CARPdiem - Total Carpfishing España

Nueva Web Masqcarp

2012-01-25T18:19:00.003+01:00

Nace la web www.masqcarp.com. Este nuevo portal es el trabajo e ilusión de 5 amantes del carpfishing: David Martin, David Escobosa, Enrique Cid, Jesus Cruz y David Flores. Esta web será: MAS Que una página carpfishing, MAS Que una fuente de información, MAS Que un equipo de amantes de carpfishing…será MASQCARP. Estáis todos invitados ¡!!

Han fabricado un visor subacuatico muy guapo, de bricopesca que se han currado para que la gente pueda hacerselo mira aqui

O puedes seguirlos en FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/masqcarp/110995555677230

MUCHAS GRACIAS POR VUESTRO TRABAJO EN LA DIFUSIÓN DEL CARPFISHING.

DALE CARRETE SU RADIO SHOW CARPFISHING

2012-01-25T18:01:00.003+01:00

ENLACES A PROGRAMAS RECIENTES
CARPdiem está en el programa 17/01/2012

Chod Rig Desnudoo Naked Chod en Ingles

2012-01-24T11:51:00.007+01:00

Precisamente en este tiempo no es lo mas indicado lo de ir desnudo, pero a estas alturas de año en las que utilizar un único cebo de anzuelo es lo mas recomendable debido a la escasa y selectiva alimentación de la carpa,hay que utilizar montajes muy eficaces sobre todo si quieres pescar en fondos con algas,piedras o fango.

En estas últimas semanas he probado este sistema y me ha dado buenos resultados. Estoy seguro que en primavera va a ser un autentico bombazo. No te pierdas en el Nº 16 de CARPdiem (primavera), la sencillez de este montaje y sobre todo su eficacia.

Es un pez gordo como este mejor?

2012-01-12T23:23:00.003+01:00

Acabo de encontrar esta foto en Facebook. Me gustaría saber lo que piensa sobre este pez? Es un pez gordo como este mejor? Es un pez gordo o obeso?

Feliz año nuevo. Espero que en 2012 saques más peces y disfrutes mucho en la orilla

2012-01-03T23:06:00.005+01:00

La próxima edición invernal de CARPdiem va a salir en los kioscos muy pronto. Esta edición esta llena de trucos para ayudarte en la practica del carpfishing en los meses más fríos.

Hay consejos directamente desde el equipo Korda, pescando esta vez en aguas frías y claras contra nieve y temperaturas bajo cero. El club de expertos contesta vuestras preguntas sobre la pesca en condiciones adversas. Hay un articulo especial sobre la tecnología, es super importante en carpfishing, esta vez habla sobre el GPS y como sacar peces incluso con nieve. El equipo CARPdiem tiene otros trucos invernales como el Kryston Bogey, este montaje seria la clave para sacar más peces usando semillas de una manera curiosa y efectiva. Los Técnicos nos dan más información sobre el comizo en invierno, estos maestros te enseñan como enganchar peces listos y salvajes. El jefe, Jorge Sacristán demuestra como pescar con boilies más pequeños, esta es la clave para capturar peces cuando la pesca es más dura... Disponible en kioscos pronto.

Y para comenzar el año bien aquí tenéis un regalo del editor Andy Mcgregor. Aquí puedes descargar un PDF con sus ideas sobre ¿Cebo en invierno?¿Cual es mejor?, cada lago es diferente, tienes que pensar lo que quieren los peces..
CARPdiem No. 16 Inviernal 2012,

Como siempre para los mejores montajes y trucos CARPdiem es tu revista de carpfishing en España!

¡Feliz año!

II Master Starbaits 2011

2011-11-04T11:29:00.002+01:00

Concurso para principios de Diciembre.
Id calentando motores porque el frio
empieza a apretar. Suerte para todos
y que disfruteis con vuestras capturas,
del paisaje, de la compañía y del relax.
Suculentos premios para los ganadores y
maxímo disfrute para los participantes.

Concurso Noviembre

2011-11-04T11:12:00.003+01:00

Suerte para los participantes y gracias a los patrocinadores por fomentar nuestro deporte. A disfrutar en este bonito paraje y que se saquen grandes pepinos.

De nuevo Mainline Baits es complice de los campeones del mundo en New York!

2011-10-27T17:06:00.002+02:00

Después de cinco increibles días de pesca en el río St Lawrence, Lee Jackson y Ian Chillcott se hacen con el premio mundial CAWC (Carp Angling World Championship 2011).

El dúo estuvo trabajando sin parar y casi sin dormir durante los cinco dias de campeonato, obteniendo un total de 715 kg de carpas comun, un total de 122 carpas. Para cebar usaron 50 kg. de Mainline sabor Plum y Maíz, combinandolos con los legendarios Mainline pop ups de piña.

El mejor cebo combinado con la mejor técnica hacen los resultados!

C.D. LA SUBBETICA CORDOBESA CONCURSO SIERRA BRAVA.

2011-10-26T16:39:00.004+02:00

El Concurso de Sierra Brava. TODOS LOS INTERESADOS EN IR SOLO TENEIS QUE CONFIRMAR A LA DIRECTIVA.

Nash Emperor Indulgence Bedchair.

2011-10-05T20:55:00.000+02:00

El mayor bedchair o cama disponible el próximo año. Usted tiene te mirar esto, puede caber dos personas en él, lo que significa que es puede tomar a la esposa o novia, pero no los dos en lo mismo momento! Total comodidad, la primera Bedchair o cama para dos pesonas!Es perfecto para ti y la mujer o si lo que desea la máxima comodidad! Se completa con el saco de dormir de Sub 20, tendrá un costo de más de €400.00.Interesante!

Proximo número de CARPdiem **La edición otoñal estará disponible muy pronto

2011-09-26T15:21:00.001+02:00

Hola Chicos,

**Proximo número de CARPdiem **La edición otoñal estará disponible muy pronto en tu lugar de venta habitual.

La única revista con los mejores artículos de los mejores pescadores europeos y a nivel mundial, exponiendo todos sus consejos e información para aumentar tu nivel de pesca.

En este número te mostramos las mejores fotografías y los mejores reportajes, como el de nuestro colaborador Etienne Gebel con sus técnicas para pasar desapercibido y triunfar ante esos peces tan difíciles de pescar, montajes explicados paso a paso, como uno muy sencillo y especial para pescar encima de algas que nos muestran los Técnicos, además de una receta muy efectiva y fácil de elaborar que nos explica Jorge Sacristán solo con un huevo y un base mix de Mainline, sin olvidar otro articulo más que sumamos a la serie que Andy Chambers nos muestra para la utilización de la barca en condiciones extremas.

Todo esto y mucho más es lo que te ofrecemos con la finalidad de que consigas atrapar ese pez de tus sueños.

Disponible muy pronto en los kioskos.

Nuevo Record en Aragón

2011-09-23T12:06:00.002+02:00

Enorabuena a Carlos Sasot por este nuevo record de carpa Royal de Aragón. En septiembre 2011 nuestro compañero Carlos Sasot batió el record autonómico de Aragón en aguas del embalse de Ribarroja. La carpa royal dio un peso de 32.7kg, con una longitud de 98cm y un contorno de 101cm. Esta captura ocupa el segundo puesto ICFA homologado a nivel nacional!

Enhorabuena, vaya pepino!!!!!

New Mainline Grange

2011-09-22T00:07:00.010+02:00

Hicimos un viaje corto a un lago 20km sur de Madrid. Estamos probando algunos nuevos cebos y los productos de Mainline. Estuvimos probando el nuevo Grange Dumbells.
Esto realmente es un cebo irresistible.

Tuve mi primer pez del día en menos de 10 minutos. No mi lo puedo creer la primero picada que fue tan rapido. Tenemos various picadas y peces dentro todo del dia.
Esto realmente es un cebo instante. El pez le encantó y nos pusimos through el día. La mejor carpa capturados por mí mismo y Angel está aquí. Los peces eran encantadores y largo plazo y realmente poner la lucha ...

Si lo que buscas es un Boilie para pescar al instante echar un preva con Mainline New Grange...

Encuentro Webcarp y Todopesca

2011-09-13T21:24:00.002+02:00

Los días 25, 26 y 27 de noviembre hay un Encuentro de Carpfishing Mequinenza, organizado por el Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Mequinenza y Webcarp. Se trata de un evento que quiere coger el guante de los célebres Encuentros Todopesca que se realizaban en este escenario hace ya algunos años.

A pesar de que han pasado ya muchos años desde aquel último Encuentro Todopesca que se celebró en 2003, el recuerdo de aquellos intensos momentos aún está fresco en la memoria. Muchos carpistas, ya experimentados en la actualidad, empezaron sus primeros pasos en aquellos encuentros de pescadores, donde el gran ambiente que se disfrutaba durante todo el evento era un perfecto caldo de cultivo para iniciar nuevas amistades, divertirse pescando y aprender con las experiencias compartidas.

Nota sobre World Carp Classic 2011

2011-09-07T17:30:00.002+02:00

Tenemos un equipo de pesca español en la final del World Carp Classic en el Lago Madine, en Francia. El equipo no tiene un mal puesto. No es un puesto de los mejores, pero el año pasado algunos peces gordos de más de 28 kg fueron capturados en esta zona. Para seguir el WCC puedes consultar nuestro blog o sitio web del World Carp Classic.

Tienda de Alquiler y Venta recomendada

2011-09-05T14:20:00.005+02:00

Esta tienda está bastante bien para alquilar y comprar tanto barcos cebadores como lanchas neumáticas con motores eléctricos y de gasolina. Te permite alquilar los barcos para probarlos antes de invertir dinero en su compra. Por supuesto con sonda. Oportunidad para competir en igualdad de condiciones que los equipos con alto presupuesto. Una oportunidad para equipos más modestos. A modo de ejemplo una semana de alquiler de un barco cebador para equipo de dos personas para WCC viene saliendo por 40 Euros por persona. El responsable es Andrés y estará encantado de asesoraros. Puedes consultar su página web directamente. http://www.elbarquito.es

2011-08-18T00:51:00.002+02:00

No Pescan mucho en verano pero tuvimos la oportunidad de hacer una gran película y pescar en un lago llamado Old Oaks (Robles viejos), circa Le Mans en Francia.

Raúl González, yo, y mis amigos de canal de pesca TheCarpZone inglaterra atrapados muchos peces gordos y typical francés hasta 19kg. Usted puede leer sobre de esta aventura en la proxima numero de CARPDiem. Francia sin duda ofrece el acceso a los pescadores de carpas fácil para los peces grandes, condiciones de confort, sin restricciones de pesca de la noche, etc. El propietario de Old Oaks (Robles viejos),, es un hombre especial, es un agricultor de gran talento, además de ir de pesca, él es también un productor de los mayores médula ósea en el mundo, se le ve en las fotos del artículo de su médula increíble capacidad para 1.500 kilogramos barco, Mendi se utiliza en invierno para pescar!

Issue 13 CARPdiem Pronto!

2011-06-27T16:16:00.005+02:00

Capturar más carpas este verano con CARPdiem. Bienvenidos a la edición de verano de CARPdiem. La revista ya está en tus manos y ahora la temperatura debe ser muy alta. Ha sido un año lluvioso, muchos lagos están al completo por lo que tenemos todas las razones para ir a pescar antes de tomar unas vacaciones en la playa!El verano realmente puede traer grandes oportunidades y experiencias con un gran número de capturas, así que no te pierdas la acción! También es el mejor momento para ver los peces que estás a punto de coger, es tan emocionante! Esta edición está diseñada para la pesca con calor. Todos los artículos están escritos para ayudarte a capturar más peces en la actualidad. Entonces, ¿qué tenemos en está edición? Tenemos dos artículos increíbles para ayudarte a pescar en los lagos o ríos infectados de cangrejo. Los Technicos, y Fran Granados con sus artículos te muestran todo lo que necesitas saber, para que el pez grande se zampe tu cebo y no los cangrejos!

En verano también se debe utilizar el pellet, al igual que Jorge Sacristián, Korda y el equipo de Elliot Grey. Ellos usan el mejor pellets en el mercado, y como puedes ver, capturan peces consistentemente gracias a la obtención de respuestas rápidas con pellets de todos los tamaños. Yo mismo he estado utilizando pellets de Mainline este año en combinación con cebos de Mainline también y puedo decir con seguridad que he tenido algunos resultados fantásticos como una carpa de 11.5kg de Valmayor ( Madrid ) que aparece en la revista.

Una carpa sorprendente para ser capturado en este pantano.
Puede no parecer un pez grande, pero confía en mí, he pescado el lago desde hace muchos años, mi récord anterior fue de 7 kg, con el cambio a Mainline note una diferencia que me ha ayudado a pescar fantástico en este año. Además de pellets y Cangrejo también tenemos que lidiar con otro tema en verano. El problema de las algas, las algas pueden crecer muy densas. Antonio Godoy desde el equipo de Nash nos da sus consejos sobre cómo atrapar peces en algas densas, de valor incalculable para ayudarte a capturar más peces. En su artículo se puede ver lo que ha hecho muy bien en algunos de los lagos de Extremadura y algunos maravillosos peces que ha capturado.
Además de lo anterior, tenemos la segunda parte del artículo de Andy Chambers. Andy nos dice cómo hacer frente a grandes lagos, como leer el fondo y cómo utilizar la sonda. Si tienes un barco y una sonda este es un artículo valioso para ti, que estoy seguro te ayudará a capturar más peces!

La revista como siempre está llena de consejos y trucos para mencionarlos a todos.
Así que una última cosa a mencionar, me gustaría recordar a todos que hace calor, cuando te vas a pescar recuerda que tienes que tener protección contra el Sol. Crema solar, gorra y mucha agua porque dolores de cabeza inducidos por el calor, la insolación y la deshidratación nos pueden echar a perder una bonita sesión de pesca! Así que si eres nuevo en la pesca de carpfishing con altas temperaturas, quiero decirte que tienes que estar preparado para tomar abundante agua y recordarte que es una buen idea para hacerte tu propia sombra. Una tienda o Bivy da sombra pero puede ser un horno y dejarte como un pavo asado quedándote hecho polvo para toda la sesión. Incluso la caja de cerveza fría no puede salvarte! Por favor recuerda, si tu estás sufriendo por la temperatura, entonces cualquier carpa que capturas sin duda también se calienta cuando está fuera del agua. Mantenga el pez a la sombra. Mojar bien la moqueta de recepción para desenganchar el pez, asegúrate de que esta fresco y no a 50 grados, además de mantener la carpa en sacos de retención en aguas profundas. El agua por las orillas del lago a menudo puede tener menos oxígeno, esto puede ser un problema para nuestras amigas, bueno un saludo y buena pesca!!

LA EMPRESA ENTERPRISE TACKLE NOMBRA A BLACKFISH COMO SU REPRESENTANTE PARA ESPAÑA

2011-06-24T13:49:00.003+02:00

La empresa ENTERPRISE Tackle, con central en el Reino Unido, expertos en cebos artificiales, ha nombrado a Blackfish como su distribuidor oficial exclusivo para España.

El propietario de la empresa ENTERPRISE Tackle, el Sr. Chris Hornsby está muy complacido de poder trabajar con Blackfish y está seguro que la relación entre su empresa y Blackfish será muy fructífera.
Chris comentó:”Los productos de la empresa son muy realistas y realmente dan unos resultados excepcionales. Estamos seguros que al nombrar a Blackfish como nuestro distribuidor exclusivo veremos a más pescadores españoles disfrutando de los productos de nuestra empresa por todo el territorio español.”

Los propietarios de Blackfish, los Sres. Roger Bennett y Gordon Ronald están muy contentos de tener la oportunidad de que en España puedan tener una mayor accesibilidad a la Empresa. Roger comentó: ‘Estoy encantado de recibir el respaldo oficial de la empresa ENTERPRISE Tackle. El uso de los cebos artificiales es cada vez más popular en Europa y la empresa ENTERPRISE Tackle posee la gama más amplia del mercado.’

Las tiendas interesadas en los productos de la Empresa ENTERPRISE Tackle pueden contactar con Blackfish a través del teléfono 900 842 100.

Foca Zampando Carpas en del Rio Thames

2011-06-02T20:02:00.002+02:00

Difícil de creer, pero una foca ha nadado en el río Támesis en Londres y está comiendo de manera que pensó que el local de peces carpa y el lucio incluye verificación de este vídeo ...

Carpfishing tres lagos Madrid con TheCarpZone!

2011-05-18T12:02:00.002+02:00

El video realizada por mi amigo el Sr. Ferns (del canal TheCarpZone) y yo mismo es disponible aqui. Del video muestra los tres lagos de Madrid. El primero del lago El Vellón, segundo Valmayor.....El video muestra carpa royal y comun capturado hasta 12.5kg. Hay algunos partes grabando bajo el agua también, tal vez el primero de su tipo .... Compruébelo y disfrutar.

The video made by my friend Mr. Ferns from TheCarpZone UK and myself, shows three Madrid lakes. The first one El Vellon, Valmayor and a smaller lake close to Madrid. The video shows Royal Mirror carp and Common Carp caught to 12.5kg. It has some underwater releases too, perhaps the first of their kind....Check it and enjoy.

Grabando Video bajo de agua con Carpas en Madrid

2011-05-08T23:49:00.007+02:00

Esta últimos días he estado filmando con mi buen amigo Andy Ferns, jefe del canal de Youtube - The Carp Zone. En el vídeo se refieren a tres lagos de El Vellón, Valmayor y otro pequeño lago en Madrid. Cogemos un documento de la carpa y algunas pescadores con peces super bonitos. Todo lo cual tenemos excelente material de archivo para inclusó vídeo bajo el agua. Que yo sepa, esta es la primera película bajo el agua que muestra la suelta y captura de la carpa español. Cuando el vídeo está colgado en línea hasta que le permitirá saber, está destinado a ser una buena y garantizada para incluir algunos peces fantástico 15kg capturados con cebos línea principal. Más sobre esto pronto.

This last few days I have been filming with my good friend Andy Ferns, the main man from the Youtube channel - The Carp Zone. In the video we cover three lakes El Vellon, Valmayor and another small lake in Madrid. We catch a few carp document other Spanish Anglers too with some cracking fish. All of which we have excellent footage for - including some underwater video showing our rigs, and the release of fish caught. To my knowledge this is the first film made in Spain to show underwater fish captures and release. Spanish carp exposed 100%. The recording mostly made in the rain, (yes - it was raining most of the time!), also includes amazing film of a special firefighting plane with pilots doing test flights, landing and taking off in our swims!

This type of thing does not do much for the fishing, when was the last time you had a plane take off and land in your swim? Well, against all odds on that day, we did manage to catch one fish, even if it was the smallest in the lake! We were of course flying high with that capture!

We really did have it up against us, but with some inside knowledge from myself we managed to get some fish on the bank. I can therefore say this one is guaranteed to be dynamic, informative fishing fun!

It will include some fantastic fish to over 30lb caught using Mainline Baits. When the video is up online you will be informed. More on this soon.

Basura y masacre de peces en las riberas del río Ebro

2011-04-08T11:28:00.002+02:00

Publicaciones y televisiones de más de 20 países están haciéndose eco de este hecho.

El problema de la basura y la masacre de peces en las riberas del río Ebro ha legado a niveles ambientalmente peligrosos y de riesgo. El próximo 14 de abril en Chiprana se celebrará una reunión, la cual ha llamado la atención de los medios de comunicación internacionales de más 20 países. La reunión y conferencia de prensa está siendo organizada por una compañía del Reino Unido llamada Angling Spirit. Angling Spirit está lanzando una campaña llamada “Amigos del Ebro”, tras haber contactado con nada menos que el Presidente de España y del gobierno para conseguir su apoyo en la limpieza ambiental de esta renombrada sección del río.

El propósito de la campaña es limpiar las riberas del río, retirar la basura y mantener la zona limpia permanentemente. Además de la operación de limpieza se establecerá una fundación de pesca con caña que conlleva la concienciación ambiental y que va dirigida a niños. La fundación permitirá a niños de la zona y de fuera venir al río Ebro y enseñarles la mejor manera de practicar la pesca con caña respetando el medio ambiente. Esto será organizado y coordinado a través de Angling Spirit.

El catalizador de todo lo anterior fue la llegada del presidente de Angling Spirit, Ross Honey, a España el cual visitó Chiprana para asignar el país anfitrión y los derechos de la sede del Campeonato del Mundo de Pesca, evento que tendrá lugar del próximo 31 de mayo al 3 de junio.

“El río Ebro es uno si no el mejor lugar del mundo para el siluro , tuve dos opciones cuando vi el estado de la ribera del río, o marcharme a otro de los países con instalaciones adecuadas e ignorar el problema o venir al Ebro y hacer algo. La ubicación es un lugar tan hermoso y con todo el mundo trabajando juntos podemos hacer cambios con responsabilidad. Traer el Campeonato Clásico del Siluro al Ebro va a generar un enorme interés y a dar a conocer la zona, lo cual junto con la operación de limpieza enviará un mensaje muy positivo al resto del mundo y ayudará a generar turismo.”

