Typical scenery of the Andalusian countryside

To sum up, I can say that this 5th trip to Córdoba was truly the most relaxing and entertaining one since my first arrival in May 2008. I had a really good time with good friends and their families and I’m still overwhelmed by their kind support and hospitality. I really like the mentality and fine breed of men of Andalusia and like to thank everyone who supported me during my trip – especially Enrique and his family who gave me another very warm welcome.

I’m sure some of you might already had a look at my Flickr photostream, where I uploaded the almost 160 photos taken during the trip. If not take some time and browse through to get a better insight and idea of the beautiful region and scenery around Córdoba.

Blog post at Tsunami Times

I also would like to thank Masami at Tsunami Lures HQ in Osaka and Shimazaki from HandSome for their kind write-ups and blog posts. Much appreciated!

I hope that the countless visitors from Japan that came across this tiny blog in recent days are enjoying browsing through – even if I’m aware of the language barriers.

And that’s about that. Take care!

What sounds like a fortunate extension of the current trip, will (unfortunately) have some negative impact on my work as a freelance designer, but right now my options are limited so I’m trying to make the best out of it.

Luckily my friend Enrique offered his house in Baena for this week, so I don’t have to spend seven days in a packed hotel near the airport with hundreds of other tourists and passengers.

View from the roof of the house in Baena

Already last week I had a few more trips to the surrounding reservoirs and waters of Córdoba. At Embalse de la Encantada, Laz Jaraz and at Guadalmellato, I spent some pleasant days garnished with sunshine, thrilling topwater strikes and a handful of really good catches.

Embalse de la Encantada, Laz Jaraz

Kayak & topwater trip to Laz Jaraz

Embalse de Guadalmellato

Topwater catch at Embalse de Guadalmellato

Sizes and weights are far from the monstrous beasts that can be caught in other regions of the world like Mexico, Japan or the US, but as you might already guess, that’s not the main motivation behind spending time in one of the most beautiful landscapes of Spain.

Embalse de Guadalmellato

Before my planned departure, I had a pleasant afternoon with my friend Jose, who kindly offered his guiding services and incredible knowledge of Embalse de San Rafael de Navallana.

With Jose at Embalse de San Rafael de Navallana

In the few hours from afternoon to nightfall, we had a really good time on the water, even if the weather was quickly switching from sunny moments to heavy rain and windy periods. We caught some good Bass before nightfall and where enjoying our first trip together since a bit more than a year.

Sweet catches from Navallana

After sorting out the details of my extended stay in Spain, I went to a new reservoir on monday evening. Embalse de Iznajar is surrounded by green hills and mountains covered almost completely with olive trees. Because of heavy rain falls last winter, the reservoir is almost fully filled for the first time in more than ten years.

Embalse de Iznajar

After enjoying the breathtaking view from the top of one of the hills close to the adventurous highway passing the reservoir, I decided to have a quick walk at the banks which turned out to be a real amphibian zoo. Besides numerous birds and rabbits, I discovered frogs, lizards and snakes of enormous sizes (if you keep in mind that we are still in Europe).

Embalse de Iznajar

I even had some fish while discovering the banks, but decided to not throw any topwater plugs into the thick and heavy cover.

Embalse de Iznajar

On monday evening I got another call from Jose again, and we decided to have another afternoon trip to Navallana to lift my mood. Together with his younger brother we dealt well with the heat of the evening sun and caught some beautiful andalusian “blackies”.

Some more bass from Navallana

Nightfall at Embalse de San Rafael de Navallana

Again this was a non-topwater trip, but I’m looking forward to spend some time with my topwater tackle at Embalse de Iznajar or Guadalmellato until my planned departure on saturday evening. Unfortunately I had to bring back the Wilderness kayak last saturday, which is really a pain in the a**, as it would have fit perfectly for the conditions in Iznajar.

“Hasta Luego” from sunny Spain and fingers crossed, that mother earth will not mess up my travel plans again.

After arriving in Malaga around midday, I picked up the Wilderness Tarpon 100 in a small tackle shop in Salobreña in the evening. Late at night and with almost 500km by car under my belt, I arrived in Córdoba and received a really warm welcome by my spanish friends.

