Rayne Lodge Fishery. The Top Lake. May 30th, 2008.

Marsh AC club match.

Well today’s the 2nd match of Marsh AC’s season on the Top Lake at Rayne Lodge Fishery, just outside Braintree in Essex.
I met Dave at his house at 7am and followed him and Colin up to the fishery. Pulling into the car park just after 8am there were 17 of the usual suspects in attendance and with the weather apparently set fair for once everyone soon had their gear unloaded and down the hill to the lakeside.

I took a stroll round with Dave as he decided which pegs would be going into the draw, and in all honesty there didn’t appear to be a bad one, but Dave having fished there on more than a few occasions had a pretty good handle on it anyway, so decisions made it was draw time.

Kevin’s partner Jean, after accompanying him on all his trips had decided to fish today for the 1st time, so they drew 1st so that they could have adjacent swims, I came away with peg 16 while Dave could be heard bemoaning the fact that his favorite swim (14a) had remained in the bag undrawn.  

Settling into peg 16 it was “make your mind up time” for me. Now the nice part of Marsh matches is that they are just socials really, not even any money for winning, just the section winners get paid out, and that is only just enough to cover your ticket, so that the matches have a lovely relaxed atmosphere. Sure there are some personal rivalries, but essentially it’s just a pleasant day out fishing with friends.

I’d already mentioned to Colin that I was going to go with one of 2 methods today, either paste on the pole or pellet waggler. Well the pellet waggler won, purely because I fancied doing something different today. Setting up took no time at all as my Shakespeare 11ft Micro was already set up in it’s ready sleeve. I’d teamed the rod up with a Daiwa Capricorn 2000. The float was a 2ssg Malman Styro. Hooks are the Drennan eyed Carp Match barbless with a hair rigged Gardner 3·2mm latex pellet band. these will take anything from a 4mm to a 11mm pellet and are the best on the market IMO. For actually banding I use a Mossella Band’a’Bait tool, again IMO an unbeatable tool for the job.( Dave was certainly impressed when he saw me using it.)

             

Bait and feed was nothing more than 12 pints of Skrettings 6mm pellets with some 8mm’s for an alternative hookbait. I also got the feeder rod out as it was all set up in a ready sleeve, but I was only planning to use it if things went wrong.

Looking around most were going with the pole, though a couple of others were going with rod set-ups. So 10am and the all-in and a couple of large pouches of pellet were catapulted to the edge of the overhanging tree about 20yds away to ring the dinner bell. Normally I would clip up if I was casting to an island or feature, but with plenty of water under the overhanging tree and some large fish present in the lake I decided against it preferring to rely on the accuracy of my casting. (I only lost 1 float all day, so can’t have been to rusty) I soon got into a decent rhythm and a small Mirror of around ½lb got me off the mark. There were plenty of fish moving, but they were just mooching around and although I was putting a few together they weren’t really having it.
I also lost a few fish, but after talking it over with a few of the others I’ve come to the conclusion that it was probably down to the fact that a large percentage of the fish have dodgy mouths making it awkward to get a decent hook hold.

A splash from round the lake signalled Kevin trying to join the fish as he transferred one to his net, though Dave refused to disqualify him for wading and Jean had caught her 1st fish, but was under strict orders from Kevin not to beat him, and reports filtered round that one poor unfortunate had missed the net with a good double figure Carp, a fish that he was hoping to weigh and photograph as it was definitely his biggest ever.

Frustrated at not being able to put a run of fish together and with the beginnings of a headache, I took a break and went for a stroll. Dave and Colin appeared to be neck and neck, both owning up to 20+ fish, but I had to fancy Colin having the edge as the Carp appeared to be queuing up under the bush to his left waiting for him to drop a pellet on their noses…

Eddie on Peg 1 was into a decent fish…

while further round Jim appeared to be getting bitted out by Roach. John was having a similar problem, but he proved to be a real lifesaver when he produced a couple of paracetamol from his box, that did the business on my headache, Cheers John.