Ross Honey quien ha sido responsable de establecer y promocionar una serie de eventos internacionales de alto calibre será el anfitrión de esta reunión y conferencia de prensa el próximo14 de abril en Chiprana a las 20.00 horas en el ayuntamiento junto con otros funcionarios.

Se trata de una reunión/conferencia de prensa muy importante de implicaciones de largo alcance. Le invitamos a asistir. Si no pudiera enviar un representante le rogamos nos lo haga saber.

Para más información, por favor contacte:

Ross Honey
Managing Director

info@anglingspirit.com

CARPdiem primavea issue 12, disponible ahora!

2011-03-28T17:31:00.005+02:00

Marzo y Abril en verdad son los mejores momentos del año para la pesca y la captura de los peces de nuestros sueños. Este año parece que va a estar lleno de peces grandes. Estoy seguro de que esta edición de CARPdiem te ayudará en gran manera a que esto suceda.

Como siempre esta revista es muy completa y bajo mi punto de vista es la mejor que hemos editado hasta la fecha desde que empezamos hace ya tres años. Los son difíciles, todos tenemos que ahorrar. Nuestro experto desde Madrid, Jorge Sacristán nos muestra paso a paso una mezcla para hacer tus propios boilies de Mainline, lo mejor marca de Boilies desde Inglatera. Confía en mí, yo mismo los uso.

También quiero mencionar que este año vamos a organizar el mejor concurso de Carpfishing del World Carp Classic en colaboración con el Ministerio de Agricultura y el Ayuntamiento de Puebla de Alcocer, tendrá lugar en Orellana, Extremadura. Las fechas para el evento son Abril 29 a del 2 de Mayo 2011.

El concurso durará 4 días y 3 noches en total. La cita es el vienes 29 de Abril el El Hotel La Codorniz en Puebla de Alcocer. Haremos una comida y habrá un sorteo. El concurso terminará a las 10.00 horas del 2 de mayo.

Este año tendremos más premios y contaremos con la participación de Andy Chambers. En el jurado también contaremos con Peter Staggs quien asegurará que la competición sera justa: ¡si alguien rompe las reglas estará fuera!

Puedes ver esta información vía on-line. Subiremos vídeos en nuestro Youtube Channel Fishmadrid en este blog también se puede leer más sobre el evento online en www.worldcarpclassic.com/Spain.

Esto se dispone a ser aún más grande que el año pasado, que fue un éxito masivo. Puedes leer más sobre este evento e inscribirse en el Clásico Mundial de carpa en las páginas de www.worldcarpclassic.com / Spain..

Esperamos contar con tu presencia en Orellana. Tomaremos fotos de vuestros mejores peces para que todos los aficionados a la pesca de todo el país lo pueda ver y compartiremos esta experiencia única.

World Carp Classic Orellana, Extremadura - ahora tu puedes participar!

2011-03-23T13:26:00.002+01:00

World Carp Classic 2011 video 001

2011-03-10T00:39:00.002+01:00

El Año Pasado en el World Carp Classic algunos de los mejores pescadores de España vinieron a pescar a Orellana.

100 % CARPfishing total. En total más de 800 kg de peces fueron capturados! Fran Granados y Jorge Sacristan sacaron 369Kg. Del World Carp Classic era el mayor evento de pesca en la historia de Orellana.

Ahora tu puedes participar. Pescar en el mejor concurso Mundial, representar a tu país, España. Del 29 de abril al 2 de Mayo de 2011.

Más información en www.worldcarpclassic.com/spain

Nos vemos este año ...

World Carp Classic 2011

2011-02-26T18:40:00.004+01:00

El año pasado España tuvo 3 parejas que lucharon por hacer un buen papel en Francia, Este año 2 parejas representaran a España en el concurso más prestigioso del mundo.

El evento tendrá lugar en el embalse de Orellana en Extremadura, con la colaboración del Ministro de Agricultura y el Ayuntamiento de Puebla de Alcocer. El concurso durara 4 días y 3 noches en total.

El Viernes 29 de abril nos reuniremos en el Hotel La Codorniz en Puebla de Alcocer para una comida y sorteo de los puestos .habrá zona de acampada cerca del hotel con bar, ideal para conocer a vuestros competidores, con salida a los puestos a las 17:00 horas. El Concurso terminara a las 10.00 horas del 2 de mayo.

*El evento sólo tendrá lugar si se consigue llegar a un mínimo de 30 parejas apuntadas.

Extra info aqui

.

Córdoba acoge el III Campeonato Andaluz de Carpfishing del 26 al 28 de febrero

2011-02-23T17:57:00.003+01:00

El embalse de San Rafael de Navallana, es el escenario escogido por la Federación Andaluza para el desarrollo de esta modalidad basada en la captura de grandes carpas

La Federación Andaluza de Pesca Deportiva, en colaboración con la Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía, celebrará a finales de este mes la tercera edición del Campeonato Andaluz de Carpfishing en tierras cordobesas.

Esta modalidad deportiva, que tiene como objetivo la pesca de grandes ciprínidos (carpas) y donde la esencia radica en la captura y suelta, tiene como actuales campeones de España y Andalucía a una pareja cordobesa, los pescadores Antonio L. López Soler y José Sánchez Medina, del C.D. Carpfishing Córdoba.

En esta modalidad destacan, no sólo el hecho de la captura y suelta y el cuidado desmedido de las especies, sino la particularidad de competir por parejas y en una sola manga de 53 horas de duración, lo que la diferencia claramente del resto de competiciones de pesca deportiva y la hace aún más especial.

El Campeonato contará con la participación de 10 parejas clasificadas en los distintos torneos provinciales, siendo Córdoba la que más deportistas aporta con un total de 5 parejas. Sevilla y Málaga compiten con dos parejas cada una y Jaén completa el cuadro con una pareja más.

El evento también contará con la colaboración de Helvetia Seguros y será coordinado por la Delegación Cordobesa de la Federación Andaluza de Pesca Deportiva.

Comité de Prensa F.A.P.D.

Móvil: 630 126 431- Email: prensafapd@gmail.com

Carpa de 33kg from Zujar!

2011-02-13T21:39:00.004+01:00

He recibido un correo electrónico acerca de una carpa grande capturado en Zujar. Presuntamente se supone que es la carpa tenia 33kg.

Sólo sé que el pez fue capturado por alguien llamado David. La carpa tenia de largo y 122 cm de ancho 55cm. Fue capturada en El Embalse del Zujar, el boile fue un SK30 de marka Starbaits.

Nuevo Video sobre Kryston Productos

2011-02-08T20:18:00.004+01:00

Cuando estaba en el Reino Unido, ayudé a mi amigo Senor Ferns desde The Carp Zone hacer esta película.

Está en Inglés, pero pronto saldra otra versión subtitulada en español.

Para cualquier persona interesada en aprender sobre trenzado de la marka Kryston este es un lugar y video perfecto para comenzar.

Suerte,

AM

Donde se puede coger 14 carpas más de 20kg en una semana?

2011-01-23T18:20:00.004+01:00

Más información aqui:

Artículo GRATIS desde la revista CARPdiem número 11.

Descargar y disfrutar.

Idiosincrasia en invierno y carpfishing para pepinos!

2011-01-14T00:41:00.006+01:00

Recuerdo muy claro la primera momento cuando vi la carpa masiva capturado por Senior Abel Sosa Porcel. Fue maravilloso, tuve que coger uno de esos también.

Hacia poco casi he cogido la carpa más grande desde el río Tajo. Esta carpa mia fue 20.5KG. solo un kilo menus de esto desde Abel. Puedes leer mis consejos sobre carpa de invierno y porque las carpas son tan impredeecibles en invierno.

Tengo algunas ideas para encontrar peces en la epoca más complicada del año.

Echar una vistazo en la nueva edición de CARPdiem.

Disponible en kioskos. Suerte!

San Martin de la Vega 7-1-2011

2011-01-13T00:49:00.009+01:00

Primera sesión de pesca del año junto a mi compañero Raul Gonzalez en un pequeño lago de Madrid.
En invierno no suele ser un escenario muy activo para conseguir varias picadas, pero los peces están ahí y sino comiesen, se morirían…
En esta ocasión, los cebos que utilizamos fue la gama de High Visuals de Mainline, en distintos sabores y colores.

Al tratarse de una sesión corta de unas 4 horas, teníamos claro que no debíamos cebar en abundancia, por lo que con el tirachinas tan solo lanzamos en cada posición unas cargas del tirachinas con distintos pellets de pequeño tamaño de Dynamite Baits, tanto de Marine Halibut, como de Natural Swimstim de 6 mm y 3 mm.
Durante las dos primeras horas del mediodía, ninguna de nuestras caña ni la de los otros 5 pescadores que había en el lago mostró actividad alguna, algún pequeño salto donde Raul tenía posicionado sus cebos, pero poco mas. Tan sólo en una de mis cañas mostró algo de movimiento ,con varios ¡beats!, el Fruitella naranja estaba caliente!

Éste bajo de línea estaba montado en un leadcore de ESP semi fijo, un plomo Atomic remojado en un dip de Peach and Mango , un combi link de trenzado Supernova, fluorocarbono Ghost de ESP y un anzuelo Raptor del nº 8.
Trascurridos 10 min…Después de lanzar este segundo montaje, mi alarma me indica una rápida picada, en tan solo un par d horas había conseguido dos picadas en la primera semana de enero…en San Martin. No me lo creía.

Fishing en Rio Goyt, Inglterra Deciembre 2010

2011-01-06T22:47:00.002+01:00

Estoy en Inglaterra ahora, tuvo la oportunidad de ir a pescar con mi compañero Andy Ferns y Harry su hijo. Tuvimos en la rio Goyt, una pequena rio cerca de Stockport, Cheshire. El tiempo y las condiciones en Inglaterra han sido los peores de la historia, en realidad diciembre fue uno de los peores inviernos en los últimos 100 años. Con esto en mente, es casi imposible pescar en lagos, porque cualquiera encuntramos era congelado! Esta fue nuestra primera razón para la pesca del río. Hicimos un breve vídeo de la sesión aquí, echar un vistazo.

I am in England at the moment, had a chance to go fish with my mate Andy Ferns and Harry his son. We fished on the river Goyt near Stockport. Conditions in England have been the worst ever, according to the news yesterday December was one of the worst winters in the last 100 years. With this in mind it´s almost impossible to fish any lakes. We were not the only anglers forced to look for a bit of open water, the hardcore looking for a water not frozen!

We made a short video of the session here, take a look.

Todo esto y más, en el próximo número de CARPdiem disponible pronto.

2010-12-12T19:37:00.002+01:00

Articulos carpfishing invierno!

ETIENNE GEBEL - 10 Trucos para la época más fría.

WORLD CARP CLASSIC - Todo sobre el WCC en España y Francia, el Carpfishing Español dando caña..

ANDY MACGREGOR - ¿ Por qué las carpas son tan impredecibles en invierno?, Andy se come la cabeza para averiguarlo.

TEAM CARPDIEM - ¿No tienes ni pu... idea de carpfishing? No te preocupes aquí tienes tu guía.

NICKY TEAM VITAL - En esta ocasión Nicky está pescando en el Ebro, mira como le va.

PETER STAGGS - Peter nos enseñará que la diferencia entre el éxito y el fracaso está en el detalle...

FRAN GRANADOS - Fran se mete en el cieno y fango y nos desvela sus secretos.

LOS TECHNICOS - ¿ Has pescado alguna vez cerca de las orillas ?, el equipo de Mainline te explica las claves de su éxito.

CAMPEONATO DEL MUNDO - Enhorabuena a la selección española por ésta tercera plaza y bronze. Sois unos máquinas!

Team CARPdiem

Man V Fish.

2010-11-12T20:31:00.003+01:00

Found this great video from New Zealand for Top Catch Bait and Tackle. Great concept, great production, shame that it has had very few view. The fish we should respect. Especially this on, he's cool.

La Sirena Nash RS-1 Alarma pronto!!!

2010-11-01T23:21:00.005+01:00

Tengo muchas ganas de ver estas nuevas alarmas de la NASH Tackle UK. Al comparar las alarmas actuales en el mercado su tecnología es como un teléfono móvil desde los años 90.

La Sirena Nash RS-1 es la indicación avanzada de los más modernos del mundo. Tengo muchas ganas de ver cómo funcionan....

La alarma viene con un control remoto que le permite cambiar la configuración de la alarma sin tener que desplazarse. Al igual que haces cuando tu en casa y desea cambiar el canal de TV o DVD. Estos se fijan para ser un gran éxito.

Really looking forward to seeing these new alarms from NASH. Comparing current alarms on the market their technology is like a mobile phones from the 90’s. The Nash Siren RS-1 is the most modern advanced indication the world.

Really looking forward to seeing how these things work. The alarm comes with a remote control which allows you to change the settings of the alarm without having to move. Just like you do when your at home and you want to change the TV channel or DVD. These are set to be a big success.

España 3º EN EL MUNDIAL DE CARPFISHING.

2010-10-11T01:08:00.008+02:00

España 3º EN EL MUNDIAL DE CARPFISHING.

Clasificaciones:

En el sector A, Dani y Luis han acabado 2º.

En el sector B, Christian y Fran, 13º.

En el sector C, Roberto y Angel, 6º.

Convulsionó las carpas - Feeding carp into a frenzy

2010-10-09T13:03:00.030+02:00

Septiembre es siempre el año nuevo para mí. Es la nueva temporada. Digo esto como mi año recorre los años escolares. Como yo trabajo como profesor también. Al inicio de cualquier nueva temporada siempre es bueno para coger unos cuantos peces y la práctica algunas tácticas nuevas. Teniendo esto en cuenta, nos fuimos a Valymayor en Madrid.
Como aparece en mi revista CARPdiem, numero 09 con Peter Staggs en la portada, este es el mejor lugar para empezar carpfishing. Es un lago lleno de carpas!

Al amanecer llegamos y conducir hasta el lago. La luz de la mañana era clásico y hermoso, con rosas y el color típico de Valmayor. Los peces fueron saltando como de costumbre, todo se veía bien. Pescamos un punto que había mucho aguas abiertas, con profundidades, rocas, limpios y partes que varían. En muy corto distancia hay casi 3m.

Tuvimos muchas opciones y zonas para pescar, pero teníamos que encontrar primero a los carpas. Después de aproximadamente 1hr. conseguí mi primer carpa royal unas 6.4kg. Sace este pez desde 6 meter de agua. Esta era la señal que necesitábamos. Sabíamos ya que donde fueron los peces y que distancia y que profundidad era.

No habia mucho tiempo para localizar las carpas ni estimulan nos amigos un un autentico frenesí. Ponemos el maíz con nuestros cohetes y el spomb en una distancia de 75 o 80 metros. Lanzando 10 cohetes cada 1hr. casi todos los horas, mantenimiento de la carpa buscando. Estoy seguro de que cuando un pez encuentra un cebo en un entorno competitivo como este, que emiten una señal o una vibración que estimula a otros peces en el modo de búsqueda. Digo esto después de ver como los cangrejos y cómo reaccionan cuando se aplica comida. Los cangrejos fueron movimientos locos y hecho de una manera agresivo, que saltó, vibró y se movió de una manera que dio una señal y sonido que atraer más cangrejo a la zona para mirar que pasa.

Alimentando a poco ya menudo en un punto o distancia los peces se mantuvieron constantemente buscando. Cualquier cebo amarilla como el maíz las carpas encontró rápidamente. Entonces si quiera obtener una picada rápida tienes te poner algo amarillo. Yo quería para seleccionar un poco el tamaño de los peces, por lo que yo estaba usando algo un poco más grande que sólo maíz. Entonces fui a VITAL k12 con un grano de maíz encima. Como tu sabes, casi siempre pesca yo con un helicopter rig, pero en este ocasión el fixed inline de 100g era fenomenal.

Yo estaba muy contento con los resultados del dia. Todos nosotros, Raúl y Angel había picadas cuádruple y momentos de caos con dos peces en un momento. No hemos pescado durante el puente, y ahora creo este era una buena idea. Hemos disfrutado de tener todo el lago a nosotros mismos ya la captura de más de 25 carpas entre nosotros en menus de 10hr. Como es normal en Valmayor no hay ninguna monstruos pero hemos tenido un día divertido.

September signals the start of a new year for me. I say this as my year runs around school years especially as I work as a teacher. At the start of any new season it´s always good to catch a few fish. Keeping this in mind we went to Valymayor in Madrid. As featured in my magazine CARPdiem issue 9 with Peter Staggs on the cover , this is the best place to start carpfishing in Madrid, and bag up.
At dawn we drove to the lake. The light in the morning was classic with pinks and colour typical of Valmayor. Fish were jumping too, everything looked good. We fished a point which had lot´s of open water with varying depths from 3m to 10m.

At very short range 1 rod length out, we had 3mt. of depth. We had lots of options, rocks and snags but first we needed to find the fish. After 1hr. I landed my first carp, catching it from 6 meters of water. This was the sign we needed. We now knew now where the fish were.

It didnt take long to locate them, but when we started to pile in bait on top of them, we stimulated them into a frenzy. We put maize with our rockets and Spomb, and launched it about 70 metres, we did this little and often, keeping the carp looking for bits. I am sure that when a fish finds a bait in a competative environment like this lake, they give off a signal or vibration which stimulates other fish into search mode. I say this as after watching crayfish recently and watching how they reacted when food was admitted, it´s easy to see just how crazy species can go! The Cray were whipped into a state making movements, jumping, flipping, dancing and fighting all of which gave it away, and attracted more Cray to the zone, a real positive signal attracting more and more Cray to the zone.

By feeding in this style, little and often, on a particular spot the fish were kept constantly looking for food, and consequently our alarms did not stop all day! Anything yellow like maize or a boilie was most quickly found by any passing carp and eaten with haste. For a quick fix, all you needed do was put something yellow on your hair-rig, chuck it in, and it was off. I wanted to try to select, and up size the fish I caught, so later on, I used a bigger bait in the shape of a 20mm K12 from VITAL topped with plasic corn. I was more than happy with the results. We caught more than 25 fish, in less than 11hr of fishing, and some of the bleeders still got away!

I have said before in my magazine CARPdiem, this venue Valmayor, is without doubt the best venue near Madrid, to try and catch large numbers of carp without having to do a night session. Arm wrenching stuff, all good fun...

Tight lines
AM

2010-10-07T23:12:00.006+02:00

Buena suerte a todos los pescadores españoles que participan en este evento el fin de semana. El lago se pesca es Linear Fisheries, Witney, Oxfordshire, Inglaterra en mi opinion el lago es un milagro, que para producir una gran cantidad de carpas pequeñas entre 4 kg y 7 kg. El nivel en el evento será muy alto y estoy seguro de que el equipo Inglés va a querer ganar, pero yo creo mucho en las habilidades de Fran Granados del equipo de Vital y Christian Börjesson del equipo Dynamite Baits, así como Ángel Rodríguez Gómez desde Anroma y Dani Sanchez y Luis Diaz.

En unos días sabremos los resultados. Mira este espacio.

Cebo instantánea VITAL K12

2010-10-04T01:04:00.014+02:00

Bueno, el verano ha terminado y que se siente el otoño ha llegado finalmente. Con el clima más frío y la lluvia se mueve en el tiempo ahora es una buena para salir y empezar a pescar. Me las arreglé para hacer una sesión muy express o breve recientemente. Yo estaba fuera de 7hr hasta las 11hr. Este fue básicamente mi tiempo de pesca como yo tenía cosas que hacer. Si no has probado una sesión express, te aconsejo que lo haga, porque cuando estas pescando con corto tiempo pescas mucho mejor, como un cazador, o este es como siente yo en este dia. Debido a que tienen menos tiempo que trabajar más duro. Yo estaba buscando constantemente las señales de movimiento de los carpas. Cuando lo encontré, lanze mi cebo en la dirección del pez. Esa mañana sólo vi tres signos de la carpa. En el tercero el salto estaba en larga distancia. Yo siempre pesca con un bolsa de PVA o malla, pero esta vez no he podido conseguir el cebo a la zona caliente a distancia con malla. Tuve que dejar la bolsa. Esto es a veces arriesgado, como si, no tiene un buen cebo podría no ser suficiente para atraer a los peces. Esta vez yo estaba en el VITAL K12. Sólo un cebo enviado hasta el horizonte. En menos de 25 minutos las alarmas gritaba y yo podía sentir algo que se sentía bien en el extremo de la línea. Yo estaba pescando el puerto o embarcadero. Esto no es una posición muy querido, sin embargo, para mí era perfecto. A algunas otras personas habían estado pescando desde el día anterior. Conocí a mi amigo Eduardo y mi otra amigo Tony en el lago. En realidad Eduardo llegó cuando el pez entró en la sacadera. Eduardo y un par de otras pescadores se sorprendieron de mi suerte. Yo no era, en mi interior sabía desde el principio que iba a coger. Yo estaba seguro. Cebo puede aumentar su confianza. Desde que pescaban en Francia recientemente, mi confianza en el VITAL K12 ha aumentado. Es un cebo instantánea, que creo peces acaba de tomar, de forma sencilla ya rapido.

