March update - first carp anglers

 

The weekend away was enjoyable, I did make new friends and enjoyed the session, however I drew a blank. But at least it wasn’t only me, my fishing partner Stu and everyone else on the lake also blanked, all except 1 angler who managed to bank a 36lb common. But hey, that’s fishing…… Stu and I worked very hard for a fish, first we found out the lakes features, we tried a selection of baits at different depths, , watching crashing fish and trying to work out what depths they were feeding at, if at all they were feeding, and so on, but to no avail……..

Despite the blank, I will certainly have another go at the lake, It would be nice to fish with Gaz, a friend that fished it for 4 days last year, also blanking… We shall see…. But first there’s some huge lumps in Orellana to try and tempt….

All prepared, waiting and chilling….. Guinness now in stock at our local supermarket…pure genius

March Update

Were only half way through March, but will put on an update now as we won’t get much time to report over the next few weeks, we will be busy on the bank with clients... … This weekend however, I am taking a little time for myself and going to fish a lake I have wanted to fish for several years but never got round to it.  I have been invited to fish with a Spanish club, so I am looking forward to making some new friends and hopefully experiencing catching a lump of two from another Big Fish Venue hidden away in Spain’s back garden…

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Back to the update.. Our first group of Carp anglers out this year have just left, and what a hard time we all had. Before their arrival we discussed our approach, the fishing has been very slow lately due to the harsh winter we had and the current weather…. According to the forecast the winds would be very light, mainly easterly and cold, so they opted to go for a runs for the first few days, then see what would happen with the weather, then possibly stick it out for a good fish. Both anglers are experienced and have landed many 30 plus fish from UK, however fishing here is a little different to what they are used to but they did great with their approach and bait presentation.

We fished a venue where we would have more chance of runs, however the fish don’t quite reach sizes of the Orellana fish, but a 50 would be a possibility. Within the first 36 hours they had 5 runs, biggest fish of 25lb, small but more than welcome considering the conditions.

I even managed to get my rods out and managed a small carp, first fish of the year, so I’m off the mark...

a small 25lb for the big fella

On the second morning we discussed our approach for the following, and last, 36 hours fishing they would have. With a strong westerly pushing, they decided to hit the Orellana rather than Sierra Brava, and hope that the westerly had got the fish into feeding mode. After several hours of packing up and travelling, we reached the area that I had a feeling the fish would be in and we were happy to see fish topping. Most were small fish but there were the odd carp showing, IF only this westerly was to last.

We only had to wait a couple of hours for the Spanish anglers that were fishing the swim to vacate the area, then we were in. Our timely arrival was Sunday early afternoon, so if there were any anglers there, they would surely be leaving after lunch, and they were. Great, but we did have to contend with their winter ´filling it in´ approach, so we presented baits around the area by bait boat with little free offerings, hoping to pick up the odd run. I talked to the Spanish anglers, they had landed 7 tench to 8lb and lost a carp, so hopes were high. Both Rob´s and Steve’s baits were out just before dark, so we were happy, even more so when throughout the night we heard plenty of carp crashing around.

A little after first light the inevitable happened - the dreaded easterly, and a bloody strong one; it was bad enough having to contend with the heavy ground frost, let alone this. All hope of a run was fading away, fast, so I decided to relax and catch up on a few z´s. After 3 hours, the lads were worried, not about me, but getting to the airport the following day; however after finding the keys to the 4x4 they weren’t bothered. They were just about to check my pulse when I woke.

The wind stayed with us all day, dropping slightly as night drew in, then with no warning it turned to a gale. Early hours Rob had a take and landed his first Orellana Wild carp. Only small at 17lb, but again a more than welcome fish, I was at it again, sleeping, the walkie-talkies had gone flat and I slept through the commotion of Steve filling the wellies as he landed the fish.