Tony was looking pretty happy with himself, but claimed to be struggling having lost a number of fish, however his peg looked like it was solid to me…

Kevin was doing OK and was happy that barring a total calamity he had the beating of Jean, though she was still nicking the odd one here and there.

Terry as usual was just keeping his head down and putting a few fish quietly into the net, that’s why they call him “Wily Coyote”…

Back at my peg and 1st cast I stuck it straight into the tree and cracked off (Told you I lost 1 float) so chucked out the feeder with a banded 8mm pellet on it while I re rigged the pellet waggler but didn’t get as much as a tap on it.
Back out on the waggler and I was soon back into the rhythm which is all important when fishing this method, and although they still weren’t really having it I managed to keep up a reasonably decent catch rate right up till 4pm when Dave called the all out. The frustrating part was that I hadn’t had a single bonus fish, my best being a Ghostie of around 4lb with the majority around the 1½ -2lb range and although I’d had what most would class as a decent day ( I thought I’d got 50lbs+), couldn’t help feeling that the peg was worth more, but hey, that’s fishing.

By the time Terry and I caught up with the weigh in, it was coming round to Tony who was admitting to around 40lbs, he must be related to Pinocchio, because he put 85¼lbs on the scales (he’ll have someone’s eye out with that nose one day). Jean had managed a very creditable 23½lbs, not enough to beat Kevin but a great 1st effort, while Terry put a very decent 64lbs on the scales. Round to my peg and the tale of the scales gave me 79½lbs which pleasantly surprised me. Dave’s fish mustered 67¾lbs including a bonus 10lb Mirror, which just left Colin with 39 fish, only small ones according to him and probably about 70lbs. Well he must be another of Pinocchio’s relatives because they gave him a dead level 114lbs for the win on the day.

So that was it for another day with Marsh AC, well apart from the suicidal climb back up the hill to the car park, Thanks for the hand  Tony, I might well still be there otherwise. A real fun day as usual and as a bonus I won my section and only needed a tee shirt all day. Roll on the next one. 

Position	Angler	Weight
1st	Colin Sharrard	114lbs 00ozs
2nd	Tony Roberts	85lbs 04ozs
3rd	Peter Morton	79lbs 08ozs
4th	Dave Collier	67lbs 12ozs
5th	Terry Goff	64lbs 00ozs
6th	Roger Noakes	48lbs 08ozs
7th	Kevin Loveland	45lbs 00ozs
8th	Simon Watkins	44lbs 08ozs
9th	Bob Hucker	32lbs 00ozs
10th	Eddie Dobson	30lbs 00ozs
11th	John Holdsworth	29lbs 12ozs
12th	Jim Boase	29lbs 08ozs
13th	Jean Algar	23lbs 08ozs
14th	Martin Hucker	17lbs 04ozs
15th	Rod Turner	13lbs 12ozs
16th	Ken Walker	12lbs 12ozs
17th	Zack Johnson	2lbs 04ozs

Monk Lakes. Match Lake 2. May 17th, 2008.

A Charity Match in support of

with support from

Well today was the day for a Charity match organised by Vince Gould with a little bit of help from myself, taking place at Monk Lakes at Marden in Kent supporting the fund raising efforts of Disabled-Angler.co.uk for Macmillan Cancer Support & Rainbows the East Midlands Children’s Hospice, and hopefully with nearly 40 anglers booked in we would raise a few quid for the charities.

Loading up the car didn’t bode well. A solid grey sky was already dropping rain and with 4 large boxes of Braham & Murray Pure Hemp products to load up along with my gear, the car was a little full to say the least.

A phone call from Dirk as I drove down to the venue informing me that he was held up on the M25 and might be late, wasn’t good either. Arriving about 8am I met up with Vince and it was soon obvious that despite the weather most had made it. Simon Edwards had endured the TomTom trip from hell on the way down from Northampton as it warned him about the M25 hold up and diverted him through Central London!!!!!