No era una carpa enorme. Es una he cogido antes en el verano pasado 2009 de (ver la foto arriba del año pasado). Es un pez que llamé el cascanueces, ya que tiene algunas escamas de un lado que se parecen a un cascanueces. Tengo que decir, era tan fuerte como el buey. En la línea de 31mm ligero combinada com mi 2.75lb TC Cañas, fue un placer para la batalla con cascanucecs por la segunda vez.

Well the summer is over and it feels like Autumn has finally arrived. With the colder weather and rain moving in now it´s a good time to get out and start to fish. I managed to do a very short express session recently. I was out from 7am till 11am. This was basically my fishing time as I had things to do. If you have not tried an express session I advise you to do it. It´s like hunting. Because you have less time you work harder. I worked really hard in the short time frame. I was searching constantly for signs of fish movement. When I found it, I cast my rod and single bait in the general direction. On this particular morning I only saw three signs of carp life. The third sign was at distance. I always fish with a PVA bags but this time I was not able to get the bait to the hot spot at range. I had to drio the PVA bag. This is sometimes risky, I mean is a single bait enough? It might not be enough to attract the fish. This time I was on the VITAL K12. Just one 20mm bait, sent out to the horizon. In less than 25min the alarm was screaming, I could feel something which felt good on the end of the line. I was fishing the harbor or port. This is not a very liked position, however for me it was perfect. A few other people had been fishing since the day before. I met my friend Eduardo on the lake actually he arrived just as the fish went into the sack. He and a couple of the others fishing were surprised at my luck. I was not, inside I knew all along I was going to catch. I was confident. Bait can make you more confident. Since I fished in France recently my confidence in VITAL K12 has increased. It´s an instant bait, which I believed fish just take, easily and quickly. It was not a massive carp, actually it´s a fish I have caught before see the photo of me from last year. It´s a fish I called the nutcracker because it has some scales on one side which look like a nutcracker. I have to say, it was as strong as ox. The nutcracker was really giving it some. On the light 31mm line, I was using and my 2.75lb TC rods, it was a pleasure to do battle with this carp.

2010-09-21T00:13:00.006+02:00

Estoy de vuelta después de una vieje de 24hr sin parar. Nancy, Francia a Madrid. Es bueno estar de vuelta!

Pescamos la final del World Carp Classic en el lago Madine y representó a España. Yo mismo Raúl González, Jorge Sacristian, Fran Granados, Peter Staggs y Antonio Sánchez.

Fue genial ser parte de la final y realmente experimentar qué se siente al competir a este nivel. Ahora puedo decir que he sido a la vez organizador de un evento del World Carp Classic y un competidor, ya sé qué se siente al estar en ambos lados! Entonces, ¿cómo era? Estupendo, desde el primer momento, los españoles mostraron un espíritu que fue fantástico. Los españoles sin duda sabes cómo pasar un buen rato, y yo también! Hemos conocido a gente fantástica, vimos algunas cosas asombrosas, hemos aprendido mucho acerca de la pesca y comimos pulpo de galego y la alta gama en gastronomía, basicamente comimos como reyes.

Quiso la suerte que tenemos, no tire de un puesto de ganar, lo hicimos sin embargo un par de peces, una de las cuales fue una hermosa carpa royal francés de 17,6 kg o 38,8 libras. Sace el pez con un Snowman de Vital Baits 25mm Pinapple Boilie y uno de K12 20mm popup. Los peces vinieron desde la zona de Hutchys puesto no 9. Este puesto no era uno ganador pero desde esto coge el pez más grande desde la sección!

Mi premio era una vieje a S.Africa. El vacacion es por valor de 1.000,00 libras y es una vacacion de pesca, puedes leer sobre Carp Afrique aqui No tengo claro cuando mi voy, pero creo en la proxima primavera o algo similar.

Hay un vídeo de corta duración abajo o buscar en youtube. Le doy un poco de información en ingles sobre la situación en que estábamos, y lo que se enfrentaban.

Puedes leer todos en la proxima nuemro de CARPdiem disponible pronto!

I am just back after a 24 hr. grueling non stop drive from Nancy, France. It´s good to be back!

We fished the final of the World Carp Classic on lake Madine and represented Spain. Raul Gonzalez, Jorge Sacristian, Fran Granados Peter Staggs and Antonio Sanchez Mateos and myself. It was great to be part of the final and really experience how it feels to compete at this level. I can now say, I have been both organizer of a World Carp Classic event and a competitor, I know how it feels to be on both sides! So how was it? Great, from the word go, the Spanish showed a spirit which was fantastic. The Spanish know how to have a good time, and so do I. We met some fantastic people, we saw some amazing things, we learned a great deal about fishing and we ate like kings. As luck would have it, we did not pull a winning swim, we did however manage to bag a couple of fish, one of which was a lovely french mirror carp of 17,6kg or 38.8lb. The fish came from the Hutchys swim 9. This was not the swim we wanted, neither was my first draw Ultima 9. Neither of the swims were winners, but both of them were awarded with biggest fish from the section so it seemed like it was my destiny to pick that prize up,(see photo left) and I did!

I have just found out where I am going, I am going to South Africa to fish for Carp, come on! Carp Afrique in Johannesburg will be my host. You can read more about them here I am really looking forward to fishing in South Africa. Some of the Mirror carp that way look stunning. The idea of having Giraffes and Wild animals running about while I am fishing is really exciting. It looks like I have won the package for 10 days. to the value of 900 pounds! I dont have it clear yet when I will go, but as soon as it´s all booked up I will let you know. I will also do a feature in CARPdiem about this trip!

There is a short video up on you tube about the swim we fished. I give a little more info about the situation we were in, and what we were up against.

I will provide more info about our session in the next issue of CARPdiem, and sometime later in English on this blog!

A por ellos World Carp Classic 2010

2010-08-27T00:19:00.004+02:00

Este año podemos campeones del mundial en Carpfishing. El World Carp Classic comenzar pronto y podemos mira como va la tema en realtime aqui en el offical pagina del World Carp Classic 2010.

Al ataque!

2010-07-01T13:14:00.008+02:00

I have just finished reading a wonderful novel called Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday. It was something I picked up whist back in the UK. It´s one of those that you cannot put down, totally captivating. OK, it´s about fishing, and you know, I love fishing but it´s much more than that, it´s a novel for anyone. Our hero in this case a Dr. Alfred Jones is a middle-aged scientist. He is approached by a mysterious sheikh, about an outlandish plan to introduce the sport of salmon fishing into the Yemen. Dr. Jones refuses, but the project, however scientifically absurd, catches the eye of British politicians, who pressure our hero to work on it. Our unlikely hero discovers true love, finds himself first a pawn and then a victim of political spin, and learns to believe in the impossible.

The story is very cleverly written and throughout a series of memos, e-mails, letters, and interview transcripts Paul Torday captures the absurdity of bureaucratic dysfunction. A tragic comedy full of satire set between the Glens of Scotland and the deserts of Yemen. I strongly recommend you read this wonderful little novel! Read more here

Really looking forward to the film which is due out in 2012, with my old mate Ewan Mcgregor acting as Dr Alfred Jones.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, un libro escrito por Paul Torday (ópera prima del autor), que va estar protagonizada por Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt y Kristin Scott Thomas. Una reseña del libro original lo describe así: “Alfred Jones, un hombre de ciencia que trabaja en el Centro Nacional para el Fomento de la Piscicultura, es contratado para llevar a cabo un descabellado proyecto: introducir la pesca del salmón en Yemen. La idea, fruto de la visión de un jeque árabe convencido de las propiedades purificadores y pacificadoras del arte de la pesca con mosca, atraerá la atención de uno de los asesores del primer ministro británico y el doctor Jones, atrapado entre la espada y la pared, se verá obligado no sólo a aceptar el trabajo sino a intentar que sea un éxito. Y mientras todo esto ocurre, leemos el diario que el doctor ha empezado a escribir cuando su matrimonio entró en crisis; conocemos los sentimientos de Harriet, la joven que trabaja para el jeque, y cuyo novio ha sido enviado a Irak; echamos un ojo al libro autobiográfico del asesor del primer ministro; y acabamos asistiendo a un sorprendente pero también posible final.”

World Carp Classic Orellana lo mejor evento en el historia de carpfishing.

2010-06-16T17:36:00.024+02:00

Hace dos semanas se celebro la primera clasificatoria del World Carp Classic en el embalse de Orellana. El calor era extremo con temperaturas de más de 35 grados ºC. Entre todas las parejas capturaron un alrededor de 700kg de carpas. Lo podemos considerar como el mayor evento de carpfishing celebrado en Orellana.

Algunos pescadores pescaban a más de 300 metros. Españoles, Húngaros, Búlgaros, Polacos, Escoceses, Españoles y Británicos estaban compitiendo. Las parejas se dividieron en tres secciones. El evento fue ganado por dos pescadores españoles: Fran Granados y Jorge Sacristian. Los dos ganadores tuvieron picadas casi continuamente pescando a una distancia de 280 metros. Ambos tuvieron que sacar los cebos en barca cada vez. Esta pareja ha demostrado que tienen lo necesario para ganar. Sacaron mas de cuarenta peces por encima del peso mínimo de 5 kg. En total más de 369kg de la carpas. Con estas capturas masivas obtuvieron el primer premio y un lugar en la final del Clásico Mundial de carpa. También ganaron el premio a la mayor captura.

El segundo puesto fue para un guía local: Lee Hutchinson de catch carp spain. Lee sabe bastante sobre como sacar peces en Orellana. El y su compañero Stuart capturaron más 122kg de la carpas garantizandose el segundo premio.

A todos los concursantes se le entrego un paquete de bienvenida con cebos de Dynamite Baits. Más del 85% de los pescadores obtuvieron capturas, por lo que se puede considerar que hemos hecho historia en Orellana. No sólo se capturaron carpas, también hubo bastantes capturas de tenca, aunque ninguno de ellos paso del umbral de 5kg. El éxito de este año nos da pistas para valorar como puede llegar a ser el evento del año que viene.

Nos gustaría dar las gracias al Alcalde de Pueblo de Alcocer, Manuel Moreno Delgado, La Junta de Extremadura, y la Hotel Codorniz por su ayuda y coordinar el evento, así como a los patrocinadores Dynamite Baits, PB Productos, Enterprise Baits y JRC. Los ganadores Fran Granados y Jorge Sacristán están muy contentos con sus resultados y están muy ilusionados de poder representar a su país y competir en la final en el Lago de Madine, en Francia.

A couple of weeks ago Peter Staggs and myself set up the 1st ever Spanish World Carp Classic qualifying event. The event took place on Lake Orellana, Extremadura Spain. The heat was extreme with temperatures soaring above 35 Deg C+. Those brave pairs fishing caught an amazing 1595lbs of carp. This massive haul represents the biggest ever in the history of any carp fishing match held on Orellana.

We used our knowledge and help from Craig Reid and put the competitors in the best swims. Anglers had lot´s of water to go at! Some of the Anglers fished at ranges beyond 300 meters. Spanish Hungarian, Bulgarian, Polish, Scotish, British and Spanish were competing.

The pairs were split into 3 sections, all of which produced fish. The event was won by two Spanish Anglers Fran Granados and Jorge Sacristian. The two Anglers fished non stop at 280 meter range rowing baits to the hotspot. The duo demonstrated they have what it takes to win. They caught 40 fish over the minimum weight of 5kg. They caught over 369kg of carp. With this massive catch they won 1st prize and a place in the finals of the World Carp Classic, JRC Rods, pods and unhooking mats. They also won biggest fish prize of Dynamite Baits Red Fish Boilies and Dips and a range of PB Products. They also caught fish fish, taking the Dynamite baits Peach and Mango boilies dips and popups.

In second place was local guide Lee Hutchinson from Catch Carp Spain (UK). Lee knows a thing or two about how to fish the challenging lake. Lee and his partner Stuart caught over 122kg of carp to secure 2nd place prize of a JRC 2 man bivvy with over wrap and Ruben heaton scales.

Upon arrival contestants were given a welcome pack of Dynamite baits products, spirits among competitors was high. More than 85% of the Anglers caught fish and made carp fishing history on Orellana. Not only carp were caught, actually some massive Tench also came out, but none of them were more than the 5kg they needed to be to be counted! This year it´s clear to see was a fantastic event all round, next year is set to be even bigger and a real winner.

We would like to thank the Mayor of Pueblo de Alcocer - Manuel Moreno Delgado, the Junta de Extremadura, and Hotel Cordoniz for their help coordinating and hosting the event. Last but not least we also thank all those who took part in the first ever Spanish World Carp Classic qualifier and of course a big thanks to the sponsors Dynamite Baits, PB Products, Enterprise Baits and JRC.

We wish the winning pair Jorge Sacristian and Fran Granados the best of luck representing Spain and competing in the final on Lake Madine, in France.

2010-06-07T14:11:00.004+02:00

Congradulations from Team CARPdiem to all the competitors who took part in the fist World Carp Classic qualifier in Spain. The winners Fran Granados and Jorge Sacristian are delighted with their result. The event celebrated last week on the mighty reservoir Orellana in Extremadura was a total success. 85% of those who fished caught carp over 5kg. The winning pair Fran Granados and Jorge Sacristian caught 40 carp over 5kg for a total weight of 369,5kg (814lb). No mean feat on a lake notoriously difficult as Orellana. We wish the pair all the best in France where they will fish the final on Lac Madine in September 2010.

Felicidades a Fran Grandos y Jorge Sacristian ganadores de la primero World Carp Classic qualifier celebrado en el embalse Orellana extremadura. El equipo sacan 40 peces con peso más de 5 kg, en total hay 369kg de carpas por el duo. Pueder leer info sobre este evento pronto en CARPdiem tambien aqui en este blog. Les deseamos buena suerte en la final en Francia.

PRESENTACION OFICIAL DEL BERKLEY WORLD CATFISH CLASSIC

2010-05-23T23:41:00.005+02:00

Después de 12 años de éxitos continuados en varias pruebas mundiales en el golf y la pesca, estamos encantados con el lanzamiento del World Catfish Classic. En junio de 2011, los pescadores representantes de todo el mundo competirán por el prestigio y el honor de ganar la prueba inaugural y ver izar su bandera nacional. Cuando suceda esto, la historia comenzara y, tan cierto que existirá una inmensa mediatización internacional. Estamos orgullosos como organizadores respetuosos de las mejores costumbres de la pesca, por ejemplo, asegurándose del bienestar de la pesca y del medio ambiente sean atendidos y respetados. Hay una cantidad enorme de trabajo por hacer, pero estoy seguro que con la ayuda y el apoyo de mi equipo, ofertaremos una prueba a la altura con los más altos estándares requeridos.”
Chiprana, 18 de junio de 2010.- A las 12:00 h ha sido presentado en el Ayuntamiento de Chiprana, el World Catfish Classic 2011 un acto que ha congregado a D. Javier Nicolás, alcalde la localidad, D. Ross Honey, fundador del torneo, D. Pascal Grillot, Director de Marketing y Comunicación de Berkley, y Ramón Rodríguez, de la Federación aragonesa de pesca y casting ,D. Javier Sagarra Presidente de la Comarca Bajo Aragón-Caspe/Baix Aragó-Casp y autoridades, para informar sobre la organización de este campeonato de pesca de Siluro, que tendrá lugar en junio del 2011.
Durante la presentación, D. Javier Nicolás ha comentado: “En Chiprana y en la Comarca, confiamos en este evento para poner en valor el Mar de Aragón y su capacidad para convertirse en el escenario idóneo, para el desarrollo de un campeonato mundial, de gran proyección internacional”. Por su parte, D. Ross Honey ha manifestado la magnitud y el alcance del evento, ha presentado otras actividades de golf y pesca que llevan desarrollando en multitud de países durante los últimos 12 años y ha explicado “queda un año por delante y se está preparando una competición que ya ha generado expectación en más de 20 países del mundo.

Chiprana cumple con los requisitos de ser un emplazamiento fantástico para este proyecto y confiamos en la continuidad del mismo”. En la presentación el alcalde inaguró la pagina del campeonato en donde mantendrán informados a todos los interesados.

World Cat fish Classic pagina

El Guadalope

Radio Carrete Radio Carp fishing

2010-05-20T20:29:00.006+02:00

We have been asked to make an interview for the carpfishing radio show Radio Carrete. The show broadcasts from Illecas near to Toledo. Raul from my Team CARPdiem will be making an interview about the World Carp Classic which is too be held in 1 weeks time on lake Orellana in Extremadura Spain. You can listen to the show online via the podcast found here.

Recientemente hemos pedido que haga una entrevista para el programa de carpfishing Radio Carrete. Raúl de mi equipo CARPdiem estará haciendo una entrevista sobre el World Carp Classic, que es demasiado que se celebrará en una semana de tiempo en el lago de Orellana en Extremadura España. Puedes escuchar el programa en línea en directo o posteriormente a través del podcast encontrar arriba..

2010-05-20T01:30:00.004+02:00

Tenemos sólo dos semanas para ir El World Carp Classic.

Los que toman parte puede ganar hasta que 5.000 euros en premios aquí en España. Más tarde los que van a la final en Francia podría ganar otro 10.000 euros en efectivo y mucho más en equipo.

Apunta ya en el evento más grande de pesca de carpas en el mundo.

Info aqui World Carp Classic

Making the most of time!

2010-05-15T18:04:00.009+02:00

Time is something I do not have at the moment. Gone are the days when I could go fish for two days and nights. Now I have to make do with short express sessions. Lucky for me, I did that the other day. I went out and managed to catch for the 3rd time a fish called Big Mamma. It was a joy catching her again. She put a smile on my face. It's amazing how much your day can change when you catch a good fish. Was it luck? I don't think so, I say this because before I caught her I was fishing real bad. It felt as if I'd lost some ability. I think you can lose ability if you do not go, you just get rusty. It's like not going running or doing any sports for a while, you body changes. I was rusty, took me 13 times to cast my rod after clipping up. I was fishing at range, the added weight of the PVA bag was cutting my distance down, I couldn't hit the hotspot, I did not give up. I kept going, till I got the bait where I wanted it.... It was frustrating as the lake was full of thick weed, never seen the place so choked. Every time I miscast, I had too reel in, again, time after time, I would bring in weed, my armed ached more and the process got harder, heavier. I was bringing in something like 1kg of the green alge, rod doubled over, arm wrenching. No matter, I kept at it, I was determined to place my PVA bag and offering on the hot spot, I didn't give up. Time was short, I had to make the most of my time, I could settle knowing the bait was not 100 percent right, so I made the most of it, and kept working, until the bait was on the spot. Soon after Big mama was mine again!!!!!

El tiempo es algo que yo no tengo en este momento. Atrás han quedado los días en que me podía ir de a pescar durante dos días o noches. Ahora tengo que conformar con breves sesiones. Por suerte para mí, lo hice el otro día. Salí y logró captar para la 3ª vez un pez llamado Big Mamma. Fue una alegría la captura de ella otra vez. Ella puso una sonrisa en mi cara. Es increíble la cantidad de su día puede cambiar cuando usted coge un buen carpa. ¿Fue suerte? Yo no lo creo, lo digo porque antes de que la pez yo estaba pescando muy mal. Se sentía como si hubiera perdido algo de habilidad. Creo que se puede perder la capacidad si no va, que acaba de llegar oxidado. Es como no ir corriendo o haciendo algún deporte por un tiempo, que el cuerpo cambio. Así cuál es mi punto? Estaba oxidado, Me tomó 13 veces para echar la caña con la línea en el clip en mi carrete. Yo estaba pescando en la distancia, el peso añadido desde la bolsa de PVA, no apoyar mi a llegar el distancia que quiere, yo no podría llegar al hot spot, pero no se dio por vencido. Yo seguí adelante, hasta que llegué el anzuelo donde yo quería .... Fue frustrante y agotador porque el lago estaba lleno de alga tan denso, nunca he visto el lugar para calzar en las algas. Cada vez que mal lance, tuve te reciger mi lina otra vez, y cada vez, me traería alga, y cada vez me dolía más mi brazo y el proceso tiene más y más difícil. Traía en alga como 1 kg, mi caña se dobló. No importa, me mantuve en ello, yo estaba decidido a poner mi bolsa de PVA y cebo en el hot spot, no se dio por vencido. Sabía que el tiempo era corto, no podía estar sentado en el lago sabiendo el anzuelo y cebo no era el 100 por ciento correcto, así que hice la mayor parte de ella, y siguió trabajando, hasta que el cebo estaba en el punto caliente. No se conformó con nada mejor que el cebo y montaje en el mejor lugar.

