Jose Rey

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Can you make a good “pescata” in a single day session? That is what I asked my friend Javier Catalán a local of the Tajuña Valley, more specifically the town of Chinchón, with great knowledge of the Tagus river in its many miles. I was really excited about the call because, after 8 or 9 months, we finally have a day off to fish together. We talked a long time, mostly about where to go, because we had two clear choices. One was to go to the Tagus and look at a couple of sites that Javi is very familiar with and the other was to go to Fleece. We decided against the Tagus as Javi did not have much time to go to the sites, and also because the river level had dropped due to the lack of rain in the area. So we went to the Fleece (El Vellón), and above all we agreed to choose the site carefully and pre-feed to get the most out of our day of fishing.

Waiting for the bite in the area of Guadalix

Looking for the post

The idea was to make a small feeding spot in the area of Guadalix. To do this, I tried to find an area of 3 or 4 meters deep, because at this time of the year it is likely the area of our friends, the Carp. I would take care of the feeding spot, as I live nearby and know something more than Javi about the reservoir. I had a week to find the exact site and prepare the feed, so I had plenty of time to do it right. On Tuesday, I went to the reservoir around 8 a.m., with the idea of finding where the fish are showing some signs of activity. I spent about two hours walking and looking around, without noticing any signs in the water. In the end, I checked a well-known place and finally I saw the signs that I was looking for.

Everything was taking shape, so I prepared my rod to proceed with a feeding spot at about 90 meters from the shore and the other closer, about 70 meters. These were at a depth of about 3.5 meters and that was the area I was looking for. I started to fill the bait rocket, and warmed up my arms before casting. I prepared about 10 kg of seeds in total, including micro tigernuts, corn and hemp. I also added 2 kg of 16 mm sized ACE Lobworm boilies of SBS Baits, all soaked in the corresponding Spod Juice. On Thursday I returned to the bank, and took another bucket just like I did on Tuesday and I fed the same place again.

Aligned ingredients

Preparation of the strategy for fisheries

The day arrived, and we arranged to meet in the parking lot next to the chapel at 6.30 in the morning. It is not allowed to drive close to the bank by car, so backpacks on the shoulders, rods in the hand, and we started the exercise. Who says, that fishing is not a sport?

We used PVA sausages and paste to make our baits more attractive

After ten minutes walk we have arrived at the bank and we started to prepare our rigs immediately. It was still dark, but we realized, that the fish were moving and jumping around the feeding spot. As it was autumn and quite cold, we did not want to use a lot of food, as it was primed on Tuesday and Thursday. So we started with the spod rods, throwing only three rockets of bait to our feeding spot. This feeding mix was pretty similar to the previous ones, but this time we mixed miniboilies and some ACE Lobworm pellets 6 mm diameter.

I used a 0.30 mm mainline with a 30 cm long lead core from ESP and a 70 gr lead weight. The very small ESP No. 10 Raptor hook got two Sinker Corn Shaped Boilies and the other rig got a 10 mm SBS Baits ACE Lobworm Pellet Shaped Boilie. I had prepared PVA sausages for both of the rigs, the mix included crushed boilies, ACE Lobworm pellets and few drops of the dip. Javi cast his rod to the other feeding area using a line of 0.35mm, a 40cm lead core with a 100gr lead weight. The small ESP No. 8 hook got two M3 Pellet Shaped Boilies, and the right rod placed two conventional 8mm M3 boilies all from the SBS Premium range. I must confess that I am not very keen on using such small hooks and even less keen in waters where there are big fish, but due to the fishing pressure this reservoir has it is essential to use very small baits and small hooks and be consistent with them.

The first applicant was a nice 6,5 kg common carp

I think that this rule of small bait small hook is one of the big differences that exist on the Fleece, the reason being that on this reservoir several competitions are held year after year. Examples being, Fleece League, which consists of four weekends, and is for members only, also the Community of Madrid Open and some other Opens, and even a championship of Spain. To all this must be added the number of fishermen who practice Carp fishing throughout the year. With these hooks you can lose a fish if you do not stop it from reaching an obstacle, and we are forced to use small baits because the fish here are very experienced and any conventional bait in size or shape will be easily rejected.

Fishing action

At 8 am we had the rigs in the water and can only hope that our friends show. At 9 am an unusually long and continuous beep on my rod. Carp here also show experience when they bite, the indicator goes up or down slightly, then stops sometimes up to two minutes, but in this case it was hooked and brought closer to shore. Common Carp on the Fleece have incredible strength and a Carp of 5 or 6 kg just gives you a very fun fight. We started the session with a Common Carp of 6 kg lying on the unhooking mat ready for the photo. An hour later it was Javi s turn, another strong pulled rod but getting the right line this time gently and slowly. This seemed a good way of fishing, especially because it suddenly changed direction. After ten minutes of struggle and some fighting he pulled in a royal “sacadera” of 10.60 kg with joy because it would become Javi s personal record on the Fleece.

Javi and a 10,6 kg stunning mirror carp

We decided to stop for some lunch. At that same moment Lorenzo, who is a guardian of the reservoir, stopped by and of course he asked for permits and licenses. He told us there was almost no fishing on the reservoir that day, so stayed to eat lunch with us telling us many stories about his work.

Bite after bite

About 11 am Lorenzo left, and almost did not witness the next catch, there appeared to be very big fish. After a short fight, we landed a Common Carp of 7 kg. After releasing, another ringing on my left rod but it stopped after five seconds. That was okay, it was still stimulating. We decided to refresh the feed and primed two rockets for each feeding area and waited.

It was great to hold this 7 kg perfect common carp in my hand

Javi's rod immediately had a small bite and a little bit back then to run again. After a brief struggle the fish was hooked, because the position has an area of loose stones but very flat. Occasionally a fish will work there or you break the line directly. Javi, cursing, waited five minutes and then shot, but broke everything. Reassemble and launch again, looking askance at the water, hoping that our setup works perfectly and the tangled fish has been released. This is always important and in these waters with such heavy fishing even more so.

We had a break in activity, which often occurs in this water, and therefore at 2 p.m. we took the rods, we reviewed the bait, and threw three more rockets to the feeding areas. At about 4 pm, I remember taking a nap and am so happy that I did, we had the surprise of the day. The bite occurred in the rod furthest from the feeding area, and the fish looked good because he kept taking line. After ten minutes of combat, and always without forcing, after several twists and turns, finally to the shore. It was a royal, beautiful, very chubby, with good skill Javi introduced it to the landing net. It was carefully weighed at 12,6 kg and returned to our fleece.

The most valuable carp of ouf our single day tour weighed 12,6 kg

I assure you that fish was a good reward for a good day. A half hour later Javi had a good little run and a common better than 6 kg. The day went much better than expected. It was late November and cold but we had had a few bites of Carp with very good weight. At 5.30 we had a bite each and we get two ordinary about 5 kg each. With this relaxed pair, together on the shore of this wonderful lake, and already starting to get dark, our faces grinning because we were having a great day fishing at a good reservoir, with a good strategy, good bait , and accompanied by a good friend. Greetings to all and good fishing.