In November a small group of three intrepid anglers departed Dublin for Bilbao. We were headed to Northern Spain to chase one of my childhood dreams; monster perch. Always a ‘bogey’ species for me, I never seemed to be able to break the 2 lb barrier. We were headed to a freshwater reservoir to do battle with some big fish. We already knew we were there, Marcin who organised the trip had been there the year previously and after seeing his pictures, I asked him to let me know if he was heading over that way again. Such was his experience that he decided that he was going again the following year and that is how the three of us came to be sitting in the departures area of Dublin airport.
After sleeping most of the flight, we landed in a damp and rainy Bilbao and drove an hour to our intended destination. Here we met the fourth member of our group, JP who was travelling from London. We unloaded our gear into our accommodation and set about preparing for our kayak fishing adventure; five days of chasing monster fish, perch of a size I have only encountered in childhood dreams. Impatience got the better of me so I launched the drone to capture my first glimpse of the venue and I wasn’t disappointed. Excitement and anticipation were reaching fever pitch!
We arrived at the lake shore before dawn the following morning, having rigged our rented kayaks to our own specifications the day before (chart plotter and sonar mounted, etc) to be ready for the five days that lay ahead. After a brief chat and exchange of information with our hosts, we launched. Marcin, having fished here the year previously, had somewhat of a suss on the lake so we all followed him. Before long, he was into a fish and as it broke the surface it almost broke my brain! It was difficult to process exactly what I was seeing; such was the size of the fish that broke the surface – a barrel of a perch at 4 lb 14 ozs. I snapped him a couple of photographs before letting the perch back to where it came from. Buoyed by the experience we started fishing harder, all of us wanting to connect with something similar.
For me it didn’t happen until mid-afternoon. As we fished by an island in relatively shallow water and a bright blue sky (the polar opposite to ‘textbook’ conditions) I felt the faintest of plucks on the line. Striking, I remember calling to Marcin to tell him I had a fish but it didn’t feel that big. It woke up a short time later. The next few minutes are somewhat blurred but culminated in me returning a 4 lb 5 oz perch to the water. A childhood dream in the flesh. Job done, I could relax and enjoy my fishing from here on. As it happened, I wouldn’t catch another fish for a day and a half.
The water we were fishing did indeed house huge perch but it was also a huge water. And while there were huge perch in the lake, there wasn’t a huge population of them. There was also quite a healthy stock of natural foods for them so our little plastic fish that we were offering really had to stand out. We had to cover an awful lot of water to find fish in beautiful but cold surroundings. Many of the mountains surrounding the lake were snow-capped and the average temperature for the trip was around four degrees. Ten hours a day in the kayak fishing hard for two or three bites was certainly challenging fishing but we knew the rewards were there for those that persevered. I drew a blank on day two but I remember Marcin doing very well while I think both JP and John opened their monster perch accounts!
After a difficult second day, I resolved to go again on the third day with a couple of minor adjustments to my setup. I decided to start using a drogue to really slow my drift down and this allowed me to fish far lighter lures which in turn allowed me to impart more lifelike action into them. There’s a world of difference between ten and five grams when finesse fishing! From the launch point I split from my companions who headed for the tip of an island. I was drawn to the other end of it. I can’t give any other explanation than to say I was simply drawn to the area.
The decision was fortuitous because shortly after stopping to fish I felt a dainty little pluck on the lure and struck into another big fish. 5 lb 2 ozs to be precise, not far off the Irish record weight. I was elated, amazed, relieved and shocked all at once. I’d never seen anything quite like it and likely wouldn’t again for quite some time. Wrong! Within an hour I had a second fish of that same weight resting in the kayak. I was thrilled and continued on fishing. The rest of the day was punctuated by a few zander, no more big perch for me but we were happy that by the third day we were starting to ‘figure out’ this water. We were excited as to what the next couple of day would bring.
As it happened, they brought wind. Lots of it. We were stranded, stuck to the bank in horrible conditions. With the wind gusting over 80 km our hosts wouldn’t let us out on the water due to safety concerns. Bitterly disappointed, we spent the last couple of days searching for suitable bank fishing, drinking tea and generally just having the craic. Our time was up. We had a bite at the cherry but wanted more. The tour organisers then cleverly offered us either our two days refunded or to tag them on as free days on a future trip. We told him we’d see him again next year …