Poco después de Big Mama fue mio!!!!!

World Carp Classic qualifying event Gibraltar 2010.

2010-04-13T12:48:00.006+02:00

The World Carp Classic Gibraltar qualifier 2010 was an absolute success! The trophy as you can see here (left) was a gem, crystal cut glass, a whole lot of class direct from the Rock!

The event took place last weekend on Lake Alfarofia, Elvas Portugal. The first fish to be caught during the event, and for that matter the first fish ever to be caught from the Iberiena peninsula in a World Carp classic event fell to John Tattersall on the 2nd day from Peg 6. The fish was a welcome one after a quiet 24hr....
All the Anglers who came and took part in the qualifier were well impressed with the facilities and the hospitality the event organizers and Lake Alfarofia had to offer. So much so that many of the Anglers will return to the lake for sure!
During the event a total of 5 fish were caught, and saldy many lost! The biggest fish a stunning common carp of 28lb 20oz was caught by Kelvin Ball from peg 1. Kelvin and his team mate Paul Williams were delighted with the fish and their prize supplied by PB Products for biggest fish caught during the event. The overall winners of the event with 3 fish taken from peg 6 was Graham Noon and John Tattersall. The team managed close to 50lb of fish from their swim. They took 1st prize of goods supplied from Dynamite Baits. The pair will go onto Lake Madine to fish the World Carp Classic final in 2010.
The qualifying event organizers Andy Macgregor and Peter Staggs would like to thank the venue owner Joao Carlos for his support with the event. Also many thanks to Dynamite Baits and PB Products for their kind sponsorship, and last but not least thanks to all of those who took part in the first World Carp Classic qualifying event in the Iberian peninsula.

It was clear everyone thoroughly enjoyed taking part, we very much look forward to seeing the majority of those who took part in the event next year and probably a handful of new faces too!

We hope that the luck hold out for Graham and John in September when they goto France and fish the final on Lack Madine, France!

World Carp Classic Spain

2010-03-09T01:10:00.002+01:00

Green lights on full steam ahead. It's taken us sometime to get all the permissions in place but myself and Peter Staggs have done just that. For the first time in Spanish Carp Fishing history we hope to bring a team of 6 Anglers from Spain to the final of the World Carp Classic in France. This is the 1st of a series of flyers which is currently circulating Spain. For the grand total of 400.00 euro per pair, just 200.00 euro each the Spanish Anglers get the chance to compete in Spain and later represent the country. We plan a series of videos which will be available soon via various media channels in which we hope to hook those interested in!!!

More info on the World Carp Classic site.

World Carp Classic a Go-Go!!!

2010-03-05T20:37:00.003+01:00

Some of you will know I am doing the World Carp Classic qualifying event for Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar. Myself and Peter Staggs now have all the paperwork and permissions organized. It's full steam ahead. As it stands we have already sold out the Gibraltar event which will be held on lake Alfarofia in Portugal. The lake has fish to over 50lb and it's the perfect lake for a small intimate match like this with only 6 pairs fishing. Dynamite Baits are the official bait sponsor with over 500.00 of bait and PB Products of Holland are the sponsor for terminal gear. The Spanish event which will be held on Lake Orellana over the weekend of May 28th is also set to be part of Spanish Carp fishing history. As it stands 3 pairs (the winning 3), will go from Spain to France to fish in final of the World Carp Classic in September. Portugal are also set to enter for the first time in the history of the event. The Portuguese event will also take place on Lake Alforfia on a date to be confirmed in July 2010. For more information about any of these events you can goto the official World Carp Classic Website

Cold Carpin in - 11 °C

2010-02-10T02:16:00.003+01:00

Well, I finally get a chance to go fishing and the prediction from Accweather is -11 °C. It's fair to say this will be a winter session. I will be putting my thermal sleeping bag from Nash to the test and for that matter all the clothing will be on. The lowest conditions I have fished in were -5 °C last year in the same spot, but we still managed to winkle a fish. Let's see if we can do something similar this year, ooooosh.....

If I am lucky the river wont be frozen!

Friday Night, Feb 12 Cloudy
Cold with plenty of clouds. Winds from the ENE at 16 km/h.
Realfeel®: -11 °C
Low: -7 °C
Saturday, Feb 13 Intermittent Clouds
Clouds giving way to some sun and chilly. Winds from the ENE at 12 km/h.
Realfeel®: 3 °C
High: 7 °C

It would be nice to have a session like this chap had over in the states:

Wish me luck, AARRGh.

Comizo Barbel being the objective and being what we got!

2010-02-04T21:15:00.011+01:00

Before the end of the year I set an objective for the CARPdiem team. We had to snag a few Comizo Barbel. I had the urge and it was growing. Since my first fish of the year was a Barbel, why not end the year with one too?

We planned an escape, made some calls and off we went in search of these wonderful creatures. It's always great targeting fish from new places. This adventure was no exception. With the help of local man machine 'Blas', of team Passioncarp, we loaded up 3 boats and took ourselves to a very remote wild quite spot. It felt as if we were isolated from the rest of the world. The view was like something out of Jurassic Park during a quite spell! It was perfect to just sit there and look at the dark, wide water. We were in deep, in the heart of peninsular and tucked away in the Spanish countryside real Don Quixote stuff.

For this time of year December it was mild, really very much so. This region is know for it's clear ice cold nights during December however we were not confronted with any type of cold, far from it! It was still warm enough for those critter Cray fish to be out, many of which were wondering about in-front of our pods. They looked liked they needed Mother nature to kick in cold and hard and give them the final signal to tell them winter is here go dig a burrow and enjoy a winter sleep!

The fishing was not easy, it did not matter one bit, eventually the fish came. All the Comizo came at night. Not one graced the net in daylight although some carp did come out in the day. It was a suprise that the fish were being caught so deep, we were catching these barbel at such extreme depth that they came up with the bends! Actually it threw me at first as I never imagined fish would come from such depths but they did and not I may add from anywhere else!

The traps we planted were simple.
Bait was applied liberally and hookbaits were dropped from boats onto those same spots. Most fish were landed from the boats. The lake at this time was very high almost at max capacity this ment that in-front of us we had some serious timber and submerged trees. You could get fish through these snags but I didn't risk it. Raul and Pablo did and managed to land fish. We did not catch any of the monster Comizo Barbel but we all managed fish from 7kg to 8kg, so Barbel from 16.5lbs to 17.5lbs bracket. We were all more than pleased with that outcome. Actually this was young Pablo's last session fishing with us here as he has since moved to Bristol on my recommendation and is about to take up fishing in the UK, come on! I was well chuffed for him during this session and wanted nothing more than him to bag up which he did! Pablo has great potential to be a fantastic Angler. I wish him all the success in the world whilst fishing in Bristol, no doubt he will catch his fair share of fish whilst exploring tbe UK scene! Watch this space!

All in all it really was an outstanding session or should I say two sessions? I did not mention this before but the night before this trip, myself and Pablo slipped in a very fast short session at a local water in Madrid. Pablo caught a known fish the friendly common at 9kg as I was arriving at the lake! This was actually the second time I had pulled upto the lake, jumped out of the car and been given duty of net-man on this lake! I will tell you another time about this, either here on the blog or inside the magazine. Strange enough this fish was actually still spawning in December. Yet the fish as normal was in fin perfect condition, it always seems to be this way. He really is a handsome fish and this time as you can see was no exception. What we need to work on now is getting Pablo to smile. He is happy enough but never smiles on the camera! Anyway he got the perfect send off and fishy gift from Madrid and La Mancha.

It was a cracking way for us all to end the year, plenty of lovely fish, and the best Paella a man can eat! Well, until the next time may the fish be with you!

Carp Apocolpse Zombie Revalation.

2010-01-02T01:56:00.006+01:00

Welcome to 2010 and a Happy New Year to you all. After a Whiskey fuelled knees up in Glasgow Scotland, I thought I'd sit back relax and do some random Google searches to see what I may find on the Internet about Carp. My head is frying as I somehow managed to key in some word combinations to find the following bizarre video. Seems like people are becoming more obsessed with the end of the world. Meanwhile others like the makers of this video are taking fins too far and using a quote from The Book of Revelation and changing the text too include our beloved Carp!

The opening quote in the video is incorrect. The Book of Revelations does not mention 'pale white carp', actually what the book does talk about is the 'pale white horse', maybe the post apocalyptic novel and new film by Cormack McCarthy has something to do with this, actually I can think of a few reasons for this twist. Are the father and son duo in the Book/Film 'The Road', fishermen? Something here definatley smells fishy. All the best and catch a big one where ever you ARRRGh..See more

Zombie Carp
Uploaded by cubor. - See more comedy videos.

New Fish Care or Carp Care Video

2009-11-30T22:30:00.003+01:00

As I mentioned in an earlier entry on this fishy blog, we have been doing some filming and testing out the Nash Monster Cradle. To be honest the Cradle is large, it's a beast so it does take a fair bit of space up in your car. It is however a fantastic bit of Carp care booty and it´s something which every Carper should have. Actually in a recent session this cradle saved fish damage which would have occured had we been using (as previous), a normal Beni Matt. I say this as the lake we fished on for Comizo Barbel was especially rocky with a bankside which had a very sever gradient, as a result in between the rocks you could hardly find a safe place for a traditional matt. As I said the steep incline couple with traditia carp matt or benie matt would mean the fish could have easily slipped off the matt and towards a rock risking damage. As it happened this was not the case as the Cradle locks the fish caught safe onto the matt. Therefore all the Comizo Barbel and Carp caught were kept safe and un-damaged. I dont wont to gp into that story too much as it´s another event. I should rewind and drag your eye´s onto the new video or rather another video I made whilst out filming recently in Madrid with the CARPdiem team. This film features a lovely Mirror Carp of over 16kg. 35lb plus, a nice fish and an old friend of mine! In the video I show one way to hold the carp or a way to grip onto the dorsal fin of the fish. Of course there are other ways to hold fish. If the fish has a spiny dorsal then perhaps it´s better to cup the whole of the dorsal and not risk getting a dorsal spine stuck in your hand. These fish in this water dont have the spiny fins as they are at low risk from preditors so the method I use is to grab the fin and use it as an aid. I hope you and the Spanish Anglers reading this and viewing our video find it of interest. More coming soon.

New Carp fishing Videos

2009-10-30T11:53:00.004+01:00

I have been making carp films recently and recording videos with my CARPdiem Team and the Dynamite Baits Angler Christian Borgesson. The first of the 3 new videos is now up on The Tube. This one gives details about the Nash Monster Cradle, how to use it, why it's better than a normal unhooking mat and how to release a fish with it. Durning filming we were lucky enough to have a run and catch an 11.5kg plus fish which made it even better. Later we had another two fish. I was lucky and managed to catch an old friend a lovely Royal Mirror of over 16kg. We made a short video with this fish wonderful carp which will come out soon. This video shows how to pick fish up and explains in Spanish why you should not lift fish up high off the ground. In the video the fish played ball and actually it does flip out of my hands. However the fish is low to the ground as it should be with the Nash Carp Cradle right below it so no damage done. You can see the first video with Christian here:

2009-09-22T19:17:00.003+02:00

Whilst back in the UK in August. I managed to catch up with my old mate Andy Ferns and his son Harry. We went back to our old stalking grounds in Altrincham, King Georges Pool. Over 20 years ago we fished the water so the day was a walk back down memory lane. It was great to fish against all elements. We had it all, extreme winds, strong rain and the odd clear patch in which we managed to grab some video as can be seen here. Andy gives us a run through of his new vintage carp fishing gear and young Harry shows us all how it's done and catches a whopper! I hope you enjoy.

Dream Carp fishing house for Sale with Lake behind 600,000

2009-08-05T13:39:00.020+02:00

Can you imagine yourself sitting on that patio in the photo on the right? The patio belongs to a house which has 5 bedroom, it's special house at the foot of the Madrid Sierra. If you were sat on that patio now you would be enjoying hundreds of swallows flying around you, the buzz of dragonflys and red squirrels jumping from treas in your garden. Apart from that you would have some big fish swimming just behind you. Can you imagine? Cup of tea or bottle of wine on the table, receptor poised ready for a run? Well, stop dreaming and start thinking because the house is for sale and it's an opportunity for someone who wants to buy a little carp fishing dream in Spain. Sometime ago I mentioned this house and the family I have become friendly with whilst on my carp missions. The family have this amazing house up for sale, and it's next to the best kept secret in Madrid. The best kept secret is the lake, I wont mention it's name at this time, but for me it's without question the best lake locally. I say this because of the stock of fish and there average size. I have never caught a fish smaller than 20lb from the lake and I have had two 40lb plus fish and we believe there is a 50lb commmon in the lake. Going back a month or so, I put some photos of the property on this blog. Now I have many more as you can see here. It's an impressive house with 5 bedrooms, a massive kitchen, double garages (double), a lovely garden with various trees all of which backs onto the lake. The greatest thing about the house in my mind is the lake that sits behind. This is the lake where dreams have come true for me and a few others.If any of you have read my account of my first Spanish 40lb Carp from the Jason Rider Carping Journeys then you will know something more about what this lake has inside it. However like all good things in life. There comes a time when the bubble must burst and for the sake of progression or evolution, the cat get's let out of the bag. Trust me, this one is too good, it's an absolute diamond. If your thinking of buying a house next to a lake this is a carp fishing heaven.
As far as the price goes it's up for something in the region of 600.000 euro. For a little piece of Spanish carp fishing heaven it's not bad.
If any of you are interested in this property and would like to know more or indeed come see the property please call me direct on 0034 675 466 547. I can easily speak with the family and in tern help further clarify any questions or doubts.

CARP FISHING CAMPEONATO DE ESPAÑA 2009

2009-05-04T08:53:00.013+02:00

This weekend I managed to get down to El Vellon (in the photo right), for the big match or should I say the CAMPEONATO DE ESPAÑA 2009 Carp fishing. It was great to walk around the lake close to Madrid and meet those fishing. The atmosphere on the bank was great with lot's of carp being caught all through the day. All in all the event went very well, certainly much better than last year, but still some way to go. It was nice to see that proper toilets had been arranged this year round, a sure sign that those involved are getting it together and tackling issues like sanitation on the bank.

The boys competing caught more than 2300kg of Carp in 3 days, with plenty of smiles and only one blank! Many fish caught something like 6 out of 8 were valid fish, by this I mean they were more than 5kg in weight. This was a great step forward too, I think that maybe the protection the lake has had in the last few years has helped fish survive and increasing weigh, great! Still another 30-40% of the fish caught would have been under the official minimum weight of 5kg, so it was a big haul match indeed. Finally it was the Madrid teams who won both first and second place. 1st place went to Luis Diaz and Daniel Sanchez who caught a staggering 258kg of fish. The other places 2nd, 3rd and 4th were all close actually between the Starbaits team and that of Christian Borjasson and Fran Grandados it could have gone anyway with a singular fish.. Finally here at the results and the top 10 qualifiers and weights:

1º Luis Diaz y Daniel Sanchez. Peg A35. Madrid. 40 Carp. 258,140 Kg.
2º Jose Antonio Matute y Sergio Vera. Peg A14. Madrid. 25 Carp. 153,060 Kg.
3º Angel y Roberto Rodriguez. Peg A21. Castilla la Mancha. 22 Carp. 137,670 Kg.
4º Crhistian Borjasson y Francisco Granados. Peg A5. Castilla la Mancha. 23 fish. 133, 140 Kg.
5º Jonathan Robles y Jordi Zayas. Peg A17. Cataluña. 17 Carp. 119,710 Kg.
6º Carlos Sasot y Xavier Martos. Peg A15. Aragón. 20 Carp. 118,800 Kg.
7º Pablo Dominguez y Rafa Ruiz (Pablo y Chinche). Peg A3. Madrid. 17 Fish. 116,600 Kg.
8º Pedro Lopez y Juan Jose Garcia (Kzale y Miraflores). Peg A2. Madrid. 18 Carp. 114,475 kg.
9º Felipe Carrasco y Carlos Pajuelo. Peg A4. Extremadura. 17 Carp. 98,750 Kg.
10º David Flores y Ismael Gonzalez. Peg A31. Madrid. 16 Carp. 93,550 Kg.

The premio for the biggest Carp went to Rafa y Pablo, In 7th position. with a carp of 10,100 Kg.

In total those fishing caught a staggering 2.312,065 Kg of CARP!

Madrid and it's Entrono for Carp Fishing

2009-04-29T11:35:00.005+02:00

I have been fishing for Carp in Madrid now for quite sometime. As each year passes, we see progress and bigger fish being landed. It's fair to say that Madrid has at least 7 venues now with 40lb carp in. All of which are good and bad for wild and varied reasons. Some of them have no or limited access, others are policed too much, the others are large waters with many small fish. One of the better lakes in the city a small park lake I am very fond of. I can say this for several reasons but the main one being that it has some cracking fish with a good average weight of 24-28lb. Actually I have never caught a fish smaller than 20lb for the lake. It also has to my surprise Comizo barbel. These fish have been put in by a man I met last weekend while fishing the water. The chap told me in the morning he had put these fish between 6lb and 9lb in the lake. About 2 hr. after he told me I went for a walk around the lake and spotted two of these barbel in the crystal clear water, they looked happy enough, and interestingly enough they were not part of or staying with the carp which were also near by. It's therefore possible that Carp and Comizo dont mix perhaps as much as say Tench and Carp, but don't hold me on that one, like everything these things need a little more time to study.

During the session I managed to winkle a fish out, it fell to a Mainline Tutti Frutti 15mm Pop-up cast on it's head at short range early morning. It was nice to see the rod rip off with no alarm (I had switched it off), when I was playing the fish I thought it was an old friend of mine Quasi. Quasi the upper 20lb Carp I have now had a couple of times. He's an obvious fish because of his form. As it turns out and as we suspected this fish was actually another one. You could call him Papa Quasi as he's a little bigger than the other. At a pinch over 14.5kg (31lb 09oz), I was happy to have him in. He was my first fish of the year from the lake and a welcome one. You can see from his shape in this photo that he's a little malformed. Seems that perhaps he has had an incident with a pike way back. One of the locals Diego did the photos for me. Actually while talking with Diego it turned out that he has a beautiful house for sale on the banks of the lake. I was invited into the house to see it and I have to say it's something else. I am waiting for more info. and photos from him. When I have them I will post up here on the blog the photos and full specifications of the house. It's an ideal place for an Angler to retire in Spain. It would also be the perfect house for a guide to set-up and fish the water. As I know it comes with 6 bedrooms and plenty more. For someone looking to get into Madrid on the back of a fantastic lake with fish to 50lb. This could be a ideal.

Well, I must run now, I have the next magazine to close and lot's to do.

May the fish be with you.

Carp Journeys - Available May 2009

2009-04-13T12:30:00.007+02:00

I Just had the news confirmed that my 3,000 plus word chapter about carp fishing in Spain will go into the next edition of Jason Riders books on Carp.
The story I provided entitled 'The magic moment', was about the capture of a 40lb plus Spanish mirror carp (not the fish in the photo). The 40lb fish came from a magical park lake at the foot of the Sierra in Madrid. The lake is a place where I have spent time with new friends and lovers. It's a magical place very dear to me. The story is a sentimental one, and one I wont forget. In these times a 40lb plus fish may not seem big, but it's one thing catching a 40lb plus fish, it's another finding one in the capital of Madrid. As time passes these fish will again become more and more common, as possibly they were in the past, but with the not so long ago attitude of catch and kill being exercised through Spain, few fish manage to get to this size in and around the captial. Being the Editor of the only carp fishing magazine in Spain, I get to know what does get caught around here. I can tell you, I am one of a few who has caught a fish of this size from a Madrid water in some years. The full account of what happened and some of the other spectacular Spanish carp I caught along the way can be read in the book which should be available to buy not long after May 21st. 2009 from this website: booksoncarp

Contents word count
1. Laroussi-Roy Van Goor 2,905
2. La Horre Hauling-John Whittick 11,590
3. Ton up Mega Haul at Boux-Jason Rider 3,992
4. Abbey Lakes-Mario Tall 3,464
5. Agony and Ecstasy-Shaun Harrison 5,000
6. Beachcomber’s Diaries-Part 2 13,945
7. The Path less Trodden-Jason Rider 3,607
8. Red hot week at Vivier-Nick Gent 3,051
9. October Barrage Session-Jim Lightfoot 3,459
10. Lake Chira,Gran Canaria-Keith Gladden 1,571
11. Lake Shumbar (Croatia)-Darko Lasnik 3,479
12. Rainbow Lake-Richard Kaye 2,447
13. Paradis De La Peche-Paul Smith 5,493
14. Lac Du Der- Ron Woodward 3,812
15. Ken Townley-Chateau Lake 4,402
16. Chris Woodrow-Moon Phases 1,339
17. Roman Buczynski-Rhone Valley 10,151
18. Carp in Slovenia-Darko Lasnik 3,595
19. How Far Will You Go-Jason Rider 4,100
20. The Magic Moment-Andy Macgregor 3,142
21. Lake Integra- Giovanni Vanhooren 3,200
22. Wild St. Cassien Matt Dent 7,800
Bonus Feature- A Bit Of A Fishery Business-Keith Moors 22,487
Published by MPress-Calm Productions: Publishers of Terry Hearn,Micky Gray, Martin Bowler and Jim Shelley

Massive Carp everywhere in Spain

2009-04-05T15:15:00.009+02:00

Lot's of reports of massive fish coming out of Spain. Last month I received no less than 4 fotos of fish over 60lb. Most of which have been caught from Spain's 'hot zone', Extremadura. The recently (Dynamite Baits), sponsored Angler Peter Staggs has himself manged to winkle one of those big 60lb plus fish out. Photos and info about this capture soon to be released in the next issue of CARPdiem. Peter has also had a nice 21kg plus common from the lake he is now booking agent for lake Alfarofia in Portugal. You can read more about this lake via Peters website Not only has Peter had these two fish but he has also managed a string of Comizo Barbel to near 30lb. you could say he is on a roll at the mo! Likewise James Harrison over at FAT has been into some decent fish from Brava. It was fishing it's nuts off on the last weekend of March before it was closed for a month. We were getting news all over the place of people catching lot's of fish to upper 30's and 40's. A massive fish which has also come out of Brava is this jocking monster 28.500kg. This fish (the really fat one in the slide show above), has actually been caught twice in the last month! Once again evidence that suggests these Spanish waters are seeing some pressure. Certainly from what I can see, things are really moving quickly this side. Carp fishing is becoming very popular indeed. Roberto the chap with big fish, has agreed to do a feature in our magazine about the capture of this fish and many others he has had. This feature will be out in our May issue of CARPdiem, which means we will have two features with two fish over 60lb, that will do!

