20 March, 2024 | Carp | Angler Blogs | Articles

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Tony Kingdon’s Lake Orellana Magic

Furzebray Lakes owner and Dynamite angler Tony Kingdon shares the story behind his latest adventure on Spain’s Lake Orellana. At just over 20,000 acres in size, Orellana is one of the largest reservoirs in Spain and tracking down its elusive carp is no easy feat – but with the right watercraft and the best bait going, he’s had an absolute corker of a trip!

Tony says… 

Well where to start, this trip certainly threw everything at us in true great lake style! Extremadura is known for its strong winds and changeable weather but I was not totally prepared for the two weeks that unfolded. Having studied the weather like a hawk before leaving it was looking like it was going to warm up nicely a few days after we arrived, so plenty of shorts and suncream were packed lol. Just as I was leaving I looked at my thermal B&B and coat and thought yeah, I’d best stick it in as the nights might be chilly. thank god I did…

Picking Dan up at 6am we started off on the crazy drive to Spain. It’s amazing how the lure of big carp can keep you going for a solid 26-hours of driving, but before we knew it we were driving through the mountains looking at the sun rising over Orellana – just truly magical… Bouncing down one of the rough old tracks to the lake’s edge, all thoughts of tiredness and the drive were long forgotten and soon a cider was in hand as we took it all in.

A few hours later the boats were loaded and we were ready for the off. We crossed the lake to the opposite side to look at a few areas my Spanish friend had recommended we started the trip in. Unfortunately, being a Friday many of the good areas were already taken by Spanish anglers which is crazy to imagine with the lake being over 20,000 acres, but we finally dropped into an area between the two spots we fancied with the plan to move on Sunday when they all went home…

The weather was stunning that day and into the upper teens but things had taken a turn on the forecast so we knew everything had to be sorted as best we could as the second day it looked unlikely we would be able to go out on the water! We worked hard all day to get camp sorted and rods out as best we could, by that evening we were very much flagging and really in need of some good food and a glass of wine.

 

The following morning saw Orellana in full beast mode – driving rain and savage winds battered us all day as we cowered in the cook tent we had set up back in the trees. Waves smashed the boats, rods and reels as we laughed at the fact we had come here for some nice spring sun…

We spent 3 days in this spot and every morning we took it in turns at climbing the hill behind us to keep an eye on the other two areas we fancied but nothing was seen… One morning, I boated 1000m up the lake to a big bay with the wind hacking in but it was freezing now with temps no more than 9/10c and we just didn’t fancy it… I couldn’t believe it when sat in this bay freezing my ass off, Dan called… I just knew it “please don’t tell me you have had one on my rods?” Yep came the reply.

It was lucky for me it was only a mid double common and a fish we decided to share to save a blank lol… For us though it was time to move. 3 days were gone in the blink of an eye and a feeling of being no where near the fish at all sunk in. After chatting with Dan, we decided to take a look at the river end – which was some 12km upstream and spent that day on the move…

This is probably a good time to mention that the water level this year was way, way up – probably 15-20ft on last spring and was so lush and green. In hindsight, we should probably have come to the top end from the off as most of this area was dry last year but now had 8-10 ft and full of weed.

We settled into the new spot and positioned the rods. I had the right side which dropped quickly into the river bed at 6-7m deep. This went across the lake for 150m before gently sloping up to to a bank of eel grass at 4.5m. Last year all the fish came at 4-5m so this looked spot on.

2 rods were placed along the edge of the weed, the last rod I took past this bank of weed and to my surprise as the water continued to shallow at 3-2.5m it cleared and I was able to pop this rod in some shallow water just in case they might be there in the better weather that was forecast for the next few days.

The first night was quiet but we did see quite a few fish just before dark and were a little disappointed nothing had happened. With a lovely sunny day and light winds, I was happy to leave to rods out as we headed into our second night in the swim.

Finally the following morning there was an indication on the long rod over the weed in the shallows at over 200m. It was only a few bleeps but after nothing all night, it needed to be looked at… As I approached the rod I could see the tip hooped over and the line out the clip, fish on! A quick trip out with the boat and the fish was soon lifted from the weed and after a short battle my first proper fish of the trip was in the net… A big wave of relief passed over me followed by the inevitable YES!!! A nice mid-30 to get things started…

Having been my only shallow rod that afternoon, they were all quickly swapped around – fishing only one in the river bed and now 3 shallow. The following morning the same rod was off again resulting in an upper double and the same in the afternoon with another low 20… I joked to Dan that I should just go over the other side and fish at 50m instead of 200 and he’d already commented it looked nice over there…

Well with what blew in that night I so wish we had. I woke at 1am to the sound of buzzers going off and howling winds… All 4 rods were done in thanks to massive weed bergs and logs. You name it- they came steaming up this narrow part of the lake and literally wiped out all our rods in an hour! It was total carnage!!!

The next day was no better with us basically having to fish short into the river bed just to be able to have rods in the water but it was a constant job every few hours to clean the weed off… Before we knew it, 2 nights were lost and we once again felt like we were in totally the wrong spot.

