Tony Kingdon: Return to Orellana

Dynamite and Carp Spirit-sponsored angler Tony Kingdon shares his experience returning to one of Spain’s most famous carp lakes in Orellana…

Tony says…

I first made the long trip down to Orellana in November 2021, it was an incredibly tough trip and resulted in a nine-day blank and I returned home battered and bruised!! Undeterred by this, plans were put in place for a return trip this time in March. Hopefully the weather would be much warmer and the fish eager to feed after the winter…

Well, I’ve just returned from that March trip and it’s safe to say things definitely went far better than last time but not without its struggles…

We arrived at the lake around 9.30am after a mega 26-hour drive from the UK, but with so much anticipation and excitement the lack of sleep was hardly felt and we were soon heading down a rough old track to the lake’s edge for our first look at this huge 14,000 acre water.

We had decided to start at the top end of the lake where the water is much shallower than the rest as it is known to be a good spring area and clearly we weren’t the only anglers to think so as this narrower end was incredibly busy with Spanish anglers.

The fish put on an incredible show that morning which we just couldn’t believe having only been there 10 minutes and we’d seen over a hundred fish jump! The van was unloaded in double quick time and we were soon boating our gear to one of the last areas free of anglers as close to the fish as possible.

That first day was a struggle but by late afternoon we both managed to get 3 rods out all fishing at different depths in the general area of the fish…

The following morning we awoke to the most stunning sunrise and the sound of fish jumping in all directions – literally hundreds of fish like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Still now, Dan and myself cannot fathom how we didn’t get bite after bite that day not even a bleep registered. We could only put it down to a massive hatch with the sudden rise in temperatures… or just the fact it’s Orellana and rock hard at the best of times!

As hard as we tried the next 3 days saw no action to the rods and the fish slowly seemed to leave our area so it was time for a move. Every minute seems critical and with three of our 10 days gone we had to go on the hunt…

With the weather at 25c we decided to head even further up the lake to shallow weedy water in the hope of finding the fish. Moving is a massive mission on Orellana due to its size – towing gear back to the van, full pack down, driving 3km up the lake, full van empty and new camp set up takes all day, but by that evening rods were out in the new swim and we sat back to enjoy a few beers.

That familiar feeling of my previous trip started to sink in the following morning when I awoke to motionless rods, 4 nights in and no fish and in a swim that seemed to hold no carp at all… Surly I couldn’t blank again for 10 days! The decision that morning was made easier this time as the van was parked right next to the bivvy, but none the less it was still another full pack down (the second in as many days), van loaded, boats strapped to the roof and this time a massive move down the lake by 15km to the middle section…

There was an area I fancied on the opposite side of the lake to our access point and I hoped as it was over 1.5km away in the boat it might be free. As we looked across the lake it looked free so we repeated the process and soon we were on our way across the lake with boats fully loaded.

As we neared the point and came around the corner our hearts sank as a bivvy appeared, not in the swim but only 30 yards round the corner that was out of sight from the other side.

It turned out to be a fellow Dynamite angler from Slovenia, Kristof and he’d set up round the corner to keep out the wind. We stopped for a while and had a good chat and it seemed we were in the right area as he had managed several fish over the previous few nights and had seen lots too.

We chatted for a while as anglers do before Dan and I headed off to find a similar area for us to fish. We must have covered another 4km that day before finally deciding on a spot after a second visit back to it and me nearly having a fuck-it moment (which inevitably happens at some point on big trips like this).

It was late in the day as we got the rods out but the more I looked at this area the more my confidence grew. The wind had increased and was now really pushing into the bay we were fishing and fish had started to show out to our right in the entrance to the bay and the main body of water – could this be the night?

3.30am and I’m woken to a screaming alarm. Thirteen nights I’d sat on this lake over two trips waiting for this moment and blind panic set in…

I couldn’t find my head torch, shoes were on the wrong feet but there I was in the pitch black doing battle with my first carp from Orellana… It takes a minute to retrieve them from 300-yards but then you are treated to a battle royal bringing them up the margin self from 20ft of water, but after 15 minutes this battle was mine to be won and my first Spanish carp was in the net An angry 30lb male was my reward!

The days were hot and it was a shock to the system after a long winter at home and the carp were definitely not on the feed in the hours of daylight. With this in mind, we sorted some shade to sit under and enjoyed a few beers for the day awaiting the next night feeding spell.

Finally, the right depth was found for them to feed and that evening another two fish came to the net a 28lb and the biggest of the trip so far a funny shaped 34-pounder. The lake had certainly made me work for these and every one felt like a huge win. The emotion is hard to describe and can probably only ever be fully understood by fellow anglers…

The following day saw the wind change and blow out of our bay and as a result the following night was quiet with no bites. Dan made the decision to move over to the other side of the lake for the last 3 nights to try his luck and bank his first Orellana carp (a story for him to tell ;).

The wind on these large lakes changes all the time and by the following evening it was pushing hard back into the bay and the fish started to show just on dark, this time right in the bay. It took until 5am for the first bite and instantly I knew this was a big fish.

The amount of line that was stripping from the reel could only mean this was the one! Even at such long range the moment I picked up the rod it just stripped line from the reel, I jumped straight into the boat and headed out into the dark.

Finally, I caught up with her in the middle of the bay as she just glided past the boat and I could see the size before she bolted under the boat… the next few minutes were a blur but finally she was laid there gulping for air ready for the net… Yesss, Orellana dream complete! A beautiful common of just over 46lb but as its, Europe 21kg 🙂

: It all came good in the end!

: 46lb of mega Orellana Common.

For me this is what it’s all about – adventure and a massive amount of effort way out of your comfort zone resulting in what you dream about! Big wild carp from an extreme environment, perfection in my opinion.

The last 2 nights saw the action come steady with another three fish landed and a few more not, but and best possible ending came with Dan landing his own Orellana beast with only three hours to go! Just brilliant mate…

Until next time – Tony Kingdon