A little after first light the wind dropped and even, for a few minutes, blew from the west, hope for a run in the dying minutes had risen. We quickly sent out the bait boat with a couple of rigs in it (one each) and before we knew it Steve’s baitrunner was screaming, he was it to an Orellana Carp. Unfortunately the hook pulled as the fish made a strong run from the margin, it wasn’t a bad fish either. 

It was back to packing up as the wind got stronger, yes easterly again, when out the blue Robs alarm started screaming. I immediately looked at the rod that had just gone out, but was surprised to see it wasn’t moving, it was his right rod that had been in since our arrival. As he fought the fish, we made a quick change of wellies, Rob had the dry ones on that I wanted to help land the fish, all went smoothly and after a steady battle the fish was in the net.

Over the 5 days the lads had 11 runs, biggest fish a 41lb 12oz Orellana Common – a new PB for Rob.

Robs new PB, a 41lb 12oz Orellana Common

Well done lads, was a trying few days. Craig

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The week before, Simon and Chris ventured over in pursuit of large Barbel.
They spent half their stay on the Orellana hoping for the huge elusive Barbel that reside there, but with no luck… The other days were day sessions in 3 other lakes, they had decided to look around on their first visit and check out the variation of venues we have here. They were surprised that we had such a large choice of lakes to fish, all so different, not only in features and landscape, but baiting tactics’. Some baits work well in one lake but not the next.

 Chris caught steadily; nothing huge however Simon had the luck of getting into the big fish, unfortunately he had bad luck trying to land them. He ended up losing 3 large Barbel, unlucky mate.

Heres a couple of Chris´s catches, unfortunately he is too ugly to show his face.  

Seriously, theres justiied reasons we cant show him.

It was a cracking week with lots of piss taking, especially as Simon had glitter in his suntan lotion, what a sight he was glistening away in the sun. He emailed me a couple of days after getting home and said he was still covered in it, it wouldn’t come off. I am beginning to wonder about that lad, he said he got it half price in a sale, but it I think he picked it out of his secret cosmetics’ cupboard by mistake. haha
Simon, who is a qualified fly fishing instructor, and I showed each other casting techniques, He gave me tips on the fly and for him it was distance casting on carp rod, needless to say he improved more than me. Another great week with cracking lads….

If you looking to buy quality branded fishing tackle, check out the following site, there prices are unbeatable.   

http://www.cheshirefishingtackle.co.uk/    

February update

February news

We didn’t get time on the bank much through Feb; and the cold front did manage to affect us, it was freezing.

First off Andreas took time out and braved the freezing conditions for came for a couple of days Barbel fishing. His first visit with us last year was for carp, he smashed his PB of 8lb several times, over the 3 days he banked fish to over 36lb. This time, the talented fly angler wanted to pursue Barbel of over 10KG, 22lb.

We fished for the elusive Orellana Barbel, on the swim that Dave had the 30lb Comizo out late last year, even though the temperatures dipped to an incredible -8 on the 3 day session he still had a take, but unfortunately didn’t make contact with the fish...

The only other session was on the Orellana when Stu popped up for a few days. He was very confident with the new bait he had with him, the well proven Essentialbaits B5, I would also fish with a cracking bait, Vital baits k12.  

On arriving at the bank, there was the odd fish showing but not many, however, 24 hours into the session, as night fell, we noticed the warm sun had brought out the midges and other flying insects too. Throughout the night, we had liner after liner, carp crashing and topping all over the 100 acre bay and over our baited spots, but none of the rods burst into life. Nothing. The fish had come in and feasted on the hatch and weren’t interested in anything else, even the selection of quality baits from Vital and Essential.

We stuck it out, with the hope of a winter lump, but after 3 days, with seeing fewer fish every day we thought about just getting our first fish of the year. There was 2 choices of venues for us to get our first fish of the New Year, one being Sierra Brava. As we were discussing our options, a Spanish angler approached us from out of nowhere, we chatted and found out that he had been fishing Brava for 3 days and it was as equally as hard there, he and his 2 friends had blanked and thought they would move to Orellana. After he left, I made a quick call to Jake at Brava who confirmed the fishing was slow, so we took a 3^rd option, go home and live to fight another day. At least I did get the chance to dust the cobwebs off my fly rod and practice my diabolical casting, and of course it’s always great to be on the bank…..

January Update

It’s been a crazy January for us here, travelling all over the place visiting friends and family, getting the vehicles through their tests and serviced for the new season ahead. Therefore we haven’t managed to get any time on the bank.

The weather, up to now, has been mild with little rain over the first part of winter; the water levels are still quite low, but warm, so we´re looking forward to getting some fishing in, that is when this freezing front clears off. Luckily we are on the edge of the harsh weather, its cold but not as bad as some areas of Spain,  there is loads of snow about and temperatures have dropped down to -12….

So until we get time to get back on the bank and get some fish out, we will leave you with this video. Just a few fish we have caught from the area over the last year or so.

We would like to wish everyone a Happy and prosperous New Year.

We haven’t had much opportunity to fish for a while, with or without guests, except for Stu and Kevin who visited in December, however we are looking forward to an exciting new year ahead.

Over the next couple of months we won’t get much time on the bank, amongst things like maintaining vehicles, boats and fishing equipment, skiing etc etc etc   we will be designing a new website. The new site will be simple to follow and explain everything new we have to offer.

Stu with his PB Orellana Carp of 53lb, taken in December.

Just to wet your appetites, heres a few of the fish we have had the last part of the season.

AND FINALLY!! We have many new groups of anglers that will be fishing with us this year, and as ever our regulars that come year after year, so if you think you have what it’s got to take on these wild Extremadura fish, let us know, availability is getting tight.

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Its been hard fishing this second half of the season, lack of winds – well except for easterly’s, the abnormal long summer with temperatures well into the 30s till late October. And when the weather did change, it went to the extremes with horrendous storms and a lot of rain, however we have had some good fish with several lads still getting new PB,s.

Sunrise over the Orellana

The biggest Carp banked over the last few weeks took the scales round to 59 lb 12oz, we’ve had several 40s, plenty of 30s and even Comizo Barbel to over 30lb.

A typical Orellana Sunset

November

 

The water temperature actually dropped over 5 degrees the last week when Mal and Dom were here. It’s now down to 15 degs, so when Dutch Biker Martien arrived things were slow and it carried on like that. Again mainly easterly winds with the odd rain storm, but we kept at it scaling down to try and get runs off the many fish topping in the area. I managed a Carp of around 28lb and Martien one at 31lb early on, then one of my baited areas produced a nice surprise for me, a new PB Barbel at 24lb. Soon after another bigger fish, lost to an underwater crayfish pot and then another PB at 26.5lb. Not the Carp I was after but a couple of good Barbel.

We struggled on praying for one of the lumps crashing in the area to take one of our baits, but it wasn’t to happen. Martien lost a couple of fish on long distance rods but managed to land the 3^rd run from the feature, a new PB at over 41lb. Continuing with the small hook and bait approach he also landed a 37lb Common and I finished it off with yet another Barbel at just over 20 lb.

20lb

24lb

26.5lb

Gaz  and the lads were also up a couple of weeks ago, they had fished the Orellana with us several years ago and had a fair few fish to around 30lb. Over the last few years they have hit the Ebro, and did well, once they had 5 x 40s in a weeks session. This time they took on the Orellana alone but to no avail, after a few days with no runs they moved to waters they knew. Hope they come back next year, would like to do a social session with you all…

OCTOBER

Dom and Mal returned, this time both wanted to stick it out for big fish. Last trip Dom had a PB Mirror at over 43 lb and a Common around 40, but it wasn’t to happen this trip!! They managed 3 days fishing out of the week due to very heavy rains, storms and high winds, what a nightmare, good on the ´office boys´ for sticking it out.

