EDWARDO

EDUARDO El PESCADOR

(Ted the fisherman)

5 YEARS ON

This page isn’t just about fishing, it’s also about my life and the way of life out here in Spain, I’ve been here 10 years now, made many new friends, both Spanish & English, learned to live a different way of life, and (*****) stressed out.

                                                    BIG CATS & CARP

                             CASPE - AUGUST 2007

Day 1:

Friday the 10^th August saw the beginning of my annual trip to the Ebro, after last years dismal failure I decided to leave Pete & Paul at home and book a professional guide and to help pay for his services I took along my two son in-laws Steven & Ed. Our guide Dan Sales started to earn his money by meeting us at the toll booth at Tortosa and leading the convoy on the long and winding road to Caspe.

We met up with Dan’s father Pete at Ebro Mike’s house which is virtually on the bankside of Lake Caspe, we all enjoyed an ice cold beer whilst Dan, John, Mike and Andy (Dan’s assistant) discussed where we should fish. A couple of beers later and we were on our way, first swim was occupied by eastern Europeans, second swim was occupied by loads of sunken trees, third time lucky, we arrived at the swim called “the point” or “catfish alley” and with no other anglers in sight we decided this was the place to spend the next five days.

An hour was spent ferrying tackle and bait to the end of the point, setting up bivvies, etc. We had agreed beforehand to take turns at striking at bites and I drew the long straw. Steven, Ed and myself where now bursting with excitement and dying to make a start and after Dan had gone out in his dinghy and put in 25 kg of halibut pellets we were away. It wasn’t long before the first fish was on the bank, a carp of (wait for it) 4 pound !!!! caught by yours truly, all this way for this little thing but it was my first Ebro carp and I loved it to death. After that the evening just got better as the fish came in on the pellets, numerous carp and cats where caught with the best cat weighing 111 lb (Ed) and the best carp 24lb 12oz (Steven). Caspes location meant there was virtually no light pollution and we were treated to the most wonderful starlit night, we could see every star in the sky, including the Milky Way. Midnight came and the rods where wound in for the night, the swims where baited ready for the morning  and three tired anglers hit the sack (few beers beforehand though).

                                                            Rod bending & Arm aching

Day 2: Six rods hit the water at 6.30 am and immediately we were in to fish, no doubt due to the pre baiting of the night before. 7.00 am and son in-law Ed had the frying pan on and sausage butties were served up to all, first time since I was in my twenties and working for a living that I had eaten solids that early in the day. The day just got better and better, my other son in-law Steven upped the cat record with a magnificent fish of 160lb cat followed by another of 141lb, Ed had one of 101lb and we had loads of cats to 15/90lb. Two of the biggest cat’s took Steven & Ed for a 100 yard walk, like a dog on a lead, both were hooked around 9.00 pm and landed at around 10.00 pm.  Eduardo (yours truly) was the only one not to make the “100lb Club”. Lots of carp in the mid twenties were caught  but Stevens record of 24lb 12oz stood right up to the last minute and then the grey haired old git came good with 28lb 12oz, then 30lb 12oz and then 31lb in three consecutive casts but still no 100 pound cat !!. A 40 pounder is a rare carp on this part of the Ebro so all in all we were doing very well.

Day 3: Just the same as yesterday except we were now aching all over due to the number of hard fighting fish we had caught, up until today we had used the rota system of striking at bites, now we were that sore nobody was bothered who struck at bites, Ed had carpers crutch, his groin was black & blue and he relegated himself to kitchen duties wondering how on earth he was going to explain his bruising to his wife, even the soles of our feet ached with the fish dragging us down the pebbled bank and into the water whilst playing them. In fact we all ached that much, that we were starting to walk as though we’d had an accident in our pants, and were wearing high heels (like Dick Emery), that we had a team talk and decided  we would cut the trip short and go home the following day.

Guess what, I reluctantly struck at a bite some 200 yards out and it screamed off towards the far bank, when ever I made line on it off it went again and boy was my groin hurting, Ed placed a flip flop against my stomach and that became my butt pad. This fish dragged me all over the bank and eventually I won, 136lb cat beating my previous best by over 40lb, was I a sore but happy chappy I could now go home with my head held high. Dan’s mum & dad even brought us Sunday lunch to the swim, they drove some 90 kilometres each way to do this ……….. service or what ??

Day 4: We were up and ready at the crack of dawn and by this time I was smelling and looking like a cross between Father Christmas and the mad German, George, who lives in our village, even the fly’s and mozzie’s didn’t want to know me, the carp went mad again and  kept on biting right up until home time at 10.00am. Four days of non-stop arm aching, rod bending action was enough for any man (except Steven) and it was time to call it a draw. All in all a great time was had by three very grateful anglers. Dan Sales knowledge and consideration for the fish belies his tender age of 23, our thanks go to him and his very able assistant Andy for giving us the trip of a lifetime.

If you fancy a bit of this and need to keep the wife sweet, then book a cheap flight to Reus, book the missus into a hotel in Salou and I will do the rest for you. Our guide Dan is the young guy in most of the pics and I can assure you of a great trip. If you can get away without the wife then the trip will be even cheaper. Don’t think about it........ do it, and remember the more bait you put in the better the fishing is.

                                          Steven’s fish of a lifetime a 160 lb catfish

Catfish set up:

Rods : Fox "Ebro Carp" 3.5lb TC, Reels : Shimano 6500b Baitrunners, Line : 55lb flat profile braid, Hooks : Size 6/0 wide gape super short shanks

Carp set up:

Rods : same as above, Reels: Shimano Biomaster 8000 XTA's, Line : 35lb mono Hooks : Fox 2xs, size 1's

Fish caught:

Carp :
31, 30.12, 28.12, 26.4, 26 (x2), 25.8, 25, 24, 22.12,    22.8, 21 (x3), 20 (x3), 19 (x4), 18 (x3), 17(x4), fish between 10 & 16 lbs ... didn't count but there were a few !

Cats :
160, 141, 136, 111, 107, 102, 101, 87, 78, 70 ..... fish between 60 & 10lbs (x14)   

Bait: 8 x 25kg sacks

Beer: 56 cans

Sausage & onions: loads of them

                                         RUSTY FEEDERS & SORE KNUCKLES

Mid-March brought my fishing tackle out into the daylight for the first time since October and 6.00am on a black & blustery Tuesday morning saw me on the way to my first match of this year at Beniarres, a huge lake up in the mountains.

