Fly Fishing destinations worldwide - FFTC.club Magazine issue I-2021

Lines, flies, leaders, approaches,
retrieves, it’s all open for experimentation,
adaptation and invention
with glorious rewards at stake.
The Tigers are absolutely electric and
borderline impossible to handle on a
rod. The Barbs are subtle, spooky and
abundant. The Perch are just an
enigma. These and everything else are
the open book of entertainment face
you every day on the Faro.
My early season quest for elephants,
and the season long pursuit of Perch
distill down the equation to its
simplest formula. In many ways they
are the Faro, the two mega faunas
dominating the spheres of land and
water that define the valley. They sit
balancing atop the rock solid
foundation of ecology that is needed
to support healthy populations of
anything this big, starting with the
multitudes of earthworms whose
activity and casts have bizarrely
shaped almost every square meter of
undisturbed terrain, performing
services that have allowed every
subsequent level in the ecological
hierarchy to thrive. The equilibrium
and level of complexity that has been
attained here is in stark contrast to
what is happening in Cameroon, and
much of Africa and the developing
world.
Returning to the river side after
spending a few days in Garoua buying
camp building equipment hammered
home how this ecosystem is by far the
most complete, pristine and
functional entity that we encountered
in a place now defined by chaos,
inefficiency and gross imbalance.
It deserves to be protected solely as
an example and reminder that peace
and stability, balance and complexity
are not foreign concepts but are in fact
a part of the local heritage, and not a
remote destination at the end of the
long road we seem to be hurtling
down.
The elephants are hanging in by a
thread, but at least there is a space still
there for them, and while the Perch are
very much present in awesome force,
they are tied to the same precarious
fate as they only can be. To ask either
of them to take an interest in our
squabble to protect or condemn them
would be well below their standings.
The Faro is in the elite bracket of
wilderness that still exists as it does
because it alway has, entirely
removed from our influences until
now. It is going to have to be us who
will have to manoeuvre to decide
which way its fortunes will fall.
By picking up our fly rods, we are
throwing ourselves into the fray
together, and in doing so, buying time
and creating awareness in the hope
that they bring with it the lifeline
needed to protect this amazing area.
It seems that in uncovering the first
truly great Perch fly fishery, we are just
in time to try and save the last one.
What an incredible opportunity, and
what a journey it will be.
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