The kiss of death was probably Mal asking ´when was the last time you had a group blank?´   ´The only fish was to my rods with this 41.5lb Common, hope you get better luck next visit boys.

Dave was back again bringing a great present with him. Most of our prepared meals do have vegetables in them; however he thought we could do with a steaming kit. It’s now so much easier to prepare a meat n veg dinner, just like this Lamb dish.

This dish was prepared inside a bivvy whilst a storm was brewing outside, however we managed to get the meal over before the full strength of the storm hit us. Dave slept on a chair in my bivvy as the storm hit us, why he thought mine was safer than his I don’t know. It was crazy with wind gusting to over 80km/hr, a couple of times we ran round all the pegs to make sure they hadn’t vibrated loose – we survived it.

Enough of that for now, about the fishing  - Dave suggested a little bet (he was alone I was going to fishing with him), probably because he did so well last year as he had plenty of fish to 46lb on his first Carp fishing session.

He suggested a 2 way bet between us, biggest fish and total weight. Loser of the bet would pay for the final night T bone steak and the other pay for the nights beers. He got off to a cracking start – at one stage he had around a 85lb - O lead. Heres some of his fish, at one stage he had 4 fish for over 110lb, one being a Barbel at 30lb 8oz, nice surprise. 

It didn’t last for long; I caught steadily with most fish over 30 lb to take both biggest fish and most weight with these fish. The fishing was hard, however we had plenty of laughs and good food. The question is will Dave suggest a bet next year? We will see, looking forward to his next visit, it was a great steak, even better being bought for me lol

Stu came up for a 3 day session, again bad fishing conditions, easterly winds and hot. Whats going on with the weather, when’s it going to give us a break???? The session was hard,  I couldn’t get a run whilst Stu´s only run was from this 15.5lb Comizo Barbel, the first Comizo out of Orellana I have never seen  in 7 yrs, so what a surprise, especially for 5pm in hot sunny conditions. Well done Stu

What another hard week, easterly breeze, full moon and hot everyday with temperatures around 34 deg every day. Nevertheless the Dutch lads did ok considering.

 

 Erwin banking a new PB again, last year he had one at 46.5lb and this year he upped it a little to 48lb and a lovely looking fish too. Erik had 4 fish all 30´s, biggest weighing in at 38.5lb a couple of pounds below his PB, well done Pretty boy.  It was, as always great to see the lads and enjoy a few beers with them, they like to enjoy their time here, catching fish is a bonus. See you next year lads.

After the lads left, Craig managed to get an evening fishing with mate Chino.

Chino was with his missus and little Carlos (18 months) so he thought he would join them for a couple of beers and chuck out the rods. Chino found the smaller fish were moving and even starting to feed a little, he had 6 runs with fish to 28lb, Craig baited up with Vital Baits boilies and had one run, this 32lb 8oz common, Not bad as it was a finca they haven’t fished for a couple of years and no prebaiting.

Let’s hope the weather changes soon, regular Stu is coming up for a social but fresh easterly winds are forecast for the week.

SEPTEMBER UPDATE

We have had a high pressure drifting over us for weeks now, no wind, hot – up to 38 degrees and no rain for months. The water needs oxygenating, but we are struggling on.

At the moment we have out a couple of pleasure anglers, they’re getting the odd fish- small Carp, Barbel and Crucian Carp. Mikes had several Carp to around 12lb - great fun on light tackle -  whilst ´ugly bloke Ian´ has had up to 18 fish a day consisting of Crucians averaging over 3lb and carp to double figures.   

I say ´ugly bloke Ian´ as he was called this by a little English boy whilst enjoying a beer in a bar. Ian said ´Fancy travelling all the way here to b e called ´ugly´ by an English Kid  - an ugly English kid at that´

 Next week sees the return of the 3 regular daft Dutch lads and back to Carp fishing, let’s hope theres a change in the weather, not that it’s forecasted another week of the dreaded easterly winds… Either way we are looking forward to seeing them again.

 Arthur (A young 72) visits us once a year with friend Tony (68) and fish an area of the lake where there’s lots of smaller fish around the 25lb mark. Due to the conditions they struggled and only had 9 runs in 5 days, however every now and then the area produces a bigger fish, and it was Arthur who got lucky with this PB 40lb Orellana Common. Well done mate.

As it was slow due to the abnormally hot weather, they joined Craig in an area for bigger fish. 

It was also hard work; however Craig managed the only 2 runs in the 3 days, one being the 59lb12oz Common that nearly dragged poor Arthur into the lake when it was in the landing net. We are not into naming fish, but this one was nicknamed - Tyson.

It never stopped fighting, even in the cradle, an animal. Not the best of looking fish at 59 lb 12 oz, but Craigs Orellana PB.

He has the luck this year, in 9 days fishing Feb and March he had 48lb, 46lb 4 oz, 44lb, 41lb 12oz, 40lb

Craigs 48lb Orellana carp, biggest of a 60 hour session in March. Also had a 39, 38.5, 36, 33, seven 20s and a couple of upper teens

Craig was asked to do a presentation on Carp fishing at a Fair in the area. Pedro Luengo, president of local Carp fishing Club Talacarp had asked us the last couple of years, but we never managed to get there due to being busy. Arthur and Tony wandered around as Craig showed anglers end tackle and explained about counter balanced baits and pop-ups.

Here´s Craig talking to a local Police officer about bait presentation, but what’s that face about!!!

Were back on the bank and into the new season after the summer break

Our first group of the season sees the return of John, Cliff and Mark - and what a hard week it was…..Temperatures in the upper thirties, little wind - the fish just didn’t want to feed, but they certainly showed themselves.

We literally had hundreds of fish topping in the area every day, and some were very big lumps. Cliff had 8 fish in total, 5 within six hours on the same rod. Then after a move to the mouth of the bay a couple of days later he had other 3 within two hours, again all on the same rod. In total he had 4 x 30lb plus fish, biggest a 37lb common, nothing like his 52lb Common last year, but he did have his first Orellana Mirror at 31lb.

So frustrating for Mark and John, seeing so many fish crashing over the baits but with only 1 run each, Johns on the first morning, and Marks on the last night. Well done to the lads for sticking it out.

Craig had a social session early September, just really checking out to see if the fish were showing and the features as the water level has dropped so much. They had several runs between them, mainly upper twenties with Craig and Philipe landing the largest fish of the session with these at 35lb and a 36.5lb for Philipe.

It’s been a busy summer for us and we didn’t get time to update our blog, so heres a brief look at what some of our guests caught earlier on in the year.

Lee, Tom and Tony ventured over, the second trip for Lee. He turned up late as he went directly from Seville to Madrid to watch his team get thrashed by Madrid. The bad luck wasnt to change. The lads had this Common within the hour of casting out, however the Carp went into spawning mode and even with moving to the lower end of the lake, the fish just wouldnt feed. Probably one of the worst weeks we had.

Colin with his irst Barbel ever. He had plenty of action on the tip and float, bagging up with Carp and Barbel.

Dom and Malcolm travelled together but each had different targets. Mal was after runs and Dom was just after the bigger fish. To begin with, things were hard with an easterly wind, however things got better as the wind changed. Dom managed to land a PB Mirror at 43.5lb and a PB Common just under the 40 lb mark. Mal on the other hand was so chuffed with so many runs from fish well into the 20s, he actually wound in his rods at lunchtime one day, he had around 15 runs that morning.

Fly angler Andreas wanted a go at carp fishing so he visited us for 3 days. With a PB Carp of 8lb under his belt it wasn’t hard to beat. He took to it like a duck to water and hammered his PB several times with several 20lb plus fish and this 34lb Common.