My first thought on arriving at the waters edge was “I wish I’d stayed in bed”, It was blowing a gale and flipping freezing. Pole fishing was out of the question, the next thought to go through my mind was did I bring a feeder rod and unfortunately the answer to that question was yes (dam, could have gone home). Having drawn a bit of a bummer peg wise I spent the next 5 hours hanging on to my feeder rod, brolly, nets and every other bit of tackle around me. The all-out showed I had beaten the anglers either side of me and 4th place was pretty good considering the conditions, the draw and the fact that this was the first time for 2/3 years that I had used a feeder rod for so long in a match. That fact also showed itself along with old age as the next day I ached from head to foot and the knuckles of my right hand ached like h*ll.

The following week I was heading back to Beniarres, another club, another day and it couldn’t be any worse than last week thought I. I had brought my nephew Arron McCombie along with me, this was only the second time he had been fishing since moving over here last September and he was chomping at the bit to have a go.

Did I mention that when leaving my village that it was spotting down with rain ? NO. Well when we arrived up in them flipping mountains it was hammering down with the stuff. Not to be deterred the intrepid band of ex-pats drew their pegs and proceeded to tackle up. For once I had drawn the favourite peg and today I could fish the pole and leave the feeder rod in the bag. First to catch was Arron on the feeder rod followed by the bloke next to me.... on the feeder rod, had I made the wrong decision ?. two hours later and soaked to the skin I was still waiting for my first fish, plenty of little knocks but no fish. I then made the historic decision to use soggy sliced bread as hookbait, what a decision... the float buried and I was finally into my first fish. After catching his first fish on his first cast young Arron struggled to get a bite, he then showed wisdom beyond his tender age and switched to the pole and cubes of chopped ham that he had bought by mistake the day before. It wasn’t long before his float also buried, a 10 minute fight brought to the surface the catch of the day...... a flipping huge meat loving turtle, it must have been 16/18 inches in diameter x 8 inches deep. The pic doesn’t really do it justice as there is nothing along side to compare it to but take my word for it, it was big and unfortunately it was his last catch of the day despite persevering with the chopped ham.

Nine more carp on soggy bread put 21 pound onto the scales to give a soaking wet Edwardo first place and justify my decision to fish the pole although I couldn’t really justify my decision to get out of bed. I thought that my days of fishing in bad weather had been left behind me. Can’t wait for the next match, just to see what the weather is like then !!!!. 

P.S. Turtles or Tortugas as the spanish call them are wide spread all along the Costa’s and can grow really big. Another species of fish illegally introduced on the Costa’s is the piranha (honest) and there have been reports of people being bitten by them !!!!!!!    

Hola one and all,

No, I haven’t moved back to England or packed in fishing. A couple of years ago me and my mate Pete started up a club over here called alcalali Angling Club and whilst we were involved in it we had a membership of 30 - 40 members from all over the Costa Blanca. We originally called it the Friday Club and the intention was that members could meet up with other anglers over here and fish matches on an informal basis, stop for a couple of beers on the way home and generally have a good day out.

Unfortunately we were victims of our own success, a committee was formed and a rule book compiled along with a match list. That’s when the membership started to dwindle, it was becoming to serious and the two venues that most matches were held on responded to heavy ground baiting due to the vast shoals of carp that where present, unfortunately ground bait is not readily available over here and usually involves a round trip of 80 miles to the nearest tackle shop, that is unless you know the local baker or import it in bulk from the UK which most people can’t afford.

As a consequence of this I became disheartened with match fishing over here, I dropped out of A.A.C but remained a member of a small local club but because of the lack of waters over here they fish the same venues as Alcalali does. I have fished with them a couple of times this year, the last time being in June when I dusted down my pole, mended the mouse holes in my nets and made my way to Beniarres some 30 miles away. I did say earlier that it was a small club and when we met up at a bar near to the venue there where four of us to contest the match. Because of the poor turn out we picked some of the best pegs and I drew peg 1. I fished 6 meters of pole and was into fish from the off, fishing corn on the hook and feeding the same. Beniarres is a huge reservoir and the levels drop dramatically during the hot weather, were we fished was 40 foot further up the bank than you fish in the summer months. The bottom is pebbles with lots of weed and grass growing on it and as a consequence you snag up on this quite a lot causing you to lose both fish and tackle.

Anyway, at the end of the match I weighed in 43 kilos, all caught on the pole. The bloke on peg 2 caught 50 kilos (he is the club champion), peg 3 weighed in 26 kilos and last was peg 4 with 15 kilos. So a good days fishing was had by all and enjoyed by all, yours truly especially. I have now got the bug back and have been to my local water (10 miles away) today (3 July), it is a vast area of rice fields which are irrigated by canals. The fishing is quite hard here due to fish being taken by eastern Europeans for the table, but it is enjoyable fishing, reminding me of the canals back in the UK. Once again I fished the pole across to the far bank and had a dozen carp to 5 lb, a good mornings fishing for this venue. I can’t wait to go again.

On a more serious note I have seen the light…. Hallelujah. I have packed the demon drink in, I haven’t touched a drop for 2 months now (since my eyes turned yellow and my urine looked like guiness). Some people say I am a nicer person nowadays,the wife like the new me and Bartollo my landlord likes me cos I am now spending more on orange than I did on booze, I think I am a miserable git, it costs me more to buy a pint of fizzy orange than it did to buy a pint. My eyes have now turned orange along with my skin (only joking). I always thought that it would be easy to pack in drinking, easier than packing in the fags, not so, when I got over my scare it was easy but as time goes by it is harder, the social scene over here is quite hectic and now that I am feeling better I am tempted to have a pint or two. Touch wood I have managed to avoid temptation so far. Will I pack up the fags next….. NO F*****G CHANCE, I am already boring my friends with how easy it is to pack up drinking. I have also become the local chauffer, being the only one who doesn’t drink.

WILL IT LAST… WAIT FOR THE NEXT EPISODE.    

Christmas this year was a very quiet affair in our household, mainly due to the fact that nearly all of my family had gone to the UK to celebrate and also because all the bars in the village were closed on Christmas Day. However I did manage to con an invite for Christmas Dinner from my mate Alan, and very nice it was.

Two of my sisters have bars in the area and we were invited by both to spend New Years Eve with both of them (gratis), not wishing to offend either of them I decided that we would go to our bar and celebrate with the spanish. 7.30 pm saw me on the way down to my local, with Cynth going to follow me down later (after she had dyed her hair), disaster..... once again all the bars were shut (and on New Years Day as well), a quick fone to Cynth to tell her not to bother washing the dye out and then the trek home. All (1) of the local taxi’s were booked up, so that kyeboshed plan 2 (go to my sisters bar). 10.30 pm saw yours truely dressed to kill, sat on the settee, eating coco pops out of the box, 11.00 pm saw me in bed. Happy New Year to one and all (******).  The UK for me next year.

