As its name already tells us, Extrema (extreme) Dura (hard), a hells climate. Summers are insupportably hot and winters are extremely cold. But however or maybe therefore the province of Extremadura ist the big jewel of Spain . Not only because of it's density of lakes and rivers for m2, but also because of the quality of each lake. The area between the big rivers Guadiana and Tajo is full of smaller and bigger lakes and each of them has excellent characteristics. In this article I will tell you about three big lakes of the Guadiana more and they are all close to the legendary lake of Orellana . All of them have high quality and have a very similar if not for the future higher angling potential as it has Orellana itself. A bit more northern is the basin of the river Tajo , where there are also fabulous lakes, like the lake of Alcantara , the hugest reserve of the river Tajo .

GARCIA de SOLA

Between the lakes of Cijara and Orellana sets the lake of Garcia de Sola. This one is much smaller than the other ones, but combines incomparable conditions for angling big specimen. It is surrounded by a beautiful landscape, almost everywhere eucalyptus forests. It was finished in 1962 and has a capacity of 555hm3 and covers an area of 3550ha.Coming from Madrid , the quickest way is to take the A5 which leads to Portugal . Near the town of Santa Amalia you will take the road N430 which leads to Ciudad Real . After we have passed the dam of Garcia de Sola we turn left after approximately 11 km an get on the road N502. From this road there are a few accesses to good angling areas. The first one lies in a bay near an eucalyptus promenade which is straight opposite of the village of Valdecaballeros. Further on at km 221 in direction of the village of Herrera del Duque there is an old bridge. On its right side there is also a good angling area. Three kilometres later, then at km 224 there is a detour in direction of the town of Castilblanco . Near that town there is also a bay which is a very good angling area. Another very interesting angling area is near of the village of Peloche , after an embarkation point on the mountainous side. There are Barbles of impressive dimensions, but there are not too many of them and they get not caught too often. The carp population is mixed, but the bigger specimen use to be mirror carp. The biggest specimen ever official caught was a mirror of 28 kg .

CIJARA

In the province of Extremadura there is the lake of Cijara . It is at the beginning of a chain of three big lakes in the basin of the Guadiana . It was finished in 1956 and has a capacity of 1679 hm3 and covers an area of 6462 ha . In the eighties years it was a real diamond. Afterwards in the nineties because of the strong drought many of the big lakes have been emptied and the angling characteristics an the fish population have suffered a lot. For the sake of abundant rainfalls during the last years this lake is coming up again to his old glory and nowadays big specimen are caught again more frequently. If we always continue on road N502 which brought us to García de Sola, we reach the dam of Cijara. When we arrive there, we have to decide, depending on where we want to angle, in which direction we will continue driving.

Upper Part:

The area around the bridge and the surroundings of the village of Villarta are ideal areas to angle giant Barbles, especially in spring when they are hunting little fish. In this area the water is a little muddy because very close there is the Guadiana river and other little rivers flowing in. The banks are very sheer and there are only a few accesses.

Central Part:

In this area, near the village of Helechosa del Monte the water is clear and middle deep. That's the area where the lake becomes the widest and has got ideal beaches for Carpfishing. Otherwise you can reach most of those beaches only by boat. There are many of the best places to catch big carp.

The Dam:

Of course this is the best place to angle in winter, with clear and deep water. You do not catch very often a big carp, but sometimes it happens that you take out a big specimen. It is also an ideal place to catch giant Barbles.

Around Cijara:

It is easy to get to the banks. In this area little bays and sheer banks interchange. There are also considerable differences in depth and giant on the ground, which at the same time are used by big fish to shelter.

Carp and Barbel

There are not too many carp, better not many small ones because it is specially a depredator water. There are nearly no medium ones and only a few but very big ones. We recommend to use a big bait and to be very patient. If than the alarm sound we should be prepared for an impressive fight, because they are very strong and wrestling fish.T hey are the most aggressive ones of the Iberian Peninsula and bite to each type of immovable bait and also to movable baits like for example Blinker or plastic fish. There are plenty of Barbus Comizos from 4 to 7 kg and often there are caught specimens with more than 11 kg .

