Martin Vaughan wrote:

I’m off to Spain next week to fish the river guadiana (the orellano). Being a bit of a novice I’m after any advice you can offer on rigs. What coated braid would u recommend, length of leadcore & hooklink ? Its a guided trip with Extrema Fishing and all i have to supply is end tackle so any tips or advice
would be gratefully appreciated.

Hi Martin,

I assume you will be targeting Carp rather than Catfish. Not knowing the river in question makes answering a bit vague but here goes.

I would certainly recommend a strong braided hooklink such as 25lb Silkworm or similar, if you prefer coated braid then you won’t go far wrong with Korda Hybrid.  In my experience river carp certainly aren’t rig shy and basic heavy gauge set ups will suffice. 

I would use hooklinks of at least 18″ and about 4ft leadcore leaders.  Assuming the reels are supplied then I would imagine they will be spooled up with line around 18lb.

Hookwise I would suggest size4 minimum and would recommend either Korda LongshankX (tough as old boots) or Rigsbiz R2 hooks. 

There is no need for clever blowback rigs or even shrink tubing as a basic no knot knot will be fine.

In fast flowing stretches and in flood conditions carp will have to grab what they can before it washes past them, in my mind atleast, this contributes largely to their catchability and makes complicated rigs a little less important than on tap water clear gravel pits with just a handful of carp in them

If you need bait for the trip then I would take 18mm and fish double 18mm hard hook baits on the hook.  My preference for river fishing would have to be the fruity trifle.  River Carp in this country certainly seem to favour Fruity flavoured baits in my experience.

Hope some of this helps and I hope you have a fruitful trip. Please let us know how you get on

Cheers, Jamie

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