Archive for May, 2016


Summertime and the living is easy……

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Natural history, Other bits and bobs — 2 Comments
May 27, 2016

I don´t know about how high the cotton is but fish are certainly jumping, or at least they were last Saturday. The Guadalhorce was looking good after having been shaken up a little by recent rains. The fish were in the fast water and I managed to catch some barbel, 10 I think, in the faster stretches.

Heading back home I stopped to take in the view of the fish milling around in the water at the foot of a weir. There were mullet, gypsy barbel and carp all packed together just behind the white water. Continue reading →

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Mountaineering Turtle

Filed under: Natural history, Other bits and bobs — Leave a comment
May 26, 2016

On the way back from the river the other day I nearly walked on a turtle. At the time I was clambering over some rocks and just before planting my foot I realized that one of the rocks looked odd. It was. It was a turtle that embarked on what, from a turtle´s point of view, would have been a major mountaineering adventure. Continue reading →

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Giant Catfish or Tiny Trout?

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Natural history — Leave a comment
May 12, 2016

Up in the Ebro you can catch catfish that weigh a couple of hundred pounds and must be the best part of 10 feet long. They have mouths that could swallow a football.

The prospect of catching these great lumps draws people from all over Europe and, for many freshwater fisherman, they represent the ultimate catch – the ultimate catch, that is, if you want to catch something bigger than you are, or if you want to brag to your mates. Continue reading →

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What´s the best fly for carp?

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Flies and fly tying, Folks I know — Leave a comment
May 11, 2016

Good question. Like many good questions the answer is not straightforward. In fact it doesn´t have an answer at all. The truth is carp are very adaptable and they do what fish do best, which is to feed on whatever is available and, given the choice, the source of food that provides the most nutrition for the effort required to obtain it. Carp, just like the rest of us, want the most bang for their buck.

If you asked a seasoned trout fisherman what the best fly for trout is you will get a deluge of answers. You will get suggested patterns ranging from diminutive midges through to large streamers and Chernobyl Ants that look like the Titanic but have greater inherent buoyancy. The real answer to the question, unsatisfactory as it may be, is “it depends.” And it is the things that it depends on that make fly fishing so absorbing. Continue reading →

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Extremadura Fishing Party

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Folks I know, Other bits and bobs — 2 Comments
May 8, 2016

A couple of weeks back Steve Lawler and I headed off to Extremadura to see if there were any fish swimming around up there and to meet up with some fly fishermen who had been up there for a few days. These guys had abandoned the grim weather in Scotland to find equally grim weather in Extremadura. But these were hardy types and not given to complaining. Fishing, if it teaches you nothing else, will help you to be philosophical and reminds us to keep our expectations in check. Continue reading →

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Don´t blame the horses

Filed under: Fishing reports, Other bits and bobs — Leave a comment
May 2, 2016

I guess I could go blaming the horses for my unsuccessful stint on the river yesterday afternoon. There were horses everywhere and often they were being ridden right down the middle of the river which does´t make life any easier for a fly fisherman trying to sneak up on a fish. There was at least one occasion when I got myself into a promising situation or began to work some nice looking water when, all of a sudden the four or more horsemen of the apocalypse would come galloping over and scare the síit out of everything in the river including me! Continue reading →

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