9 am and Dirk arrived just in time for the draw, which saw a few £1 side bets placed, with Vince and Paul East joining in with Dirk and myself, for a four-way battle of the £1 coins and bragging rights. Peg 75 on the causeway was to be my peg for the match.

with Vince and Dirk in the 60′s on the other side of the causeway while Paul, Clive and Alan were opposite me on the far bank. To my right I had Simon and to my left young Nick Allen.

With plenty of time to set up prior to the 11am start I set up 3 pole rigs, a 4X14 KC Carpa Tricky on 0·14 Antares Silk Shock with size 18 Drennan Carp Match hook to fish at dead depth which would cover from 5mtrs to 13 mtrs due to the even bottom, a 4X12 KC Carpa dibber on 0·16 Antares Silk Shock with size 18 Drennan Carp Match hook for up in the water, and a 4X12 KC Carpa Shelf on 0·16 Antares Silk Shock with size 16 Drennan Carp Match hook for the margins. I also set up the pellet waggler (though I felt the conditions would rule it out today) and a feeder rod as a get out of jail option, however I’d forgotten my cage feeders, but fortunately I managed to borrow one from Vince. Bait wise for me, with it being the middle of May it was pellet, pellet and more pellet, with some meat as a change bait. Simon however was committing mass murder on a bait box full of worm & caster with some Atomic and hemp added for good measure!!!!!!

11am and with Vince blowing the whistle for the start I fed a pot of mixed pellet on the 11mtr and 5mtr lines and fed the margins by hand. Meanwhile young Nick had already landed his 1st fish and was into a second. Simon lost the 1st fish he hooked as a Skimmer did a passable impression of a Trout and shed the hook as it took off however he was soon into a few fish.

I was really struggling to buy a bite but finally got off the mark with a F1 of about a pound. However I couldn’t put a run of fish together unlike Nick and Simon who were catching regularly and a combination of a cold NE wind and the rain made conditions unpleasant to say the least (Strange how it never bothers you if you’re catching) but at least I had the wind off my back.

After about 2 hours of going nowhere fast I re-fed my pole lines and got up for a leg stretch and popped down to see how others were doing.

 Vince was huddled under his brolly trying to escape the wind and rain that was blowing straight into his bank and was fishing the feeder………

but although he was admitting to around 15lbs in the net, was having trouble as his bites seemed to be very finicky.

Dirk was a couple of pegs further down, and was starting to wonder why he’d made the trip down from Rugby? He’s enjoyed his previous visits to Monks and had won his section the last couple of times, but sitting there with the wind blowing straight into him and his hands starting to lose all feeling, it was turning into a struggle as he had to go out to 14½ mtrs just to find a bite.

Meanwhile Matt Love, just behind Dirk was suffering as well, despite having won a match on the lake the previous Saturday with a fine bag of 114lbs fishing the pellet up in the water, it wasn’t working for him today however and he’d reverted to a method feeder to see if it would bring him a few fish.

Back at my peg, there was still no action on any of my pole lines and I decided that the feeder was the way to go with soaked 4mm pellet in the feeder and a hair rigged banded 8mm hard pellet for bait…………

After about 10 minutes I was rewarded as the tip wrapped round and after a short fight, a nice Mirror of around 3lb was welcomed to the net.

Looking across I could see that the far bank was struggling with nobody getting anything other than the occasional fish. Paul was sticking at it and seemed to be concentrating on his margin swim in an effort to put a few together…….

While Clive appeared to be alternating his approach between the margin and his line straight out in front, though apparently for little reward……

Meanwhile a few more Carp and F1′s along with a couple of Barbel kept things ticking over for me, though I won’t pretend that I wasn’t pleased to hear Vince blowing the whistle to signal the end of the match at 4pm.

