Today I had a chance to pick up some bass flies that Johan Terblanche very kindly tied for me. I was away from home during his recent visit but he was good enough to leave them with some nearby friends and when I dropped in on them today to collect my daughter who had spent the night there, I was duly given the flies. Continue reading
Category: Fish and fishing
Two good things happened today. The first is that the broken rod that I sent off to Orvis came back. As it happens it is not just the old rod fixed up but a shiny new rod of the same vintage: Clearwater 10 foot, 4 piece for a 4 weight line. Orvis say that if they can´t repair your rod they will replace it with a similar model and they provide their rods with a 20 year guarantee.
I have to say I was very impressed with Orvis. I had bought the original rod about 3 or 4 years ago but the “thick end” behind the reel seat came apart exposing the blank. This rod was originally purchased from the US and I never filled out all the paperwork for the warranty. Nevertheless the Orvis repair people in the UK didn´t kick up a stink and charged only the usual 20 pound handling fee. They were courteous and efficient and I am much obliged to them.
The discovery of a bottle of beer was the second good thing that happened. One of the benefits of never tidying out a car is that there´s a pretty good chance that stuff that was in it once will still be there – somewhere. Sometimes too you can make the odd serendipitous discovery as I did today when I came across a litre bottle of Alhambra lager. This stowaway was obviously the legacy of a recent trip to the supermarket and it succeeded in concealing itself among the assorted debris while the rest of the shopping was being carted off to the kitchen. Today´s discovery could not have happened at a better time. At home I am all out of beer.
The Alhambra is now cooling down in the fridge. This evening, when the heat of the day is easing, I will remove it and pour myself a nice cold pint and propose a toast to the Orvis fishing tackle company.
Cheers.
I took a picture of myself holding the new fly rod. The rod looks fine, the reel looks dirty (it is) and I look like a gorilla!
Orvis cleverly put their name on the reel seat and so guys like me give them quite a lot of free advertising!
Just a matter of time!
I got in trouble with the law the other evening as I was about to launch my float tube in a reservoir close to one of Málaga´s satellite towns called Santa Rosalía. Just as I was about to slip my moorings some security guy comes up to me on his moped and asks if I am aware that I am breaking every law in the country. For one thing I am about to go afloat on the reservoir where being afloat is verboten, where swimming is verboten, and I was planning to fish within 50 metres of the dam wall which is also verboten. He was unclear about whether fishing beyond the 50 metre zone was okay but that was probably verboten too.
He was actually a nice guy and was being helpfully informative. The guardia civil would have fined me if they came across me showing such blatant contempt for the law or maybe thrown me in a dark cell never to be seen again. Continue reading
I´ll let you in on a little secret. One of the most beautiful places I have seen recently is where the Río Verde joins Concepción Reservoir near the town of Istán. It is not easy to reach and if you get there, chances are you will have the place to yourself.
Last weekend I paddled my float tube about a kilometer to reach it and it was well worth the effort. The river was crystal clear and flowed through a beautiful rock pool before making its way into the reservoir. Continue reading
There are a few places, Florida among them, where fly fishermen may, on rare occasions succeed in catching, on the same day, at least one specimen of three different species; bonefish, tarpon and permit. This is a feat for celebration and entitles the successful angler to wear a smug grin that seems almost painted on his face. His mates slap him on the back. People buy him drinks. For a while he considers himself an equal among the supernatural forces of the universe. And he pulls up a stool next to a bowl of peanuts at the pantheon of the gods. Continue reading
After school yesterday I took two of my sixth form Biology students, Frank Huisman and Elliot Lee, to the river to have a go at fly fishing. They had honed their casting skills on the school volleyball court the previous day and were keen to cast a fly where there might be a fish in the general vicinity (we all agreed that the prospects of catching on the volleyball court were not great). Continue reading
Like nearly every fly fisherman I know I have a particular soft spot for trout and was very excited recently by the prospect of fishing for the little wild trout of the upper Guadalquivir. I caught only one of these but I was nevertheless delighted. It may only have been little but it was as pretty as a picture. Continue reading
It is a little while since I fished Concepción Reservoir from a float tube but I did so this morning in the excellent company of Johan Terblanche. Johan is frequent visitor to Andalucía and another fishing nut. He has caught, amongst other things, shark on the fly. Our quarry today was likely to be smaller and less dangerous which is perfectly fine in my book! Continue reading
