Author: Philip Pembroke

My name is Phil Pembroke and I write fishing guide books - covering fly, sea and coarse fishing for Spain, France and Portugal. Nothing compares to ordering a pint of Guiness - a favourite drink, in my local Romford bar and nothing compares to a two week holiday spent fishing for carp at my local lake in Dagenham, East London. But the quest continues, to organise more fishing downtime. Fishing Bin El Ouidane lake in Morocco for virgin carp, with friends in 2007 was a wonderful experience. Ice fishing in Poland in 2017 was chilling. I have spent time fishing for Bighead carp in north east China in 2010 and drunk the local whiskey. 2017 is the Chinese year of the Rooster (Gōngjī), the ultimate auspicious symbol signifying luck, romance and personality. May the celestial rooster bring good luck to anglers everywhere they chose to cast a line. My blog has stories from near and far about fishing and travel, plus a few surprises. my website has free fishing maps for all regions of Spain, and a lot of free information about fishing in western and central Europe, Morocco and China: www.spainfishing.com You can get in touch here: philippembroke007@hotmail.com

Hi, I’m Phil

I write fishing guide books – covering fly, sea and coarse fishing, about Spain, France and Portugal. My web page provides free fishing maps of Spain, free to download press articles, and twelve fishing guide books: www.spainfishing.com

Nothing compares to ordering a pint of Guiness – a favourite drink, in my local Romford pub and nothing compares to a two week holiday spent fishing for carp at my local lake in Dagenham, East London (UK).

I have spent time fishing for Bighead carp in north east China in 2010 and drunk the local whiskey. 2018 is the Chinese year of the dog, which brings good fortune to those born in that year.

But the quest continues, to organise more fishing downtime. Fishing Ben El Quidaine lake, in Morocco, for virgin carp, with friends, in 2007 was a wonderful experience. 2017 was a very cool time, spent ice fishing in Poland for perch and pike.

Innumerable fishing experiences, and road trips are described in blog entries shown on the homepage menu – to left. You can ask me any question you like, email: philippembroke007@hotmail.com

Ice fishing in Poland

Poland’s secret winter fishing destinations uncovered – where only locals dare to tread

Maciej drills a hole while Marek enjoys a beer, at a frozen lake in Borowina, south east Poland.

Piotr, making his miniature lure selection

ice fishing at Borowina gets results. Maciej with a monster perch

Further ice fishing lures – we switched between lures to attract the fish

ice fishing rods, less than 35 cm long, short enough to jiggle a lure through an ice hole

Phil keeping warm, it’s not a casual pose, the beer bottle is frozen to his glove

straight from the ice hole, a fish for Phil

Piotr and Wlodek get ready to fish. Czarny Piotrus pizza bar (Pulawy’s premier sports bar destination)

For information about fishing guide books, covering Spain, Portugal and France click here: www.spainfishing.com

Fishing the Curzon Line; the Bug River, on Poland’s border with Belarus

Setting off on our maiden voyage, we were soon into the swing of things

Encountering a migrant, attempting the Bug River crossing into Poland

Made it! Celebrating with locals, safely ensconced within Poland’s borders

For information about fishing guide books, covering Spain, Portugal and France click here: www.spainfishing.com

Salmon fishing in Asturias, northern Spain

Free fishing section of Cares Deva River

Hook bait for salmon fishing comprising two common garden earthworms tipped with a cooked prawn

Free fishing salmon and trout stretch of Sella River just upstream from Cano

We stayed at Hotel La Salmonera in Cano and noticed this lucky angler

Bodega Del Dobra restaurant is situated a few kilometres north of Caño. Barnado the proprietor poured a bottle of ‘sidre’ (local cider) from above his head into my small glass to create a natural fizz that I knocked back in fifteen small measures

Wide, shallow glides, In the vicinity of Arriondas, afford ample room to wade and cast a fly to the many small trout, my fishing buddy John managed to attract one small brown trout in the current on a Mepps number two spinning lure. A ‘chucharilla’ (large spoon lure) will hold its own in faster, shallow runs.

The most famous landmark on the Sella River is a large weir with a fish ladder, called an ‘escala’, that’s located opposite Hotel la Salmonera in Caño, it’s signposted “Estacion de Desove de Salmones” (salmon spawning station)

A selection of fly lures used to catch trout and sea trout in Asturias

The correct bait fishing method is to hold back bait in the pools so that it rises slightly in the current then wait for the salmon to bite

I recommend that you take a ride, up past Covadonga, on the AS 262, to two glacial lakes located in the Picos de Europa mountains. The café above Lago Enol has a laid back atmosphere; it provides a decent lunch and affords gorgeous views of the mountains. For information about fishing guide books, covering Spain, Portugal and France click here: www.spainfishing.com

Europe’s hottest carp lake is found in Morocco

a largemouth Black bass will be added to the pot

Dan’s dream did come true, at Bin el Ouidane lake.

For information about fishing guide books, covering Spain, Portugal and France click here: www.spainfishing.com

Spain road trip: 2014-15

Consider this, if you were in the market for a high speed, five door family car with the sound of a supercharger you’d be in the market for a German something.

But that wouldn’t be as much fun as a Land Rover Defender, not the perfect saloon; but what if you’re after a vehicle that will take four adults and a capacious fridge 3′500 miles around Spain on some of its roughest roads, goes up hills (we got lost quite a bit but usually found our way down in time for lunch), picks up 300 kilos of oranges (for no apparent reason therefore bad) and 70 bottles of Ribera wine (for a better reason, to consume on the first weekend home)?

Phil’s vertigo didn’t prevent others from stepping over his body to gain fantastic views from the Salamanca tower

………….Garganta Mayor trout fishery in La Vera, east of Plasencia

Trujillo is home to us for Christmas eve and to Pizarro, conqueror of the Aztecs forever

Our preplanned route allowed for spontaneous changes – dependent on our non-map reading abilities.

35 miles per gallon, at 55 miles per hour on the autopista

The German car would go faster – yes, but you’d probably miss half of the brilliant views (driving at a comfortable speed through Spain) and arrive days ahead and unannounced.