I’m in the Asturias region in Northern Spain on a reconnaissance mission for the USA Fly Fishing Masters Team. The actual competition takes place here April 23-28th. I’ll be headed home Thursday then right back here in three weeks.
The Masters Team is for we “over 50 guys” that still enjoy competing on the world stage. The Masters has only been in action about five years. I was on the team in Ireland in 2016 and last year in Portugal where we took home the bronze medal.
I’m here with Jerry Arnold who goes by the title, Team Manager. But Jerry is far more important. He’s our sponsor and a great friend to all of us on the team.
A few months ago it looked I wouldn’t make this year’s competition. I’m teaching a full day fly fishing seminar to the Cornhusker Fly Fishers Club on April 21. The only way I could go meant arriving in Spain the day the event starts then entering the tournament without ever seeing the water. Well. . . . when Jerry learned of my predicament he suggested we head over together a few weeks beforehand on a scouting mission. If you read this blog then you already know my schedule. What’s a quick run over to Spain?
Jerry and I arrived early this morning here at the Hotel Maria Manuela in Benia de Onis. We must have been tired and jetlagged. We didn’t wake up until 11 am! We missed free breakfast by an hour so we wandered across the street to a cool little place for coffee.
To say its raining is an understatement. I was aware of the forecast for a storm but today was bad. Luckily, our guide Pablo Castro Pinos wasn’t meeting us till afternoon. After coffee we headed for a killer brunch at an Asturian Restaurant. I had baked cod with French fries. It even came with a choice of beer or wine.
Pablo arrived at 3 PM and was quick to inform us that there was a flood warning and fishing this week looked unlikely. Its hard to believe such news when you travel this far. However, having the nickname Monsoon Currier, I believed it. Soon we were on our way to get a hands-on view of the flood.
About 10 km from our hotel is the village of Cangas de Onis. Through it runs one of the competition waters, the Gueña River. It’s a busy little town with narrow streets and shops and restaurants on every corner. The only bad thing about the bustling city is the parking situation but we found a place next to the river. The first thing we saw was a tree floating on top of the chocolate colored water.
You can cry or chuckle. Its up to the angler. Jerry and I travel and fish so much that we’ve come to accept such crushing from mother nature on occasion. Pablo described for us what the river will hopefully look like a month from now and how he’d fish it. Then we checked out the famous Roman bridge. It was pouring but you can still see what an incredible feat this must have been to build during medieval times.
Almost every country in the world has a custom. Here in the Asturias of Spain its apple cider and they pour it from about three feet above the glass. This spattering in the cup creates massive carbonation. Once you get an inch or so in the cup you slam it quick before the bubbles decrease. The tasty drink was a great wake up cure for jetlag.
After enough cider we walked back to the Gueña River. Perhaps we thought the rush of water might look better but it didn’t. By now it was around 6 PM. Jetlag tiredness was setting in hard. We headed back towards the hotel when Pablo decided to show us the Covadonga which is an incredible church/sanctuary on the top of a mountain. There are caves and candles and it was very cool for the hour we spent.
We left Covadonga soaked to the bone. Especially me because I didn’t have an umbrella. We headed to the hotel and sipped a couple beers while Pablo showed us his favorite flies on these local rivers.
Just when Jerry and I thought the day was over, hunger exceeded exhaustion. In Europe, especially Spain, its customary to eat dinner late. At 9 PM we headed right back to Cangas de Onis and Jerry treated Pablo and I to a sensational seafood feast.
Other than over sleeping we got our money’s worth on our first full day in Spain. We’re exhausted. Tomorrow we’ll see if the highwater is as serious as it seems.
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