[Joss]

Top write up bud and some loverly piccies... :LMAO:

Mate of mine does sone carpin there and he said when its hard, its granite!!!, but normally its fantastic fishing....next time Flatty, you'll have them.. :thumb:

[neo]

Looks like you have found your own fishing utopia flatty.........its not about catching sometimes..........

[Mode101]

Great write up Flatty your crack it sooner or later.

Fecking sun would have done me in mate

This post has been edited by Mode101: 16 September 2009 - 05:18 PM

[flatliner]

Sir_Blankalot, on Sep 16 2009, 04:38 PM, said:

Great read that Nelly bet it took ages to write.
Shame about the fishing but hats off to you for trying something new.

Didnt take that long mate made notes whilst I was there, yes, something new, awesome and I will be going back very soon

This post has been edited by flatliner: 16 September 2009 - 04:50 PM

[Sir_Blankalot]

flatliner, on Sep 14 2009, 04:11 PM, said:

Sorry about the delay boys been busy since I got back.

Back from a weeks fishing in Spain, it was more like an adventure.........................................

Great read that Nelly bet it took ages to write.
Shame about the fishing but hats off to you for trying something new.

[jambo]

Rob, on Sep 14 2009, 04:24 PM, said:

Some stunning scenery there and good pics but did you catch anything? :lol:

did he go, are they post cards wheres the fish photos

[Rob]

Some stunning scenery there and good pics but did you catch anything?

[flatliner]

Sorry about the delay boys been busy since I got back.

Back from a weeks fishing in Spain, it was more like an adventure, alas we did not have one take in the whole week, which was due to very high pressure and it being scorching hot, unusual conditions for this time of year in the area. It was not through want of trying extremely hard though and as I had a guide for the week who knows the area like the back of his hand it wasn’t down to my noddy angling!

The waters over there, especially the Orellana are capable of ripping your heart and soul out, tearing them up into little pieces and then spitting them right back at you. The Orellana is a punishing water and it destroyed me the three days I fished it, it destroyed the guide as well who became more frustrated than I did.

Anyway on with the write up, you may say that I have nothing to write about, that maybe true, but this trip has changed my whole outlook on carp fishing, not just on the bank, but the ‘thinking side of it’.

I flew out of Heathrow on Saturday morning for Madrid at 7.30 am, flights with BA/Iberia were £80 return. The flight took an hour and fifty minutes. After collecting my bag I was met by the driver Rodney, a 60-year-old Geordie who I nicknamed Rod the rally driver. Couldn’t understand a word he said with his Northeast accent, we proceeded to drive out of Madrid for the three and a half hour trip to the venue. After about an hour and a half on the motorway we entered the mountains with their sharp bendy roads with sheer drops, I must say that my arse cheeks were clenched for most of this time as Rodney, although safe frightened the life out of me sometimes. We stopped for a drink and leg stretch about an hour away from the venue. The scenery was stunning, huge mountains and vast valleys that went on as far as the eye could see.

We arrived in Talarrubias (The village where Fat Angling are based) about 3pm. I met my guide for the week Mathew Whistlecraft AKA Fat Matt, he is the founder and owner of Fat Angling, Matt has been fishing this area for the past seven years and has lived in Spain with his family for the last five years, so I was in good hands. I was shown my accommodation for the week, a nice 2 bedroom flat, as I was the only client for the week the flat was mine.

We paid a visit to one of the local bars and had a very cold beer and started to plan for the week. We were joined by the other guide for the company James Harrison. James writes for various carp magazines including Advanced Carp and also the Spanish Carp magazine, Carp Diem. He is also a consultant with Ace, Nash as well as various other carp fishing companies, he is an established carp angler and has been living in Spain since October 2008. Matt also consults for Nash and Rig Marole. Both James and Matt are highly experienced in fishing the surrounding waters and have put huge effort into discovering what areas produce fish, what times of year the fish move onto certain spots and areas. They also are always trying to find new access points to the waters to try and cover as much water as possible. Both Matt and James have had tons of carp from these waters. Most of the land surrounding the lakes and rivers are private and owned by either farmers or wealthy Spaniards. The lakes and waters themselves are owned by the government.