LA SERENA OR ZUJAR

It means the future for the Spanish carp. This giant has been finished in 1986 and has a capacity of 3232hm3 and covers an area of 13.929ha. Here everything is oversized, beginning from the dam which is 579 m long and 88 m high. And so it is the second biggest dam in Europe . It is filled up by the water of the river Zújar and from the flood canal of the lake of Orellana . Also if it is a relatively new lake there were caught carp of up to 16 kg which probably came from the flood canal of Orellana or are originally form the Zújar river. With the flood canal of Orellana did not only come in carp but also depredators and their favourite food the “American Crayfish”. From all this we can deduce that this lake will be the Mekka of Spanish Carpfishing within a few years. There are also plenty of barbles, they are not yet so big, approximately 4- 5 kg but very easy to catch because they are as aggressive as the ones from lake Cijara . We drive on the road N430 until we get to the village of Orellana la Vieja , than we cross the dam of Orellana and continue in the direction to the village of Castuera . Approximately 6 km after the dam we change to the road N413 and go in the direction of the village Puebla de Alcocer. From this town we can organize to get to all areas of the lake.

The dam:

Near the dam there are two big areas which are full of water plants. It is like a kind of green carpet and there are also a lot of nymphets. This area is only little deep. There are only a few specimens but these one are big and difficult to take out, because they escape into the water plants to shelter.

Other Areas:

It is very difficult to get orientation round the lake. Everything is very similar and there are very few references. One of the most important references is the Castle of the village of Pueblo de Alcocer, which is on a hill next to the lake. You can see the castle even from a longer distance.

The ground of the lake is very plane with only a few uneven places. There are enormous, a few kilometres long beaches where we can drive along with a normal vehicle if it is not heavily raining.

Although there are three important accesses by car and they are near the bridges which cross the big arms of the river. The most central one is between the village of Puebla de Alcocer and Esparragosa de Lares. From the village Esparragosa de Lares we drive in direction of the cemetery. After we have passed it we come after a few kilometres to a big bay. On our right side we have got the dam and on our left side the upper part of the lake.

Lodging and advises.

In the village of Alcocer you can stay at the Hostel “ la Cordoniz ” ph. 924 629 110. They have got rooms with bathroom, restaurant and hire boots. The use of motors is limited to 30HP as it is also in the rest of the Guadiana basin.

ALCANTARA

Very close to the Portuguese boarder there is the last big lake of the Tajo basin, the lake of Alcantara or how it also called José Maria Oriol. It was inaugurated in 1969 with a capacity of 3162 hm and it covers an area of 1400 ha . It is very difficult to give generally statements for this huge lake, because it has very big side arms and many kilometres where different rivers flow in. Big parts of the banks are very sheer and there are a lot of American Crayfish, important food base for big carp and barbels. Driving on the N5, near to the town of Trujillo we change to the road N521 in direction of Cáceres. From that point we have to choose the roads depending on the area where we want to angle

Upper part:

In the area where the rivers Gibranzos and Magasco flow in there is a big delta which reaches until the point where the rivers Alagon and Tajo flow in. You can reach the first area if you turn right from the N521 until you come to the village of Santa Marta de Magasca. From there you come to the different angle places. The second area is near the bridge which has been built for the road C524, which joins the towns of Cáceres and Plasencia. All this banks are quite easily to reach, mostly near the yacht club, there are many interesting bays.

The sidearm of the river Tietar:

Another big sidearm in this area is where the rivers Tietar and Tajo flow in. You get to this place if you continue driving on the road C524. From that road we have many possibilities to access through different villages. It is a very good area for both kind of fish, mostly in autumn for big carp.

Central part:

This is the widest part of the lake, near the village of Garrovillas . You cannot acceded the northern bank, but the southern bank has a few accesses from some ways. It is a very good area for carp, but the problem is hooking on the ground.

 

 

Eastern Part and the dam:

This area is specially interesting for carp angler, exactly from a place called “los cables” along to the dam. The whole ground is sandy and without hooking. There are very big beaches and bays, without any flooded trees and it is quite unusual to hook on the ground.

