Good Afternoon.
I am sat eating my lunch having just returned from walking my dog! I often take Flash in my Navara to an area with a dusty track that leads out into the open countryside. It’s a three-minute drive, and then we can walk for an hour if need be, depending on the time of day, and the burning heat of course.
He loves his bed, but loves a walk too!
The Spanish have a rather unique and direct way of describing the weather. Different regions have different accents and language patterns, but in my village it is either said as: “Que calor!” or “Que frio!” They translate to: that heat, or that cold!
The Spanish really don’t beat around the bush when it comes to their language, whereas the English like to add extra, and quite often unnecessary words into their conversation. For example: “Isn’t is hot today?” Or “The party last night was very good!” The Spanish would simply describe a similar situation as “Que bueno!”
The longer I live in Spain, the more I begin to understand about their language, and it’s beginning to make much more sense in all honesty. Is there really any need for idle chit-chat after all? Just say what you mean in a few words and be done with it!
The temperature has really climbed in the last week. It was 37 C at Sierra Brava at the weekend and 41 C in Andalucia! This kind of heat can quickly reduce water levels, and on my walk there are a few small ponds, or man-made watering holes for grazing cattle. There are two just on the outskirts of my village, and amazingly they both hold carp. The fact the larger of the two holds carp is not so surprising, but the second tiny one beggars belief really! I don’t know if an angler added some from Sierra Brava, but I spotted a carp that must be upper-double size last year, and I spotted him again just yesterday, along with a few other scamps.
Low water levels at the drinking hole.
Normally the water level is a good metre higher than what it is now, and with the very hot weather that is imminent, I can see this watering hole drying up over the summer. I can see the carp perishing as oxygen levels decrease, so I have come up with a plan, to catch the carp in the watering hole, and then move them to the larger pond up the road.
Before anyone reads this post and screams that you can’t move carp – it’s illegal! Firstly, I am not doing this for financial gain, or to boost day ticket numbers. These are two stagnant holes in the ground that cattle drink from, and no one actually fishes. I am doing this mission solely for the welfare of the carp. They will no doubt flourish and grow larger in their new environment, and I am sure their lives will be richer and extended, rather than face a certain, grim and painful death later this summer.
Carp love them!
What is my plan? To catch them on floaters of course! I have a lovely little Sonik stalker rod – 9ft 2lb/tc which I will use, and I started the exercise off today, introducing few handfuls of Flash’s dog biscuits (much to his disgust). They soon started eating them off the top, so I don’t think catching them will be that difficult. I will keep you posted on my progress and photograph the carp as they are caught and released into their new environment.
I spotted an upper-double carp in here yesterday!
I may have my first go for one this evening at dusk, as the sun sinks.
I am off for a siesta now. It is Spain after all!
Cheers
Jake Langley-Hobbs