The weigh in soon confirmed that I was about as close to a bit of Cod as I could be (Battered both sides) with Nick to my left weighing 73¾lbs for the match win and Simon to my right putting 52½lbs on the scales to eclipse my 34¼lbs and take my £1. However every cloud they say has a silver lining, and on this occasion I had the pleasure of relieving Vince, Dirk and Paul of their £1 coins.

Back to the car park for the presentations it was generally agreed that the fishing had been as hard as most could remember given the time of year, However the aim of the match had been achieved with £540 in total being raised for the Charities and all the anglers taking away some Braham & Murray Hemp Products for their efforts, so a big vote of Thanks to all those that attended.

Chatting in the car park as we all set off for home, I remembered something in my pocket that I handed back to Vince with my thanks, Yes the cage feeder that he’d lent me and enabled me to take his £1. His face was a picture and I can’t repeat what he actually said to me. 

	TOP 20
Position	Angler	Weight
1st	Nick Allen	73lbs 12ozs
2nd	Phil Brice	66lbs 08ozs
3rd	Peter Allen	63lbs 12ozs
4th	Graham Flynn	62lbs 00ozs
5th	Ian Carley	61lbs 00ozs
6th	John Haigh	58lbs 00ozs
7th	James North	52lbs 12ozs
8th	Simon Edwards	52lbs 08ozs
9th	Dennis Price	50lbs 12ozs
10th	Trevor Little	46lbs 00ozs
11th	Dave Barr	36lbs 08ozs
12th	Peter Morton	34lbs 04ozs
13th	Gary Cross	34lbs 02ozs
14th	S Holden	33lbs 12ozs
15th	Simon Elsey	32lbs 08ozs
16th	Jeff Driscoll	32lbs 00ozs
17th	Alan Loader	30lbs 08ozs
18th	Mike Jameson	28lbs 04ozs
19th	Vince Gould	27lbs 06ozs
20th	Matt Love	27lbs 04ozs

Section 1	Phil Brice	66lbs 08ozs
	John Haigh	58lbs 00ozs
Section 2	Peter Allen	63lbs 12ozs
	Graham Flynn	62lbs 00ozs
Section 3	Nick Allen	73lbs 12ozs
	Simon Edwards	52lbs 08ozs
Section 4	Alan Loader	30lbs 08ozs
	Clive Pritchard	21lbs 08ozs

ROLF WOBBEKING.

It was with sadness that I received news that Rolf sadly passed away today.

One of life’s true characters that I feel privileged to have met, Rolf was one of the most successful Specimen Anglers on the Middle Thames and surrounding rivers back in the late 1970′s and through the 80′s. His record with big chub was outstanding, he even held the record for a time, and he also captured a lot of very big pike from the river. However it’s his fishery – Rolf’s Lake at Holton in Oxfordshire that will stand as his legacy and a tribute to his energy and his abilities as a fishery owner. All the fish there are immaculate, with some truly impressive specimens of various species, due to the fact that the welfare of his fish was always his no.1 priority.

Farewell Rolf, Rest in Peace Chap.

Maggotdrowning.com European Tour. River Ebro. Caspe. Spain. May 5th-9th, 2008.

Maggotdrowning.com

 European Tour 2008.

Monday 5th.

Well, we all assembled at Luton Airport around 11am for our Ryanair flight to Reus Airport. As fine a body of men as has ever been assembled for a Maggotdrowning quest to catch some fish. Along with myself were Dave, Stu, Trogg, Beebs, Norm & Jason (NoFinPhish).
At the check-in all went smoothly till Stu stuck his case on the scales!!!! some hasty repacking soon took care of that little hiccup though and we had time for a couple of pints prior to departure, though Dave did require counselling for shock after being told the price.