On wednesday it was time for some kayak practice. It only took a few minutes to get into it and fortunately the Tarpon 100 turns out to be a great and versatile watercraft.

kayak practice session

In terms of fishing I missed out on two strikes on a Gaucho+, but this couldn’t temper the delight of temperatures of 26°C, pure sunshine and the peaceful and quiet atmosphere at Embalse de San Rafael de Navallana.

Embalse de San Rafael de Navallana

Thursday marked a first “non-topwater-day”, which I used to explore some banks of Embalse del Guadalmellato up in the hills. In the evening hours I caught three good bass, while the best one had 50cm and 5lb. At all I discovered some interesting places and spots and I’m looking forward to explore them by kayak early next week.

Embalse del Guadalmellato

Yesterday I made the adventurous trip to Embalse de La Encantada, Las Jaras. Again I had to deal with bad roads and dangerous hills, but the view from the top and the amazing reservoir made up for it.

Just after 10 minutes I caught the first topwater bass of the trip. A sheer beauty of around 5lb who provide a trilling fight in-between rocks and heavy cover.

Again it was the Gaucho+ by Tsunami Lures who lured the fish away from their hiding spot and I also had a few strikes on a white Bumbinho and a handful of other topwater plugs.

Embalse de La Encantada, Las Jaras

And that’s really about it (for today).
More pictures and updates to come..

As mentioned in my last post, I ordered some items from Tokyo based TACKLE tackle and the package arrived in Berlin just two days ago. I’m quite happy with Robleson’s reel covers, because they fit perfectly to the egg-shape reels and will protect them well on forthcoming trips and journeys.

Robelson (ロベルソン) reel covers

Besides that I got my first topwater lure by Japanese lure maker HandSome. The tiny crawler – called “Oops!” – has an interesting shape and as expected – craftsmanship and finish are just perfect. What makes this tiny plug somewhat special, is the luminescent coloring. Should be fun fishing this lure in the twilight.

Don’t miss to visit the HandSome blog for more infos about their handcrafted topwater plugs and to get some insights about the process behind.

Just today I picked up a sending from Tsunami Lures at our local post office. After more than two weeks the Kaeru finally found it’s way to Berlin. Waiting for a sending that ships with Registered Air Mail can be a pain.. Apart from that, the tropical frog pattern is just beautiful and the weedless system (see pictures below) looks like a neat piece of lure engineering. Already looking forward to cast this topwater plug into the cover.

Photos of both topwater plugs in a neat slideshow..

Right so, that will have to suffice for today. Take care..

–

Edit: Just found this sweet video by HandSome. Great insights on the manufacturing process of a handmade topwater lure.

I couldn’t resist to place an order containing two Robelson reel covers (2nd version) and a nice topwater crawler called – Oops!（スーパーグロウ）- by HandSome. Can’t wait to receive the sending, so fingers crossed that it goes through customs without any problems.

After more than 4 years ordering from Japan, I still have no idea how German customs are dealing with overseas sendings and why I have to pick up every second sending at the custom office. Really annoying.

Just yesterday, I had to spent a solid hour to clear customs for a small package from Kanagawa, containing some topwater plugs I won at Yahoo auctions back in February. I was lucky enough to get two Mikisuke & Honey plugs and another perfectly crafted topwater lure by Genuine Record for a good price and I’m looking forward to give them a try during the forthcoming trip.

Genuine Record’s STF and two Mikisuke & Honey topwater lures

Besides that I’m working on a blog post featuring a handful of nylon and PE lines for Japanese Surface Game and hope get things done until end of the week.

The brief showcase will feature various lines by Tsunami Lures, Brightliver, Akashi Brand and TACKLE Tackle’s own floating nylon line. So stay tuned.

Today I got positive response from Granada, Spain. Beyond some minor language barriers, I had a pleasant talk to Iñaki from Salta Rios this afternoon. After just a few minutes exchanging details and talking about my needs, we agreed about the rent of a Tarpon 100 Pesca (Angler edition) in Ferrari red and I’m really happy about this kind offer.

The Tarpon 100 (Standard Edition) by Wilderness (image source)

Tarpon 100 Angler Edition Features

• Upgraded Phase 3 SOT seating system
• TriggerLock™ footbrace system
• 2 turn and lock Orbix hatch covers
• SlideTrax accessory rail
• Contour notches for milk crate & bait bucket
• Tankwell bungees
• Paddle/Rod holders
• Scotty® spinning rod holder
• Two flush mount rod holders
• Anchor system and cleat

• For more information visit the Wilderness Systems website

Those of you who are following this blog regularly, already know about the kayak research I did back in February. Since then I was trying to get in touch with kayak shops down there in Andalusia and thanks to Salta Rios, the search is finally over.