I'd better be off now, the tom-tom bells are ringing. More news coming soon about the rod bending carp action from Spain via this blog and the mag.

Tight lines.

Andy Macgregor

Carp Zone came to Spain

2009-03-26T12:10:00.002+01:00

Last week my old mate Andy F, came to visit me for a short break. Fishing was not on the agenda but we managed to winkle an afternoon and a few hours on the banks of a special little water in the south of Madrid. It was a sunny day, and the water was as clear as it could ever be. The fishing did not look like it was going to be so productive. It's a deep gravel pit with lot's of little features, reeds, trees and margins to fish. This video gives you more of a taster of what the lake is like and what you can expect from it. Check it out, and if you get time leave comments on the Youtube Carp Zone website.

Tight lines.

Andy Macgregor

Renovation CARPdiem

2009-02-27T14:55:00.005+01:00

Lot's going on this side. Our Magazine CARPdiem has taken a giant step forward. Apart from a total re-design and re-format we are now printing in the UK, so import times from China have been cut down. The magazine has grown in terms of team members too. I still have the original team Angel and Raul but now we now have Peter Staggs on-board as Sub Editor. Peter is a well known Angler in Spain having spent more than 25 years fishing here for Comizo Barbel and Carp. I am sure he will bring rich content and higher quality articles to CARPdiem. We have also taken on UK Angler James Harrison. James has a wealth of knowledge something like 25 years Carp fishing skills from the UK Carp fishing Media, between the two of them Peter & James the mag has something like 50 years more knowledge. The pair of them are excellent photogrpahers, and since the new objective is to make the magazine very visual with the best quality photos possible, I am sure we can do just that. The new issue is out now and is set to give all European magazines a run for the money. To be fair we are trying to evolve the CARP fishing press, and we are well on the way to doing just that. I think in 1 years time we will have the best looking magazine in Europe, so watch this space. You can see the new cover here in this blog and the original photo as it was taken. The fish was a cracking mirror carp from Sierra Brava a good mid 30lb plus Royal, I was well happy with that. Actually Peter Staggs did the photo for me. I think the cover came out very well, but I will let you and the readers be the judge of that. Session wise, we have been out and about. This year already we have managed to fish in Salamanca on the river Tormes. During this 16hr. Football Fishing session we managed to pluck no less than 14 fish from the river. Not bad for winter fishing. The full report is in the current issue of CARPdiem. Besides that we have also managed a session on the Sierra Brava against the Black Carp Team. These boys are some of the best Anglers currently fishing Spanish waters. The team put up a good fight against us and we managed a few fish to mid 20lb. Once again the full report will be in issue 8 of CARPdiem. Tight lines and keep on fishing. See you the next time. AM

Last year about now I made this interview

2008-12-26T03:45:00.002+01:00

At this time last year I did the following interview with the Madrid based magazine the broadsheet The interview came out Jan. 2008. I thought i'd put this up here for you to read some of my comments about Fishing in Spain. I hope you Enjoy.

Friday, 26 December 2008 TBSmagazine.com

Fishing in Spain and the joys of putting something back

If you’d told me three-and-a-half/four years ago when I left England to come to Spain that I was going to be the editor of a magazine; a Spanish-language carp fishing magazine at that, I would have said you were crazy. But I have been interested in fishing for a long time…

My first fish, I imagine would have been a roach, caught in the UK at around the tender age of twelve. I fished until I was about 18 but kind of knocked it on the head until I moved here. I started to notice the lakes around Madrid, I did a bit of fishing and had a bit of success. A lot of people are surprised really. They say of Madrid – ‘what does it have?’ But when you start looking at maps and looking at satellite pictures and start seeing what’s here, there’s actually quite a lot of water around. Because construction is just crazy they’re constantly quarrying and making gravel pits, (graveras) – they need the stone. The water table is so high that these mines start to fill up as soon as they stop quarrying, so within five years or so nature takes its toll and boom! Life. Frogs, newts, insects, larvae, worms – you’ve got a little ecosystem going on.

Granted, it’s called ‘fishing’, not ‘catching’ but it is still such a joy to catch a fish. It’s fun. If young people can get into the sport, they start to realize that maybe they shouldn’t vandalize or leave litter in canals and lakes and reservoirs. They actually start to enjoy different things – wildlife, birds etc. Like I do.

Killing fish simply for sport is totally unnecessary. Caza is awful. I don’t hate anything but I hate cazadores. I hate hunting. I hate the killing of any animals for sport; the cruelty. It’s a money-driven thing; a status thing. What we do in the magazine is as far left of caza as it’s possible to be. I’m going to try force away from hunting, and seperate and change any Spanish people’s minds about this, a clear difference must be shown.

If you say there’s a 25 kilogram carp in a particular lake, it can be caught, photographed, weighed and returned to the water. Nowadays with digital cameras, videos; you can show it to your family with this media. It’s prestigious, it’s a a trophy, and best of all it's not dead! If that fish is photographed and returned and the photos sent to us at the magazine – the number of people that will come from outside of Europe to try and catch that fish and the money that will be spent by them is amazing. If you take a fish back to the kitchen, show it your grandad and then throw it in the bin, it's pointless. If you catch it and eat it, I feel slightly more comfortable about that, but carp is a spiny, bottom feeding fish, so it doesn’t taste good, or so they say.

Imagine the situation when someone catches a 20 kg carp. That’s a big fish. I guarantee that the person who caught that fish will never forget that day and the joy they experienced catching it. They don’t need to kill it. Imagine if they return the fish. Next year, somebody else can catch it.

I swim the waters, I go down on the lake bed ad find out what’s in there. Watercraft is like a sixth sense. It’s pure instinct – you’re looking at the wind, looking at the make-up of the water, looking at the depth; reading it and gauging how to match your bait to the fish’s natural food sources. It’s strategic, it’s military. You need determination, dedication, and good presentation – you can end up thinking like a fish! Certainly swimming the lakes is more acceptable here and is definitely safer than in the UK. The last time I fished in the UK, I scratched my eye and caught an eye infection. UK waters and fish are rife with disease.

In England they police waters, we have more control with these aspects, but this is partially because it's such a big problem, here they don’t know as much about those aspects – farmers do release pesticides into the waters quite freely, but fish kills occur because of drought and poor water management not disease. Fishing and preservation seem to be two very seperate things here in Spain like it is in the UK, Spain needs to advance. We’ve got more harmony with these two elements in the UK, fishing for CARP is not a very well respected sport or activity here. It is a recognized sport now at least and next year they’re going to start legalizing night fishing, so things are moving, but still behind.

Which makes Spain a paradise, it’s unknown. I feel like Christopher Columbus rediscovering America. It’s already been discovered of course, but there are so many lakes here and we have absolutely no idea what exists. For sure, on the reservoir Santilliana near Manzanares el Real, Madrid there’s a world record carp less than 45 minutes from the centre of the capital. When that fish is caught it will bring so much money, so much custom, so much tourism from France, from Italy the UK; from all over the world.

The current world record fish reside in France and Germany – two different fish that are about the same weight. The lake in France is called Rainbow Lake. To fish there for one week costs a large sum of money. There are few swims around the bank, but d it’s full every single day, all year round. Just for the chance of catching this one big fish!

Until 1987, the UK record was about 20 kilos, but I’ve got photos from El País in 1982 of a carp that was caught in Madrid that weighed 35 kilos. It wasn’t counted on the world ranking because the carp is not accepted as a native fish here even though it’s been here for god knows how many years. As yet there’s no board, there’s no ombudsman, there’s no federation. There’s no association that’s actually bothered to even note it as a record, even though unofficially we know it was. That fish attracted some of the top anglers from England to Santilliana in the Communidad de Madrid. In a way, I’m passing in their footsteps.

Fishing is an industry that’s passion-driven and objective driven. If I know that there’s fish of a particular weight in there, I want to catch it and I won’t stop until I do. In England, there are 1 million fresh water fishermen alone and some of them have been fishing for 15 years and are not able to catch anything larger than 18lbs. Here, the record is 70lbs plus – massive!

Obviously, I did the research and saw that there was a hole in the market for a Spanish language carp fishing magazine here. The market’s sustainable, so I thought, let’s try and make it work. We’re raising awareness. We can get political. We can have a voice and really start kicking up some scourge, pushing things on. There are at least 5,000 carp fisherman in Spain now and they are aware that things are not quite as they should be. They’re reading in the magazine about what’s happening in the UK. The magazine is intended as a platform for people to voice their opinions on these anything that matters.

I’ve denounced the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente and the Canal Isabel Segundo II twice for not managing the water systems; for dead cows in the water etc. I expect that in Africa, but Spain is not a third world country. There’s loads of money from the EU and basically its being pocketed and water usage on a social level or for pleasure like fishing is being almost completely neglected. I think the government has turned a bit of a blind eye to carp fishing due to its associations with the dictatorship: There is a rumor that Hitler gave Franco the carp for his embalses (reservoirs). I know for a fact that the fish in the Retiro were given to Franco by Hitler: The Retiro fish are Nazi carp.

As for the other carp introduced to Spain, I can’t get the evidence. But basically, Franco commissioned many reservoirs: he was obsessed by water. The carp is from the Seine. Hitler had carp – it’s a fast growing fish, it’s a food source. When you’re in times of war and the country’s in poverty, what better to have in your lakes than a source of food? They breed like hell; they grow massive. Who knows?...

Andy Macgregor is the editor of the bi-monthly magazine Carp Diem, available in fishing shops and kiosks around Spain.

Extreme Fishing - River Tajo a go-go!!

2008-11-25T12:43:00.024+01:00

We have been out recently, me and the CARPdiem crew - dipping into some extreme fishing on a lovely little part of the River Tajo. The Tajo is the biggest river system in Spain, it starts in Sierra de Albarracin and ends a long way down river in Lisbon - Portugal. She's the Mother to the River Ebro, but the big bad dirty Ebro son tends to get all the press and publicity.

The Tajo is the river no one talks about, sssh, she has plenty to offer the big girl, with her 1000km of banks, big barbel and some special carp which rival in looks carp like the The Snake Pit common, were talking about jaw dropping fish! This year Commons of near 50lb have been caught, if you read my magazine CARPdiem issue 5, you will see just how special and comparable these fish are to the best we have in the UK. Our sessions have been chopped into many different parts, starting with expats such as Stephen Buss and James Harrison and at other times my very own team!
We had high's and low's during this extreme session, some of the high's, were the sort that never leave you, the ones that with or without fish you get goose pimples all over. One of the many highlights and I literally mean 'highlights',was the majestic or should I say intergalactic stream of shooting stars that burnt out in front of or eyes. We witnessed spectacular things during this session which will be with us for life, at one stage it was as if the gods themselves had set-off a firework especially for me, really it was too special. Angel had a class moment, for his Mothers 50th birthday (one of the days we were out), he landed a lump of 30lb common with a full shooting star display while he was playing the fish, does it get much better than that, for him at this time, no!

Memorable captures were had, with fish to over 30lb, memorable! I personally had a good sprinkling of other things keeping me happy to boot. The local bird life and friendly wildlife. We had tonnes of migrating Cranes above with there brilliant 'V', formations and filtered clacky clack calls, just how do they know which way is south? The cheeky Kingfisher which landed on my new Nash - Strongbow Bivy was a special visitor too, I was the bivy a test in these extreme conditions, it passed and was kissed by a kingfishers presence. I'll take that as a lucky charm! The Marsh and Hen Harriers that were ever so close hunting low on the fields and marsh around us were majestic, just watching them was a joy, shame they didn't catch that cheeky resident mouse which must have been so addicted to my Liver mix, blasted thing kept crawling into my bivy, baitbox and finally my bed; which I was not up for at all!

Lows: Yep, we had some, apart from the mouse in my bed, the weather dropped to ground level, we were enjoying -5 at night without doubt one of the coldest sessions to endure for me and the team this year! It was especially bad for Raul as he was sick all week, from start to finish, but he bit his lip and ground it out. At the end of the session on his last day he was rewarded not with a fish, but with information and knowledge, which will stand him in very good stead for the future. With or without fish we enjoyed the space we were in, just being frozen in those early evening in a remote sqaure of land with unknown fish about, that's what it was all about!

Bites: We had a few, Angel got his hands onto a couple of tasty fish 30lb plus commons, likewise I managed to winkle a few out. Maize helped to secure them, as did those prototype Mistral Baits I have been testing. Actually I have been dousing all my hook baits with a certain Liquid Liver from Concept for you, I have to say this has been doing me no end of favors. Big balls to the tune of 30mm size Boilies also accounted for fish as did the Dynamite Baits Source Boilie (pop-up) fished with a piece of Enterprise Baits corn, a real mix of baits got the Spanish river carp hooked, but nothing more obviously than the other.

Angel, tried margin work and went vegetarian or organic which is rare for the Spanish, he was on dried apricots at short range, he was sure he would pick up a Comizo Barbel, I had doubts, I didn't trust the bait, but I always try to keep the faith, as I have seen Angel before winkle a fish or two on dried fruit in the past, never say never. Raul on the other hand, tried a mix of things in the short range margin too his right, he was fishing in 4-5ft of water. He did manage a get a pick up, on his Maize rod, but the fish made a sharp exit into the reeds and was never to been seen. This was a shame as looking at the stamp of fish coming out lot's of upper 20's and low 30's, it could well have been a new p.b common for him.

Angels inflatable boat did us proud, and really helped us to get the bait onto the spots we selected. He got more confident with rowing and being out on water, we need to do more boat work, and I am sure Angel will as that extra bit of effort played a part in helping him to land a cracking set of common carp. On the whole we were heavy with bait application during the session, but this was the idea. We went with the intention of stopping fish and grabbing their attention. If it did not work we still had bait left which we could use to explore various other swims which we also did.

We adapted quickly to traveling home at night, going back to Madrid, then returning the next day, this also helped us when making decisions about which swims to fish. In the 5 days of travel, too and from the location, we must have clocked up 900km in journeys, petrol - it didn't matter, this was good quality research work, we were fishing a new river system and the more intense and extreme the session the more we got to know it, and trust me we did learn quite a few things.

Tony Myres our mate from the UK came down with us for a day. He was stunned by the venue, and couldnt help comment about how it looks like the Norfolk Broads, reed lined and wild. He was actually gutted he didn't have his Pike gear with him as there were loads of Jacks smashing up fry in the deep margins in-front of us, and judging from what the locals say, the place seems to be brimming with Pike. Next time I will be having a go for them too.In general the team moral was one part fine the other part low, Raul had a bumpy start not being well from the off, he fought on, and we all did our bit to raise him up, feeding him with plenty of new rigs, baits, ideas, and jokes to think about. During the session I remember thinking how true it is, when your physically on a low, when your sick, you have low energy, this in turn, like a magnet attracts less movement as opposed to action, I believe in action, as action brings reaction, so when I was watching Raul fishing, he did nothing wrong, but his energy was wrong and true enough, a blank and lost fish followed.

Carp fishing is not fair, but it's nature, it's life, imagine a sleepy sick cat trying to catch a healthy mouse, it's going to be tricky. On some sessions no matter how hard you try, you come up against it, something is not right and the fish and energy does not flow, this was the case for my left hand man. Then again Raul cannot complain as he caught that massive fish in Sierra Brava earlier this year, at 54lb, we have got some serious catching up to do in order to get a fish of that size and join that club!

Well, that's about all for now, loads of things going on, bubbling and boshing all over the shop, see you after the next installment.

May the fish be with you.

Andy Mac

Over the moon!

2008-09-24T02:01:00.004+02:00

A few moons back I managed to land a new lake record from a small park lake in Madrid. Since then I have caught several of the residents and shared some special moments with new friends and old by the lakeside. I know most of the people who live next to the lake, especially those that walk dogs and take time to talk with me whilst I am fishing, to say it's a family atmosphere would be an understatement. The water is a treasure and actually one of the best venues in Madrid, I say this for many reasons mostly because it's so central to the city yet it's so quiet, the lake is probably 5 acres in size, so just a mini. micro climet of it's own. At times (most of them), it's hard going, due to many obstackles which pop up. I love it for that, as the water pushes you on, and makes you work and think, it's a real get your teeth into it, water and very challanging. I have had my fair share of blanks from her, but those sessions melt aside when you connect with a fish like 'big mama', who was over the 40lb mark. Catching this fish my first Madrilanian 40 plus, was a real triumph. The video captures a moment I spent holding the big girl, if you look close she actually sings to you!

The feeling and the sense of acheivement will never leave me, I hope you sense the magic from the film. I have plenty more work to do on this lake, when I am done, you will be able to read my book!

keeping the dream alive.

Andy Mac

Big River Carp

2008-09-23T18:59:00.005+02:00

It's been a while since the fat river which flows through the province of Aaragon has produced a large carp like this. At least in my eyes and ears, I have not seen one like this for at least a year!

At this time we have very typically limited info. about the capture, bait, tactic etc, I am assured this info is in hand. It's nice to see a fish of this size and age coming out in what looks to be a reasonable condition. When we have more info. I will update the blog and let you know what I can.

New ClubDM Carpfishing Madrid

2008-09-23T01:21:00.005+02:00

We have a new club night here in Madrid which goes live this week. The night or event is called 'ClubDM', it takes place in central Madrid in Malasana. The idea is for like minded Anglers to get together and talk about all things fish based, the scene in Madrid is well and truely big enough to house something like this so off we go, no doubt it will be liver boilies, fluros, bivys, rigs, bait or other going down. It will of course all be done without tripods nor gear.

The bar is small but has a projector which we will be taking advantage of playing hot off the press DVD's from the UK and asking the top Anglers in Spain to come make mini. presentations too other like minded Carp Anglers. Those who make it to the bar will also be able to get their hands on our magazine CARPdiem and some UK and European Carp magazines, which I get in the post, most probably Karper Magazine from the Dutch team Arnout and Parry and those made by Angling Publications, to get the ball rolling. I will also be down with new products from Nash, new bait from Mistral and lot's of stuff from basecamp E.S.P.

I will let you know in time how this event goes.

Plastic a go go!!

2008-08-06T03:45:00.004+02:00

Lot's of fish been landed this side on some of the most difficult waters here in Madrid.

The new Nash plastic or artificial 'Mutant Corn', has been doing the biz let me tell you! I fished these little rascals over a bed of Mistral Isotonic 20m Mulberry Fish which I have been testing for Mistral out here. I have had my best results on this er low density stocked water. I have managed to winkle out 5 fish over the 20lb mark to 35lb in 24hr. Just 1 rod was on the spot, and I left it that way, but then the fish started to come they came on almost hourly intervals. It does not get much better than that here I tell you.

Our magazine is growing I am proud to say, it's better than ever, it seems like the only way is up! The expanding carp fishing market here is showing no real signs of crisis, actually quite the contarary.

Fashion Fish!!!

2008-08-06T00:28:00.015+02:00

Making the greatest carp fishing magazine in Europe is no mean feat, but thats what we are doing here inside CARPdiem...
This does involve bringing new life, ideas and injecting fresh energy into our work. Being surrounded by nature in pure form i.e the wild Iberian Peninsular helps.

