Trip report Carp Dream - Angling Escapes

Late March, time is flying, temperatures are rising and the water of the Orellana reservoir in Extremadura is also getting warmer. I get to visit one and a half Swiss people. One and a half because one, Stephan Palson, is the real Swiss, an avid predatory fisherman who spends all his free time hunting predatory fish on the great Swiss lakes. The other is Dean Hall, originally an Englishman and carp angler who has been living in Switzerland for two years and is discovering his new sport fishing life there.

The goal is to discuss whether we can also put Switzerland on the map as a vacation destination with De Vissende Hollander (Angling Escapes) and see if we can possibly get Swiss fishermen in Spain. Business combined with pleasure: fishing!

The trip goes well for the couple and around 2 p.m. we meet them at the gas station to guide them to our house. This is necessary because the TomTom does not have our address. After arriving at our house, the gentlemen are enjoying the view. The snowless mountain and hill tops, the silence, the wide view. Just like Switzerland, but warm and different.

The afternoon and evening will be devoted to good fellowship and good food. Picking up facts about both countries. And for Dean, the difference with England.

For example, did you know that the minimum wage in Switzerland is around 3,500 euros? That in neutral Switzerland you are obliged to have a bomb shelter in your house? That otherwise you are not allowed to sell it? That in the supermarket everything is at least 3x more expensive than in the Netherlands? That products in the supermarket here in Spain cost perhaps a third of the price in Holland. And that the minimum wage here in Spain is around 700 euros? That you will eventually feel as poor or rich there as you feel in Holland? And that you will feel rich anywhere in the world with a fishing rod in your hand at the waterfront?

Carp & Predator

Dean had had several pounds of Xcel Baits sent from England beforehand, and his buddy Nathan, who is also staying here in Orellana, had been catching carp every night since using Xcel Baits. Thanks to or in spite of? In any case, hopeful because Dean and Nathan would also spend a night carping together.

First, good food and catching up. Of course with homemade paella from house friend Heiko.

We started the next morning on predatory fishing. About the predatory fishing, I wasn’t worried. So many good spots I could sail blind to catch fish. Like right here on the other side. An underground culvert with Zujar, a 1,000-acre lake 25 kilometers away. To level the water level between the two waters, they are connected by underground pipes. At those tubes you can find as many pike and zander as you want. Big clouds of prey fish on display and fish both on half water and on the bottom. Places I used to go with Yair and Martijn last month as ‘guaranteed’ catch spots.

New gear from Pure Fishing.

Swim lip sadness

So with my big mouth we start here. Nice slopes and ledges. But no take. What’s that? Nothing showing on the fishfinders. No clouds of prey fish, no symbols on half water and no symbols on the bottom. You can understand that this made me extremely unsure. On to the next fixed spot. Nothing again. What is this? Four months of fixed spots with always a fish. Definitely zander and now nothing. Would the fish spawn now?

We are ready.

I cannot call myself a top predator fisherman. And I still have too little knowledge of the water to know what could be going on. We decide to troll some of the deep water with sideplaners and large pieces of lures, hoping to encounter fish and mark these spots so we can fish them seriously later. But first make meters by trolling.

Booooooom, a pounding on Stephan’s rod. Fish on! I put the boat in neutral and reel in the other rods. Stephan has a smile from ear to ear. His first Orellana pike. “How strong he is,” he exclaims. And then the famous whip. Slack line. Lost! Bales.

Upon reeling in, we go absolutely crazy. For there is still something hanging on the line: the swimming lip of the crankbait, a crankbait of a renowned brand. A thick scratch from a tooth across the swim lip is the only trace of a fish. What I don’t understand is that there is no steel connection between the swim lip and the trebles. Because on the swim lip is the connecting eye to the line. Could the crankbait have been bitten in half? Was this Orellana’s monster? Or was this just a Monday morning plug? Bummer. And also for the fish. Hopefully he will get the lure unloaded now that there is no more pressure on it. We trolled on and half an hour later the second bite on Stephan’s rod. This time we get it in the boat. A fish of around 90 centimeters. The first pike of Orellana for Stephan.

A Spanish mean green fighting machine.

Dean would like to go back and get his carp rods ready. He is going carp fishing for a night and would like to have all the time he can get everything ready. I bring him back and sail with Stephan towards the church site for a while. Here are some slopes at 7 to 12 meters and then even 19 meters deep. Here we catch a few zander while vertical fishing. Time to end the first day of predatory fishing. We trailered the boat in the garden.

