When a Plan Comes Together

After the disappointment of the previous couple days we retraced our steps back down the coast to Lac Ghoubet, to a spot we’d eyed out on the first day. Our trip had proved frustrating thus far as the coastline looks amazing but is mostly inaccessible and we just couldn’t get to the water’s edge. At the back of Lac Ghoubet there’s a small dirt track to very basic tourist camp right on the water. That’s where we aimed and straight away it proved the correct decision.

Rocky Djibouti Coastline — The bays and ridges of Lac Ghoubet held amazing fishing

Striking Gold in Lac Ghoubet

As we arrived we saw shoals of bait fish get smashed on the surface. Grabbing our rods we sprinted to point straight directly in front. From the first cast the sea was alive and the fish were feeding! Fred landed a small GT then got bust off by a really good fish, I hooked and lost a couple fish. Finally we’d found the fishing we’d been searching for. With the first taste a good one we packed bags for the day and begin exploring the coast properly.

GT Caught in Djibouti — Fred with a beaut GT caught on Fly

Fishing in Djibouti — One of the many fish caught on light tackle

The Excitement of Catching GT

That day and the next the fishing was just phenomenal. The fish we saw, landed, lost was the stuff dreams are made of. The reefs and drop offs are almost untouched and produced a variety of reef fish from grouper, snapper and emperor to napoleon wrasse, coral trout and more. The coral trout destroyed us. I cringe at the number of lures lost to them diving between the coral. We saw a number of big trigger fish and shoals of milkies but frustratingly they wouldn’t eat the flies Fred presented to them.

Lastly but definitely not least were the GT. Man alive did we find the GT. Off the side it was by far the best GT fishing that I’ve ever experienced. Throwing spoons, stickbaits and poppers on a 11ft Assassin Spinmaster 2x Heavy paired with a Stella 10k the geets gave me a solid workout. In the space of 24hrs, One afternoon and one morning session, I had 14 pulls! Landed 4 geets between 10kgs and approx. 25kgs, got bust up by another 2 fish that must’ve been around the 40kg mark. There was also a monster coral trout that kept following my lure but just wouldn’t commit. Fred during the same time found a pack of GT smashing bait fish up close to the side, whipped out the fly rod and hooked up first cast. After an exhausting 30min fight, getting dragged up and down the rocks he managed to landed a beautiful GT!

Photos were taken by Fred Davis of Feathers and Flouro. Check out his account of our trip at http://feathersandfluoro.com