Spain is known for it's wildlife and now she's soon becoming the new proper center for Carp fishing in Europe. Famous in the past for it's fiesta, now you can have both, and that's something we like to have, mix up and maintain within the walls of CARPdiem.

In our recent photo shoot you can see the mix is alive and fishing! During this moment of joy, we encouraged change and developed the younger promoting experimentation and advancement. Fashion met fishing and a colorful collision occured. We did this shoot models and all, last week or was it the weekend before? Joining forces with the mutants and people from Viceland Spain. The day of fishing and photography could not have gone any better. I gave up count of how many fish caught after about 15. It was perfect as the models, the stylist the coordinator, camera man and his dog caught fish.

I also managed to make friends with some monsters from the lake too, who after a bag of boilies directed me to a specimen Cruician Carp or maybe a Carassius auratus gibelio, Silver Crucian. This fish came as something of a shock as no-one knew they swam in this particular lake close to Madrid. In the photo above you can see the mutant monster behind me, at this time he was not happy, because the greedy Crucian chomped up some of his bait! Just look at the belly on that fish, and the head on that monster!! The Crucian Carp was all of 5lb2oz which makes him a grand size bigger than the UK record and a new p.b for me! I cannot say if he is a true Crucian, maybe he is some kind of hybrid, either way, he was returned to the water safe and sound and I am told that Crucian and the monster are getting on fine drinking Rum and Coke down in swampville!
This double bellied collision - Vice and CARPdiem means that readers get to see some cracking photos inside our magazine and within the September issue of Vice Mag. That's two for one, as good as recycling or properly what you might might call - effective photography 'fashion and fish'...

Check CARPdiem out next week in Spain and Portugal for some of the best fished up fashion outside of your Bivy!

30kg Spanish carp and some more

2008-07-20T18:08:00.008+02:00

This was not a story I wanted to print at first but after some careful thought I decided to run this small news article. The reason I did not want to run the story was because of the way the carp was most probably treated.

Finally I am running the news as it demonstrates what is or can still going on today in Spain, and actually in the end we have a somewhat happier ending worth a mention!
A fisherman from Extremadura has landed a massive Royal Mirror Carp of over 30kg from a lake in Extremadura. The fish as seen in the photo maxed out the Anglers digital scales at 29.999kg. The fish was therefore probably somewhat heavier than 30kg. Making it a bit of a monster carp.

The Angler who caught this fish (at the time), was thinking about taking it home with him, however he was stopped by two other carp Anglers on the lake and advised to return the fish which he did.

It's great to see that local Carp fishermen who practice catch and release can intervene and stop someone from potentially killing a giant spanish carp of this size.

Tight lines.

Futbol Fishing y España land of the giant carp!

2008-06-24T00:41:00.006+02:00

The last three weekends have been mental! I have been in Extremadura, Castilla la Mancha and Catalonian fishing for carp, that's some serious mileage!

I have seen swims and some big carp fishing potential, not half! This Weekend I was in Catalonia for our CARPdiem carp fishing match 'football fishing', the location was the most breathtaking and impressive carp water I have seen in Spain! Those Catalonians have a jewel and some more, chorr, actually they have this most picturesque water with agua clear as that in the Carribean. How did it go? We arrived later on Friday than expected, after an 8hr drive. We met the other team, did some feeling about with a marker and lead, picked a deep water spot with loads of changes in depth ranging from 15-35ft of water all very chuckable, we baited a little 8kg of Mistral Crab and Craw in 20mm format and away we went. Locals who fish the water regular advised us to bait and wait.

Bait and wait:

We did just that, bait in via boat (nice) at 11pm. a snoozed, then an early morning alarm clock rise at 5am for the first run, (not fishing the nights). The day shone and the Osprey or fish Eagle did it's bit and kept us entertained, we swam in the waters, ate our way through local fair bought at the supermarket in the village down the dusty mountain road. You could sense an energy in the air bank side, something was here, this was some wilderness at the foot of the Pyrenees. Wolves were present, near to us, this just made the whole thing so much more beautiful, our mission of Football Fishing had driven us to an oasis of some immensity. To be fair I didnt care if I caught or not, I was just so happy to be bank side on the longest day of the year, how perfect!

Alarms off:

At one moment during the session I asked Angel my right hand man to switch off his alarms and just wait for his reel to sound, actually all the team did it, if we got a run we had to call 'ahoy', like the pirates we arrgh. Within 1hr. Angel gave the call 'ahoy', he was into a very spirited fish. The run had come from about 8m of water at a light casting range, no more than a 40m chuck. The heavy plated Mirror was strong and gave a good tug, but Angel soon had him under control and in the net. First goal, ole. Not long after this fish my rod obliged, again from 8m of depth at about 45m range, I knew she was no beast, but I didnt want to drop it, and I was testing a new venture rod, and some braid out, making the catch all the more exciting. I could feel every lunge the fish made, and lunge she did. The kit and my Insizor hook and Kryston Super-nova did well and in a short while I had a small and very nervous common carp in the net. T.B.C (read more in issue 5 of CARPdiem).

Fish and Tits!

2008-06-12T22:37:00.018+02:00

About two weeks ago I did a reconaissance mission with my right hand man from CARPdiem Angel Bonal, we heard a rumor about a small 5 acre lake here in the capital, which was producing some lovely Spanish Carp. According to 'the word', some of the fish were between 10-14kg and the lake record being nearer to 18kg. or 40lb. A 40lb Spanish carp and lake record would do nicely (again), ahem!

We did the survey, and whilst doing it we met some people on the bank that told us there are carp in high volume. Finally yesterday 17th of June (almost first day of season), we set out for the new water. It was the first real hot day here in Madrid, the sun was blazing, absolutely scorchio so it was, consequently on route we stopped at a bar not far from the mouth of the water for refreshments and a nibble, after a brief chat, coffee and cokes we all set-off again, as I got into the car, our windscreen and front view was met by a squad of scantly clad booty shaking Latin girls in hot pants, they slid from our left out of a van over our bonnet and into a 'club', it was quite a sight, as we watched one of the girls proceeded to pull up her top and present her titty's in full buster glory for us. It was quite an eyeful, and most unexpected as you can imagine, but I must confess she did have a cracking set! This activity of course had us all laughin and certainly got us in the mood for the fresh water session ahead.....
Spice and Heat:
We had never fished the new lake before so we had no idea what to expect or where to fish. I chose an open water spot which was between 9-12ft deep. A couple of fish had boshed there and by fishing to this spot Angel who shared a double swim with me had plenty of space to cast right to the corner of an Island which also looked good. Fishing left and right on the peg meant that between us we had created a gap, this would be used to land any fish that came. Meanwhile Tony was down to our right some 20m, fishing in a narrow stretch of water to a bar you could see from the water, and over to the other end of the island infront.
I set up my Atomic Lead and Kryson Super-nova running rig in the shade of the trees away from the sun, it was late maybe 7pm but the heat was still strong, and I didn't want too much more of it. Casting to the spot less than 40m distance, I felt the lead go down and land nicely, I sorted my alarm out and swinger/baitrunner then went off to set-up rod no.2. The bait and bag must have been in the water less than 3min. Then off she went!

Angel hit the rod for me and shortly after my first fish from the water was out. It was a heavy scaled Spanish royal mirror carp, and a chico to boot judging by the colour of it's tail and the semen upon it! A fast fish, caught in little time always does wonders to the spirits around you. We were already grinning from what happened early with the girls but to be into fish so soon was a bonus. I was fishing my rods against each other, the one that I put in first was the high vis rod, with a fluro pop-up, this was fishing against a new bait I have been given to try from Starbaits. This bait to be exact was a Performance Concept - Hot Demon hookbait, I put it in the slightly deeper water of 12ft. I had no idea if it would work but I new that if it did then a big fish would come, afterall what else can pick-up a 24mm docking great big spicy boilie? What else indeed? This rod received only one pick-up all night, but that's all I wanted. Whilst I was playing a very spirited common carp which had fallen for the fluro pop-up, my other 24mm rod had ripped off. Tony hit it for me as I was engaged, Angel was net man. The fish that sucked up the 24mm Hot Demon bait actually ended up being the smallest fish of the session! You can see Tony with the fish in the photo. Well this proved, two things the baits work and even small carp can pick up the bait. The session came to and end around 11pm and we headed home in the heat of the night. It was clear we have found a nice little runs water which possibly has some bigger secrets in. When I get chance again to fish it, I will let you know.

Great balls of fire breathing dragon carp!

2008-05-06T22:42:00.014+02:00

Plenty of fish been coming out! Last week down on Orellana, I managed to winkle 3 x 30 plus carp, and 3 x 20s in a short session on the old Mistral Baits, thanks for that Allan.

We have had quite a few visitors this way, I have had the pleasure of fishing with Andy Chambers, Peter Christensen (leaping Gazelle as I like to think of him), Allan from Mistral, Rob Hughes of Venture, my old mate Dave Edge from M'CR, Javier from El Carpon and the list goes on and on! All of which I have absorbed a great deal from helping me evolve from noddy to not so.....noddy!
It's rained and rained and rained for the last 6 weeks here, of which I am truly grateful. Now seems like its fading and the summer sol is here to brill us out. Personally I'm content, I have managed to break my personal best common carp (thanks to net man Andy Chambers) and mirror or royal as they are so handsomely described here! The last few months, true and dandy for a Spanish lake carp buster like me.

The large lady royal I landed, she was a cracker! Had a set of lips on her like the big mama from Tom and Jerry. A deep full fish as you can see in the photo below. The big girl is a capture that will remain a dear and sentimental one for many years. Caught during a short evening session, proving express is a way to success!

She be my first Madrilenian 40lb plus royal, on top of that, she also be a new lake record, arrgh. The lake she resides within, it's a small deep jem, cut into the north of Madrid at the foot of the Sierra. It's a water I have put a year into as of now and one which has given just a handful of super fish. It's not a runs water, nothing like, for that reason - its fished by just a few. Yet every single fish I have seen from within, has been a full-blooded belle, some of which could easily be mistaken as a Donald Leney strain. Not a one has been less than 20lb too, lovely fishing.

It's one of the few lakes here in Spain that has less than 40 fish in. Most were killed about 8 years ago by a leakage of venom which leeched into the pure mountain water. The fish you get really are survivors, for that reason each one is exceptional.

My mate Dave Edge as I mentioned before and I did a good 3 days stint on the water a while back, Dave has fished for carp now almost 20 years, so spending time on the bank with him was invaluable, he helped me sharpen my pencil no end. Actually I must hold my hands up and say - 'if it was not for Dave I might well not have caught the big girl', and if I had not, I would also not be carrying the warmth within that I do right now!

You know it's one of those restful warm feelings, like the one you get when your belly is full of good grub after an enduring day, cheers Dave!! In someways the feeling can temporarily pull you away from fishing, that's not happening, but the pressure has gone, fishing Madrid and Spain is something of a tremendous joy! Leaping from water to water like we can do here, I could not wish for anything else.

Speaking of which 'leaping', we had the leaping man himself or the Danish Gazelle down here Peter Christensen, now that kid knows the deal all too well, like many of the bounty hunters that will come this way, Peter came on a reconnaissance mission a wee while back to fish, pioneering work. It was evident at first base, he was a spirited adventurer and a great young talent to be bank side with. Peter fished alongside myself and Matt from Fat. He nestled himself in behind the Saber tooth tiger landscape on Brava and could clearly sense the immensity of what lives inside 'el mejor lugar para estare' in other words 'the place to be'.

Peter managed to extract some of the star burst bestial royal carp from amongst the snags and gruesome rocks, he faired well on what can all so easily turn from dream lake to horror scape or a Tim Burton movie. I understand you can read Peters article in several of the leading Carp magazines International Carper for example so keep your eyes peeled foe that! Monsters indeed are in the Brava and Peter with his knowledge gained from capturing Buffalo carp in Austin, Texas and wild north Canadian Char can sense clear as sky blue, that within this watery wilderness shadows of great scaly monsters loom.

We are currently planning a return trip for Peter in October when the Danish adventurer and bona fide talent will lance and cut through the rocks again to reveal yet more Brava residents. Ok, time really is moving me on-ward to the next location which happens to be Ruidera in about 5 hours with my old mate Peter Staggs. The crystal waters in La Mancha have not as yet been kind to me, but it's home of the giant Comizo. With some luck I might be able to wangle one or 7 out. Sooner or later you will hear about this or another trip, living in electric dreams.

Andy Mac.

The biggest Carp and dreams in Europe are here.

2008-04-03T22:28:00.006+02:00

Just a few months back I was asking people on this blog if Spain would produce an 80lb plus carp. You can see the results of the pole still here. Since that time actually in the last month 2 unknown common carp have been caught well over the 70lb bracket. It's no suprise that world class specimen carp Anglers like Andy Chambers are coming to see what there is here in Spain.

Take a look at the photo and think about it, unknown, un-caught fish. One of the key motivators of fishing is that element of the uknown.Fishing, is the most popular recreational sporting pastime in the United Kingdom. More people go fishing each week than play football and over here the scene is exploding!!!

Why?

The reality is that fishing is pure, experience. It's a pursuit based on contemplation and solitude that involves an appreciation of the elements; it is a game of chance, hope, escapism; especially in Spain. We look out into the clear waters this side into the unknown. Fishing in the abundancy that is here alongside nature, hoping for greatness, but settling for battle flash and splash with the gold and power that lives beneath the surface.

The philosophical nature of fishing is represented in a wealth of literature that often gets overlooked due to titles that read more like practical manuals. King of these is Richard Brautigan's Trout Fishing In America, a 1967 novel built on surreal non sequitur stories concerned with an endless search for the perfect fishing spot. Brautigan used fishing as a metaphor for the changing face of America and managed to define the late 60s zeitgeist of a generation of Huck Finn-reared hippies striving for something simpler from life. It sold a staggering two million copies - and a fair few novice rods.

More recently, angling journalist and contributor to The Idler Chris Yates has captured the utopian allure of angling in the equally understated-sounding 'How to Fish'. Published in paperback sometime ago, the book you might expect contains a near-perfect mix of poetic insight, boyish enthusiasm, typical of Yates, written as I understand direct from a damp English riverbank to you. Fishing creativity..live and direct....

Ernest Hemingway famously reeled in some monstrous whoppers from the Florida Keys. Indeed, sea fishing and the communities built around it have their own place in literature. But sea fishing requires boats, money, organisation and, in Hemingway's case, the ability to stretch the truth. They say that the written word adds a couple of pounds to any fish ...

No, fresh water fishing is simpler and definitely for the layman; it is the haiku of the sporting world and its writings are rich, diverse and passionate. After all, what other outdoor sport can you be on it and have a wee tipple social and smoke whilst being creative?

Spain is similarly teeming with fishing tales, and a future beyond dreams. With no close season and the whole year ahead of us. Are you up for it? I am and I will be writing about it too in my magazine CARPdiem, maybe it's time you check it out!!

See you bankside.

ARGGH

Andy Mackrel

34,900kg Common Carp new Spanish Record

2008-02-26T01:51:00.003+01:00

Well, it's nearly 80lb and it's an unknown fish!

Spain is set to become the new hot-spot for big fish. If this fish had come out 2 years ago it would be the new world record Common. That German fish has since of course put on weight, due to the amount of bait going in on a small water. This Spanish fish however is another thing of it's own. A wild, unknown beast, and there are plenty more where it came from. Actually the boys that caught this one have had many fish over 25kg. and another fish topping 30kg.

We have a full feature in the next issue of CARPdiem about these boys and this capture.

Fútbol Fishing Siera Brava Hugo 2 CARPdiem 2

2008-02-25T01:06:00.005+01:00

Right, none stop this side. The year is flowing well as far as the Spanish carp fishing goes. Plenty of fish on the bank and a good draw in our last football fishing or Fútbol Fishing match against Hugo Fishing Cordoba.

We hit Sierra Brava for the match and after a bumpy start with the law, it turned out to be a stunner! We has 2 fish a piece but our CARPdiem man Raúl González came up trumps with a stunning 50lb plus Spanish Royal Mirror Carp. Really a special moment for us all. You can read more about the session in our magazine CARPdiem, but if you dont speak Spanish, then it might be time to start, or you could just buy the mag and look in awe, at the awesome design and pictures. If you dont fancy that then I have made just the thing for you. I have uploaded a video of the match which gives a sneak preview into what we goto upto and the fish caught.

May the fish be with you and us!

Filming on Orellana

2008-02-12T00:19:00.001+01:00

Last weekend just gone, some filming was done in Extremadura Spain on the Mighty Orellana!

Matt at Fat Angling wanted a promotional video made so my good camera man Andy Ferns and recently famed Dave Edgerton or Vida, came over from the UK to haul fish, and we of course managed to grab some of them on film. You can see the video below.

We had 2 days to get the job done, so a shirt 48hr. winter Session was on. It was no mean feat, and as always when you’re trying to do film the stars don’t always co-operate!

In between the periods of wait, we had many a laugh; the general atmosphere bank side was excellent, really a very high quality session.
Actually in final we were quite a motley crew as my mate Tony Myres from Madrid and another UK Angler David Highe decided to join us on the banks.

Mission accomplished we can firmly say with lot’s of personal bests and records broken including two by Tony. You can see in these photos some of the lovely fish we caught.

The sun blazed and the pop-ups wafted under the nose of fish at 250m range in about 35-37ft of water. We took fish up to the early 30lb mark, and what stunners they were. In the video here you can get a taster of what it's like to fish this side, but your better off giving it a go, Matt has some belting swims at hand.

Sadly no Pike were caught, but my mate Andy Ferns took hold of the rod at one stage and managed to bank a lovely 9.5lb Tench, this was the best ‘specimen’, of the weekend without doubt. It was great to see him with rod and fish in hand after so many years off the gear.

I know my mate Dave Edgerton, so much so that I think Dave might give up fishing in the UK and just do 10 sessions here, why not, it's about as good as it get's and let's face it Extremadura is the new mecca of carp fishing. Tony is well and truly hooked on the Spanish carp fishing; I wonder if Andy Ferns will go the same way?

Anyhow, watch this space for more info about the full promotional video that's being made for FAT. It's sure to be a winner and who knows, maybe that 'tuna', or 90lb carp that lurks will put in a show...

Enjoying deep and hearty laugh at a lake in Spain

Andy Mac

Floro Pop-ups could save our carp fishing in Spain

2008-01-22T16:18:00.000+01:00

It’s been a rather bumpy start to the year, but that goes with the terrain, I cannot say it’s been bad, but it has been with movement.

Fish and session wise, there has been some, none of any size, but plenty. Sadly however when-ever I catch a carp for one reason or another the person on the other end of the camera has not the eye for making/taking shots, so those photos wont be appearing here or for that matter anywhere. Nevertheless, plenty of fun and learning has been had, and I have had several opportunity’s to play camera man and so thus far I have been able to snap some of the first years carp photos as you will see here.

We have fished 3 waters to date, and on all 3 sessions we have had success. Tony Myers (bottom photo), one of the Ex-pats living in Madrid also managed to winkle his first carp from Valdemayor close to Madrid, on a recomended Fluro Pop-up, nice one matey!

Since spending time in the UK over Christmass with my mate Dave Edgerton all the team here have gone floro pop-up a go-go!

Those little and large floro’s are seriously in! I have to state and doing the business. The baits working for us are of the Dynamite Baits range and also the smaller 10mm sort from Solar.

Until recently I’d never imagine a pop-up would out fish a maggot, but now I am convinced it will and can, and does. So sure am I of pop-ups that if I have not caught a fish within 1 hr. of the bait being in a spot (in winter), I will move it.

I think there simply irresistible at this time of year, and almost sure to provoke a bite! The question is will the floro change our winter fishing from being a quiet one too something with much more action as it seems to be going now??

To date in 3 sessions this year myself and the CARPdiem Team have managed no less than 22 Fish. The best of which being 2 scraper 20’s as seen here, one a fully scalled fish, and the other just a lovley looking fish.

All in all not bad for the 22nd of Jan. 2008. We have basically had a fish for every day, sofar!

Let’s see what the year brings in. As of now movement, come on!

CARPdiem PVA or Malla Presentation CARP Fishing

2008-01-14T19:07:00.000+01:00

We managed to get this video made the other day on a local water in Madrid. I hope it's of some use to those Spanish Anglers out there.

Muddy Boots

2008-01-02T02:09:00.000+01:00

Wrapping up 2007, was actually easier than expected. The Christmass pressure is something I try to avoid as years go by. Avoiding the chaos is easier said than done, much easier in Spain, but on my return to England 21st of December, I found myself thrown back into the grand scale UK shopping mayhem. My chance of escaping the madness was to go fishing, here follows an account of what we did!

Extreme Teggy Nosy.