Trailering in the garden.

When winching the boat I find it makes a somewhat strange noise. But then again, the boat will be on the trailer so why worry, right? Everything goes on electricity. Yair Nauta has built in a wonderful charging system and with a plug we charge all the different batteries at once.

We have a bite to eat and go to bed in time. Back on the water early tomorrow. I leave my phone on in case Dean gets a bite. Then I can always help if necessary. But I sleep just fine. The next morning Dean comes up with breakfast. He, too, slept just fine. No bite, no fish seen or heard. Well, the lake is 5000 acres. And if the fish aren’t there you can have the best bait, but unfortunately it won’t get you anything. I go out again with Stephan while Dean likes to stay with the caravan. Quietly investigate carp spots and see if he sees fish turning.

Dean prefers to stay with the caravan for carp hunting.

We fly the boat to the upper water. At the second bridge it is much shallower. We see a lot of fish on the fishfinder here. So we start vertical right away. Right behind us a huge splash!? Carp? Predator hunting? And another splash. Just out of sight. So quickly prepare a jerkbait and cast. Because of the wind and the waves it is difficult to see whether it is carp or predator hunting. After 20 minutes of casting without a take we finally see that it is carp splashing, lots of carp. All on route up to the shallower water, spawning time. Would the predatory fish go after them? Surely the predatory fish should have spawned long ago.

Silly mistake

Before long, I get my first bite. Zander. And a nice size too. Stephan also catches his fish. And then I got a bang on my vertical rod. For a moment it is silent under water and I wonder if I have hooked the bottom. And then ‘it’ takes off explosively. And another acceleration over it. I have never experienced this before. Pike? The fish doesn’t stop. Meters and meters of line are pulled off my Abu reel. There is nothing I can do. I decide with the front controller on the boat to give more throttle and sail along. But I don’t keep up with the fish!?

I then decide to start the 90 horses and sail along. Stephan, meanwhile, films everything with the GoPro. We have no idea. Now I manage to overtake the fish and gain line again. Finally I reach the fish that stays deep. I put the motor in neutral and build up the pressure. The fish comes to half water, but takes off again with tremendous explosiveness. There is 6/00 braided line on the reel and I have the slip on maximum for my liking. Within seconds the fish is 30 meters away from me and keeps going. Again I have to chase the fish on the gasoline engine. This repeats itself six more times. As hard and explosive as this fish swims from left to right, unbelievable.

After 20 minutes, I make a tremendously stupid mistake. Because the fish can swim so fast, and because I’ve been at it so long and hope the fish is already a little tired, I decide to build up more pressure and tighten the slip a little. I shouldn’t have done this. Pats, line break! I want to beat myself up. Why this stupid action? And before we even saw a fin. If only we had seen something, you’d have an idea. During the drill Stephan and I were already talking about it. I myself think it was a big barbel. I was fishing with a small shad and barbel are known to catch small fish.

It was a clear take. I regularly felt the head shake so I don’t believe in false hooking. For pike or zander it was too strong and explosive. Carp might still be possible. Carp are also sometimes caught here on Orellana on small lures. But the speed with which the fish took off every time was so incredible that I didn’t think it could be carp. Well, we will never know. As shitty as the moment was, this is what makes fishing so exciting, right?

We do manage to hit the snorkels well.

Bivvy war!

We catch a number of pikeperch vertically and decide to troll again. This gives us a bite from a fat Spanish carp angler. In the spirit of “what you get from afar is good”, many Spanish carp anglers fish as far as there is line on their reels. And across the street they do, too. Funny thing is that we did see hundreds of fish jumping and turning at the five-meter depth limit and they fish at twelve meters. To my mind way over the fish.

Stephan gets another strike on his rod and I see a lot of activity at 400 meters near a bivvy. Yes, two Spaniards sail in a dinghy in the direction where our lure is in the water and where we think we have hooked a pike. We get closer and then it’s abundantly clear. We have picked up a carp line. Despite the fact that we couldn’t see that they were so ridiculously far from the shore, I apologize in my best Spanish. But I get several “puta de madres” at my head, after which I decide to wish him well in Dutch as well. After all, I haven’t forgotten how to swear. Afterwards I think again, that wasn’t really necessary but yes, action and reaction.

