I have just come back from the reservoir at El Chorro where my cunning plan had been to extract a carp from the margins. I´m afraid I have to report (once again!) that I had no success. The last time I fished there I brought a foolish young dog that proceeded to leap into the water and charge up and down the shallows, scaring the hell out of the carp and every other aquatic organism in possession of a nervous system and so my lack of success was not unexpected.

So what is my excuse today? I think that I might blame the weather this time. It´s not that it was particularly bad but it was not the kind of weather that encourages the carp to venture into the shallows. I walked a fair way and scrutinised the water shallow enough to see into but the carp simply did not show up at all. The only commotion was created by the one fish that swirled loudly on the opposite side of the bay I was exploring. I bet the carp, fish that seem to have an exceptional sense of humour, take turns doing that. They figure out where the stalking angler is and then one of them wanders off somewhere out of range, and makes a big splash.

El Chorro is looking beautiful and the landscape made the journey worthwhile in itself. Recent rains have put more water into the reservoir than I have seen for several years and the exposed rocky margins I have become accustomed to walking over are now hidden under a blanket of water.

With no fish to distract me I managed to take a few snaps of this beautiful place and have added them below.

It was somewhat overcast but conditions were nevertheless reasonably good for spotting. No sign of carp though!

We have had a lot of rain this year, to everyone´s relief, and the reservoir is pretty much full.
I brought my fly rod but might have had equal success if I had brought a tennis racket or a set of golf clubs!
I noticed a lot of these as I wandered around. This is the European fan palm which is known in Spanish as palmito. This is the only palm species native to mainland Spain.