Dave Edgerton my UK fishing mate and I decided to get into some fishing on the newly named (by us), Teggs Nose reservoir or as we now call it 'Extreme Teggy Nosy'. Our remixed name comes from us adding in the mix ‘extreme’, and ‘dura;, from the Spanish Extremadura. Fishing in Extremadura (as I normally do), can be just that Extreme and hard, but Teggs Nose was nothing like, our new name is an ironic one! Actually fishing this time was quite a breeze, all be it, a wet and muddy one. Upon arrival at the reservoir it was raining as forecast, no problem. We popped up our brolleys and got the equipment set-up and under shelter as quickly as we could..

It wasn’t cold, the north of England has actually been very mild over Christmass with night temperatures as warm as 12’Deg. C. This is much warmer than Madrid currently where you can expect to be fishing at night with temperatures as low as –1. As you can imagine I was more than pleased with these temperatures.

Bait

Dave and I took completely different paths with bait choice. On Rod (1), I opted for a ‘greedy pig’, visual presentation with two red juicy fresh Mistral Crab and Crawfish boilies topped off with an Enterprise Baits Artificial corn. In the Winter in England a large presentation like this I expect is a big no no, but my thinking behind the presentation was I wanted something of size to pick up the bait, I like to contradict the norm, and I was confident this rig works. My other rod was my changeable roving rod, which had a single bait boilie, either a Mistral Isotonic Roship or Crab and Crawfish, or a Korda Maggot Clip, fished Medusa style, in my mind I knew nothing could me more attractive than a small cluster of Maggots in Winter, could it?

Dave went the other way with Rod (1) having the very tasty looking Solar 10mm Dayglow Ester and Pinapple pop-up with Cream and Candy Sweetner, and a single Mistral Bait with no name Boilie or ‘clints’, as we now call them. All of which were presented with a nice small walnut or 20mm boilie sized PVA stocking with some Dynamite Baits Swim Stim, hemp, ground boilie and Brazil Nut shavings. This mix made by Dave was actually made up with no water, just natural hemp oil. The effect was like nothing I have seen before, a very active explosive bag, full very fine attraction but little food.

Breamer

Within 2hr. of us arriving, my left hand rod signaled a drop back, I was slow to the rod, and not sure if I should hit it (I am accustom to Spanish ripper runs), the fact that the alarm indicating the pick-up was also the left rod which was my ‘greedy pig’ rod was a surprise. I spent some time next to the rod/alarm watching the line. Dave told me to tighten the swinger back up, which I did, at that point I knew a fish was on. When I struck I was even more sure, yet reeling in for some time I was doubting if indeed I had a fish on or not. Finally what came to the net was a surprise. I caught a bream of about 3½ lb. Dave and I disagree about Bream, I am happy to catch them and do not consider them a nuisance fish. Dave on the other hand does not care much for them. The photos were taken then the fish returned. For sometime after the capture I was thinking, I couldn’t believe a fish of this size could have picked up my ‘greedy pig’, rig, it took me sometime to get over that fact, but it was a reality and this fish did give us hope. The fished also helped us to believe that out in the 20ft plus water we were fishing, there was indeed more feeding fish. Our reaction to this capture was to apply more bait, a kilo of Mistral baits. Sadly not a great deal more happened, Dave managed to catch a bream on his 10mm Solar Pineapple Pop-up, the fish was about the same size again.

Christmass gifts

Teggs Nose is a small water, but it was impressive to see so many people out testing what looked like new fishing gear given by Santa.
On the bank we witnessed new Solar pods, and Diawa Basias reels which the owners were hoping to christen. Sadly between all 14 rods that must have been fishing that day we saw no other Angler catch. The carp were perhaps holding up in another area what-ever they were doing we couldn’t temp them into a bite and our session ended with the two bream only. As I say for me this was slow but a fine winter session.

Time past and time to come (Turners Pool).

For the final day of the year we wanted to bag up, and bang it! Teggs had been slow so we went to a water where we could bang plenty of fish, the Cheshire water that could do this would be the small farm pond called Turners Pool. It’s not the easiest place to find in the world, but after an early morning call to Brian the owner we obtained the postcode which was entered into the GPS and we were off…

We arrived at about 9.30am, temperature was good about 7 Deg. C mild and dry, no rain expected, perfect. We set-up in a wide swim which Dave already knew, the position was comfortable and allowed us to fish socially together, we also had plenty of water to go at. On our rods we both opted for the same presentations we had adopted on Teggs Nose.

Andy: - Rod (1): ‘greedy pig’, rig. - two red juicy looking Mistral Crab and Crawfish with an Enterprise Baits Artificial corn. Rod (2): Single bait (smaller presentation) Mistral Isotonic Roship or Crab and Crawfish, or a Korda Maggot Clip, fished the Medusa style.

Dave: - Rod (1): Solar 10mm Dayglow Ester and Pineapple pop-up with Cream and Candy Sweetener. Rod (2): single Mistral Bait with no name Boilie.

By 11am Dave had caught 5 fish on his 10mm Solar Day glow Ester pop-up. I had not managed one! My thinking was to hold out for the better bigger fish, in the end, it got me and I gave up, I wanted to catch, I wanted action, so I changed my ‘greedy pig’, rig and scaled down for the tiny single 10mm Solar Day glow Ester pop-up. As a general rule I don’t like pop-ups. I know they are devastating especially the fluro pop-ups. Several Anglers I have fished with use them when the going get’s tuff, and I have seen them get results time after time. I think pop-ups are totally unnatural, but in cold water winter conditions they can really make a big difference. I am positive that if we had not had these pop-ups with us, we would have caught less than 5 fish all day between us. As it ended we caught nearly 30 fish between us..

Instant reaction

The Solar floro pop-up created an instant impulsive reaction, when I made the first change I had 2 fish within 10 mins. of casting to the same swim I had been fishing for more than 2 hours previous, without a single pick up! Both the medusa rig / Korda maggot clip and single bottom bait had not triggered a bite!

I could never imagine a small pop-up fluro boilie would out-fish a maggot, but it did! Because the fluro success was so instant and obvious, we ended up changing all the baits for them. Actually my last memory and fish of 2007 I will never forget. It was an 11lb common carp and the best fish of the day (see photo). The fished picked up a snowman double floro orange pop-up combo. I remember saying to Dave ‘this is my special Christmass snowman pop-up’, totally festive, luminous Santa bait, the presentation looked like Santa himself. Needless to say the common carp picked the bait up and gave me a really good fight on the light 2lb TC rods I was using.

Difference in style of fishing

There were big differences between my style of fishing and Dave’s. I suppose this is because I spend most of my time on big open Spanish waters and Dave does not. The fish were attracted to the splash and sound the small PVA/mesh bags going in. My bag mix was not the better mix on the day. I say this because mine contained too many food and big items such as Frolic and corn. ).Dave’s on the other hand was just Dynamite Baits Swim Stim ground baits, lot’s of fine oil and shavings of nuts, hemp and boilies all very, very fine. I think this was crucial in drawing, attracting fish, but not feeding. My mix fed fish which was not the better idea or method to get a bite. The other point of interest was that when Dave was using a flat lead that would not penetrate the silt. Also when he was casting as the bait went in, Dave would pull back. This helped the bag/rig sit up above the silt rather than in it or below it. Fish can find a bait more easily if it’s on the silt rather than in it, a small difference but one that can increase the amount of takes considerably.

Memorable end to 2007

In all it was a very memorable day and an excellent way to end 2007, baggin up, and banging plenty of fish in the net. We totally banged it off, and even entertained some of the local math anglers of the water. One of which kept asking ‘what bait are you using?’. It was a day of fun, and not serious fishing, a day where weights of fish was not important but enjoying time out and away was. Plenty of action and laughs to round off 2007.

I cannot wait to get back to Spain and catch some Spanish fish using these killer mini Solar floro pop-ups. I know the perfect water to give them a try and hopefully bag up again..

Where-ever you are, and what-ever your doing, I hope your planning to take time and bag up and enjoying your fishing, all the best for 2008.

May the fish be with you.

Andy Macgregor

Futbal Fishing (El Vellon) Madrid

2007-10-29T23:08:00.000+01:00

Just back in from a hectic Futball fishing session on El Vellon, Madrid. We did the rounds and played against a team called 'Baby Carp' from Madrid. Strange name but good local lads.

Early on I knew we were fishing for a bite, and in the end the only one that pulled it off and converted was the recent Madrid league winner Jorge. At 16 years old this boy has a very bright future in carp fishing. The young man or 'Senor Stimulator', as we like to call him pulled the only fish out of the day out.

It's amazing what a difference a fish can make, this time the fish ment that Baby Carp won the battle and got the goodies from us. The fish was a lovely common carp seen here. The CARPdiem team for want of effort just couldnt get a run, oh Vellon cabron. Well maybe next time, there will be a feature about this futbal fishing session in our next issue of CARPdiem, issue 3 which will be out in December. I hope your all banging the fish out.

More soon.

Angel from CARPdiem with a 40lb 3oz Carp

2007-10-04T11:21:00.001+02:00

Our man Angel L. Bonal of the CARPdiem team pulled a whopper out of the bag recently on an undisclosed Madrid water. We did a full bit of fish spotting the week before and upon mooching we saw what the Spanish called a few 'Pepinos' - in other words lumps. This was just too much for Angel who soon returned to stalk and fish just 2m from the bank side in about 1m of water. His pop-up Dynamite Bait Boilie lasted an hour or so, but all the while he had to sit patient just watching Carp feeding on-top of his bait, hands under him, waiting for the take!

His first 40 plus fish and what a cracker......Well done mate, let's hope we can get a few more before the year is over.

Once again the full story about this will be published in CARPdiem issue 3 for December.

Tight lines.

Monster Spanish Common Carp of 63lb 5oz

2007-09-23T22:31:00.000+02:00

People talk about what Spanish waters are about to product.
Anglers like Kevin Maddocks and Rod Huchinson came to Spain in the 80's to catch big fish and they did.....

I am happy to say here is a big, a very big Spanish common carp which has been safely returned in a proper and respectful way.

It was caught by: Carlos Moreno González, the Angler caught this common carp of 28,600 kilos 63lb 5oz from the reservoir Horno Tejero, near to Cordobilla de Lácara. To catch this gigantic fish he used a strawberry boilie..

Foto: Carlos Moreno González, natural de Montijo, ha sido el agraciado pescador que sacó esta carpa de 28,600 kilos del pantano de Horno tejero, en el término municipal de Cordobilla de Lácara. Para sacar esta gigantesca carpa se utilizó un cebo de boile de fresa.|HOY

Preparation is the key

2007-07-27T03:05:00.000+02:00

I first met matt from Fat Angling Tours in the competition held at Valldecaballeros (April 2007), it was clear from this time that Matt and FAT were doing something different, and I wanted to know what!

I arrived in Tallarubia (extremadura), by special taxi from Madrid and within no time at all we were in the Matt’s 4x4 and looking at some potential swims to fish on the monstrous water that is Orrellana. Matt believes the key to fishing in Extremadura is preparation, wind, and location. Before our bait even hit the water we spent 3 days searching for fish, both morning and night, the waters were quite in general with not much in site. Tree days of evaluation both on Orrellana and Sierra Brava. The first two days flew passed very quickly. For me personally they were excellent, I don’t remember the last time I saw so many birds of prey, rollers and cuckoos. Just being close to this energy and wildlife was a pleasure; and seeing them made the build up to fishing even more interesting. Extremadura is a special part of Spain.

On our third day we were joined by a Sparsholt Collage graduate Richard. Richard was clearly very keen to get on and fish. The 21 year old has a UK p.b of 21kg. and from the start he was clearly keen to break this and pull in a large common...After more searching we finally agreed to fish swim 221 near the island on Sierra Brava…

Why?

We selected the swim for the following reasons: depth, snags, roosting egrets, small fry, shade, wind and bank side space. I was especially excited about the location, because of it had water features. I love fishing near snags. The submerged trees in front were at night and every night during summer home for hundreds of Egrets. These noisy white birds were roosting in these snags as they had been doing seasonally for years. Egrets eat mainly small fish, frogs, insects and seeds, I couldn’t help thinking about old, big fish, these old warriors we were after would know the Egrets roost at night and discharge a pre-digested fish meal eaten earlier in the day, surely this pre-digested natural ground bait would be fundamental in holding fish of some size. This point held concrete in my mind during the session, I knew we were going to do well, and we did not bad at all.

Bait:

Before we started Matt prepared a particle mix of aba, maize, pig feed, black peas and special baits “Pepino Chops’. The ‘Pepino Chops’, are a mix of quality boilies in an assortment of color and size. The mix proved to be explosive on this session. To start we put in 10 x 5 kg bags and enough particle mix to give what we thought would be a strong signal. We estimated that between 50-70kg of bait went in on the day before we fished and much more followed. We were in big water and fish country, so a big bed should be put down. Line and reels were also checked, three new reels were loaded with heavy Suffix mono of a 0.45mm. diameter. this we hoped would be enough to secure any fish we hooked in these snag ridden conditions. We needed strong line to give ourselves a chance.

Arrival:

We arrived on Friday afternoon at about 4pm at swim 221 and were pleased to find no one was fishing. I selected the right hand snag swim, it was a quality spot as it had loads of features. Matt would be in the middle fishing open water and Richard would be to the left of Matt with snags and trees in front and to his right. I set-up 3 different rigs, one with Korda IQ Flurocarbon, Indyline 35lb Chakchiuma Braid and some Kryston Supermantis Dark. From the start our alarms were twitching. Just when we were thinking the crab were on our baits Matt had a run, he landed a small dumpy common carp a new stock of about 3lb. About 10 min. later I was surprised to hear my alarm sound off and even more so when I picked up the rod and it double over! I was hard with the fish, as I didn’t want to risk the snags. The fish turned out to be a 26.04oz Mirror, what a great start! We had just put this fish into the weigh sling when my other alarm sounded. I had my hands full with a lump at that time…. Matt hit my rod for me and made contact with another. Richard took my first fish from me and put it in a sack while I took the rod from Matt. The fish was strong and made it into a low snag just in-front of me, I was sure I’d lose it but somehow I didn’t, I managed to work the big boy out of the snag an into the net. It was a longer carp than the fist and looked big. On the scales he was 28lb3oz, a fantastic start to the session and my best brace of fish to date. After this initial explosive start things calmed. We managed to take some smaller fish to 4kg but nothing of any size. At 11.30pm we retrieved our rods and pods prepared some food and went to sleep. Night fishing is illegal in Spain and the fines can be big.

Day 2:

At 6am the next day we woke up and cast out. I was really tired so I moved my bed chair next to my rods and attempted to sleep. Within no time at all we were all having runs. Between 6am and 12pm. We managed to land between us about 15 small common carp of around 1-3kg. Matt had the best fish of this time period a common carp of about 6.5kg. From 12pm to 3pm things went quiet, and then Richard had a screamer, the fish turned out to be the best of the session 34lb 2oz. It was a lovely mirror carp, which fell for his own pop-up. Not a great deal happened after this fish was caught. Time passed by and once again at 11.30pm our rods were retrieved food was prepared and we slept.. I slept really well this night and so was much more ready and relaxed for the next day. However on the other hand, mosquitoes seriously attacked Matt and Richard. Matt had several bites on his face and Richard was also bitten on his lip. They must have sweet blood and mine must be rotten, must be the pirate in me, ARRRGH.

The Final day:

At 5.30am I was up and ready to fish ‘keen as mustard’, and with bags of energy after my great nights sleep. At 5.40am my rods were in and by 6.00am, I had begun to start catching fish. Between 6am and 12am I must have caught more than 15 small carp. They were beginning to be a nuisance. At 3pm we had caught so many fish that we were all thinking – it’s time to try somewhere / something else. I put my rods short of the baited area and bang off it went, this time I felt a more powerful fish. After a spirited battle a lovely 22lb 2oz Mirror carp was with us. Once again it had fallen to the killer bait of the session a big yellow 22mm Pineapple – Pepino chop.

Photos were taken and fish returned.

Within 10 min. of me catching this fish my other rod sounded. I hit it expecting a small fish and was surprised when the rod doubled yet again. The weight at the end was so heavy; I had never felt a weight like it… I knew that whatever it was on the line, it was a personal record for me….

I didn’t want to lose the fish so I walked up the bank and got up high, real high, on top of a rock. Whatever was on the end of this line was big. Really big! A monster. After what seemed like a long time we finally got the fish in the net. The fish had felt very heavy because sadly it was foul hooked. We put her on the scales and she went 30lb 3oz. It was a pity the fish was not hooked fairly as foul hooking does not count and she was a lovely fish. The runs began to slow not long after this time, although Matt and I lost what we believe were bigger fish.

>>>>>>>I was snapped twice at the rig end and Matt too.

If we had managed to land those lost fish I am sure our tally would have been amazing… but for a summer session we managed more than 50 carp between the 3 of us. Five f the fish were large 11kg, 12kg, 12.5kg, 13.6kg and 15kg. It was a great session, which proved that big fish could be caught in the middle of the day. Actually the most productive feeding time was between 3-7pm. Matt and FAT did what they setout to do, catch some lovely fish, we did a great deal more than that!

A fantastic session in amazing snaggy summer conditions with some cracking fish too boot, get me back on that water!!!

Intro from our primero issue!!!

2007-07-04T19:53:00.000+02:00

Cuando empezamos con este proyecto, nos supuso el comienzo de una batalla, en la que más o menos sabiamos el trabajo que teníamos que hacer, pero conforme avanzamos, inesperadas sorpresas se cruzaban por nuestro camino.

El hacer una revista era algo nuevo y desconocido para nosotros, de todas maneras, es un proyecto experimental y esperamos tengas conciencia de ello. Ciertamente, ésta revista cambiará como las estaciones, presentaremos los contenidos que tu desees, introduciendo nuevos formatos más interesantes; CARPdiem cambiará al igual que las presentaciones de sus cebos, y yo quisiera que pensaras en la revista como una manera de ir probando y experimentando cosas.
Creo que si pruebas e intentas hacerlo, te sorprenderás de lo que puede suceder, incluyendo coger el carpón de tu vida. Como editor de esta revista, soy pescador, simplemente puedes leer más sobre mís aventuras en mi blog:

http://fishmadrid.blogspot.com/

Lo que realmente estoy buscando desde lo más profundo de mi corazón, ¡Es captar tú atención! Lo más importante de este magazine, soís la gente y tú. Tenemos la intención de centrarnos en tí. Sin vosotros, esta revista no florecerá, por lo tanto es absolutamente crucial tu colaboración.

Con total libertad contacta con el equipo de CARPdiem, Ángel Luis Bonal, Raúl González o conmigo mismo, y ayúdanos a poner una pieza más en nuestro barco......Deseamos saber dónde, cuándo y cómo se ha cogido o no se ha cogido un pez. No importa como sea de pequeña la historia, si es buena o mala, si es fea o bonita, queremos saberla.

Nuestra revista está dedicada a la distribución de los mejores avisos, consejos y últimas noticias para que perfecciones tus técnicas de pesca de carpas. Presentaremos los mejores pescadores en España y en el resto de Europa.

CARPdiem tiene el compromiso de mostrar en cada entrega lo más novedoso y vanguardista, trucos e ideas. El carp fishing es mucho más que un deporte, también es un estilo de vida. El éxito es crucial y nosotros sabemos que podemos ayudarte, darte un empujoncito y así conseguir el pez de tus sueños. Las indicaciones vitales serán facilitadas en CARPdiem dándote el toque esencial. Cada vez más aguas en España están empezando a ser presionadas como en Reino Unido.

Los peces están siendo cada vez más cautelosos y por eso es necesario aplicar nuevas técnicas de pesca. CARPdiem te dará las respuestas a todas las cuestiones que tengas. Espero que disfrutes con la primera publicación de CARPdiem. Ya estamos trabajando en la nueva entrega para los meses de agosto y septiembre para que sea mejor y más grande (el doble), que esta misma. Gracias a tu colaboración, CARPdiem se convertira en la mejor revista de pesca que haya habido nunca.

El futuro del carp fishing en España tiene un largo camino por recorrer pero estoy muy entusiasmado por como podemos hacer que crezca este deporte y fomentarlo en la juventud española con el fin de alcanzar el mejor momento y conseguir los mejores pescadores del mundo. La mente es la más poderosa de las herramientas que tenemos, si lo piensas y crees en ello, puedes hacerlo.

May the fish be with you!
Andy Macgregor
Editor

www.carpdiem.es

CARPdiem is live!!!

2007-06-10T01:00:00.000+02:00

As we expected things are a little crazy at this time, as our magazine goes live and begins to reach the carp fishing community in Spain and Portugal.

www.carpdiem.es

Spawned out Spanish Carp and suprising Comizo Barbel!!!

2007-05-17T15:19:00.000+02:00

For the first time this year we headed out to our big fish water Buendia. It's been 5 months since we graced the lake. Upon arrival change was immediate both inland and in water. The place was brimming with life and about as green as it gets. The path we took to the water-side was disguised with tall flowers, poppies and splendid abundant color. As for the water level it's still low but up some 10% to about 18% volume.

