On Sept 30th the members of the Rods and Reels and Abbey Angling Club took a week’s trip to Extremadura for their annual ‘Fishing Fiesta’. The group included one non-angler who had come to photograph wildlife. We were staying at an hotel in Puebla de Alcocer and using part of nearby Lake Serena - one of the three largest reservoirs in Spain, if not Europe. It is an area rich in castles and history. Not far away is the town of Medellin, named after its Roman founder Quintus Mertellus and the birthplace in 1485 of Hernan Cortes, conqueror of Mexico. Alcocer itself has a fine castle with the town lying on the slopes below, where wonderful views of the surrounding country can be obtained.

On arrival we found that the Hotel Cordoniz was fully determined to live down to its one star, such as: putting three people in one small room but still charging full price, broken shower heads and taped-over electric wires. Not a good start, and worse for one member who, having left the Costa early, took a long detour via Badajoz, arriving early evening. He wasn’t allowed to forget it for the whole week (No names, no packdrill, but his initials are T S !). However, in fairness the rooms were cleaned and linen changed daily and the staffs were pleasant.

The reservoir was well down, entailing a drive over a very rocky slope strewn with boulders to reach the pegs. The weekend was spent in practice for the 11 a.m. start on Monday, finishing at 5 p.m. each day. The days were extremely hot and the area surrounding the reservoir, consisting mainly of grassland with scattered evergreen and cork oaks, was bleached white, showing no rain had fallen for a long time. The practice days didn’t produce any hopeful signs, but, considering the vast size of the lake, it would take plenty of groundbait to tempt in fish to the area. This proved the case and by the end of the week some pegs were producing good weights, mostly the higher numbers furthest along the margin, which all were desperately hoping to draw every evening..

After the match had started catfish began to appear, often swimming up to the seats, providing an easy catch. However the negative side was their spiny fins which caused an unpleasant reaction to those stabbed - one angler being hardly able to use his right hand due to the swelling and requiring a visit to the Farmacia for antibiotic cream. However, others found that a large catfish was just the thing to make up final weights.

All were sorry that Neil (the Boy) Birnie had to leave early due to a back problem; tempered in some cases with a certain relief that strong competition was lessened.

While the anglers sweltered by the water, the photographer sweated across the dessicated steppe looking for non-existent wildlife. Even the storks which are permanent feature of the area, nesting on churches and old buildings, were missing. After the day’s fishing everyone was glad to sit in the hotel courtyard with a cool drink before heading for a local restaurant - ‘La Huerta’ where the huge quantities of delicious food made up for any disappointments of the day. Should anyone visit Puebla de Alcocer, this restaurant is an absolute must. Apparently the family which owns it comes to Torrevieja for their holidays. If only they would bring their restaurant here as well!

On the Wednesday evening the group went to the nearby town of Talarrubias, where they had stayed last year, for a meal at a local restaurant. Inevitably, comparison was made with ‘La Huerta’ and most decided it was no contest. If only local businesses would realise that, in this remote area, with few tourists, you need all the goodwill you can get and that giving poor quality food and wine results in a negative posting on Tripadvisor and a loss of business. On Friday the final awards were made and the hotel provided the sort of food we should have had on offer all week- given the reputation of Extremadura for great cuisine.

This gathering gave the photographer yet another opportunity to take embarrassing shots of club members ( the only wildlife easily available), and hopefully all photographs will be available for members to view in due course (unless a hefty sum is forthcoming in some cases!). Inevitably with fishermen, nobody would claim they had had a good catch, but the usual suspects were out in front, especially Doug Hornblow who always seemed to get a high number peg and kept reeling them in.

On Saturday began the long drive home, to France in the case of one member Everyone caught a strong dose of sun if not fish, but the week was one of good humour and relaxation and seemed to be enjoyed by all.

Stephen Treseder 2016.