As you can tell by the opening or closing hours the spanish don’t celebrate Christmas as much as we do, although it is becoming more popular with them. They celebrate Tree Kings Day on January 6th, each City, town or village hold a festival were the 3 kings arrive in various ways, some by helicopter, in our village they arrived on the back of a pick-up, in the village were my brother in-law lives they arrived on horseback. This year the brother in-law and my mate were elected to be kings, the other one being a spaniard. After donning their costumes and having their faces painted it was time to mount their trusty steeds... 3 blooming great stallions (25 hands high), they thought they had drawn Shergar and Red Rum. They proceeded to parade through the village followed by their helpers and lots of kids, eventually ending up at the church. The kids parents each buy gifts for their children and are charged 5 euros for the pleasure of having them presented by the 3 kings who sit in front of the alter in the church. Monies raised by this event go into a kitty for this years fiesta’s.

It’s nice to see traditions like this and all the people joining in, I just wish that they would sort their opening hours out !!!.

PETER, PAUL & MARY’S PILGRAMAGE TO MEQUINENZA

(A DIARY OF EVENTS)

DAY 1

Although I had set the alarm for 4.00am I was awake well before it went off, I hadn’t slept much at all because of the excitement. The arrangement was for my mate Peter to pick me up at 6.00am to begin our pilgrimage to the Mecca of carp & cat fishing at Mequinenza in the province of Aragon. Pete arrived a little late, but that gave me time to build up my nicotine intake for the long journey ahead, with Peter & Paul being non-smokers.

After getting slightly lost we arrived in Mequinenza, and the first port of call was the tackle shop, were we could buy the halibut pellets that were necessary for us to catch the huge carp & cats that the rivers Ebro and Segre are famous for. After seeing that they were €80 per bag we decided to go for the smaller bags at 20 odd euros and replenish our stocks as and when required (tight sods).

Whilst we were in the shop I got talking to some other English anglers who told me that they had spent the last four days bivvied up (in a tent) because of torrential rain, and that more was expected for the following two days!!. They told us of three cat fish that had been caught in the last few days, and that they had been over 200 pounds in weight….. Wow.

Next stop was our hotel, where we could dump our luggage and rush to the river…. Problem, it was locked and closed with no signs of life, what the eck, we would go fishing and come back later.

Peter took us to a spot and assured us it was cert for us to catch big carp, the previous week Peter had told me that all that I needed to bring with me was clothing and that he had all the gear I would need for fishing. After giving me a rod, reel, folding seat and a beach fishing tri-pod both he and Paul began setting up loads of gear, with yours truly (Mary Ellen) left twiddling his thumbs, seeing that I was getting a bit irate Peter then suggested that I make up a rig, an offer which I duly declined and went off in a sulk. After five bite less hours we decided that we would go and see if the hotel was open (it now being pitch black), guess what…. Yes, still closed. Visions of having to sleep in the car were going through my mind when Paul spotted a telephone number written below the door bell, after ringing the number the owner arrived and we were shown to our rooms, it was decided  with me being a smoker that I would have a room to myself, so I grabbed the first room that we were shown, only to have Pete moan afterwards that mine had an en-suite and theirs didn’t….. tough, I was still sulking.

After a couple of shandys yours truly was in bed at 9.35 pm, end of day 1.

NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT - 0

I forgot to mention that Pete did catch half a fish???, a carp took his bait, along with another that belonged to some bloke further along the bank, the other bloke netted the fish but Pete claimed a half share in it !!.

DAY TWO

After the early night I was raring to go and get em, I gave the others an early morning call and went for a coffee, twenty minutes later Peter came into the bar and had a coffee, after asking where Paul was I was informed he was still in bed.

We eventually piled into the car and began day 2 of our Ebro Expedition, we pulled into a lay by on the bank of the river, were Peter told us that we where lucky to find this spot empty and that normally it was full of anglers (starting to have doubts), within 30 minutes five rods pointed out into the Ebro and day 2 had began in earnest. After a couple of bite less hours I offered to make cups of tea for us all, using Pete’s brand new travel kettle. Thirty minutes later saw 2 steaming hot mugs of tea for Paul and I (Pete said he didn’t like tea). Two or three bite less hours later the kettle was on again, and yes, another cup followed after another fishless three hours, It was then that Peter decided that he did like tea after all, and would I make him one as well. 60 fishless and bite less rod hours later I mentioned to Peter that the fact that this great spot was vacant must mean something! No comment from Peter.

NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT - 0

7.30 pm, food and a couple of shandy’s, in bed by 9.25 pm (new record).

DAY 3

After Peter’s success on day 1 we all decided (after waking Paul up) that we should go back to the place were he caught his half of fish, it was still dark when we arrived on the bank. A couple of lights could be seen a bit further along the bank, and dawn revealed that we were in the company of three Germans who had obviously heard about Pete’s half of fish. They had come prepared; they had three rods out and then proceeded to take two more sets of bait 200 yards out into the river with the aid of a motor boat that they had moored up. After baiting up five rods two of them then went off upriver, leaving their mate to look after the five rods.

We the Brits also had five rods out, and it wasn’t long before four ounce leads were flying out in all directions, because of the lack of fish we still had plenty of bait left (I’m glad we didn’t buy the big bags) and we were determined to spare no expense and so began the barrage of pellets. Shortly afterwards Peters rod was snatched off his rod pod, a monster carp we all thought, a monster it was, a monster cormorant had caught his line.

After a couple of unusually quiet hours!!! I decided to put the kettle on and make a brew, it normally takes about 30 minutes for the kettle to boil, but one hour later still no tea. Peter heard me muttering about his crappy kettle and decided to get off his butt and help out, then all hell broke out, all this brewing had flattened the car battery, after launching the nearly boiled kettle into the depths of the Ebro, and wiping away the tears Peter politely informed me that, IF we managed to get the car going again  that tea would no longer be on the menu !!!.

With my two angling companions being left mortified (Paul at the prospect of no more tea), I (Mary Ellen) took it upon myself to take command of the situation and go for assistance. After walking a considerable distance I was fortunate to meet up with some other English anglers, after explaining our predicament and asking if they had any jump leads, they said have you tried the garage in Mequinenza; Now, as I had just explained that we had a flat battery and couldn’t start the car and they’re asking me if I’ve tried the garage which is about two miles away !!!. Forget it, I thought to myself, no good knocking if theres nobody in and proceeded to make my way back, after walking a short distance guess what happened, yes, the English guys drove past me and went to the village !!.