Onto the plane and the usual scramble for seats that’s common with these flights, for the short 1 hour 45 minute flight and in seemingly no time at all we were landing at Reus Airport. The baggage handlers certainly weren’t British, because as soon as we reached Arrivals the bags were already on the carousel!!! While Dave & Stu went to sort out the hire car the rest of us strolled outside to find Pat who would be taking us down to Caspe in his Espace which is around a 2 hour drive away in the Arragon region.

A pretty uneventful trip ensued, with Pat filling us in about the area while Norm monitored the temperature on the Espace’s digital thermometer. We finally arrived in Caspe just after 5pm and met up at the apartment with Gary(catman)Sheridan the owner of www.carpdreamfishing.com who was to be our guide for the trip. No way Caspe could be described as a tourist town, it’s very much a typical provincial one. He showed us up to the 3rd floor apartment that was to be our base for the next few days and arranged to pick us all up at 8am the next morning.

View from our apartment balcony.
Beds sorted and gear unpacked a quick trip to the local supermarket soon took care of essential supplies (Beer and Wine). After a few beers we set off in search of the local Chinese and finally found it, and very good it was too. A few more beers before finally returning to the apartment for a few more drinks, saw most of us drifting off to bed at various stages in preparation for the day ahead.

Tuesday 6th.

Most of us surfaced in good time for the day ahead, though Beebs & Jason did seem a little subdued, and Norm seemed to think that I may have snored occasionally during the night. Gary arrived right on time and we set off for his house to collect one of the boats, bait and tackle before traveling down to the Club Nautica to launch the boats from the slipway.
With the kit divided between 2 boats, Dave volunteered his services to skipper one of them, and the more sensible of us (Me. Stu & Trogg) elected to go with Gary.

Soon we were off turning right out of the Club Nautica and on to the main body of The River Ebro. The sheer scale of the river is quite breath-taking and it’s soon obvious that without a guide, it would be almost impossible to know where to start. On the way Gary explained to us how he made use of his Hummingbird fish finder and gave us a bit of a run down on his approach to things.
Gary at the helm.
After about 45 minutes steady cruising we pulled into a bay and got everything unloaded, and a gazebo set up to supply some shelter from the sun as the temperature would rise into the 80′s during the day.

The Catfish tackle was essentially 10ft up-tide boat rods with either Multiplier or Big Pit Fixed Spool reels loaded with heavy braid and shock leaders carrying a single LARGE hook that appeared to be a circle pattern with the bait (20mm drilled halibut pellets) fished on a hair. The weights were rocks from the surrounding area fixed onto a sliding swivel by elastic bands that would pull free on the strike, meaning that all the baits had to be boated out and not cast. The feed for the session was a 20kilo bag of pellets per angler that would be fed by hand from the boat once the baits had been placed into position.

So with each of us fishing two rods 14 baits were boated out and fed with pellet, and we settled down besides our rods full of anticipation. Well most of us did, Beebs however was still feeling a shade second hand especially as he’d slipped on the rocks and cracked his left knee that was still recovering from cruciate surgery and Jason joined him but only succeeded in washing his phone…
Well the sun beat down, but even with 14 rods and over 100 kilo’s of pellet having been fed, not a single bite was forthcoming. Catfish could be seen topping along with Carp, but none appeared to be interested in the baits.
While Norm could be seen pondering whether he was ever going to get a bite………..

 Dave took a more proactive approach and cobbled together a pole of sorts with some line and hooks he’d brought with him……

However it was no more successful than the other 14 rods.

The view however was spectacular.

but perhaps the sighting of a couple of Vultures soaring on the thermals in the distance should have told us something. In fact the most action was when the wind got under the gazebo and trashed it in all honesty. It was a group of pretty disappointed anglers that headed back at around 7pm, the Ebro having shown us just what a hard nut it could be to crack.
Indeed Gary contacted several of his fellow guides on the way back, but it was soon obvious that nothing was coming out anywhere as both the Cats and Carp appeared to have been on the spawn.

