In autumn 2023 I had the opportunity to visit several new lakes for black bass in Andalucía. What at first was going to be a boat trip in Guadalmena ended up turning into a few days on the shore in which we alternated fishing with wildlife observation in spectacular scenery. We were able to enjoy the Jándula, Encinarejo and Fernandina lakes.

Kick-off, la Fernandina

After a wedding in Seville I had a few days off, so with my body still a bit battered from the excesses I decided to head for the famous Fernandina to start fishing the reservoir farthest from home. I arrived at the same lake almost at dusk and, after a good dinner, I went to sleep near the shore. I don’t have a camper but the car I have fits an inflatable mattress and on specific occasions it serves as a perfect sleeping cabin. And there is nothing nicer than waking up to the sound of cow bells, passing a few meters from your car …. An excellent natural alarm clock!

Go!

A good breakfast, I took a couple of rods, the backpack and I set out to play a fairly large area of reservoir, which had been recommended to me by several good friends. The morning was looking great, very pleasant temperatures, overcast sky, a light drizzle, a light breeze …. And although my friends had recommended more “finesse” techniques, I couldn’t resist tying a spinner for the first casts of the day.

I had not even been fishing for 20 minutes when I noticed a violent retention, I set the hook and the first bomb of the day…. A 3000 I thought when I saw him take his head out of the water but I soon saw that in these lands the fish are not as fat as where I fish. A +2500 which is not bad for my first fish in that lake, the day was done.

I continue fishing and things start to get complicated, fish patrolling along the banks, some bites in the spinner but I could not land any of them. I advanced a little more, I saw a point, I cast the ika to hell as I had been told and the same thing, some little touches that made my heart race, knowing that it could be another big one but nothing…. Could it be small fishes? lunkers? I will never know…

Second surprise of the day

Since I couldn’t get any bites, I decided to move on to a cut that I liked a lot. I alternated power fishing lures with casting an unleaded vinyl to the trees that I liked the most. In one of these trees, as soon as the vinyl fell, I saw a real big one that went for it, swallow it up and turned around. I hooked it and a hard battle began in the middle of a cut in which I almost “fell off” in order to get down to where the fish was.

I finally get to hold it in my hand and I’m “flipped” with the length of the fish so I decide to measure it. 59 cm, the longest fish I have caught to date, a pity it was so thin, as it weighed just over 2 kg on the scales. Second fish of the day and second record broken, and all this in just over 2 hours.

Then the wind came so I decided to sweep with a topwater lure an area that I had no reference. After several hundred meters, from a well-placed stick I landed the third fish of the day, another +2k that kept increasing the count. What a spectacle this reservoir is, I thought, how wrong I was…. The rest of the morning was quite unproductive, I could only catch a couple of keepers to be able to “fill” the quota, but neither of them reached the kilo. Still, the morning was more than done so I went back to the car for lunch.

Second round, black bass in Andalucía

In the afternoon the day cleared up and the complications began… A road cut by the rains prevented me from reaching the spot I wanted to fish, so I decided to investigate the area of the dam. I located some very nice structures but I didn’t have any results, beyond two shy bites, I think pike. The positive part was that I discovered new areas that in other conditions would have been more productive. Next time!

It was time to rest, to look for accommodation for the night, because there was no need to sleep 2 days in a row outdoors and we had earned a good bed and a good dinner… Said and done, we found a nice hotel and we were able to enjoy a copious dinner in the town of Bailén. There, on the fly, we decided that the next day we would fish in Encinarejo lake, a lake with a good population of bass, although not really big in size.

Encinarejo and Jándula lakes

So, that said and done, the next day we set off and decided to wake up just below the dam, in an area where I had been informed that there was a possibility of seeing lynx. This excursion was not exclusively for fishing, as I had also planned to fish in the Jándula and dedicate part of it willife watching, my other great passion.

If the dawn was unproductive, the rest of the morning was no less so…. No sign of lynx and no sign of bass until mid-morning, when they started to show up on the banks but ignoring the lures. I had the bad luck to catch the black bass in Andalucía in the middle of the autumn blackout, and the fall of any lure in the water made them run away terrified…. Even with an unleaded shad shape I couldn’t get them to show a minimum of interest… So I decided to spend the afternoon fishing in the Jándula and end my fishing trip there, to dedicate the last day entirely to wildlife watching with two good friends.

Final touch, black bass in Andalucía

After a hearty (although this time not deserved) lunch we went to the Jándula. This movement alone was worth it, because the road to this reservoir, although tremendously long, is spectacular and you can see a lot of wildlife. I came across deer, fallow deer, wild boars, eagles… everything but the desired lynx, hehe.

I arrived at the dam, took a look around and decided to play the area closest to the dam. The shore is pretty limited in this reservoir, so there wasn’t much to choose from… I grabbed a couple of rods and got to work. From the first cast I started to see fish…. It’s amazing how many fish there are in this area. They were not as apathetic as in the Encinarejo but they were not very keen either. They chased the lures at a certain distance and with suspicion, but at no time was I close to having any bite… I tried everything: reaction lures, finesse fishing, big baits? But when they’re off, they’re off, I’ve experienced it many times and I knew there wasn’t much I could do.

Saving zero in the last minute

I reached the last small creek I had planned to play and I saw an attack on the shore in front of me… I threw the vinyl but directly to land, so that it would not make any noise when it fell into the water. Then, I dragged it slowly and as soon as it entered the water I got a bite. Finally! A very long fish but also quite thin, it is seen that in this reservoir most of them are like that at that time of the year. Even so, it made me very excited, even more when a fox appeared to witness the moment when I released it. I was able to make a really nice and emotional video after such a hard day of fishing.

The trip continued but exclusively dedicated to wildlife watching. I left with a great taste in my mouth and looking forward to coming back, in a better season, to enjoy black bass fishing in Andalusia at its best.