A couple of hours later the two Germans came back in the boat, and the car they had was an old banger so they would obviously have some jump leads I thought to myself, Seeing how Paul’s love of tea had contributed to our dilemma I suggested that he go and ask them for assistance, whereupon he informed me that he couldn’t speak German. Yours truly, being fluent in spanglish, gibberish and rubbish, took it upon myself to ask these nice gentlemen (who had taken half the bank up) for assistance.

My skills in mime obviously had an effect, because within a couple of minutes I and my new German mate pulled alongside Pete’s car  complete with brand span new jump leads and a tow rope. “Open the bonnet” Pete I said, don’t know where the catch is said Pete !!, after short friendly discussion Pete and I found the bonnet catch, along with my new friend and a Spaniard who decided to join in, we all played find the battery, we looked in the engine compartment, we looked in the boot, we even looked inside the car… no battery in sight, great things these modern cars. My mucker Hans then came up with the suggestion that we tow it, and thanks be to God and the Germans the car spluttered into life again. Time for a cuppa, I thought, only to be told by Pete that the subject of tea making was not up for discussion.

Now that we had got the car going Peter informed me that he and I would take a ride into Mequinenza to top the battery up and get some nosh from the burger van, better than sitting here thought I, so off we went. After purchasing burger & chips and spotting six packs off San Miguel I thought it would be a nice gesture to give the Germans a pack, along with a pack for myself. As we were about to set off back to our pegs the German owner of the tackle shop next door came for his dinner, a discussion on the crap fishing then took place and he informed us that we had fished all the wrong places. Thanks for nothing, thought I.

Any way back to the bankside, my offer of the San Miguel was declined by the Germans, so waste not want not, me and my  other new mate, the Spaniard scoffed the lot

With the mechanical problems being sorted out and no signs of a bite Peter & Paul decided that it was siesta time again and went back to sleep, I on the other hand started a one man casting tournament, seeing just how far across the mighty Ebro I could chuck a four ounce lead, as the picture below shows I came quite close to awakening Peter several times. After a long practice at casting I even considered taking up sea fishing - can’t be any worse than this carp fishing I thought.

Later in the afternoon an English guy came along and rudely awakened Pete, he then went on to tell us about his mate who had a boat on the river at Flix, and, that for a small fee he would be prepared to take us cat fishing in it, a hastily made phone call  saw the deal done and dusted. The rods were packed away and an end was called to another exciting days carp fishing, fish nil, bites nil, but what the eck, tomorrow we’re going after giant cat fish.

NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT - 0

Nosh, four pints of shandy and in bed at 9.05 pm, (another new record).

   DAY 4

After waking Paul up and informing our host that we would be leaving a day earlier than agreed, we then progressed to the bartering phase, trying to get our money back for the last night, success, with an extra 25 euros in our pocket to go towards our cat fishing we were all in the car and away to Flix. Nigel, our guide met us at the slipway and within five minutes we were anchored up by the outfall of the local power station. I was quite excited at his choice because, 12 months ago I had fished the same spot and within a twenty minute period had not only had my heaviest fish ever, a cat of 35lb, but quickly went on to boat an 85 pounder. Two hours later and no signs of a bite, still it was a bit more exciting than walking up and down the bank watching a motionless rod tip. Then it happened, my float which was attached to a six ounce eel disappeared, ole, ole, ole, I sang to myself and prepared to strike into a monster cat, only to see my float re-appear on the surface, disaster I thought, but it renewed the excitement in the boat for a short while. Peter and Nigel  discussed property prices around the Flix area, then went onto talk about their financial affairs, Paul, he just ate and slept, while yours truly worked his nuts off trying to get that one bite that could possibly have resulted in a new cat fish record.

Seven hours later saw the end of yet another fishless day, and the end to this years Ebro Expedition. In all fairness to our guide Nigel he really did try to put us on fish, and he even offered to take us again virtually free of charge.  Funny how a few hours sleep can change things, after vowing never to do it again I am raring to go and give it another bash next year. Should any of you be thinking of trying the Ebro I can’t tell you the good spots, but I can certainly tell you the bad ones!!! . I managed three PB’s (personal bests for early nights) and am now considering joining my local sea fishing club.

TOTAL NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT - 0

NUMBER OF BITES IN FOUR AND A HALF DAYS - 3

 (but, Pete did have a half share in a fish)

LONG HOT DAY’S - AND FRIGGING HOT NIGHTS

After spending the last five months melting away on the settee, dressed in only my underpants (not a pretty sight, especially as gravity is starting take effect on my body) the temps have started to drop a bit, now they are only in the 80’s. The sun lounger’s now have dew on them in a morning and we have to have a sheet over us at night.

Although it seemed just as hot as any other year to us, the experts tell us this has been the driest summer since records began. Bartollo, the owner of my local bar disagrees, he says that it is the wettest, he has sold more booze than ever!! With yours truly, being one of his best customers. It has been a good year for socialising… with the bars being packed with ex-pats and holiday makers seeking the relief of the air conditioning that the bars offer. Also the “DOG PARLOURS” have been doing a roaring trade amongst the brits, all the pooches now sport the same hair cut… SKINHEAD.

It is compulsory to dye your hair during any event over here, and with me being grey it certainly doesn’t bother me !!. I recently dyed the bit that remains the colours of the Valencian flag, which for those of you whose sight is worse than mine is red and yellow. P.S. also dyed my moustache red.

The Fiesta’s are nearly over now and peace and quiet is slowly returning to the valley, now only the sound of the plane spraying the oranges can be heard. This plane actually flies below the level of our house when spraying the oranges and you can see the pilots face… I wish that he could see mine and the look of anger that is on it at 7.30am as he performs his aerobatic display outside our house. I’m sure that this bloke is an ex kami kaze pilot.

Going back to the fiesta’s, during the fiesta’s each street is painted by the residents and guess what ? our street won and the prize was a free street party, with the booze and food provided free as part of our prize.

As regards fishing, the weather has kept me in doors, you have to be a bit bonkers to sit for five hours in the mid-day sun to catch less than you can in Winter. The total weight of fish caught in the latest series of eight matches was nearly 4000 lbs, that is less than our Spring Series, shows how the high temps affect the fishing over here.

On a bad note, the influx of eastern Europeans into Spain has seen the fish stocks decimated. I accept that to some people carp are food, but when you see blatant day time netting of fish with the catch going straight into freezer vans it does tend to stick in your craw a bit. I had a fone call recently from a bloke down on the South of the Costa Blanca asking me who to contact about people netting a lake which over looks his house, it appears that two Russians where using an inflatable dinghy to net fish and he had contacted some authority about it, only to be told that they where to busy to do anything about it, I told him to fone the Guardia (police) and tell them about it. It’s a massive problem over here and no body’s bothered about it. On one of the local waters that I fish you can spot the difference between the brits and the eastern europeans by their fishing tackle, we the brits have things like tackle boxes, rods and reels, whereas they have handlines and breeze blocks, seriously, they sit on breeze blocks and hide them in the rushes when they pack up!!!, one of my little pleasures is finding the blocks and destroying them, imagining them searching for them next time they fish illegally, he, he. 