James guided for a pair of Dutch anglers the week before and they only had one fish between them, not good news and not the sort of news I wanted to hear! The temperature for this time of year should be low to mid 20’s, but it was 38 degrees at the moment without a cloud in the sky.

Matt suggested that we first try the Orellana and after a couple of beers we drove down to have a look at the water. After a 10 minute drive we turned off into an opening in a cliff, then it was 10 minutes of very rough tracks to the waters edge. I got out of the 4X4 and just stared at the vast expanse of water in front of me, how the hell do you fish something this size? I did realise that I was only looking at a small part of the water, the Orellana is 5500 Hectares in size, that’s a massive 16000 acres of water.

There were some Spanish fishing on further around the bay so we had a chat with them, they had been there for three days and had not had a take. They were fishing the nights as well, which is illegal and if caught would suffer a very hefty fine. The Gaurdia patrol the lakes on a regular basis and are very strict when it comes to night fishing.

Another thing I noticed was that there was no shade at all! The nearest trees were 100 yards from the waters edge, the rest of the bank was baron, rocky and very uneven, plus the fact it was absolutely roasting hot. Matt told me we would be fishing the rocky point just to the left of us, it was a very daunting sight, although a narrow point on the Orellana the far bank was still about a kilometre away.

I had a good look around and we headed back to the village so I could shower and then we went out to the village plaza for something to eat after visiting the supermarket to get some essential supplies, namely bottled water, which would be put in the freezer for the next day. Some lovely bars and restaurants, a pretty village with a population of about 4000 people. I was on the all inclusive package, which included meals, but as I was the only one there for the week we decided that we would either eat out or Matt’s wife would cook for us and I would receive a full refund on the food package. Had a nice meal and then back to the flat to sleep, I was knackered, not just with the travelling but the heat was taking its toll and I had only been there about 8 hours!

Up early, and Matt picked me up. All I took was my tackle box and rig wallet as they supplied everything else I would need. It was another hot day and as we pulled up on the rocky point it was 30 degrees and destined to get much hotter, I slapped on loads of factor 50 and we unloaded the jeep.

Rods were already made up, the tackle was beefier than a UK or French set ups. 30LB high abrasive main line, with a 4 foot lead core leader. I brought with me size 4 and 2 hooks, Mugga and Korda widegape. Matt laughed at me and told me to put them away. We used size 1/0 heavy gauge hooks, Jesus I thought, Matt read my mind and said that the hooks I brought with me would be straightened.

We also had a boat as boats were allowed on this part of the Orellana. Also we had an echo and fish finder. Out in the boat we went and I got to see first hand what I was up against. It was showing about 28 – 35 feet deep for the first 80 or so yards and then went down to about 50 feet at about 200 – 250 yards, which was the original riverbed before the place was flooded. In this 50 feet of water there were hundreds and hundreds of fish! Massive shoals of carp and there were some huge fish amongst them, all on the bottom. We got back and Matt started to get the rigs out to where we had seen all these fish. Fishing about 250 – 270 yards range at about 50 feet in depth. The rods were set on the pod rod tips upwards and alarms were turned on. Fat are sponsored by ATT Alrams, which are tiny little things, no bigger than a rod rest. There are no working parts on the actual alarms, they are totally waterproof and the controls for volume, sensitivity and vibrate is on the small remote control unit. I was quite impressed with them, although I didn’t hear one scream off all week!

Hook baits were a boily on one, tiger nuts topped with plastic corn on one and a brazil nut again topped with plastic on the third. We had buckets of baits with us, pellets, maize, tigers, boillies and chopped boiliies. Matt put about 10 kilo of this mix over each rig. Hook links were short, about 4 inches and the hairs were also short.