We scanned 3 locations for fish and finally selected a spot we had not fished previous, but that within seconds of arrival made obvious fish were their. We could see tails at short and medium range in the swim already feeding and clouding up the water!

The carp we spotted were not big ranging between 6-12lb, but there was so much movement we had to give it a go!!!! Taking a leaf from the FAT Angling boys and using pellets supplied by Tony Summers we picked a spot in about 2.5m of water at medium range and filled it in!!!!

The rods went in about 1 hr.of spodding later. Within 30min. I had a pick-up but sadly didn't hook the fish. The pickup was on >BIG BALLS< a 30mm Bio Red Prologic Boilie, big fish water, big fish, big bait, come on the Carpon!!! Shortly after Raul (above right), had a proper run, from a mirror carp of about 5.5kg, we were off!!!

The action continued most of the day a first for us!

Normally when we arrive we wait for a run, but this time the fish were on it, the runs came hard and fast. Lot's of fish fell to our baits, although my rods were quieter I must admit. I sat on my hands with my big 30mm baits and double Dynamite Baits Spicy Prawn, I wanted something special. By about 8pm we had managed several fish to about 6kg, then Angel (right), showed up..

Setting up and getting into action fairly quickly with his single Dynamite Baits Spicy Prawn boilie presentation. Actually not long after Angel arrived we had a mad moment. With 3 fish and runs all at the same time and only 2 landing nets. As it turned out we delt with it well, one of those fun moment you always remember! The fish caught in that moment were a couple of small carp to 12lb and a lovely Comizo caught by Angel (see photo above left). We didn't actually know there were any Comizo in Buendia so this fish came as a surprise. Sadly it was "spawned out", it was a very long fish, but just under 6kg.

More action continued, and I managed to get into something which felt like a much bigger fish, it ended up being the fish of the session but was no monster. The Mirror carp fell for a double Dynamite bait Spicy Shrimp Boilie at medium range. At just 9.250kg. a snip over 20lb it was an average fish, the crazy thing is that had I lost it, I would have said it was much bigger, this carp had some go in it! At the time we hoped that maybe a bigger shoal of fish had moved in but sadly this was not to be and the smaller fish to 6kg continued.

To sum it up the action was constant, but the bigger fish just didn't show; that is except for the handful of specimen common Barbel we had upto 10lb. These fish always show up and are a pleasure to catch, but not the real prize!!
We were kept entertained and had a good social meeting with new friends on the bankside. Lot's of fun was had, but sadly no real whoppers.

Tight lines.

Premios Trofeo Valdecaballeros 2007

2007-05-02T00:45:00.000+02:00

I spent my weekend fishing a match Trofeo Valdecaballeros 2007 in Extremadura.

We drew peg 9 slap bang dead centre of the match. I have to say the organisation by T.Crespo and the Carpmad team was the tops!

As for the location the water was a real stunner, our vista was really special. Within moment's of arriving I was spotting all kind of quality bird life Golden Oriels and Cuckoo's, it was defiantly one of the most clearly abundant spots I have ever fished , really a very beautiful place. It's nice to know that for 30 euro you can night fish (legal) and with 3 rods, come on!

We had two casual teams fishing for CARPdiem. We didn't gun at it, for us it was more of a social strole than a heated competition. To my knowledge almost all teams caught fish, this is a bonus as the last match we fished we qualified but the carp were thin on the ground, ahem!

This time 18 pairs of Spanish carp fishermen took to the bank to pit wit! Actually I should rephrase that and say "Spanish carp women", as we had a mixed bag and several girls fishing in the match including a pair who managed to pick up a trophy. It was great to see the girls getting stuck in and and competing and catchiug a fair share of the fish to take home a prize! As I said, I think most teams at least caught a fish but many were less than the 4kg weight needed to be qualify. That's right, any fish less than 4kg was not counted!

Below right is my mate Raul (sorry no tilde), from the CARPdiem squad and my partner in crime for this match. Raul is sporting one of our new proto-tpye CARPdiem Tutti Frutti T-shirts (nice arnt' they?), the fish in hand is a typical from the match with a weight of about 3.75kg. We just couldnt for love nor money catch something bigger

The first and 2nd place were very close weights, with just a few grams to separate the prizes. It was also a similar story for 3rd, 4th and 5th. The other British lads in the match were Matt and Miles from Fat Angling. They were gunning away all day and night and set a fine president, actually they fished in the swim to my right (peg 10). Their attitude and team work was nothing short of pro. If the competition had been based just on weight and all fish counted the FAT boys would have won it!

All night FAT alarms were ripping off, I think they banked 20 or more fish, it was just a shame the fish were mostly less than the 4kg required. Finally they took a 5th position with two fish one of 5kg and another of 4kg. The CARPdiem crew's Raul and myself plus Tony and his team did what we could we managed to bag a few fish but sadly all of them were less than 4kg. Tony lost a decent fish at the net which was a shame and would have probably got CARPdiem a trophy but it wasn't meant to be and so did not make the score board. Not to worry, we did manage to spread the gospel about our new magazine CARPdiem and socialise so all in all, a good time was had!

Actually a brilliant time was had especially eating, my god did we eat well!

The winning team took the match and the best weight so they got double prizes! I am sure Pedro y Juanjo who drew lucky or unlucky peg no.13 are more than happy with the result. They bagged a lovely carp of 12kg plus another of 4kg. to take the booty, arrgh, you can see the better fish they caught if you click on this video link here.

The total winning weight was just 16kg. All it took was a fish like the one in the video for the boys to clinch the match and at any time it was any one's game. Well that's my brief run down on the match. It was a cracking little event and I hope and wish for others to be held soon.

Two out of 5 Carp!

2007-04-13T12:09:00.000+02:00

A very quick night session. We did 8 hours on the bank side, something went right, and something went wrong!

I lost 3 fish all of which bumped off! I don't remember the last time this happened, real strange. When I checked the hook and rig on the two different rods, all was well. In the back of my mind, I think the last time this happened was about the same time last year on the same water, I have to admit I am using stiffer new rods, so it's possible the hook pulled because of pressure, but I am inclined to think that the fish are feeding in a slightly less vigorous perhaps more nervous way.

The fish I did catch were hooked differently: upper lip, and in the side. I have not caught a fish hooked in the upper lip in ages. I will check back in my video archive and see what I can deduce.

The first fish was a lovely 20lb common (photo),it took my bait in less than 20min. from a bank side spot about 4m out. This was my 3rd roamer rod, fished on a spot that I scanned and had an inner sense fish were there, they certainly were, I had 3 runs from that spot, during the night, with no pre-bait. A large chunk of time was lost due to my casting short of that spot and leaving it - saying "it would be ok," I knew it wasn't, I knew the cast was off, but I didn't move it till later when we were approached by some late night investigators, (more about that another time).

After that visit, I re-cast my rod, and again within 20min. (on the same spot), it was off! Sadly I lost that fish. Finally at 5.20am. we went to bed. No longer than 20min. later and my right rod was off for the first time! This fish was also lost!

My middle rod was moved as it had been dead, putting it on the left in open and deeper water. This rod ripped off in a short time, no sleep was had!

After a crazy fight a small fish which must have had 3 shredded wheat was mine. As we were unhooking this fish, my left hand rod ripped off again. I hooked the fish but lost it..

It was a strange session, losing so many fish, also Angel didn't have a run, he was fishing to the right of me in the channel with less water, we did see fish move in this spot, but his alarms remained silent. For me what should have been five carp ended up as two! I don't know why to be honest, but I am thinking it over.

All fish were caught on Dynamite Baits Spicy Shrimp and Prawn Boilie.

OK, back to our magazine CARPdiem.

Chris Yates - Carp and fishing legend

2007-04-12T10:25:00.000+02:00

PLAYING ON RADIO 4

I do love Chris Yates the former carp record holder he's a top top man!

It's nice to see Radio 4, opening up a channel and giving him air-time. The first show with Paul (Fast Show, BRILLIANT, arse)Whitehouse - is fun and charming, as it should be!

You have got to keep your ears and eyes peeled on Chris, he's tops. In Spain when they talk about the bearded fellow, they say he's - "a freaky", he could not be any further away from that, eccentric British charm at it's best!

Go on Chris and for that matter Paul (unlucky Alf) Whitehouse catch a big un! Radio 4 link

P.S - Chirs, if you use't tinternet, and you'd like to make show ere in't Spain, id love to show your around some secret waters with some Galician Carp, arrgh..

Check the link above at the Radio 4 website for the show which I understand will be regular, arrgh..

Ducky feeding carp, that's more than one carp, but not carps!

2007-04-08T04:59:00.001+02:00

A hem, I found this video of a duck feeding carp. Since it's Easter this made me think. When we go up to the spirit in the sky, maybe we get a chance to come back in a new form, in this case as a duck, perhaps this little ducky is a reincarnated carp Angler.

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ARRRGH

CARP heaven?

Large Spanish Carp & Comizo?

2007-04-04T13:43:00.001+02:00

Our mini intensive 2 day fishing session in Madrid is over!

After a 2 week pre-bait with near 15kg of bait going in and another 8kg while fishing we managed to land over 20 fish.

Our objective was to catch a comizo barbel of 10kg or more.
Before doing this session I had previously caught comizo from the water, so we could say for sure they existed, but what we didn't know was if they could be caught from the water to any size. Perhaps our target a 10kg comizo was unreal, especially since no one can say in -concrete - "big fish actually exist".

It´s hard to believe a reed lined, 100 acre mature gravel pit with bird reserve could only produce small fish, but that's what happened with us. We have taken more than 30 fish from the lake, none of them have been more than 4kg.

Don't get me wrong a common barbel of 8-9lbs (above photo), is a lovely fish, but it´s not the target, we want large comizo and carp. A carp of any size would be a start!

No time was lost, it did not take us long during the session to change tactic. In an attempt to deter small fish we changed rigs and used double baits on the hair. This measure did reduce the amount of small fish hooked, it also helped us to catch comizo, so on two parts it was a success, however the biggest mouths and bigger fish we wanted failed to show. Success therefore during those 2 days was not ours.

Measure success

So how do we measure results for a session like this?

I am not content with the result, while I shouldn't make compassion's with the UK, I cannot help think - if this lake were in the UK, it would contain a quantity of decent large carp. Catching in excess of 30 fish from the water is proof of one thing, you need to work harder to catch a carp! Not one fish out has been a carp and not a single barnel was over 4kg.. We know there are carp in the water. I have seen on various occasions mirror carp in the 2-4kg bracket. While it´s possible the predators: Bass, Pike and Comizo keep the numbers of carp down or at a low density, I cannot understand why we have not caught a carp. From other observations you might conclude that the water is over run with barbel, lot's of fish with small/average weights competing for food. It's a plausible conclusion to reach, but not conclusive enough to be a closed case. We have to study some more and try to realise the truth.

I have been told several times by locals who sometimes sit with us during the sessions that people used to catch carp easily from this water. Apparently 10 years ago you could catch carp on the surface with bread. The average fish sizes back then was about 7kg. 10 years on, a fish of that size would be a good upper 20, to say the least. I wonder where they have gone. We have to make an assessment of our failure and evaluate where we have gone wrong. Somewhere in the chain a factor has contributed to our final score 4.5 out of a possible 10.

We failed to nail a big fish, yet Angel on the CARPdiem team caught his first comizo barbel (see photo above), we did have a good time and as ever absorbed much. As far as the water goes, we will explore it's other zones our list of work goes on!

Tight lines.

7 Spanish carp in less than an hour!

2007-03-30T02:35:00.000+02:00

We did a short night session fishing from 9pm to 12.45 today!

Paco from Carpones was due to join us but sadly he couldnt make it, due an order coming from Concept for you!

Angel suggested we fish the tail of the lake, it's a spot I know well, but this time I did not fancy it. When we arrived it didnt look good, the water level is currently lower than normal due to irrigation, this means that fishing this peg would be at very short range into an even tighter corner. It looked poor the swim, but Angel wanted to try it and convinced me to give it a go!

We put rods out, mine with my currant favourite a Spicy Shrimp and Prawn 20mm Dynamite baits boilie, coupled with a Carpones PVA bag, stuffed with micro pellets, groundbait and broken frolic, tied to an Indyline combi rig and size 8 korda wide gape. The spot was no more than 30 yards range, so easy to get to!

My rod went off 3 times in very quick short succession, the same rod, the hot rod, my trusty JRC Skyliner was "on fire", the thud, thud thud of carp on the line was pleasant and all the fish were battle strong. The 3 fish that came for me were 7's, that's "777", one of them was 7.5kg, the others were a little less but a fine weight.

Trust me these fish are not the same, this one (right), was actually the 2nd, we did not need the klink for this one!

On my 3rd run a weird thing happened, when I picked up my rod to pull into the fish, the line on my swinger didn't come off, it got stuck and my pod almost went over on the floor! Angel was on hand to help, carp fishing in pairs sometimes often essential.

I ran out of PVA bags after the 3rd fish and just knew before i'd tied that bag up that when the final bag was gone, the fishing would be over, and so right I was.

Not wanting to be negative I tied on a PVA stringer with boilies and put it back on the spot. I had a pick-up on that rod but no more.

My 2nd rod I fished with a korda maggot clip, needless to say, that rod was silent all night, maybe night wrigglers are harder to see at night any tips on that one?

The temperature got low for us, and came as some suprise when we checked to find just 3deg.C. this was a warning for the coming week. We still need to wrap up especially if were going to be doing nights.

The last two sessions on this water have produced 7 wonderful Spanish carp in two 1hr. blocks, when the fish come on, they are on, it's really picking up now, tomorrow were off to Campillo, Comizo, COMizo, COMIZO!!!

Prebaiting for Comizo Barbel!

2007-03-24T23:32:00.000+01:00

Today we started our long term pre-baiting for Comizo barbel. We have set our objective on Comizo barbel of the 10kg caliber and we have 3 weeks to make the baiting campaign and do fish it!

I have tried to get information about the best method to use in order to pre-bait (long term) for Comizo and Barbel in lakes, it's no easy to find this info, so we are using a mix of methods tried and tested for carp, mixed with plenty of hemp and some ideas of our own.

It was as cracking day in too many ways, and a joy in comparison with the carp battle we had yesterday (I spent too many hours up a tree due to a certain error). Today's high temperatures & brisk wind combined making as my Mum would say - "a day to be alive", from start to end the day remained spiritually "alto", and the added visit from an Osprey overhead did wonders to peg happiness on the roof of the sky above us..

On ground level we were pre-baiting, and very content with our sloppy fish mix! The mix made consisted of the old chestnut classic hemp, added to this was tuna, sardines, cat-food, and cream. The idea of the mix was to put a strong signal in but not bait. The lake it'self I have fished before with some success. Campillo is about 100 acres and stuffed full of Barbel. We used a large (perfect for the job) Starbaits spod rocket - to lance our liquid to a range of about 50m in 5m/6m of water next to a deeper channel.

I am really confident with the liquid slop bait.

When fish feed naturally they create a cloud on the lake bed, in my mind presenting an artificial cloud full of liquidized food, has got to wet fish appetite!

We tested our cloud slop groundbait mix at close range on the bankside, and it was the dog's, our observation of the cloud's longevity and column lasted forever!

So while clouds in the sky were not happening, several liters of cloud was going in the water column. It was our first pre-baiting session on the water and one to be continued tomorrow as we make our 3 week long pre-bait..

The water temperature bankside measured 12 Deg C. I believe with this temp. fish are fresh on the move, I say this because of what I have seen on other waters here. Most of which are not fished (during winter), I think this element plays a part in explaining slow reactions and catch rates. The lack of food going into all Spanish waters in comparison with the UK could effectively create a temporal "shut-down", for the species. If no-one was putting bait in, the fish can switch off, it makes sense. At least that is a theory I feel holds well at this time.

Fish in the UK on the other hand have constant quality bait going in 24/7 all year round, so while there's food to be had and with convenience fish will eat. The other thing to think about is the stomach, if your stomach had been practically frozen and shut-off for 4 months, how would you feel? You might not want to eat a prawn cocktail, beefsteak and chocolate fudge cake, first off. Your nose would however function and involuntarily you would smell an interesting cloud drifting in the water.

I hope that our liquid fish smell washed over those Comizo today, if it did then stomachs might start to trigger, to promote the search for food, that's the crude version and basic theory behind our fish liquid food mix made today, and some.....

Well, tomorrow I will be out there again, never far away.

Have the carp started?

2007-03-18T18:48:00.001+01:00

Last Sat. we went for a social session at our home gravel pit.

I use the expression "social", as this trip was part work. Our primary objective was to meet with a local Angler David Gomez. The 19 year old David (below) landed a 29.5 Kg Mirror carp last year from a local water. We wanted to meet David and talk with him about doing an article or interview for our Spanish carp magazine CARPdiem.

We arrived to find the water packed with people!

David his father and another Angler Jose Antonio were waiting for us. We exchanged info's and David presented the photos. He certainly has caught some lovely fish, but there was clear evidence that fish care was not a consideration for him, and something we would need to help him with. After what was probably 45min. Angel and I headed off to the only swim free. It was a swim we knew very well so we had a good idea of how to fish it, also it was a double swim, so it was perfect for us. Time slipped by, the sun rose and a light breeze blew. David came round to talk with us again, him and Angel made a connection like a house of fire; later we agreed to go fishing together. This would be a perfect chance for us to introduce the concept of carp care to David and help educate and improve his fish care.

On the day conditions looked good, yet despite this the people already fishing had not caught. We had arrived late and not really taken this session as a serious one, yet within 2 hrs. things started to happen for us. Angel struck gold using a Korda Method, plastered in a special shrimp paste a Korda maggot clip, with a bunch of red maggots, his result a 4.5lb Crucian Carp.

No-one in the right mind would turn nose up at a Crucian of this size would they? Actually most of the locals that fish this water consider these Spanish Crucian carp a pest, we on the other hand are always up for the crucian and see them as a good omen, this case was no differnet!

When I say Angel struck gold, I mean that Angel (we think), found a natural bed of bloodworm. With no prebait and no bait put in (at the time on this spot), we had 4 fish. In 1 hr we used no more than 40 maggots just on the clip, no bait went in, just bait on a spot and BANG, every 20min another fish would come, while all the baited rods remained dormant.

Fish came in the form of: 4lb 8oz Crucian Carp, 14lb 02oz Common Carp, 17lb 6oz Common Carp, 19.12 oz Common Carp.

Not long after 3pm we had to pack-up. The water has rules which state that we have to leave at lunch time. Antonio the bailiff is cool with us as he knows we care much for the water and clean the place up. As lunch in Spain is typically between 2pm and 4pm. we started to pack up at 2.30pm and were off the water for 3pm. We were very happy with our discovery and short social, yet very active session. This has been the first semi active session of the year for us.

Come on!

Selectivos de carpfishing el vellon

2007-03-09T01:42:00.000+01:00

Two weeks ago a mate of mine Raul mentioned a carp fishing competition on a lake north of Madrid called El Vellon / Embalse Pedrezuela. My first thought was mmh. Later when he told me the price I was like urrrm. Now I am in!

Today I spent the whole day suffering with a virus on my computer, mid work, mid magazine mid too much! It was the final straw - yet somehow through the stress and tension I took time to think, savour and visualise my doing well in said match.

It’s not normal for me to be so confidant, and if if from time to time I am, I never say I am, but this time I have, I was like “yeh”, I feel we can do good, our team can win!

This wasn’t because we know El Vellon well, far from it, we have actually only fished it once and we didn’t catch then!

So what was it that was making me so cock sure?

The answer was the humble maggot, my plan as discussed today with Chris from Enterprise Baits was to use the maggot, and in full force. Let’s face it, maggot is the best bait ever, and here in Spain for carp it’s seldom employed.

My idea was to fish tonnes of the wiggly ones, "gusanos",as they are called here. Although it can be applied to any a wiggly thing!

Tomorrow I was off to my local fishing tackle shop to buy 3 litres of the maggot, with intnetion to "fill it in". A blanket of PVA’d or messed out maggot, a dream for any fish, and surely the best tactic for a winter run.

Hold it, snap out Andy, your machine has virus, your dealine is slipping and your dream of doing well on a bed of maggots has just been broken.

Why?

Because Raul just called to say "you cannot use cebos vivo’s", que? That’s right, "you cannot use live bait", and maggot in Spain is classed as live bait.

This news was the dagger in me, now with the session ahead, I can expect less action. My confidence bubble has gone, I am back to square one fishing the same as everyone else.

With maggot I was on it, sure, now with more typical boiled baits I feel my chances have lowered. Anyway the match kicks off at 8.30am on Sat. and ends’ 5pm on Sunday.

You can bet the snow thaw and our especially shallow pegs will hinder catches. Carp will be few and far between, but I hope to get one, I will go and work those baits like they have life like the maggot, in-order to get that bite..

For more on the law and this competition click here