I hope that I will be able to write an article about my fishing and new venues that I plan to fish very shortly, they include a trip to the Ebro after big carp (my mate had a 35 pounder recently).

EDWARDO, 06-09-05,  9.30 am, 81 DEGREES (AGAIN)

SPANISH CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

It’s been a while since I last wrote anything on this page, but during the past year the Spanish club that I helped to start has progressed to such a point that we have had to become affiliated to the Valencia Federation of Fishing Clubs, mainly because they control the only length’s of water able to accommodate the ever increasing membership our club now has. It has been like many other things here in Spain a drawn out and prolonged procedure, now at last we are affiliated.

As a result of joining the Federation we were obliged to enter a team in to the Spanish clubs championships. This involves fishing preliminary rounds against local Spanish clubs and then going on to the semis against clubs from other regions, then the Grand Final in Seville against teams from all over Spain. We, the only non Spanish club managed to get through to the semi final stage where we came last with 82 points against the winners 37. On a personal note, I had one section win, a second, a fifth and a ninth.

NEWS FLASH

On Thursday I received a telephone call telling me that I had qualified as an individual to go through to the next round of the Individual Knock Out. I was also sent an email with the results of the quarter final match. If you won your section in the morning and afternoon match your total points was 2, a perfect score. One English guy fishing with a spanish team got that score, and guess what... my score for both matches totalled 3 points, with a second in section in the morning and first in the afternoon.

The next round is on a huge lake about 120 miles away, and I have fished it a few times before so I am not to daunted about it (famous last words). I will have to stay over night because the draw is at 6.30 am, and I haven’t a clue what time I will arrive home, but what the eck I will enjoy the experience.

The format for the team match was: meet at draw for 6.30am (45 miles away), after draw has been made go to peg (8.00am), 9.25am START INTENSIVE GROUND BAITING, 9.30am start fishing, match ends 12.30pm. These matches are float only and no lead must touch the bottom, also stewards check the amount of bait that you have (limited) and can also ask you to remove your tackle so that they can check for lead touching the bottom. After the weigh-in has been completed and you have had your weigh card marked up you are then given your peg and section number for the afternoon match...... go to bar till 3.00 pm...... go to peg at 3.00 pm, 4.25 pm START INTENSIVE GROUND BAITING, match starts at 4.30pm and finishes at 7.30pm, The winner being the team with the lowest points total from the two matches. Arriving home at 11.00pm!!. Long, Long day.

This was the first time we have fished against the Spanish, and they really surprised me, the tackle they had was first class, most where sponsored by well know companies, one team even had shirts with Team Daiwa Spain on them, a lot of the teams used joker and leam for the initial baiting period and it seemed to make all the difference. We did mange to beat some Spanish clubs along the way, in morning and afternoon matches. All in all it was a good day, with a lot learned, and I am looking forward to next year (assuming I am selected). 

Tomorrow evening (Wednesday 15th June) I am due to appear on a local TV station to talk about fishing on the Costa Blanca and our Club, I am never normally stuck for words.... but I will admit to having a few butterfly’s in my stomach. I will let you know how I went on.

TROUT IN A SWIMMING POOL

I recently received an email telling me about a new trout fishery that had opened near Alicante and having a few hours to spare I decided to go and find the place and find out about the fishing and rules of the fishery.

The fishery is about the size of the junior cisterns or slightly bigger, but shaped like the top & middle cisterns. My first impression of it was that it looked like a swimming pool, it had artificial grass around its banks. The owner informed me that it was well stocked with rainbows, and there was certainly plenty of them showing on the day. Jan the owner said that the place closed down from June till September because of the hot weather, and that during that time he used the place as a swimming pool to keep him and his wife cool, it confirmed my first impressions about the place, but I still intend having a go for the trout. And if I get bored I can take a dip in the pool.

Alcalali Angling Club has just finished its Winter Series and the total amount of fish caught in seven matches was 2500 kilos, makes me wonder what the Spring Series will produce when the weather and the water warm up, and the fish really start feeding !!.

The Costa Blanca (White Coast)

The honeymmoon had to end at some time, and end it has. For the second time this month we have had SNOW. I now know why it is called the White Coast, silly me thought that it was because of the golden beaches. Allthough the skies are still blue and cloudless it is freezing cold and I have had to root out my Long Johns (I knew they would come in handy-one day) and for the first time in my life I may have to resort to wearing Pyjamas, we have had to buy hot water bottles and then electric blankets. I never thought that I would miss central heating. Still, all in all, it’s not a bad life, at least I know that the warm weather will soon return (the sooner the better)

P.S. And to cap it all off, half the population is suffering from the “Costa Blanca Cough” including yours truely.

The magic of fishing is not knowing what you will catch next, you can catch one species and then another. The element of surprise, using your skills to outwit the prey, man the hunter. At one with nature. The elation when you catch a personal best - and then !!

HOW TO LIGHT A WOOD BURNING STOVE

As the cold nights where starting to come in, my friend decided to try out his wood burning stove for the first time, unfortunately the instructions for doing so where in Spanish, so he used a translation program to convert the instuctions into English. Below are the instructions. Can anybody make sense of them, cos he/she/it/you/I is freezing cold.

Instructions for the use

Use of the chimney

The pointer could use for

1/Open or close the controller of shot

2/Regulate the entrance of air

3/Lift the grill of the bottom

4/Open or close the doors

Ignition of the chimney

Dry LENA is used

5/Place leaves of newspaper, after fine dry branch and finally logs something bigger.

Fastening fire to the paper and leave minutes with the door of the half-open chimney about 5. Later, if you/he/she/it have begun to fasten well, you/he/she/it could add but logs. Closing the door leaving the step of air completely until there is an alive blaze. Now one could regulate the step of air according to the necessity of wanted heating. With the stove in an efficient half or high march, the flames float above the logs and approach to the crystal.

The step of air this totally open when this the pointer completely to the right. The air that enters low for the crystal, avoiding the I deposit of soot in the crystal.

Sometimes, especially in cold time, he/she/you/it is convenient begin the shot of the chimney with some leaves of newspaper before fastening the chimney, this will be made with the half-open door in order to avoid to pass the smoke in the room.

If the shot of their chimney is weak I/he/she/it/you avoid the use of drawers.

With the closed door the SYSTEM 60 works the same as a normal stove.