Sidearm of the Alagón:

The other big sidearm at Alcantara is formed by the rivers Alagón and Arbago. It is a very good area for both kind of fish, mostly in spring.

Carp and Barble

This lake is specially known because of its giant specimens of barbus comiza. You can easily catch specimens from 3 until 5 kg and there have been caught fish with more than 14 kg . Carp with more than 20 kg are not rare to catch, but they are difficult to find, except in spring and in winter.

 

 

SIERRA BRAVA

Each carp fisher who is looking for a lake with a potential of big carp would surely pass by at the lake of Sierra Brava , just only because its dam has been finished in 1994. It covers an area of 1650 ha and most of its water comes from the river Pizzarroso. What makes the difference between this lake and the others is mostly its flat ground. There are almost no differences in depth and no cuts. Therefore it is almost everywhere not deeper than 10 meters , except at a few very concrete points and if the water level is high it can reach a depth of 20 meters . The most difficult thing of this lake are it numerous hooking because the area was flooded without removing the forests, though that we have entire Holm oak forests and surfaces with young forest below. Even if it is such a young lake it has already been famous in 2000, because very big specimen of Black Bass have been caught there. Also a few carp angler dared to come to its sides and how they expected, the result was not really impressive. Almost all fish they caught weighted between 5 and 10 kg . Than, 2001 we heard that at Sierra Brava has been caught a carp of 21 kg , but we did not pay too much attention to this, because one singular specimen does not mean very much. The same group of anglers has than in 2002 caught some specimen between 18 and 22 kg , almost all of them mirrors, with the form of their body and the genetic like they use to be in the centre of Europe . In 2003 than broke out the fever of Sierra Brava and hundreds of carp fisher colonized its sides over months. Between the end of the year and the beginning of 2004 there have been caught more than 20 carp and each one over 20 kg . Though it became Spain 's most productive lake. Excepted the big amount of big specimen, in that year also a few weight records have been broken. For the first time there has been caught a mirror carp of 23,4 kg and a few months later one of 27,6 kg .

Evidently the carp did not come originally from this lake and not even from the river Pizarroso, not only because of it's size but also because of it's genetic. The local typical carp is a common carp with a long body form. These examples which have been caught were more likely from a fish farm, very high and with an enormous belly. At the moment there are a lot of voices and suppositions about their provenience, and indeed it would be very interesting to know where they come from. But nobody can tell us that for sure. At the end, it is not really important to know where they come from, the important thing is, that they are there.

Accesses and areas

The dam:

Like at mostly all the other lakes, here is the dam also the best place for carpfishing in winter. The banks are relatively flat if you consider how close they are to the dam. There are several little bays and its banks are covered by narrow thicket. Due to the big quantity of flooded plants angling is quite complicated because of hooking. There are only a very few places where you can angle quite well.

Central Part

This is the area where people do normally angle and where they caught wonderful specimens. As terms of reference for this area we can take a little island. The landscape at this banks changes, from the narrow thicket near the dam you suddenly find real big Holm Oaks which are very useful to shelter from crushing sun.

The only big inconvenient of this area, like in the rest of this lake are the numerous hooking which make us loose our captures. In contrast to the area of the dam where the water is clear, here the water is a little more muddy and greenish

Outlet of the Pizarroso River

There is a point, where the lake suddenly becomes very narrow and seems almost a river. The water in this area is quite muddy and there are many hooking. There are not many places where you can angle, but most of all in springtime, however the risk of hooking, we should really try this place because a lot of big fish gather in this time of year here in this area.

Angling licences for Extremadura:

Sección de conservación del medio ambiente y la naturaleza.

Avda. De Europa, 10 Badajoz.

Tel: 981 18 45 77

Boat permits for the Guadiana river:

Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadiana

C./ Alarcos,21 planta 6

Ciudad Real

Tel : 926 21 23 03

Fax:926 21 50 13

 

Boat permits for the Tajo river:

Confederación Hidrográfica del Tajo

C./ Agustín de Betancourt,25

28071 Madrid

Tel. 91 535 05 00