The Guadalquivir is a hell of a river. It is over 400 miles long making it the fifth longest in the Iberian Peninsula and the second longest to keep itself within Spain and not to go wandering off into Portugal.
We spent a couple of days fishing the upper part of the river around the town of Mogón and further upstream into the section that falls within the Parque Natural Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas.
You should see the river here. It is just beautiful and it provides the wild trout with everything they need; cold, clear and richly-oxygenated water that conveys the aquatic invertebrates and terrestrial insects that they need to sustain themselves.
The Guadalquivir is born in the Sierra de Cazorla (although this claim is disputed) in a place called la Cañada de las Fuentes, between big rocks, 1300 metres up in the mountains.
One of the curious features of “our” stretch of the river was that the water level was subject to frequent changes due to water released from a reservoir called Embalse de Tranco which is located upstream. We were told to keep an eye on changes in level because it is quite easy to find access points cut off or find yourself stranded on the “wrong” side of the river and unable to cross it safely. While we were there the flow of water varied between about six and sixteen cubic metres per second.
In an hour or so I have to head off to Germany with a school trip and will leave details of the fishing methods, the flies used, and the beautiful trout until I have a little more time.
Before I sign off, though, I would like to put in a word for the man who runs the rural guest house that put up our little party. His name is Javier Sánchez. The guest house is just inside the Natural Park in the Sierra de Villas and you can hear the stream which acts as the park border from his guest house.
If you ever make your way to this beautiful part of Spain he will take good care of you and there are no end of things to do here whether you are a fisherman or not. Places like his are hidden jewels. I promised to mention his guest house in this blog and this link will give you further information: www.casaruralrompecalzas.es
A netted trout is about to be unhooked and released
Steve Lawler fishing dry fly on the river. Soon after this photo was taken the river level rose and we had to make a quick exit!
This is the river in the town of Mogón. I was thigh deep in the river here right underneath a suspension bridge.
fishydreams 