With the open door like a chimney (abieta), you/he/she/it should place the (guardachispas) in the place of the door.

I hope you find this article as amusing as I do, unfortunately my mate doesn’t and it’s beginning to affect his pool game.

After being confined to barracks for the last eight days because of the torrential rain, it was with great delight upon opening the curtains to see the sun again. After renewing the gutters that came down in the storm, I thought to myself “Tis the Season to be jolly” and not needing much of a reason to be jolly I hastily organised a Christmas Singalong in my local bar. The evening was well attended by both the English and Spanish, although the Spanish wondered what we where all singing about !!. All in all we had a great night.

The following day was the Final of the local pool KO, and although yours truely was KO’ed in the quarter final (again) I still had a family interest, my son-inlaw was a finalist. The bar was packed to the rafters, with a Spaniard and an Englishman contesting the final.

My son-inlaw had obviously taken heed of the master (me) as he went on to win, both sets of supporters cheered for the two players. This competition really does a lot of good for the relationships in the village. Before entering last years comp, I knew nobody - now nobody wants to know me !!!.

The final was followed by a free buffet (tapas) and drinks, thanks to the generosity of a local English Estate Agent.

At the beginning of this year my mate Pete and I formed a new club (www.aaangling.com), and although it’s more formal (english style) than other clubs here we have attracted anglers from all over the Costa Blanca, and run matches every Friday followed by a few drinks. The membership has increased to the point where we have had to form a proper committee and are in the process of joining the Spanish Federation of Anglers. Wild carp make up 99% of the catches and boy do they bite and fight hard, so far this year we have had three rods and poles disappear into the water never to be seen again, a second change of clothing is an essential item of kit out here.

The area where I live abounds with orange groves and now is the time for harvesting the Mandarin’s, and due to making many friends amongst the locals my skin is taking on a distinctive orange hue, nearly every time I go for a drink (which is quite often) I am given bags of oranges, lemons and grapefruits, our house resembles a fruit & veg stall at the moment.

I have neglected this page over the last few months but now that the majority of Barnton & Frodsham matches are over and there is less to report, I should have more time to spend on this page (assuming anyone’s bothered) and also to improve my Spanish, after being here for two years I feel I should be able to say more than  una cervesa por favor (a pint please).

BOARING & WET

When you hear the saying “THE RAIN IN SPAIN FALLS MAINLY ON THE PLAIN” don’t believe it, because it’s been falling on our house for four days now, and when I say rain, I MEAN RAIN, I think we are experiencing what the Spanish call a “gotta fria”, it’s a depression in the weather that can hang about for days or weeks at a time, and boy is it depressing !!. Our house is high up and also faces the sea and when the wind blows hard it lashes the rain against the walls of the house, which then runs down the walls of the house and under the doors into the house, and then its all hands on deck, mops & buckets at the ready. Still, I suppose we are lucky because for nine or ten months of the year it is great.

Anyway, because I am housebound I thought that I would tell you about the wild boar that goes into the local bar (no its not me). About 7 months ago one of the locals found a piglet in the orange groves and decided to do the decent thing and take it home and raise it, over the Summer he has been bringing it into the bar, first he used a dogs collar and lead, then it became tame enough to take the lead off, it follows him everywhere. Locals feed it when it comes into the bar and it’s quite tame, but it has a habit of biting your leg when your not looking and when you are on the black ball in pool it can be a bit off-putting to say the least. It had my mate Del Boy twice the other night when he was playing his game in the annual pool KO, now Del Boy is ex SAS or Mercenary or something, so you can imagine what he said to the boars owner, needless to say the owner left the bar along with the boar. It will soon be a mature male and will start to grow tusks!!!, the spaniard knows he will have to have it put down, but he says that he can’t do it, BUT I KNOW A MAN WHO CAN - AND WILL.

FIESTA TIME AGAIN

It’s fiesta time again in our valley and throughout July and August all the villages and towns will be holding fiesta’s. Our village started its fiesta last week and for the first week it’s music, music and more music, which doesn’t sound too bad, till you realise that it all kicks off at midnight and goes on till dawn !! so you tend to siesta all day and fiesta all night. The village council in there wisdom has rented out half a dozen tin huts to the local teenagers, who have loaded them up with booze and have fitted stereo systems to them, what the council didn’t do was ask the people who live next to them if they had any objections, guess who lives next to Tin City ? yes , ME.

Last night we had the finals of a game called pilota, which is like squash but you use your hand to hit a small leather ball off the sides of houses, later all the children painted the village streets, with a prize for the best painted street, this again is done late at night. For some reason the spanish like to things after midnight, perhaps its because its 40+ degrees during the day!!!.

My birthday falls in the middle of the fiesta and last year it fell on the day that the village had a huge paella party, but this year the paella is later. During the fiesta the village council lays on a paella party, a caca party (like small pizza’s), tapas, pizza party along with beer and wine and its all free, don’t do things like that in england do they. I was told that I would be getting a motorbike for my birthday and like a small kid I couldn’t wait for it to arrive, when it did it was a 50 cc scooter with six inch wheels, not the Harley I was hoping for, but now when I ride around the village with my straw hat on all the spanish shout hello Steady Teddy.

Got to go and have my siesta now, adios amigo’s. 

CATS & KITTENS

After reading all the articles in the fishing magazines about the Rio Ebro and its catfish and with me living here in Spain, the time had arrived when I had to go and try for them.

Six of us had decided to go for two days and try for the cats and the carp that the river is famous for.

My mate pete, who had been three times fishing for cat’s and who had a personal best of 129 lb had organised a two day trip, and your’s truly was the first to put his name down. The guide we booked with had a boat that held three people, and Pete, his nephew Darren and Del Boy Trotter had booked the boat for themselves, and because the other two people didn’t want to go cat fishing and the boat being priced at 160 euros per day it meant that I would not be able to go cat fishing.

Before the time to go came, Del Boy was offered a job diving in Germany at the rate of £2500 per day and decided that he didn’t want to go fishing !!!. Anyway, I took the vacant place in the boat.

MONDAY - DAY 1.

After a three and a half hour drive we arrived at the Hostal in Venebre and duly booked our rooms, after which we decided to go and explore the Rio Ebro. We drove around all day looking at spots that we could go carp fishing, I, unfortunately had over indulged the night before and was feeling rather sorry for myself, and driving round all day looking at fishing spots and then going to the local supermarkets was not exactly want I needed that day. We had booked into a Hostal for the three nights at a cost of 28 euros per day, for bed, breakfst and a four course evening meal ( thats less than £18 per day, and for 70p you could get a huge lump of bread with meat, cheese , etc, for your lunch whilst fishing. Like I said before, I had over induluged the night before and had not left the bar until 1.30am and had to be up at 5.00am (supporting Greece) to get ready for the four hour journey, so needless to say, I was ready for an early night.

