Yesterday I succeeded in catching the third smallest fish in the Río Guadalhorce. I landed this modest creature after having previously hooked the second smallest and the smallest fish in this river. Those other two fish proceeded to inhale a fly that was roughly the same size as themselves. Both also flew through the air and landed in the river behind me, having parted company with the fly as they were hoisted from the water. As far as I could tell they landed safe and sound and were unharmed by the whole experience. I imagine that when they re-entered the water after their arching flight through the air and having regained their composure, they said to themselves “Jesus Christ! What just happened there?!”
All three of these tiddlers were bleak, a species known for its reluctance to grow large. My brother Sean pointed out that they look like tiny tarpon, and I suppose they do, but you might be over gunning somewhat if you fish for them with a ten weight.
The third smallest fish, like his predecessors, had enjoyed the excitement of being momentarily airborne but unlike the others he managed to remain attached and I was able to bring him to hand. Little would it have known, that it was very likely making history, for being the very first fish ever to be taken on a fly tied using feathers from penguins.
Why tie a fly with penguin feathers? The simple answer is that I happened to have had a bunch of these things gifted to me by a colleague and it seemed that tying a fly with one might be an interesting endeavour. The feathers, it turns out, have limited usefulness as a fly-tying material although they are, by all accounts, pretty good at keeping penguins warm. On balance, that might be considered to be more important. Penguins, they say, live in pretty chilly places.
After my triumph with the bleak I retired my “penguin fly” and replaced it with a more conventional little dry fly which was good enough to fool a dozen or so barbel. I did not annoy any of these barbel by taking a picture of it. They were modestly sized, all of them, but compared to the third smallest fish in the river, they were absolute giants.
