Update at long last....
I have eventually managed to get round to update our catch report, it’s a shortened version as its been so long. The first half season of 2012 has been a hard year, very cold weather and crap conditions right up to May, however we did get out a few pb´s and some descent fishing in.
Fishing in Extremadura during June, July and August is basically a no-no, temperatures average 40 deg and it is unbearable to be on the bank during the day, however we did get some time on the bank, mainly setting up at 9pm (34 deg) and packing up around 10 the next morning.
I have been teaching Miguel carp fishing, right from the basics.. His pb was around 5lb until he caught a 16lb common and his next fish landed was this cracking common of just under 32lb...
biggest fish for me was this 37lb 8 oz common. I had
around 10 other hard fighting fish around 25lb
Antonio´s new PB of
17.5lb taken on his first ever Carp fishing session with Craig on the Orellana,
unfortunately Julie, his friend, lost a fish … The lads are just a couple from
the village fishing club who Craig has been giving fishing lessons to.
Late August and Chino was on holiday so I had along
weekend on the Orellana with him and his family. Plenty of friends and family
turned up so we let them have a go on our rods.. We had around 30 runs- 3 x30s,
biggest being 37lb 8oz, plenty of upper 20s and unfortunately I lost a ´lump´on
an underwater craypot. Never the less, we had a great laugh, and the visitors
landed their first ever carp.
Even the farm hand had his lunch with us and had a go.
A 30 plus for Chino and myself
37lb 8oz for Isa, Chinos sister. The first fish she landed was around 20lb, this one weighed in at 37lb 8oz....well done Isa .....
Chule with his first Carp
Isa a competent Black Bass angler, needed just a little advice
You always get one!!! ¨Chule with little Chino¨
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I managed a bit of fishing with them and banked this 38lb 10 oz Common
Ken gets a run whilst filming fish topping on the Orellana
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One of the 2
competitions entered on Orellana in April -May. We managed 2nd out of 22 pairs
with a 37lb Common to Stu´s rods., it was hard work with cold weather and
storms, plus a huge hatch that went on for the 3 days.. Thats fishing!!
Birds hit the hatch for 3 days, so were most Carp
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One social event went horribly wrong, but a great time was had by all.I had just fished a 3 day competition with Gary from Alicante in which only 5 fish had been banked out of over 30 pairs of anglers. Fish were all over the place, crashing like mad but weren’t interested. We worked hard at it, trying everything until one of my rods eventually screamed off -10 minutes after the whistle had gone, either way it wouldn’t of counted as I lost it, I had gone down so fine (18lb flouro hooklength)it cleaned me off –remember these are strong wild carp here. .
Next day I went for an overnighter as we had permission to fish the night in an area we don’t normally night fish, we are restricted to night fishing only a small area of the lake I got hit by a huge storm and the night was uneventful other than the crazy weather.,.
Moving on to our
allocated pegs Stu and I drew a bad swim, unfishable due to the weed. The
weather was mad, storms and rain, 4x4´s getting stuck and Spanish makeshift
bivvys getting blown into the fields behind. Nevertheless, we had a few laughs
and Chino and Fernando caught a few fish.
The Nissan was called for to get this one out, the Suzuki just bounced
around on the spot with tyres spinning, not enough weight or power..
A typical Spanish ´bivvy´ very social events normally, all the family, pets and usually a traditional ´Paella´cooked for everyone.. Unfortunately just after setting it up, a storm blew it into an ajoining field.
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My really serious session
with Jake Langley Hobbs on Brava ...
After the mad weekend with friends, where Stu and I blanked, we
were struggling on our allocated pegs, as we were fishing over heavy weed and
fish were showing further up. I spoke to Jake, who was alone on Brava and he
suggest i should have our first session together and fish next to him on Brava.
I decided to stay on Orellana but move to the area a little further down where
Fernando and Chino had runs from. After moving, within hours the fish start
spawning, so the next day, I rang Jake and asked if it was still ok to go fish
with him. So I headed to Brava to set up in my 5th peg of the week, I was
knackered and determined to enjoy it and relax with a few beers. I did big
style…, I didn’t take it too serious, which cost me several fish, as I recast
rods after runs whilst making new (different) rigs up. I would normally change
things first. It was a good session, plenty of runs, piss taking and we both
managed to land a several 30lb plus fish….
I didn’t like the mice there
though….., they must have grown huge since my last visit, they kept on nicking food n stuff, even
my coffee jar… Was a great chill out – thx Jake..
They
had a little bad luck with the abnormall weather we have had this year, but had
plenty Barbel and Carp on tip and waggler tactics.
A bite a chuck, first
Barbel for the lads, and a PB double. These Carp are small, but scrap like hell
on light tackle.
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Marty and Peter drew
the short straw on their visit, gale force winds. It never stopped until the
last day or so, and to be quite honest, by that time we were all worn out and
beaten.
After 3 days no sleep,
due to the crashing waves, Peter pleaded to swap bivvy with me so he could
sleep, he was exhausted and his head drumming. I was bivvied up in the shelter
of the trees a fair few meters from the bank. They caught fish, not many and
not big, It was probably the hardest week of my 11 year guiding career, luckily
they both were great blokes and we managed to take it in our strides, only just
but we did…...