Kayak fishing is becoming more and more popular amongst topwater anglers in Japan and I’m curious to give it a try during my trip to Spain. To get a better idea about topwater angling from a small and versatile sit-on-top kayak, I recommend watching the following clip on YouTube:

Looks like fun, eh?

Slow but steady all the details and ingredients for the upcoming trip are coming together and it’s going to become a special and memorable one, thats for sure. Stay tuned!

One blog I’m following on an almost daily basis is the Tsunami Times, which comes along with daily entries accompanied with random music findings and recommendations. Already back in February I stumbled upon a post about a new weedless frog lure called Kaeru (カエル), that instantly caught my interest. The two frog patterns are great and the “weedless system” looks quite interesting too.

Tsunami Lures’ Kaeru (カエル) WL (image source: Tsunami-lures.com)

I should have known better, but I couldn’t resist and had to order one of them in the compelling two-tone “tropical frog” pattern. Already looking forward to receive this latest addition to my tackle box from Osaka. Just another way of dealing with the endless wait for the coming trip, huh?

Beyond that, I’m still thinking about the how to make my forthcoming kayak adventures more comfortable and save. In recent weeks, I came across Pelicans’ Micro Cases at several japanese topwater shops. Small, crushproof and water resistant boxes (with automatic pressure purge valve) that should come in handy for safely storing camera, cellphone and papers while kayaking.

Detail shots of the Micro Case 1060

Luckily these boxes are also available in Germany, so I don’t have get one at high import price from overseas. If you are interested in details and specifications, I recommend having a look at the manufacturers website.

Besides that, not much is happening with global warming at the moment. Since a few days we have freezing temperatures again and I’m still suffering from this weird Sinusitis. Hope to fully recover soon..

Earlier this week the Umco tackle box I won on e*ay arrived in Berlin and during better days of the week, I started overhauling this classic box from the early 70′s. The classic 3 tier aluminum box is in surprisingly good shape and even mechanically it’s in perfect condition. There are a few small dents and scratches on the outside, but that really makes the charm of a vintage accessory like this, doesn’t it?

As some of my topwater plugs doesn’t fit into the original plastics trays, I decided to replace two of them and to coat rims and bottom with cork to get more flexibility for storing lures and other terminal tackles. The look & feel of these cork inlays works quite well with the raw aluminum surfaces and I decided to also coat the bottom of the box.

All in all it took me two hours to finish the work on the inside of the box and I’m quite happy with the result. Now I’m still thinking about a way to get rid of a few color splashes, but this part has to wait until I’m 100% fit again.

Some first pictures of the pimped Umco 175 A box:

Alongside with this great lure I got two spools of Tsunami Lures’ own Super Swanky Topwater PE. More about that in one of the forthcoming posts focussing on nylon and braided lines.

Already last week I won a vintage Umco tackle box on e*ay, but once again german customs are playing their dirty games and I will have to pick up this “restoration” project at the Berlin office next week. I got this mid 70′s tackle box in good condition from a seller in Green Bay, Wisconsin and I’m planning to get this box a general overhaul and it’s three trays a special cork treatment. More details about that project to come soon.

Vintage Umco 175B tackle box

Besides these recent arrivals from overseas I’m enjoying the first days without freezing temperatures since more than two months. Feels quite good, even if mud and dirt will cover the streets for weeks. Can’t await to see the ice on my beloved lakes melting…

Some pictures from Embalse del Guadalmellato taken by Manu Arrabal (source: Spainbass) just 3 days ago:

Already two weeks ago I got some really good news from a friend in Sevilla, who arranged a sit-on-top fishing kayak for the duration of my stay in Córdoba. We still need to figure out the details, but I’m more than happy that I’ll be able to explore the reservoirs and their most hard-to-reach spots with a versatile and portable watercraft. It’s my first time kayaking, so I’m really excited about that!

Within the last weeks I already took care of some early preparations involving the purchase of a new grip and tape measure as well as some equipment and goods for the upcoming trip.

Latest arrival is a mid-sized Ortlieb dry bag that will come in handy for the planned kayak fishing adventures. The quality of these solid and waterproof bags is quite convincing, they are not too expensive and you get good value for money.