Post by Hambo on Jun 26, 2003 8:56:31 GMT -5
I had a wander around the north of Portugal last week and looked at a couple of rivers to assess any potential for fly fishing.
At the very top of Portugal is a town called Moncao which looks across the Rio Minho to Galicia in Spain, some 150 metres away. The town is encircled by a Roman wall and a few remaining fortifications.
It is possible to get to the river via footpaths from the town. Almost directly in front of the main square (Deu a Deu) there is a smallish bay. Although you can spot a few trout rising from the walls, the bay was heaving with thousands of feeding mullet.
The river is very fast running and looked too deep for wading anyway. There is an angling tackle shop just off the square.
Further down, in the Penedes-Geres National Park, there is a lovely village called Soajo. There is a cooperative in the village letting the traditional stone houses, renovated to a high level. You pay according ot the number of bedrooms you use. €40 for one bedroom, €80 for two etc, but you get the use of the rest of the house and garden, breakfast included.
A kilometre below the village the Rio Lima forms a series of pools over at least 20 kilometres, many of them very deep and long. There are trout in the crystal clear waters and another fish with a gold lateral line. Locals called it something boca, Iberian, do you know it?
Access to the river is not that easy, but Rosalinha who runs the housing cooperative will give you directions, in English too. Wading is a possibililty, but in some places, you will need to scramble along the banks.
Permits are available in Ponte de Barca some 21 kms away. I did have a go and found my #12 PTN chased by the unidentified fish, mostly very small, but did hook one larger specimen. I did see larger fish lurking under rocks up to 30cm long.
The mountains above are worth exploring. The owner of the Espiguiera restaurant speaks good English and often sleeps overnight in mountain huts to photograph the three packs of wolves living locally.
These are some links with pics of the village, lifted from the web.
www.xs4all.nl/~mosm/English/Portugal_us/portugal3_us.html
www.users.waitrose.com/~nick777/soajo.htm
I only stayed one night in the Douro valley. It looks pretty, but was rather congested and touristified for me.
Moved on to the coast as it also got unbearably hot. Stayed near Vila do Conde, a fishing village with a huge urban sprawl around it.
The Rio Ave looks to have potential for salmon and sea-trout, but I could not find any information other than that it had eels. However, strolling along its banks, I did see dozens of local hungry looking types hauling loads of mullet from the river. The rigs were designed to foul-hook the fish, presumably because of the mullets soft mouth.
I'm sure there is potential for trout fishing in the mountains, but very little information is available and access and any form of organisation appears non-existant. Hopefully, that will change as the region opens up more.
At the very top of Portugal is a town called Moncao which looks across the Rio Minho to Galicia in Spain, some 150 metres away. The town is encircled by a Roman wall and a few remaining fortifications.
It is possible to get to the river via footpaths from the town. Almost directly in front of the main square (Deu a Deu) there is a smallish bay. Although you can spot a few trout rising from the walls, the bay was heaving with thousands of feeding mullet.
The river is very fast running and looked too deep for wading anyway. There is an angling tackle shop just off the square.
Further down, in the Penedes-Geres National Park, there is a lovely village called Soajo. There is a cooperative in the village letting the traditional stone houses, renovated to a high level. You pay according ot the number of bedrooms you use. €40 for one bedroom, €80 for two etc, but you get the use of the rest of the house and garden, breakfast included.
A kilometre below the village the Rio Lima forms a series of pools over at least 20 kilometres, many of them very deep and long. There are trout in the crystal clear waters and another fish with a gold lateral line. Locals called it something boca, Iberian, do you know it?
Access to the river is not that easy, but Rosalinha who runs the housing cooperative will give you directions, in English too. Wading is a possibililty, but in some places, you will need to scramble along the banks.
Permits are available in Ponte de Barca some 21 kms away. I did have a go and found my #12 PTN chased by the unidentified fish, mostly very small, but did hook one larger specimen. I did see larger fish lurking under rocks up to 30cm long.
The mountains above are worth exploring. The owner of the Espiguiera restaurant speaks good English and often sleeps overnight in mountain huts to photograph the three packs of wolves living locally.
These are some links with pics of the village, lifted from the web.
www.xs4all.nl/~mosm/English/Portugal_us/portugal3_us.html
www.users.waitrose.com/~nick777/soajo.htm
I only stayed one night in the Douro valley. It looks pretty, but was rather congested and touristified for me.
Moved on to the coast as it also got unbearably hot. Stayed near Vila do Conde, a fishing village with a huge urban sprawl around it.
The Rio Ave looks to have potential for salmon and sea-trout, but I could not find any information other than that it had eels. However, strolling along its banks, I did see dozens of local hungry looking types hauling loads of mullet from the river. The rigs were designed to foul-hook the fish, presumably because of the mullets soft mouth.
I'm sure there is potential for trout fishing in the mountains, but very little information is available and access and any form of organisation appears non-existant. Hopefully, that will change as the region opens up more.