Back at the apartment via the supermarket to top up supplies then a quick SS&S followed by a steak at the local restaurant and a few beers at the local bar, most of us got our heads down earlyish for a fresh start the next day. Norm made me take some of his snore stopping spray before turning in. (It didn’t work)

Wednesday 7th.

Another 8am start and as we climbed into the boats Gary told us that we would be heading to a different part of the Ebro up river near to Chacon to a swim where the old river bed comes close to the shore offering the opportunity to present baits in 60 feet of water!!!!! and just to offer a little hope we passed a boat that appeared to be playing a fish, would this prove to be a lucky omen?
On arrival we set up on what appeared to be a shingle beach and with us having more of an idea of what to do Gary was soon boating out the baits and positioning them with the aid of his fish finder.
Soon we were all settled in and keenly anticipating the 1st bite of our trip.
However those rod tips remained totally still………
Dave even went out with Gary in the boat to check with the fish finder whether or not there were any fish present, There were and Dave even videoed it just to prove it to the rest of us……
So the interminable wait went on, but with nearly another 100kgs of bait fed into this swim and fish present surely we couldn’t go another whole session with nothing to show for it could we?

Then just after 1pm Jason’s rod tip pulled over signalling a bite and he was into a fish………
The tension was tangible as Jason played what was obviously a large fish but finally Gary managed to get his hand on the shock leader and Jason’s prize was in view……
Banked and in the sling………
Weighed and displayed………
All 81lbs of her, she was then tethered to recover prior to taking some more photos. With a hearty round of congratulations out of the way Jason was soon down to his shorts and into the water despite it not being the warmest and him not being able to swim so we could take some more trophy shots………


Well after the excitement of the 1st Cat being banked, another rod soon hooped over, and it was Jason’s again ……
This time it was only a baby of around 15lbs, Perfection in miniature it was another Cat regardless of the size………
With the session drawing to a close Trogg’s rod was the next to go, alas this wasn’t a cat, but a superbly fit River Common that went 16lbs and was very welcome none the less.
Now with time running out and with fish obviously present we were presented with a dilemma, Would we be able to get the swim tomorrow?
This was solved with Trogg volunteering to stay the night at the swim with Gary for company bringing back a bivvy, bed-chair and sleeping bags after ferrying the rest of us back to the Club Nautica and arranging for Pat to bring us back by road the next morning. Well Done Fella.

The trip back was damp to say the least with The Mistral blowing and whipping up the waves meaning that we all got a good soaking on the way back. By the time we got back to the apartment we got a text from Trogg telling us that he’d had a 37lb Common Carp, a new PB.
A meal and a few beers were the order of the day by way of celebration before we turned in full of anticipation for our final days fishing that lay ahead.

Thursday 8th

8am and Pat was waiting for us and after a stop off at Gary’s house to collect even more pellets we were off to Chacon by road and after a little bit of confusion soon found the swim. Nothing more had come out over night just a couple of missed runs. The weather was quite overcast however and there was even the possibility of some rain later in the day forecast. Soon we were all set, although Beebs did swop rods with Stu so that he could be nearer to them as his knee was still giving him trouble.

The first bite of the day came to Webbo but with him nearly missing the rod and Stu’s phone sounding the Benny Hill ringtone at the same time he still managed to connect only for the fish which appeared to be a Cat from the way it fought, to shed the hook having crossed several of the other lines which led to the tangle brothers performing a rather intricate dance as they sorted it all out…
Soon though Stu’s rod was away and he was playing what was obviously a lively Carp…
They’re as fit as hell these Ebro Carp, but soon Stu had a 23lb Common to show for his efforts ……
Having got over that Stu’s rod was soon away again, and this time it was obvious that it was a Cat……
A degree of tension ensued when Stu realised that it was hooked on a Carp rig he’d set up that had a barbless hook however with the fish safely landed the hook was found firmly in the scissors. Weighing in at 82lbs it didn’t take Stu to long to get in for the obligatory photo’s even if the water was a little cooler than he would have liked.


