Preparation is the key

Big overseas waters are indeed the ultimate in carp fishing challenges for the UK Angler and fishing on Buen Dia this weekend has confirmed this!

Not being brought up on fishing massive expanses (sea like waters), means that at times you feel like everything you know from the UK means less and less.

I for one have not been brought up, with the type of challenge of extreme range fishing, which sadly was the order of the day and night for this weekend, so during this session I did not fair well; actually all my efforts to pick-up fish at closer range failed.

You could say lady luck was not with me, but more accurately just 85% preparation was not enough. To be honest I knew before we started that I was less than 100% prepared and now I can say, «thanks for the lesson», after all this was not a monster session just (two nights), I mean if I am to make 2 week sessions (as is common in the UK), then this was just a teaser, or session to wet my appetite, slap me in the face and help me think about what not to do!

Learning for me has always been a love, and as much as lessons can be frustrating, I do like to learn by my mistakes, as errors lead to discovery and conclusions.

So which type of errors did I make?

My not being able to cast to the range required, my main error, ok I did not have a chance previous to see the swim before fishing, and so had no idea of what we were fishing into, but I should have the tools which enable me to fish all ranges and at this time I did not.

Don’t get me wrong this was not a chucking and chancing session, my mate Paco had visited and fished the swim 2 weeks previous, at this time fish could be located in holding areas at a very short range, we assumed the fish were still at this point this was another mistake, this time due to (we concluded) higher water temperatures, the fish had moved out into the deeper water, and I just could not put a bait in that position!

So it was a somewhat blind session, or perhaps just dumb of me to assume, can you imagine going to lake Cassien without fully preparing and assuming?

Speaking of which I now believe more so that Buen Dia is ths Spanish equivalent of Lake Cassin. Cassien is arguably the most famous of French lakes for holding some of the biggest Carp in the world!

Before I digress, living near to Buen Dia is no excuse to treat my approach with any less respect, this session has re-confirmed, that you can never be prepared enough and that actually I am now more than ever determined to work harder, give 100% effort and also give the fish and the lakes the respect that they deserve, claro all this work will go in, as I hope to find the bigger fish and have much more success.

Speaking of success we did have some, actually our young fishing friend Jorge (age 12) managed to bank several fish to approx 12kg. so a kilo for every year, ha!

Jorge fished much to the left of me; he fished hard day and night and deserved all the action he received. Paco also enjoyed action from early on Sat. morn; he was fishing at range and saw most of the daily fish. He took several fish to approx 8-9Kg.

I on the other hand lost more fish than I caught; I only managed 2 Barbel and 1 carp of about 7Kg. All of which came on the 2nd night. Actually I had action on the second night, but did not manage to connect or bank the majority of fish.

As low as the water is currently 9.4% Vol. Buen Dia is a special place, having swam in the water this weekend I am now sure she holds big fish and yet to be seen/caught surprises. It’s my intension to visit and fish Buen Dia as much as possible in order to discover its topography and hopefully the untold treasures she holds.