Fly Fishing in Northern Spain: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria & the Basque Country
Guides, Permits, Equipment Rentals & Lodging
In the northern part of the peninsula numerous rivers drain beautiful landscapes of emerald forests, jagged snow capped mountains and rolling hills. Here we offer guided fishing outings targeting native brown trout, sea run browns and even Atlantic salmon. Despite the difficulties that the latter has encountered over the past years, they still can be found in significant numbers in various rivers in the North. Rivers in the Basque country, Cantabria, Galicia and especially Asturias offer the salmon fly fisherman the challenging fishing in the Europe’s most southerly Atlantic Salmon fishery. Recent changes in fishing regulations put in place to protect the species bring the promise of increasing opportunities for the fly fisherman who practices catch and release fishing. The salmon rivers we fish in Asturias include the Deva – Cares, the Sella, the Narcea and the Eo Rivers. We recommend contacting us well in advance in order to acquire permits. A number of special tourist permits are alloted each season for limited pressure special permit waters during peak dates. Petitions for permits are accepted up until the 25th of February. Pescatravel offers management of fishing license and permit acquisition as a complement to its guide service.
In addition to salmon fishing, Asturias also offers great fishing for resident and sea run trout on the fly. Fishing for sea run browns on dry flies is a particularly interesting and exciting experience that can be had in a number of rivers in Asturias, Cantabria and Galicia. Although they do not reach the sizes of those in Iceland or Tierra del Fuego, sea runs in the one to three pound range are common and fish in the 8 to 12 pound range are caught every year. These wary fish represent quite the challenge to the experienced fly fisherman, especially later in the season when 20 foot leaders become the order of the day. Once hooked their crazy acrobatics and unpredictable blazing runs are the delight of every fisherman. We offer guided outings for both sea run and resident trout in all three of the above mentioned regions. We also offer complete rental gear and transfers from Gijon or Oviedo. All the fisherman needs to do is tell us where to pick him up.
For resident and sea run trout in the majority of rivers we fish, we recommend a 4 or 5 weight rod with a floating line. Leaders will generally run from 12 to 20 feet tapering down 5x, 6x and 7x depending on the waters fished and the flies to be used.
Recommended flies are quite varied. They include sedge imitations in different colors in hook sizes from 12 to 18, Imitations of a number of efemera including blue winged olives, march browns and others in hook sizes from 12 to 24, various stone fly imitations, midges in sizes from 18 to 24, terrestrials including ants, beetles and grasshoppers. Recommended nymphs include imitations in nymph or larval form of all the above mentioned flies. For salmon fishermen, we recommend one or two handed 6 to 8 wieght rods depending on the specific destination. Recommended salmon flies include shrimp patterns and tube flies generally in hook sizes from 6 to 14.
Guests may choose fly into one of various airports in the north depending on where they will be fishing including La Coruña, Oviedo, and Bilbao.
Location: We fish a number of different rivers in the communities along the northern coast of Spain including Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country.
Season: March – September, specific dates depending on the river and species
Best dates: Salmon & Resident Trout: May – June, Seatrout: June – September
Rods allowed: N/A
Permitted methods: Our programs in Northern Spain are desgined exclusively for fly fishing, however, we can adapt equipment arragements for fishermen accustomed to spinning gear
Species available: Atlantic salmon, resident brown trout and sea-run brown trout
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