We set up the chairs and brollies and proceeded to hide from the scorching sun. Watching the water we saw fish all over the spots where the rigs were, and all you heard was the crashing of fish, awesome. The area was also used by crayfish fishermen and there were pots everywhere. There are hundreds of thousands of crayfish in the Orellana and they are the staple diet of the wild carp. A season ticket to fish this massive water is only €4.00 per year!

We sat there all day well into the evening without a take, drinking 4 or 5 litres of cold water to keep re-hydrated, we had a cool boxes with food in, but it was far to hot to eat. As the sun went down over the hills we packed up and headed for the village. Shower and out for a beer and some food. Matt said we should still concentrate on the area where we had spent the day, and we would pick up two 40 kilo sacks of pellet on the way to the water in the morning.

Another day and same tactics, new rigs tied, again hundreds of fish were showing in the river bed so we dropped the rigs and tons of bait at the same range and waited, again it was so hot, no where to hide, it was exhausting. Another day of no action and Matt was saying how he couldn’t understand why we had not had a take. There were clearly tons and tons of fish in front of us, but they were not feeding. As the sun went down we packed up and drove back to the village, disheartened and tired.

Third day and we tried the same spot again, this time the fish had moved from the river bed and were closer towards the bank, about 100 yards out. Not as many as were previously showing but they were there never the less. We saw fish all over the place and they were topping and showing more than the last couple of days. You could see backs and tails coming out of the water and I saw two of the biggest carp I have ever seen top out, backs like bloody dolphins, they were huge! After hours of the sun and the fishing doing our heads in we headed back. We pondered about why we were not catching, the weather definitely had a bearing, also the water level was well up, we just did not know.

Next day we tried a different venue, a ‘little lake’ of about 100 acres about an hours drive away. During the drive we kept the Orellana to our left hand side and it just went on and on and on. We boated the rigs out and waited, the sun was hot but there was a storm in the distance and we watched the rain roll in about 10 k away, it didn’t touch us, but Talarrubias and the Orellana got soaked for a few hours. Another blank day and Matt was absolutely pissed off, he said that he never blanks, always has at least one fish out, maybe I’m cursed!

The next day we headed off to Sierra Brava, another massive bit of water, not as big as the Orellana, but big never the less. This water was just full of underwater snags, treetops rising a few feet above the water a really mystical looking place. The water was down on this venue by about 10 meters! (I just couldn’t win). No boats allowed on the Brava so it was PVA bags same baits and cast out amongst the snags, problem is you don’t know if your rig is hanging in an underwater tree or branch. More fish are lost than banked on the Brava, the fish are so powerful that they take you right into the snags every time and Matt said if we get one I had to bully it to death, chance would be a fine thing. Day ticket for the Sierra Brava is €1.40 a day!

Fat have just secured a 5k stretch on the Brava, this includes a 5 double bedroom house, which when the water is up will not be that far from the bank. A good base for a group of lads wanting to try their luck, in addition with the house comes legal NIGHT FISHING. We were fishing just to the right of the ‘jungle’, this stretch is where they come to spawn and stretches for about 4k, it’s a narrow channel that looked very inviting, but due to the terrain at that time we couldn’t get there. Again there was no shade, all the trees were dead due to them being underwater for most parts of the year..

Last day on the Brava and another blank, back to the village to pack and have a last beer and meal with Matt and James.

Although I didn’t have one single take, I enjoyed the trip immensely. A massive difference to pay lakes in France, a totally new challenge and some of the most awesome and stunning waters I have ever seen.

Matt worked his nuts off to try and get fish, I worked my nuts off to try and get fish, it was both mentally and physically exhausting and I collapsed into bed every night due to the effort we put in, its probably the hardest thing I have ever done, but I loved it, the potential is massive and the gallery and catch reports on the Fat Angling site bolster that. There have been some big names fish this place, some have cracked it, but Matt told me that others had been destroyed by the place.