As we were finishing up the photos Trogg’s rod was nearly dragged from it’s rest by a bite of savage proportions, the power of which dragged him down the bank towards the water however he soon appeared to have things under control, so much so that someone decided to drag his shorts round his knees while Gary whispered words of encouragement in his ear.
Unfortunately however it was not meant to be as with the fish close to shore it shed the hook.

Sitting down and reflecting with Trogg that I may as well frame my rods and display them in the Tate Gallery as a still life, of course i then had a bite!!!!!!!!!! and made a complete hash of it, ending up going almost base over apex and ending on my backside as the fish slipped the hook………

Talk about a nightmare, 2½ days and I miss my only bite.

Soon however Jason was in again, and this time the result was a Common Carp of 32lbs………
This was swiftly followed by Webbo connecting and finally banking a 24lb Common to break his duck……
 which just left me, Beebs and Norm blanking, and time running out. Of course just to rub it in Dave’s rod was soon away again, and this time it was obvious that it wasn’t a Carp……
This time it all went smoothly and the scales revealed a Cat weighing in at 84lbs. Needless to say it didn’t take long for Dave to strip down and get in for the obligatory photo’s……

And fortunately because Stu’s cat had been retained on a tether we persuaded Stu to get in once more for some brace photo’s although Stu’s cat didn’t seem to keen on the idea as it had rested up and was now fresh as a daisy.

 Well with time running out on the session, Gary decided it would be good to get us all together for a group photo, though with 3 of us still blanking, quite how Norm, Beebs and I managed to look so happy will probably always remain a mystery.

Sitting by my rods, it went through my mind just how much inevitable stick I would get from the forum members on my return, but then out of the corner of my eye my left hand rod dipped and I struck and felt a fish!!!!!! Salvation, now I’m not used to multiplier reels and to say that I played that fish nervously is an understatement of huge proportions.

However Gary soon had it safely banked and there it lay, a glorious River Ebro Common Carp that weighed 28lbs, a new PB. Mugger had got a fish at the death, and I think the photo’s show just how happy and relieved I was ……

  That was the end of the action for the day, unfortunately, leaving Beebs and Norm fishless, not for the want of trying though.
We said our Farewells and Thanks to Gary on the bankside as he had another group of anglers arriving the next morning and Pat was picking us up for the return to the apartment.

Out for another Chinese by way of winding up, we then hit the bar till we got kicked out as the owner wanted to go home, most of us slept like tops when we finally hit the sack.

Friday 9th.

Surfacing at various times during the morning we packed up and straightened up the apartment before popping out to get a few gifts for those back home, it was dull and overcast once more and had obviously rained at sometime during the night. Pat arrived to pick us up and half way back to Reus Airport the heavens opened!!!!!!! The rain in Spain apparently falling mainly on us by the time we arrived at the airport.
A brief delay saw us flying out about half an hour late, but an uneventful flight saw us almost back on time by the time we landed and collected our bags, bid our farewells and set off to our respective homes. Not quite the results we had hoped for, but a brilliant trip all round, and one that I definitely fancy having a go at again in the future.

Conclusions.

A great experience, we only had 3 days fishing and really you need a full week to get to grips with it as it’s so different from the way most of us fish in England.
A guide is essential, the water is vast and would be almost impossible to get to grips with without local knowledge.
Be prepared for the cost of bait that you use, Pellets cost us 59 euros per 20 kg sack and you need at least 1 sack for every day that you fish so it can soon mount up.
It would appear that early May could be a time to avoid in case you catch the fish spawning.
Don’t expect the locals to speak any English, this is rural Spain and not the Costa’s.
If you fancy a crack at this yourself, click on the logo below and contact Gary Sheridan for details of his guided trips. Mention that you were recommended by the lads from Maggotdrowning.com and you may even find that you get a bit of a discount.