Our guide, Mike M’Quade had turned up at the Hostal that night at 10.00pm, after dropping his days customers off. He gave us our regional fishing licences which he had pre-booked for us and told us what he had caught that day, licking our lips as he told us of several cat fish of over 100 lb that they had caught that day. With lips wet and the adreilin pumping, I went to bed to sleep !!!!!

TUESDAY - DAY 2

After waking early, we all went to Venebre, where we had arranged to meet our guide Mike at 11.00am. The other two guy’s set up there tackle for a days carp fishing and very soon Mike arrived. after quickly launching his boat we where off, two hundred yards down the river we dropped anchor outside of an hydro electric plant, right underneath a wier. Mike then proceeded to give us a talk on using a multiplier and a toilet ballcock (which was the float), 80 lb braid and 6.0 hooks was the tackle we where to use that day. The idea was to trot the bungs under the wier and let it follow the current around, sounds easy till you realise that there is three of you in the back of the boat, all trying to control your floats. It was very similar to fishing a back eddy on the Dane, except you had a toilet ballcock on the end of your line and you where continually ducking under the other two people’s rods and also having to mend your line. It really was hard going and after 7 hours you felt the pain.

Anyway, after around 30 minutes Darren had had two runs and had missed them, only to be told by Mike to hit the runs realy hard. After another four hours without any more runs my 4 lb carp got excited and my bung duly went under - PLOP, straight down, adrenalin pumping, I struck realy hard, only to find I had not put the clutch onto my multiplier, guess what.... I missed it, but it seemed to change my luck and after several more scares my bung went down and I connected with my first cat, a few minutes later and it was in the boat, 35 lb, not much, but it was the biggest fish that I had ever caught, a few foto’s later and a lot of stick from my mate Pete, who said it wasn’t a cat but a kitten and also reminding me that he had caught a 129 lb fish I was into a second cat, this time the rod really bent, Mike fitted me with a butt pad, and I then began the experience of a lifetime, I thought that my adrenalin days were over, but after seeing my next cat come over the side of the boat I new that there was still some left in me. Mike put my fish into the weigh sling and it recorded 95 lb on the scales, not quite the ton but I had beaten my PB by 60 lb, That unfortunately was the last fish of the day and I was the only one on the boat to catch. Darren was buzzing and asked Miked if there was any availble places for the next day, Mike said that there was one place and Darren took it.

WEDNESDAY DAY 3

After arranging with the others to meet for breakfast at 7.00am I awoke at 7.45am, head banging from my celebrations from the night before. I went to Pete and Darrens rooms to find that they where still in bed, heads banging. We eventually arrived on the bankside to find our other two mates fishing. Now up till now my mate Pete had blanked, and this is the guy who in the past had caught fish up to 129 lb (have I mentioned that before ?). Very soon I was into a carp only to feel my hook pull out of it, but I quickly was into another one and managed to land it, a carp of around 6 lb. Shouts from Pete made me look in his direction and he shouted that he had a cat on, a couple of minutes later a cat of around 5 lb hooked up the backside was landed, one to Pete, First in two days !!.

Mike turned up at 11.00 am and because only one person had turned up Darren went cat fishing.

By 8.00 pm and a good days carp fishing we had to catch what we thought was the last ferry back across the river to Flix, There was no signs of Darren, upon reaching the opposite bank we foned Mike, he said that he would drop Darren off on our bank, 30 minutes later Darren arrived at the car looking like a Cheshire cat, he had caught an 86 lb fish and had lost four more.

My mate pete had one carp and one foulhooked kitten in two days fishing, did I say anything about his 129 lb fish and his previous catfishing expertise ...... course I did.

Mike M’Quade has his own web site: www.fishing4catfish.com

I recommend him to anyone, give him a try, great bloke.

P.S. Max, one of the other guys, was bringing a 9 lb carp to his net when a catfish took it, he gave it line but the cat spat the carp out and he landed the carp and weighed it, imagine the mouth and size of that fish.

P.P.S. Cormorants and the damage they do to fish stocks is a topic of concern in the UK, and rightly so, but have you given any thought to the stocking of catfish into UK waters. Catfish where introduced into the Ebro in the early seventies, a german put 10 or 12 fish into the river and in the last thirty years they have spread all the way along the river. When we were fishing for cats the guide said it was becoming impossible to get any small fish for live baits and that he had used a 4-8-0 crucian for bait the day before and had caught a cat straight away on it, and when we fished for carp we had nothing under 6-0-0............. need I say more, Edwardo.

FLOAT ONLY - RIO JUCAR

After last weeks gale it was a pleasure to arrive on the banks of the Rio Jucar and find the sun streaming down on the river, fish where topping everywhere.

This weeks match was one that was designated FLOAT ONLY, and with the smell of success still fresh in my nostrils I felt pretty confident. I drew peg number five but on this stretch of the  river the draw doesn’t seem to important as most of the pegs are featureless.

I started the match feeding two lines, one at 11 metres and another at 4 metres. The bottom of this river close in has huge boulders on it and it is virtually impossible to plumb it, one minute your depth is right and the next you are two foot or more to shallow, your plummet sitting on a boulder.

After spending half an hour or so fishing the 11 metre line with no success I switched to the inside line and immediately had a carp. On this river it sometimes pays to feed ground bait and another time they don’t want it, but today they wanted it and it was a bite a chuck, with a small ball of ground bait each chuck I managed to keep them feeding throughout the match. Hardly anybody else was catching only the guy on peg one and he was using a bolognese rod in mid river, everybody else was fishing at around 11 meters and not catching much, then after a couple of hours the guy on the next peg decided to fish close in and caught straight away, then they all decided to fish close in , but by then I had established a good weight and wasn’t to worried.

As I said before the bottom here is full of huge boulders and during the match you could fish a part of your peg for ages then suddenly you would snag up on a boulder, then you could fish on and not get snagged only to snag again later, this caused me to lose a few hooks and a lot of time, but at the weigh in I managed to put 52-4-0 onto the scales and win the match.

second place was taken by the guy on the bolognese rod with 41-0-0 and the bloke on the peg next to me took third with 40-9-0.

This was my third win on the pole in recent weeks and although the weights are not as high as matches won on the method or float feeder they are still respectable. These float only matches are far and few between and are not to popular with most members as they would rather chuck a feeder out and they like the big weights that come from that style of fishing, but I personally enjoy float fishing, it reminds me a bit of the UK and the many enjoyable hours on the local rivers.

Me - lifting my net out

ALBUFERA

Friday the 14th May saw the recently formed Alcalali Angling Club travel to Albufera which is up towards Valencia. Albufera is a massive lake with canals and rivers running off it to irrigate the rice fields and is just inland from the sea.

Upon arriving at the venue we where disappointed to find the weather had turned into a howling gale and that the conditions were not going to be ideal.

This was the first time I had fished Albufera and after plumbing my swim and finding that it was around four foot all the way across I decided to set up a pole and a feeder rod, after feeding two pole lines, one close in and one at 7 metres, I had a few chucks with the feeder rod but the conditions were that bad I decided to concentrate on my pole lines.

I started fishing my first pole line which was only 3 metres out, just over a raft of rubbish and caught three carp straight away, I lost two more and then the wind blew the raft of rubbish out of my swim and I stopped catching. I then fished my second pole line at seven metres and caught straight away again, I proceeded to catch steadilly throughout the match despite the terrible conditions and eventually came out the winner with 35 lb - 4 oz.

The other weights were: 19-6-0, 14-8-0 which included a carp of over 12 lbs and finally 9-2-0. so I was quite pleased with myself considering that the others had fished the venue before and considering the conditions on the day.

P.S. The spanish club that I am in, is fielding a team of five in the first of the  Spanish Federation KO matches this Sunday, and guess what - yours truly has been asked to fish for the club. I must be starting to impress them with my outstanding pole fishing skills !!!.

Just like the international matches, you are not allowed to ledger or have any weight on the bottom, we have had a load of rain recently and the river is bombing through so it will be interesting to say the least. I am looking forward to watching how the spanish fish and what tackle and bait they use. Eventually after a series of these KO matches a team will be selected to represent Spain..... Just think what could possibly happen...... Edwardo, fishing for Spain!!!!  

BACK TO BENIARRES

After fishing the Rio Jucar for the last six months I was looking forward to fishing the lake at Beniarres, One of the clubs I’m in had fished it on the previous Sunday for the first time this year but I had friends over from Barnton and was unable to fish the match, the winning weight was only 10lb, but this venue gets better and better as more matches are held there.

The evening before the match I decided that the tactics I would use would be to fish the pole at 4 - 6 metres and put a feeder rod out as well (you can fish two rods with this club). As we where driving to the lake I told my mate Pete what I had decided to do, to which he replied “your wasting your time fishing pole, I haven’t bothered bringing mine” On arriving at the lake I was astounded to see that it was back to its normal level, the last time I had fished it was 30 - 40 foot below its normal level and I had also forgotten how magnificent the scenery was.

At the draw I drew peg 1, they had pegged it out in such a way that pegs 1,2 and 3 where in a small bay and then there was a gap to the rest of the other pegs which where on the main lake. This made it look as though there was two matches going on!!. I caught a small carp on my first cast on the pole as did the bloke on peg 3, he continued to catch fish whilst I watched my float bob about without going under, then the bloke on peg two started to catch, all three of us were on the pole and although we all had chucked a feeder out, none of us bothered with it. The other two were pulling fish out, but they where also losing fish so I wasn’t too bothered, at least fish where on all three pegs.

Fishing  with five sections of pole put me in around ten foot of water and eventually I started to catch, two or three fish then nothing, then an other two or three. To me my fish seemed larger and I was bringing them in quicker than the other two anglers, and they where still losing the odd fish, after a while the bites slowed off, I had been using a single grain of corn, as had the other two, I switched to two grains on the hook and the response was immediate, they buried the float!!.

All three of us continued to catch fish until the last couple of hours when the wind direction changed and then my swim went dead, the other two caught an odd fish and the bloke on peg three caught three carp in the last ten minutes. The rumour round the bank was that all the other anglers on the main lake had struggled so I thought I might have come third. Being peg number one I was the first to weigh in and the scales revealed a weight of 17.9 kilos (around 38lb), peg 2 weighed 16.4 kilos and peg three 10.2 kilos. another angler on the main lake had weighed 13.2 kilos, so low and behold, I had won!!

I was informed after the weigh in that the match had been for the “Beniarres Trophy” so I have won my first trophy of the new season.

On the way back home I was telling my mate Pete how I had fished the match, to which he replied

“I should have brought my pole”   

CARPING ON THE COSTA’S

My mate Pete has started a new club out here who fish matches on the first and second Fridays of the month, and although membership isn’t high at the moment the weights are!!!.

The latest match on Friday 19th March was held on the Rio Jucar and the fish were in a ravenous mood. Most of the top weights were taken on the float/feeder method. The norm on this river is to fish the method feeder on the bottom until the fish start hitting it on the drop, which usually takes a couple of hours but today the fish were starving and started to attack the feeders straight away. Over 600 lbs of fish were taken by 12 anglers. I know that I keep going on about the good weights that are winning matches out here but carping on the costa’s really is great, especially when you consider that it’s winter. Nothing other than sweetcorn and ground bait (lots of it) are all you need to catch. The average weight of the fish on the Jucar is around two pounds but occasionally fish up to 12 pounds are taken. If any of you are coming to Benidorm or the Costa Blanca for a holiday and fancy a go, let me know, my mate Pete does fishing trips with pick ups from your hotel, he also has a selection of accommodation available and he provides licenses and tackle, his website is www.carp-fishing-spain.co.uk

The results of the latest match were as follows:

1st Mike Reynolds 136-8-0

2nd Tony Fowler 124-12-0

3rd Peter Gardiner 85-8-0

4th Robin Day 62-8-0

5th Alan Forkner 61-8-0

SPANISH PIGEON RACING !!!

I know that this is supposed to be a fishing web site, but this page also is about my escapades and the spanish way of life........ so cop for this. On my arrival in Spain I seen what I presumed where flocks of parrots flying around and very colourful they were to. I later started going to a little spanish bar close to my home and this turned out to be the meeting place of the local pigeon club.

On the results board in the bar was an array of coloured cards showing the positions of the birds in the last race. Like horse racing, each owner has their own set of colours, each unique to them, and what I had seen flying around in the sky were not parrots but pigeons !!

They are painted so that the owners recognise them as they are flying in from a race and also so the other spaniards don’t blow them out of the sky ( gun mad here ). The colour  shown above the birds wing is the colour of the top of the wing. Each bird is also given a name. Shown here are two result cards from a race. Not fishing this article, but different. Today I am going to Navajas near Valencia, I will let you know how I went on. 

Had a bit of a Bar-B-Que the other day and I thought you might like to see some pictures of the pan we used.The first shows the paella being made, the second shows them cleaning the pan (notice the industrial floor cleaner) and the third shows the pan being put into the plate rack !!!

Your’s truly, eating snails.

TOP OF PAGE