We sat there chatting over a coffee about what the hell to do. 4 nights out of 12 left… stick or twist… fate is a funny thing.

We decided to go and move back to the middle zone when another massive rain storm came up the valley and halted our pack up. As I sat there sheltering in the bivvy, I saw one show followed by another and another… 20 fish later it was obvious we had to stay but we needed to fish the shallow water like 2 days before, so the move was made but only a short one to the bank opposite so we could fish the short 50-70m up to the back side of the weed in the shallows…

A point to the right just sheltered this margin and with the aid of 5oz backleads and 12oz leads, I managed to fish effectively that first night, until at 1am a weed bed picked up Dan’s marker float taking out his left hand rod and my right and nearly the middle…

It was the middle rod that eventually woke me with just a single beep. I could see the marker up against the braid 20-yards out…

Shit.. I went back to the right rod to clear the weed and discovered Dan’s braid in the edge (more carnage fucking wind) but as I pulled this the float came back off my middle rod… We manage to sort it but we both lost a rod and they were out of the game for another night…

However, I hadn’t even got back to the bivvy when the middle rod I’d managed to save let out two bleeps followed by BEEEEEEEP – no way, fish on!

Being on the rod quickly and only fishing short meant no need for the boat this time and a slow and steady battle commenced on the little Carp Spirit X3 10ft’ers. At first glimpse, it didn’t look that big but inch by inch as it neared the net she grew until finally she slipped over the cord to me shouting a lot of expletives much to Dan’s amusement lol… 42lb of bristling Orellana common – YES!!!!

The wind eased a little that morning and we needed beer, wine oh and some food for the last 3 days so it was shop run time which is no easy feat on this place…

I moved the outboard onto my small boat and headed off on the 20min run back to the van, where the boat and motor then needed to be loaded in. Then, it was 30mins to the town and back again…

A feeling of horror crossed by body on returning to the lake as I was confronted by a sea of white caps that looked more like the north sea than a lake… With no signal to phone Dan, I decided to load this little boat and go for it! BIG mistake… The first 400m was fine until I rounded a point.

I stuck close as I dare to the steep cliff in this part of the lake but once in the open, the waves started smashing over the front. I gunned the engine to lift the front but this little boat was not meant for this and the water was now flooding in over the tail board and within seconds the boat was full with as much water! Somehow I managed to make it another 150m or so until I was able to beach on a grassy slope – completely soaked alongside all the spare clothes from the van. I was lucky to still have a boat at all!

To be honest I fucking shit myself…

After a quick regroup, I repacked the boat trying to distribute the weight better and decided to go for it and cross the lake to the quieter side some 400m away. By cutting across the wave, the little boat did a grand job to my amazement. I made it across and back to the swim… Note to self – take the big boat next time! Note Dan’s lovely washing line in the pics to dry his clothes.

That afternoon finally saw the wind drop off and the forecast was 3 lovely days to see out the trip.

it was now or never so the rods were sorted with the upmost of care… The night passed with no action even though carp were heard crashing out in the darkness. As we sat having a coffee thinking we’d fluffed it, the middle rod was away and a quick battle resulted in a nice mid 20…

An hour or so later with the sun now high in the sky, the right hand rod was off and this was much different. It was deep and slow and I kept saying I thought it had picked up a marker, but once up the shallow margin I could see it wasn’t as it powered left and right before slipping into the net… No way – another big girl with a proper over slung mouth at 40lb 8oz!

 

I was now kicking myself for not moving to this side earlier but never the less, we were here now and once again the rods went out for the night… This time, the bite on the ever faithful middle rod came at 6.30am just on first light.

The little rod struggled at first to free the fish from the weed but then a very slow battle commenced with the fish just holding ground all the way. Half way in and cramp set in and I just knew this was big…Another few minutes passed and I slowly waded out and eased the fish to the net.

Get in! Another 40 I thought until I looked in the net… “Holy shit Dan look at that”, a massive wide common as wild as you like at 54lb and a new PB!

That day was a bit of a blur as our man Dan pulled it out the bag a few hours later and several wines were put away to celebrate 🙂

So the last night… rods were all sorted for the last time and we got our heads down early after the afternoon’s wine, ready for the long drive home.

We woke to a beautiful sunrise which we took in one last time before packing down. What a trip – just unbelievable!

Thankfully she had one last surprise to give me before we left. Half way through packing up, the middle rod did its thing and sprang into action.

This thing was an animal from start to finish – taking out another rod before reluctantly going in the net. To my amazement it was another Lake Orellana beast tipping the scales at 46lb – Just wow!

For me it was a trip of a lifetime that gave me everything I search for in these trips in the space of 12 days – from despair to the highest of highs.

Mega!

-Tony

All fish were taken on a mix of Peppered Squid and Hot Fish & GLM, mixed with pellets, corn, tigers and natural particles – not to mention my pimped-up Source pop-ups…

The trusty boat was a Carp Spirit Black Boat 240wi.