High Fives

GREG GHAUI

FROM GUIDING FOR GOLIATH TIGERFISH IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR), TO GUIDING IN CAMEROON AND TANZANIA WITH AFRICAN WATERS FOR NILE PERCH AND TIGERFISH RESPECTIVELY, YOU’D BE HARDPRESSED TO FIND A MORE ACCOMPLISHED FLY FISHING GUIDE THAN GREG GHAUI ACROSS CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA. WE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM IN A LULL BETWEEN SAFARIS.

Photos. Nick Bowles, Ed Ghaui, African Waters

5 best things about where you guide?

1. The quality of the soup (in-camp joke) and firewood in Tanzania – the only elements that can be guaranteed when tiger fishing. 2. The crystal-clean water of the Faro River in Cameroon and the Chinko and Vovodo rivers in the CAR. Evidence and reminder of how all rivers in Africa should be in the dry season. 3. A cold beer and a warm shower in the fishing camp in Cameroon, extra-special in the land of the cold shower and warm beer. 4. The fact that I can guide in my home waters in Tanzania, and work with my cousin Ed Ghaui in the CAR (campchinko.com) takes it beyond a job. Blood is thicker than water! 5. Everywhere I have guided is a huge distinct wildlife area. The access to and freedom within these areas was the initial attraction to guiding, and is still the driving force behind me doing it now.

5 items you don’t leave home without before making a mission?

1. Binoculars for breathtaking closeups. 2. A SeedCo bucket hat for sun protection. 3. A kikoi for a versatile towel/blanket/wrap garment. 4. A lighter so I don’t end up trying to short circuit a car battery over some petrol-soaked grass trying to light a fire again. 5. A notebook for jotting down what is seen, done, and said.

5 things you’re loving right now?

1. Farming through the Regenerative Agriculture framework. There are so many changes to make and so much to be excited about. I balance out guiding with stints on the family farm in Tanzania, and this movement has really captured my interest. 2. Amateur botany. Knowing and recognising big and beautiful trees is like finding long lost friends. And following that, it’s an easy way to make new friends! 3. Walking guiding – another avenue to secure time in the bush, capitalising on a foundation from fly fishing guiding. 4. Motorcycle missions and maintenance. Makes A to B much more fun, and opens up routes C through to Z. 5. Hennessy Hammocks (hennessyhammock.com). These appeal to the minimalist in me while actually adding dimensions of value to a mission – no compromises here.

5 indispensable flies for saltwater?

1. An original Stu Harley Shake 2. A tan over white EP Fibre baitfish 3. A light-coloured Clouser 4. A versatile crab pattern 5. A mantis shrimp

5 indispensable flies for freshwater?

1. An original Stu Harley Shake 2. An olive brush fly 3. A tan Puma baitfish 4. A huge leggy terrestrial 5. A hotspot nymph

5 favourite fly fishing destinations across Africa?

1. The Mnyera and Ruhudji rivers in Tanzania for a full dose of tigerfish trials. 2. The Chinko wilderness in the CAR for a frontier adventure. 3 .The Faro River in Cameroon for sheer variety. 4. Sette Cama in Gabon for raw excess. 5. The Red Sea in Sudan for timeless flats and pinnacle wading.

5 of the most difficult guiding experiences so far?

1. Trying to front up in the grip of Malaria. Finding myself wearing my rain jacket for warmth at midday in the Kilombero raised a few red flags, and had me waving a white one. 2. After days of being on some clients’ backs to be quicker and harder on the hook set for big tigerfish, I have had a few of them lock down and hang on until the leader exploded when a really big fish came knocking. Finding the words to delicately explain that that wasn’t quite what I meant (without exacerbating the trauma) was difficult. 3. While trying to unsnag a client’s fly, I once snapped the leader at the same time as the top three rod sections came loose. Turning and handing back just the butt section to the client who enlisted my “help” was not easy. 4. Some of the remote pre-season camp preparations have been truly testing; when backed into a corner by deadlines and logistical constraints, the only way is to come out swinging. This is the dark shadow of the shiny guiding limelight that people probably don’t ever really understand, but is a huge part of it and always produces some of the most valuable events. 5. As exciting as being a part of opening up a new destination is, it can be difficult not having many of the answers or not having much of a framework to fall back on when it is inevitably tough, or there are fish everywhere that no one knows how to catch yet. And that often all falls on the guide, as the expectations somehow remain the same!

5 of the best things you have picked up from guiding?

1. A direction when I was at a loose end thanks to the wildcard thrown to me by Rob Scott and Keith Clover at African Waters. The significance of this is often reflected on, and not lost on me. 2. Some broken French with a niche vocabulary, rounded off with a Cameroonian accent apparently. 3. A belief and reassurance in the feasibility of the simple life, and doing something for the sake of it. 4. Access to a knowledge base – fishing, global, and natural – from some of the great minds and characters living and practising them. This has kept feeding the fire to carry on and see what else is out there and in reach. 5. Friendships forged in the fire of locations. Some of the camp staff and characters, boat drivers and guides who have endured the ride with me are some of the people I know best, and the best people I know.

5 of the worst things you have picked up from guiding?

1. A very rocky relationship and association with rain and wind that clashes horribly with my alternate agricultural interests. Even a slight breeze can put me on edge, and I either seem to be fearing rain or desperately hoping for some, but only the right amount. 2. Some irreparable damage to the aesthetics of my feet. Lost toenails, barefoot living and trench foot have taken their toll. 3. Residual recurring malaria that is always looking for a chance to rear its head. In my experience I’m most vulnerable after a post-season decompression blowout. 4. A three- or four-month attention span that makes me restless for a change of scene. 5. A reputation for being unavailable for big events – weddings, birthdays, holidays. Eventually even the invites seem to dry up!

5 people you would like to guide or fish with?

1. Anyone from my first season of guiding. I’ve never felt like I’ve ever fully found my feet, but hopefully I’d be able to give them an improved experience! 2. Dale Steyn. A cricketing icon who loves fly fishing for tigerfish. There should be a lot to work with there. 3. My nephew. He is under one year now, but fly fishing might be the only thing of value I could help him with and I’m already looking forward to getting stuck in.

“Get to da choppa.” Greg ferries clobber to and from the transport in CAR. Below: “The Red Sea in Sudan for timeless flats and pinnacle wading,” can result in impressive Giant Trevally. 4. Dan Lahren (Ed: legendary Montana guide who used to guide Jim Harrison, among others). He sounds like the real deal. I imagine there would be plenty to learn, and a lot of good stories in the process. 5. The next person off the plane. If we are in the same place, we are already off to a good start.

5 fish on your species hit list?

1. Tarpon, any way they come. A hook-up and head shake and I will be happy. 2. I’d love to plug a big gap by filling my boots with river trout. They are the original fly fishing quarry and I’ve largely missed the boat with them so far. 3. Yellowfish in South Africa – large and smallmouth in as many of the diverse ways of catching them as possible. 4. Bonefish. Raw speed is exhilarating, and by all accounts these are up there. 5. Redfish in skinny swamp water. A big bow wave is a beautiful thing.

5 shower thoughts that have occurred to you while fly fishing?

1. Would I listen if I was being guided by myself? 2. How many of the many baboons who watch us fish in Tanzania could competently throw a loop by now? 3. Can a tigerfish that is so tuned into its surroundings sense any shred of the joy it brings the angler who caught it and is holding it in the water? 4. What is it that is transmitted down a rod and line that separates fishy folk from un-fishy folk, and can it be learned or practised? 5. If a rod could capture data based on fish-fighting criteria (e.g. degree of flex, duration, line tension/speed, grip tightness and heart rate) and then compute it to spit out a score after each fish encounter, wouldn’t that be a much more complete way of judging a fish than size or weight?

5 of the most underrated species in your book?

1. Yellowfish and Labeobarbus species as a whole. They are so diverse, and quietly dominate vast niches. Their appearance spares them a lot of deserved attention. 2. Bluefin trevally are highly commendable for sheer bloody willingness. 3. The bigger members of the Brycinnus and Alestes species. They can be incredibly aggressive and opportunistic omnivores but require some presentation. 4. I see the Distichodidae family as dark horses harbouring more than a few sporting species, such as the fig-eating ndungu in Tanzania. 5. Barracuda. Everywhere else toothy predators are top of the pile!

5 things (outside of the fishing) that make where you fish so special?

1. The dawn chorus in Cameroon. Loud and colourful like Cameroon in general. 2. Encounters with elephants immersed in the water on the Ruhudji River. Scenes from deep time.

3. Hearing chimpanzees vocalise in the riverine forest of the Chinko Nature Reserve. This stirs some primal juices. 4. The spring flush of new leaves and flowers in the East African Miombo woodlands and West African savannah respectively. 5. The night fishing in Cameroon is special. The inversion of sun to stars comes with a whole switch in the dynamic of animal behaviour and your own sensory shift towards sound and self-awareness. There are positive spinoffs through scouting, science, reporting, training and poaching prevention that we can contribute to when out and about on the rivers. The status of these areas is always on the line and it feels good to chip in.

5 destinations on your bucket list?

1. Alaska for a foreign big wild fix, and some trout and bears. 2. Mexico for some scenic lifestyle fishing. 3. Cuba for the same reasons as Mexico. 4. Brazil for an iconic Amazonian experience. 5. New Zealand for some beach and back country action.

5 things you would take up if you weren’t always fly fishing?

1. Surfing… 2. … and scuba diving to expand my salt water skill set and horizons. 3. Playing more sport – rugby (Ed: Greg is a Tanzanian test international), cricket and tennis. I’m not ready to hang up the boots for a while yet. 4. Walking safari guiding. I’d love a chance to rack up some more hours in the bush on foot. 5. An intensive grazing land management trial on the farm.

5 essential ingredients for an incredible mission?

1. Wheels – four-wheel drive or two, and some carrying capacity – to put some distance and allow some time away from distractions. 2. Water for any combination of the following: drinking/ swimming/fishing/washing. 3. A couple of comrades; a handful who heed the call. 4. A degree of discomfort. As in, just far out enough of some comfort zones to know you are being tested on some level. 5. An agenda or focal point, even if it never gets done, just to get things started in a direction. A destination, a peak, a point, a quest – a mission, if you will.

5 flies that to look at make no sense but that catch fish all the time?

1. The colour and some of the material combinations – like huge, spiky, deer hair heads without eyes, and the mystery of EP fibre flies – are hard to explain. 2. Black and purple seems to transcend any water and fish without clearly stating why. 3. Chartreuse working in freshwater stumps me. 4. So does pure black, even in clean water. 5. The UV contrast of different materials while night fishing was a huge eye opener for me. Some combinations do make more sense under torch light, but how or why is another kettle of fish.

5 things about fly fishing that you may never understand?

1. How, in the quest to simplify, streamline and improve fly fishing, anglers now “need” to have more clutter and gear than ever. 2. How the best casts hardly ever catch the fish. 3. How the other side of the river always looks like a better setup. 4. How fly fishing seems to induce unseasonal or unprecedented rain or weather in new destinations. 5. How stationary rods on a boat find a way of tangling themselves.

5 common mistakes that most clients make?

1. Waiting far too long between finding fishing to going fishing again, with their best years in between. 2. Fishing too far and too fast, ignoring the possibility of close-by, cautious fish when covering a lie. 3. Often clients seem to find it easier to cling to their existing knowledge, even of different fish or situations, than to try and step out and try something different. Like what the guide is suggesting... 4. There is a wide spectrum of clients’ ideas of the abilities or duties of the guide. It is somewhere between “I’m a guide, not a God” and “I’m a guide not your dog!” 5. I often feel that the presence of a guide makes people feel like it is now serious business, and that they must be seen to be taking it seriously, or try to prove they are better than they are. There is nothing to hide on a day’s fishing and nowhere to hide it even if you tried.

Your last five casts were to….

… Lazily rolling Goliath tigerfish that were clearly not eating.

“THERE IS A WIDE SPECTRUM OF CLIENTS’ IDEAS OF THE ABILITIES OR DUTIES OF THE GUIDE. IT IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN “I’M A GUIDE, NOT A GOD” AND “I’M A GUIDE NOT YOUR DOG!”

From tigerfish in Tanzania (above), to Nile perch in Cameroon (below), where Greg Ghaui guides the freshwater fish are from the heavyweight category.