to a basic hotel right on the sandy beach. After checking in, you can enjoy dinner at the hotel restaurant before turning in for the night.

The following morning, you’ll leave the hotel at 7.00 am for the airport. Your flight to Gamba departs at around 9.30 am in a propeller aircraft and takes approximately two hours. Your included baggage allowance is 25 kg, plus 6 kg of hand luggage. Please note that rod tubes must not exceed 180 cm in length.

On arrival in Gamba, you’ll travel by car from the airport to the camp’s boats. Once your luggage is loaded, you’ll set off on a boat journey of around an hour and a half through the lagoons to Sette Cama Camp.

You should arrive at camp at around 3.30 pm. After a welcome drink, you’ll settle into your rooms and prepare your tackle for the days ahead.

The fishing

Gabon offers a wide variety of fishing methods. Most mornings begin with a search for jacks in the lagoon. Fishing from the lodge’s longboats, you’ll target the legendary longfin jack – a fish that rivals the GT for strength and stamina. You’ll head downstream, keeping an eye out for feeding frenzies as the jacks hunt mullet.

Once you find them, the excitement begins. Armed with spinning rods and surface lures, you’ll experience thrilling topwater action. Catches of 10–20 jacks per angler are not unusual!

When the action slows around midday, you can return to the lodge and relax for a few hours during the hottest part of the day.

Fishing the lagoon and the river mouth!

Fishing at the estuary in Gabon depends heavily on the tides and time of day. You’ll fish the river mouth when conditions are most favourable – generally around the turn of the tide and sunset, with the action continuing well into the night.

Fishing here is a unique experience, giving you the chance to target truly impressive fish straight from the beach. In the late afternoon, you can catch large longfin jacks and jack crevalle at the river mouth, while Guinean snapper will also strike your poppers from time to time.

Once the sun sets, it’s time for the real monsters! Using a powerful popping rod, you’ll cast into the surf and work your lure over the sandy bottom. Alongside Guinean snapper, you can catch tarpon, eagle fish and captain fish, with large barracuda and jacks adding to the variety.

You’ll fish late into the night, standing waist-deep in the surf and casting into the crashing waves. It’s an unforgettable experience, with ferocious strikes and blistering runs!

Surfcasting at the Atlantic Ocean

The estuary at Sette Cama has a large shark population. Using baitfish, you can target bull sharks, bronze whalers and other shark species.

This type of fishing requires seriously strong tackle. You’ll need a PE10-rated popping rod, a heavy-duty surf rod or a powerful catfish rod, paired with a large fixed-spool or conventional reel loaded with 100 lb braid. Sharks are incredibly powerful, with some weighing more than 200 kg! We use circle hooks exclusively, and any sharks caught are examined for scientific research.

Surf fishing is another rewarding option in Gabon, offering the chance to catch a wide variety of local species. Highlights include large guitarfish, eaglefish, Guinean snapper and even tarpon.

It’s a welcome change from the physical demands of lure fishing and can also be enjoyed around midday from the lodge’s sandy beach. Using long rods and fish baits, you’ll explore different stretches of the beach and target anything with fins.

Ndogo Lagoon Snapper Fishing

One technique we’ve recently discovered is vertical jigging for snapper in the lagoon. For this, you’ll need soft-plastic shads rigged on heavy jig heads. Much like vertical jigging for zander, you’ll target specific areas of the lagoon.

Casting deep-diving plugs and soft plastics has also proved very successful, with the largest snapper caught weighing more than 20 kg.

As you can see, Gabon has plenty to offer. If you’ve got the stamina, you can enjoy some truly outstanding fishing!

The Departure

On your departure day, you’ll leave camp at around 9.30 am for the boat journey back to Gamba, followed by your flight to Libreville. You’ll arrive at approximately 2.00 pm and check into the basic Hotel Tropicana for one night.

The following day, you’ll fly from Libreville back to Germany, usually arriving at your home airport the next day.

Accommodation Gabon Fishing Holiday!

Your accommodation

Loango National Park

Sette Cama Camp

Sette Cama Camp sits on the shores of a lagoon at the southern end of Loango National Park. It has eight rooms, each with two single beds, a private bathroom, air conditioning and electricity.

The spacious main house is the hub of the camp, with room to organise your gear and enjoy your meals. Its large terrace has plenty of seating and a communal table for lunch and dinner.

Breakfast is served in a separate indoor area, which also houses a small tackle shop and a bar serving cold drinks.

Wi-Fi is available in the main area, along with power sockets for charging phones and cameras. There’s also plenty of space to store your tackle.

Below the main house, the camp has its own jetty with fresh water for rinsing your fishing equipment.

A complimentary laundry service is also available.

Catering

Meals: Full Board

Beverages: Water is provided during fishing, other drinks can be paid on site according to consumption

Libreville

Tropicana Hotel

For your stay in Libreville, we’ve chosen a simple, no-frills hotel right on the sandy beach. It’s conveniently located near the airport and has its own restaurant serving good food.

