Teulada-Moraira Fishing Club

Despite the extremely hot weather we have been experiencing over the past few weeks some of our intrepid (mad dogs and Englishmen) members have still ventured onto the banks of the Rio Jucar. It may be due to the prolonged absence as a result of the coronavirus lockdown and the fear of another such restriction to their fishing may be in the offing, or simply a certain degree of insanity! The usual excuse is, “It wasn’t too bad as there was nice breeze coming off the water.”

I joined them this week after a few weeks absence due to family and, after setting up and settling myself under my umbrella, sat there with sweat trickling down my neck at 09.30 in the morning wondering “What am I doing here?”. Then, miracle of miracles, a breeze sprang up from the water and it wasn’t too bad!

However, back to the fishing. I have been kept informed what has been happening during my absence and one of the most significant things is that, for the first period in over a year, the “up in the water” method has been paying dividends. Our most proficient in this method, Vic Wills, has been enjoying regular success, catching half a dozen or more fish each week. It is normal to cast tight to the far bank when using this method and trying to keep the float stationary or only moving down stream very slowly. One or two of us have experimented in the past with this method close to the near bank on the basis that, if it works close to the far bank, why not to the near bank, but with no success. However, as there currently seem to a lot of fish being caught close in, Frank Povey tried this again to be rewarded on his second cast with a fish of just over eighteen pounds (8.2 kg). As most of the fishing had been conducted on sections B1 and B2 in recent weeks it was agreed that we would try B3 this last week. When Frank, Jeff and I arrived at the river we found a number of members already setting up on B2. Curious as to why this should be, we said that B3 had been suggested so that was where we would fish. It turned out to be a wise choice as we had catches of 15, 13 and 6 whereas the others had ones and twos and one unfortunate member failed to catch. Most of our fish were caught on the near side including a number by fishing up in the water. I had a nice twelve pounder (5.5 kg) by this method so will persevere with it whilst the weather is so hot.

For a bit of fun, a few weeks ago, Frank challenged Ray Craig (our expert in bleak fishing) to a 'bleak' match which he has been promising for some time. Bleak are a small fish averaging about 6 or 7 cm in length, but there are lots of them. Tactics involve very small hooks, a tiny float and maggots for bait. Ray managed over 100 whilst Frank around 20 in their one hour match.

We are a very friendly club and are always happy to welcome new members. Anyone without match fishing experience will be given assistance and advice from our more experienced members.

For further information please contact Frank Povey on 966 490 338, email frankpovey1@gmail. com, or call Ray Craig on 966 492 083 or 650 069 247.