As we sat down to eat on Friday Matt told me that because it was such a hard week that my next trip would be free and all I had to do was pay for the flights, which I thought was a very nice touch indeed and was a very kind gesture. He would keep in touch and advise me when it was fishing well so I could book a flight. I would love to go back before Xmas, but I don’t think I could manage that, so it looks like a February trip or maybe May, we will see, but I will go back, not just once but again and again. It’s a place that although initially daunting and over whelming I came to love in just a week, to coin a phrase it is proper fishing!

I have no doubt and neither does anyone I spoke to over there that a world record carp will grace these waters one day, and in the not to distance future, I am not talking about the fish growing to massive sizes, I am talking about fish that are already in there, there are easily fish to over a 100LB in the Orellana, how many? More than likely quite a few, from what I have seen there cannot be.

Not fishing the nights was a welcomed change, gave me a chance to have a good look around in the evening and sample the local food and beer! As I said night fishing is now allowed on the Brava but only with Fat Angling at this stage. The idea is that you will bivvy up on chosen and productive spots and breakfast and lunch will be brought to your swim, then up to the house for an evening meal/social and shower before returning to your swim.

The best fishing over there is from now (except when I’m there of course) right through to May. The Brava is closed all of April, but the Orellana is open all year.

I spoke to Matt last night and they are getting rain and the temperature has dropped right down to 22 degrees. Big Ron and Steve Howard are arriving today for a month, hope they haul J.









A small bay on the Orellana we were fishing just to the right of the gear on the ground

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain16.jpg

This post has been edited by flatliner: 16 September 2009 - 06:02 AM

[flatliner]

The Orellana widens for a bit, can you see the fish topping?

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain12.jpg

It just goes on and on and on

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain14.jpg

Matt the guide dropping the rigs you can just see the boat lol

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain15.jpg

This post has been edited by flatliner: 16 September 2009 - 05:00 PM

[flatliner]

A dessert, no shade, no where to hide, but lots of bait!

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain9.jpg

Rods waiting and ready

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain10.jpg

The mighty Orellana bottom end, goes on for ever!

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain11.jpg

[flatliner]

The Sierra Brava, inlet to the right goes on towards the 'Jungle and is 4k long

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain6.jpg

Proper snag fishing, you just do not know whats under there, water is well down

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain7.jpg

More snags on the Brava

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain8.jpg

[flatliner]

In the middle of the write up so here are some pictures

This is the first lake I came across on the way to the venue, water is well down as you can see, did not fish this one

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain1.jpg

A view from the Orellana dam itself

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain3.jpg

The house on Sierra Brava that clients can stay in and eat/shower etc

http://metrocomicalpolice.com/spain5.jpg

This post has been edited by flatliner: 14 September 2009 - 04:12 PM

[jambo]

anyone know hes getting on :thumbsup_anim: :thumbsup_anim:

[fudger]

have a goodone fella :thumbsup_anim:

[taff]

Good luck mate hope you have a good one.

When you get back let us know if you think just fishing days had any down sides to it.

[flatliner]

Thats the only French trip I am doing next year mate so I will be there :thumbsup_anim:

[Joss]

Good luck to ya Flatty..hope ya have a cracking time, leave the sangria alone and ya might have a few foshy's....lol

Dont you let me down with Mar Peche... :thumbsup_anim:

[neo]

flatliner, on Sep 3 2009, 02:07 PM, said:

No pussys mate, barbel to 30Lb though :blink: and tench to about 18Lb, will do a full write up when I get back, as I said if its good then 2 trips a year there me thinks for a while and leave the French stuff alone for a while, very bored with it mate.

sure does........done my nut after 8 trips......... :thumbsup_anim: :lol:

[flatliner]

neo, on Sep 3 2009, 12:34 PM, said:

Sounds bloody good that neil.......any pussys in there........ :thumbsup_anim:

No pussys mate, barbel to 30Lb though :lol: and tench to about 18Lb, will do a full write up when I get back, as I said if its good then 2 trips a year there me thinks for a while and leave the French stuff alone for a while, very bored with it mate.

[neo]

Sounds bloody good that neil.......any pussys in there........ :thumbsup_anim: