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Angling holidays in Spain are
becoming increasingly popular. The Atlantic coastline off Galicia is
home to many varieties of fish and unlike the Mediterranean, the
Atlantic is tidal. Being tidal, a good supply of bait is
available for digging when the tide is out. I had some excellent
fishing when I visited a friend in El Ferrol. He dropped me
off at a jetty protruding out into an estuary, armed with a spade
for digging the bait, my rod and the rest of the tackle. I'd
only taken a two piece spinning rod on holiday because my sea tackle
back home in the uk was too cumbersome to lug all the way to Spain.
The tide was out when we arrived and I spent about an hour and a
half digging near the jetty which produced a huge amount of ragworm.
When the tide started to come in, I climbed back onto the jetty and
cast out about twenty yards. The weight hit the water which at
the time was less than a foot deep and the whole sea within about a
thirty foot diameter circle of where the weight came down erupted
with fish. Wow, this was really amazing.
SEA BREAM
PHOTOGRAPH BY FREE CAT
The fish turned out to be sea
bream feeding on ragworm which apparently are easy for the fish to
find when the sea is at such a low level. Within 20 seconds
I had my first bite which almost pulled the rod off the jetty. I
managed to land the fish which was a sea bream weighing about 1.5
lbs. Realising how good the fishing was here, I had my
doubts whether this light tackle would stand up to it but within
half an hour I'd caught another eight, all about the same weight.
As the tide came further in the bites started to tail off but then I
had a massive knock and grabbed the rod which immediately bent
almost double. Whatever this was it was huge. The sea in the
area was so clear, I actually saw the fish which was about two foot
long. With my rod almost at breaking point, I tried desperately to
adjust the clutch on the reel to take some strain off and let the
fish take some line. The problem was that the fish was so big, I had
to hold onto the rod with both hands. I could hear the line singing
and knew that it wasn't going to last, which it didn't. I nearly
fell backwards when the line snapped because I was putting so much
effort in to trying to grapple with the fish. I never found
out what it was but since then I've always promised myself that I
would return one day with heavier tackle. If you ever find
yourself on this stretch of coast, try and get some fishing in, you
won't be disappointed.
As well as sea fishing, the
Galician countryside can offer some excellent fly fishing for brown
trout in one of the many streams and rivers which flow through the
area. Angling holidays in Spain are now big business and an
angling holiday in Galicia would be a fantastic way to relax and
take in the sights.
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