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A chance encounter with mountain goats

Filed under: Natural history, Other bits and bobs — Leave a comment
July 29, 2016

The ibex is what the locals would call the “cabra de montaña” or mountain goat, which stands to reason because it is a kind of wild goat and the mountains are where you will find them.

I was lucky enough to come close to a female ibex and her kid the other evening as I was paddling around in my float tube casting into the margins. The two ibex showed little alarm and spent a while grazing in the vegetation close to the waters edge and I was lucky enough to get some reasonable photographs. View full article »

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Crayfish Wars

Filed under: Natural history, Other bits and bobs — 3 Comments
July 25, 2016

From time to time I have come across the remains of crayfish on the banks of the Guadalhorce river but had never seen any live specimens until yesterday evening when I chanced upon three individuals which I must have disturbed from the marginal vegetation. They scurried out into the shallow river leaving a trail of disturbed silt in their wakes. View full article »

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A little secret

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July 8, 2016

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. View full article »

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Grand Slam

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Other bits and bobs — 2 Comments
July 3, 2016

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. View full article »

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A nice carp

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Flies and fly tying, Other bits and bobs — 2 Comments
July 2, 2016

I caught a good carp today. It took a fly intended for black bass and I had no reason initially to think it was not a big bass. The fly was cast in close to the margin and I had just begun to work it back when everything went solid.

I saw a flash of flank initially and it did seem pretty dark but then the fish sounded and for the next 10 minutes or so I saw nothing beyond the end of my fly line or the first few inches of leader. View full article »

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New Recruits

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June 30, 2016

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). View full article »

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A little trout from Andalucía

Filed under: Books and stuff, Fish and fishing, Natural history, Other bits and bobs — 4 Comments
June 28, 2016

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. View full article »

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French Nymphing

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June 27, 2016

In the face of it “French nymphing” sounds like a highly dubious activity that might appeal only deranged perverts. Thankfully it is not quite as dodgy as it sounds. French nymphing so no more and no less than a simple and very effective way of extracting trout from rivers. I knew a little about it before receiving some instruction a little over a week ago on the Upper Guadalquivir. View full article »

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Fishing Concepción with Johan

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Folks I know, Other bits and bobs — 2 Comments
June 26, 2016

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! View full article »

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Fishing the upper Guadalquivir

Filed under: Fishing reports, Natural history, Other bits and bobs — Leave a comment
June 20, 2016

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. View full article »

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