We decide to just reel the rods in and pass the next 50 bivvys. This small stretch is enormously crowded as the fish gather here to spawn. And half carp fishing Spain is trying to hook a horny female at her heaviest. So much water and yet they all huddle together. But on the other hand, you have to fish where the fish gather, and they do.

A quasipico from Orellana.

Those days we catch a number of pike while trolling. We also manage to catch zander. Dean joins Nathan for another night and they catch another nice carp. The luck was for Nathan so Dean will have to come back again for his Orellana carp. It was fun. I also have to go to Switzerland. Stephan gave me his best catching crankbait. He had caught everything trolling on this crankbait.

Fickle weather does not matter to the pike.

Self crochet – now what?

Shortly afterwards I have time again to troll the water. And yes, less than fifteen minutes later the first fish presents itself. Because the fish is just hooked in the lip I decide, against my better judgment, to scoop the fish anyway. Afraid that it will let go. Well, if you are afraid of something …

I easily unhook the fish in the net. But one of the trebles remains in the net. And instead of first taking the fish out, taking a picture and then struggling with the lure and the net, I decide to make an ‘Ed-venture’ of it at the last minute. I am busy with the crankbait, the fish rattles around in the net and huup huup, Edwin is now attached to the net by means of the treble hook. One of the hooks has neatly drilled itself into my finger and Heiko, my fishing buddy, looks at me questioningly. And now what?

Stephan’s best plug in one of my favorite fingers.

I cut the treble hook out of the net first so I can get my hand back out before it becomes all shad. Now I have better visibility. But it doesn’t get any happier. The point is pointing straight in so it’s going to be a chore to push the hook through my finger. First I cut the hook so the lure is off my finger. Then put the pike back and let’s have another look.

1-1 for Mister Pike.

Tough guy?

I always hear stories of tough guys who just push the hook through. I want to be a tough guy too and slowly put pressure on the tip. Instead of a tough primal scream, I only let out a cry of pain. So not as tough as I hoped after all. I try a few more times but can’t even see where the tip is pointing. At least not to the outside. We decide to just sail back, trailer and see a doctor. On the way, I try several more times but I remain a sissy. I can’t do it and I don’t dare.

The doctor in the emergency room is upset that I cut the hook and there is a lot of muscle (ahem, muscle) and cartilage right at the phalanx. He also thinks it’s stupid that I’ve been poking around to see the tip somewhere. Dangerous he thinks. He is a fisherman himself and says that a hook is quickly removed when the shank is still attached. I have to go to the hospital. Let’s experience that too.

Tetanus shot – happy days!

The doctor I finally meet is a small Spanish woman. She doesn’t understand all the fuss of the emergency room doctor. Just numb it and push through with forceps until the tip comes out by itself. I get an anesthetic in my finger. “Do you still feel it?” she asks after (really!) three seconds. “Sure do,” I say. As much patience she had for growing bigger (not so…) she also had for waiting for the anesthetic to kick in. She grabs the forceps. She presses, I scream. “Oh, you really still feel it,” she stammered. Then just a few more injections in. I feel like I’m numb up to my crown now. But yes, pain-free. She grabs her pliers again and starts twisting until finally a tip becomes visible. Thankfully, here it comes. I feel like a child who gets to unwrap his present and while tearing the gift paper can already tell that this is the present I want.

On the way to the doctor’s office.

“Jaaaa,” we all shout. By now there are as many as ten nurses and orderlies standing around my bed because they all think it’s funny that that silly Dutchman caught himself. Now the hook can be grabbed at the tip and pulled through. “Happy days, dia feliz,” as I always say. I get a tetanus shot in my ass and another injection in my shoulder. No idea which was which and she prescribes medication: painkillers and antibiotic. The painkillers are still on the nightstand, because I have had no pain at all. The antibiotic I will just swallow for a while longer. You don’t know.

I send Stephan another message: “I caught my record on your crankbait, 1.78 meters”. Response back: “A catfish?”. To which I reply; “No, an Edwin! ”

Check here for a film impression and the drill of the unknown monster!

Hasta pronto,
Edwin
Ed-Venture

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Bert Altena

Van kinds af aan ben ik te vinden aan de waterkant. Vanaf een jaar of 12 heb ik het karpervissen geleerd. Wat het karpervissen voor mij leuk maakt is de ontspanning en de voorbereiding op de karpersessie in combinatie met een manier van vissen wat constant vernieuwing nodig heeft om de karper weer te kunnen verrassen!