All rooms have a private bathroom, air conditioning and electricity. Accommodation is on a twin-sharing basis, with two guests per room.

Catering

Meals: Breakfast included

Beverages: Drinks can be paid for on site according to consumption

Your fishing boats in Gabon

The Boats

Sette Cama Lodge has four longboats, used both for fishing in the lagoon and for taking guests to the river mouth.

Boat Fishing in Gabun!

Ndogo Lagoon

Boat fishing usually takes place in the lagoon in the morning. The traditional longboats are well powered and have room for up to three anglers.

When conditions allow, you can also anchor in the estuary and fish from the boat. This is only possible when the tides and wave height are suitable.

Shore Fishing in Gabun!

Sette Cama

In Gabon, you’ll spend most of your time fishing from the shore, wading into the surf and casting your lures into the waves.

You’ll fish in water up to waist deep, with our guides on hand to look after you and help you land your catch. At night, you’ll also be given glow sticks so the guides can keep track of your position.

You need this fishing tackle in Gabon!

Tackle Talk

If you’re new to saltwater fishing, you can hire tackle from Sette Cama Camp, so there’s no need to invest in new rods and reels beforehand. Please contact us for prices.

For fishing in Gabon, you’ll mainly need long, powerful spinning rods for the estuaries. A longer rod helps you cast further – and sometimes every metre counts!

You need these spinning lures in Gabon!

Heavy Spinfishing

For fishing in Gabon, you’ll need lures that cast well over long distances. In general, choose models no longer than 16 cm, as the fish mainly feed on smaller baitfish.

Work your lures slowly along the sandy bottom. Noisy lures or those with a pronounced action are particularly effective.

Essential options include the Tackle House Flitz 75 g, Britt 145 and 170, and Orion Plug 70–90. For popping at the river mouth, poppers up to 18 cm have proved effective, including the Orion CX 90, Orion Magic Pop 90 and Heru Cubera 80–100.

Soft plastics measuring 12–14 cm, rigged on heavy 80 g jig heads, also work very well, as do the Halco MAX 110 and 130.

Spinfishing the Ndogo Lagoon in Gabon!

Light Spinfishing

For longfin jacks, bring lures such as the Halco Roosta Popper 135. In our experience, it’s the best popper for targeting this species in Gabon.

Walk-the-dog lures also work very well. Choose models that make plenty of noise and have an aggressive action. The Illex Chatter Beast 145, Illex Bonnie 128 and Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 have all proved effective.

When fishing with soft plastics, use lures up to 12 cm long. Jig heads weighing 25–45 g are usually sufficient.

The best lines and leaders for Gabon!

Leader & Main Line

For heavy lure fishing, you’ll need leaders rated at 175–220 lb. Choose quality brands such as Fishermen, Varivas, Nomad or Climax. For lighter lure fishing, 60–80 lb leaders are sufficient.

Your main line should be a high-performance PE braid. For heavy lure fishing, use at least PE8 (80 lb). Thinner lines allow you to cast further, so keep the diameter as low as possible without compromising strength. For longfin jacks and vertical jigging, we recommend braid rated at 40–60 lb. Suitable options include Gosen Diver X8, Daiwa J-Braid X8, JB Line One and other high-performance braids.

For shark fishing, use at least PE10 (100 lb) braid. You’ll also need 7×7 steel leader material at least 1.5 mm thick and Malin wire with a minimum breaking strain of 275 lb.

Terminal Tackle

Hooks & Terminal Tackle

There’s no room for compromise when it comes to hooks. Please bring only BKK GT-Rex hooks in a range of sizes to suit your lures.

Split rings and solid rings should have a minimum breaking strain of 220 lb. Choose solid rings in sizes #7.5–#9 and heavy-duty split rings in sizes #10–#11.

For jig heads, we recommend the Zeck Screw-in Jig Head and the Savage Gear Sandeel Jig Head (63 g).

For shark fishing, use circle hooks. Mustad offers a range of suitable models.

Helpful tools for your fishing trip!

Other Fishing Equipment

We recommend bringing a good pair of split-ring pliers. The hPa Game Plier is a reliable choice, allowing you to open even heavy-duty split rings with ease.

A good waterproof boat bag is also worth bringing. Zeck Fishing offers some excellent options, including the Tackle Container Pro and Tackle Container Pro Catfish.

As you’ll often be casting for several hours at a time, we recommend packing a good pair of gloves.

Madagascar can get very hot, so bring UV-protective shirts, a sun hat and SPF 50 sunscreen. Our Expeditions UV shirts are available to order directly from us.

Good polarised sunglasses are essential for fishing. We recommend gloryfy unbreakable sunglasses, which combine polarised lenses with exceptionally durable frames.

Take a closer look at the gloryfy unbreakable range of polarised fishing sunglasses here: Polarized Sunglasses for Anglers!