The southern coast of Spain doesn't exactly conjure up imagery of wild fishing.. well not to me anyway.. the area boasting Marbella, Malaga and Aljeceras brings to my mind sun burnt brits, pot bellied dudes in speedos, condos, and tarted up jewel dripping folks rather than wild pristine waters filled with fish.. My best mate [...]
Think you’ve gone long periods without fishing before? In 2011, a few weeks into a six-month motorbike ride through Africa, from London back home to Johannesburg, Steve McGown was abducted by Al Qaeda in Northern Mali. Most people who encounter terrorists do not survive the ordeal, but Steve not only endured just under six years [...]
A golden olive back porpoised in the wind rippled surface. Then another, and another. The surface was alive with barbel tucking into dinner. We had found them. Finally. The small balbyter ant plopped near the action. Within seconds pale lips loomed through the surface film to sip it down. A light lift of the rod [...]
"A mirror-calm bay glided into view as we hiked around a dry wheat-coloured hillock. Dry grass lined the banks as far as the eye could see and I regretted wearing the thick socks that had turned into scratchy grass seed pin cushions. This was forgotten as ripples broke the surface and the backs of two [...]
Spanish barbel gently sip dries, but what follows is an electric, turbo charged, dash into the depths. Here are some patterns that worked during the trip to Extremadura covered in The Mission Magazine #17. The insect life around the desolate, arid lake sides is tremendous. Every flower was covered with little beetles, hundreds of spiders [...]
Spanish barbel after barbel would tear off on their first run and then proceed to rip tippet and squirmies ragged over the sharp gravel. Most fish were caught on dries (story coming soon), but for deeper, mud rooting barbel, Leonard Flemming’s improved bloody squirmy was particularly effective (https://themissionflymag.com/2015/05/11/improved-bloody-squirmy/). However, the squirmies did not hold up [...]
No normal poeskêt, the Wels or European catfish is a freshwater behemoth that few dare tackle on fly. Photographer David Tejedor (aka @davidpikefly on Instagram) is one who does, frequently. In issue 15 he weighs in on what it takes to land the Jabba the Hutt of the piscatorial world. Hint: like a sort of [...]
