fishydreams

Every now and then I have a bit of time to myself and I realised on Friday that nobody had any particular plans for Saturday, or at least any plans involving me. The folks at home wanted a day to just chill and they gave me their blessing to disappear to the river for a dose of hydrotherapy. No sooner said than done!

The weather has begun to change as it does each year at around this time and some recent heavy downpours have breathed some life into the river.

It can be quite surprising how these changes seem to affect the distribution of the fish. I carefully stalked the summer hotspots but found them largely devoid of fish and it seemed I would have to go back to the drawing board.

Fortunately there were a few fish around and I took a couple of gipsies on nymphs in the first hour or so before things went a little quiet. Wild boar have been roaming along the river bank and it was quite something to stalk the banks and realise that my foot prints were joining the tracks of these heavy animals which busily forage the river banks while we sleep. Continue reading →

My wife unexpectedly suggested yesterday evening that I wander off to the river for the last couple of hours of daylight. The alternative was sitting around watching Doctor Who on the telly and so I jumped at the chance. I was also keen to see if the curse of Madonna, which had destroyed my fishing prospects in the morning, had finally been lifted.

I decided to fish the reach of the river closest to home, very close to the confluence of the Guadalhorce and the now largely dry Río Grande. I was hoping for a carp and knew of a good pool where I had seen them in the past. I was hoping also that the last hour of light might have them throw caution to the wind and settle down to feed and, sure enough, there were several fish stationed at the head of the silt trails which indicate that the carp are not only present but are feeding.

I managed to catch one of these carp and it was a beautiful strong fish. This carp was quite preoccupied with feeding and was doing that curious “mud shuffle” motion where it rocked from side to side,  its upper back sometimes coming clear of the water. Continue reading →

Yesterday evening turned out to be as good as I could have asked for. The shadows were lengthening when I got to the river and I figured on about and hour and a half or so of decent fishing light.

August seems to be the month for carp on the Guadalhorce. I remember making much the same observation last year. The barbel resolutely refused to play ball and, even in shallow runs where they will often grab at a passing nymph, they were nervous and inclined to scatter when the fly landed in the water. Barbel can be like this and so I left them alone and wandered off to see if there were any carp about. Continue reading →

Sometimes it is difficult to decide how to use the morning you may have gone to some lengths to secure for the purposes of fly fishing. Initially, I had it in mind on that I might fish for bass from the float tube, particularly given that the forecast was for very hot weather and having the lower part of your body immersed in a reservoir is a pretty effective way to prevent over heating.

But in the end it was the river that won out, as it so often does, and the prospect of some gipsy barbel or, if I was lucky, some carp. Continue reading →

It is 36 degrees Celsius in the shade at the moment and the dogs, normally happy to sleep in the shade outside, are stretched indoors cooling their tummies on the tiles. Outside there is not much happening. The cicadas are doing their thing but almost everything else seems to be sitting out the hot hours in whatever shade is available. Here indoors, things are much the same for us. Grandad, who is staying with us for a couple of weeks, is having a snooze on the sofa because the cat is sleeping on his bed while Pippa is crashed out on mine!

Yesterday I spent the evening at the river. I arrived as the sting of the heat was beginning to subside and I stayed, not quite until darkness but until I had just landed a nice fish and didn´t give much for my chances of getting another before darkness arrived. Generally, the fish can be taken throughout the day, although during the mid summer they tend to have times when they succumb to the general torpor that afflicts us all. It is really the comfort of the angler that leads to the decision to approach the river early in the day, or very late. Continue reading →