Above: Jack Lotter with a 104cm Giant Trevally caught off the beach in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Right hand page from top left: David Reverdito’s largemouth yellow (one of two caught in quick succession on the Vaal river, Ed Ghaui and his Goliath tigerfish, Leonard Flemming and his Witvis, Arno Matthee, a happy client and a 200lb tarpon in Gabon, Thomas Camp with his Cubera snapper, Jimmy Eagleton’s jut jaw.
The entries did not disappoint. Some of the fish entered, we knew about and had already admired on social media. Others were new to us. There were big fish and rare fish, fish that are relatively common but are seldom caught on fly and others (the fish, the angler and the setting) that were so batshit crazy we could scarcely believe that someone managed to pull it off.
as great largies and accompanying stories from David Reverdito, Mike Dames and Graham Forrer.
For big fish we did not need to look much further than the gargantuan tarpon caught by Dale Waterman, Peter Whittaker and Warren Pretorius with Arno Matthee the master guide behind The Guides Company operating out of Gabon. There was also the madness of fly fishing legend Jeremy Block’s broadbill swordfish caught at night off Kenya and the massive snapper caught by Thomas Camp off the beach at Sette Cama in Gabon with the African Waters crew. As one judge said, “that is a ridiculous snapper. If I was judging by the, “What fish of all submitted would you most want to catch” then hands down this snapper is it for me.”
Our collective minds were blown by: - Jannie Visser’s Belman (a species we featured as a Wish List Fish two years ago, asking readers to figure out). A full story on that is in the works. - Jimmy Eagleton’s Jutjaw (a species rarely caught by any anglers let alone fly anglers and which Jimmy caught after climbing down a cliff face at Cape Point), - Leonard Flemming’s two rare cyprinid species, the critically endangered sandfish and witvis, which he has not only pursued pretty much single-handedly but also caught massive specimens.
Perhaps the pick of the big fish was the 104cm GT caught off the beach in Northern KwaZulu-Natal by Jack Lotter of Dark Tide, a remarkable fish that earned him a place in the rarefied company of The 100 Club. There was also a big grunter from Niel Malan, as well
Then there were the rarities, the weird and wonderful species, both fresh and salt, that are seldom, if ever, caught on fly. We estimate that at least three of these entries may be firsts on the long rod.
- Last, but most definitely not least, was Ed Ghaui’s Goliath Tigerfish. He and Francois Botha of Goliath Expeditions have been scouting remote water in the Congo and Central African Republic for a few years now, working to set up a destination and there are few fly anglers who have caught Goliath tigerfish on fly.
“THERE WERE BIG FISH AND RARE FISH, FISH THAT ARE RELATIVELY COMMON BUT ARE SELDOM CAUGHT ON FLY AND OTHERS THAT WERE SO BATSHIT CRAZY WE COULD SCARCELY BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE MANAGED TO PULL IT OFF.” 32
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