Around 30 million years ago, volcanic activity at the bed of the Atlantic Ocean lead to the formation of the Canary Islands. My understanding is that this had nothing to do with continental drift, so these islands have always been isolated from mainland Africa some 200 kilometres or so away. With little in the way of freshwater on the islands, what few small mountain lakes there are have been dammed for crop irrigation. And with no rivers to talk of or migratory fish to run them, there should be no fish life in these lakes at all. Despite this, many of them are full of big carp, large mouth bass, and some small catfish species. Just who put them there is anybodies guess, and quite frankly few local people seem to care, though it is likely that the carp were introduced in fairly recent times to inhibit weed growth through the effects of their feeding activity clouding up the water. Not much attention is paid locally to the fish in these mountain lakes. For outsiders visiting the islands, it could be a totally different matter altogether.

The lakes of Gran Canaria have seen some specialist carp angling attention over fairly recent time. In particular Embalse de Chira which was dammed around 30 years ago with a surface area when full of around 70 Ha. For a while Chira was one of the must visit venues on the international carp scene with fish in excess of 50 pounds being caught and un-caught specimens close on 60 pounds rumoured. Then the bubble burst, or should I say became grossly deflated. A series of very dry years sent water levels on the island plummeting. I remember looking at what was left of some of the lakes in sheer disbelief. One in particular close to the coast which I used to fish for bass was little more than a turbid green puddle at the base of a steep ravine. As a result carp numbers and carp fishing went into decline. But to be honest, by comparison to other European carp venues, interest amongst potential visitors may well have declined for other un-related reasons anyway.

With personal baggage restrictions on holiday charter flights of 15 kg, and around 20 Kg on scheduled flights, getting all you need over to the Canaries is not the same as loading up a camper van and heading off across France or Spain. With so much gear required, particularly in terms of bait and feed, and so little opportunity to buy anything locally to do with fishing other than luncheon meat and sweet corn produced for the table, packing can become a frustrating compromise. Then you have to get it from the airport to the lake which means either car hire or a taxi, and some of the most 'interesting' driving conditions I have encountered anywhere in the world, particularly if like me you don't like heights. The first time I drove to Chira was back in the mid 80's using a hire car. It was one of those situations when you instantly know you have made a bad decision but can do nothing to get yourself out of it. The road was simply too narrow and the drops too severe to turn the car around. It was like taking the worlds biggest white knuckle ride - once it starts, there is nothing you can do about it until it gets to the end.

Reports I read quoted Chira as shrinking to as little as 8Ha with large numbers carp fatalities as a result. I personally can't comment on that. What I can say is that in more recent times water levels seem to have replenished, as have carp numbers with plenty in the 20 to 30 pound size range. In fact on my last visit it had 'recovered' to such a point that British carp fanatic Dave Beecham has set up a home and business on Gran Canaria offering a carp guiding service. The implications of this are numerous. For Dave himself there needs to be the confidence of a long term future of the venture. And for the carp fanatic with a fancy for the spectacular mountain lakes of Gran Canaria, it is an opportunity not to be missed either in its own right fishing every hour God sends, or to combine with a family holiday without having to pack anything other than what any 'normal' holiday maker might fill a suit case with. Quality tackle, bait, and transportation, plus with food, drink and local knowledge are there to be taken up. Dave Devine and I recently visited the Canaries to fish the offshore reefs for Amberjacks - a visit dogged by windy weather. So with no freshwater tackle with us, we were typical examples of the kind of carp angler Dave Beecham is aiming to cater for.

We actually saw the advert for the carp fishing down at the harbour while we were sorting out our boat trips, but didn't give it another thought until one evening after a particularly uncomfortable day afloat, by coincidence Dave Beecham was chatting with the people on the next table to us at our hotel. We listened in on the conversation and very quickly picked up on the fact that they had taken at least one carp over 30 pounds and several around the 20 mark earlier that day. That put our wind swept efforts out on the boat well and truly into perspective, so the booking was made. Bang on time the next morning he was there again at the hotel, the big 4WD loaded up to the roof with gear ready to go. The drive up into the mountains would take around an hour and a half. Plenty of time to quiz him about prospects and the driving conditions which have been greatly improved by the construction of crash barriers in recent times. I only had to shut my eyes once as we rounded one particularly narrow bend and suddenly there at the side of the car door was around 2000 feet of nothing all the way down to valley floor.

Despite a personal best (PB) carp of 52.6.0 from a French lake, and a UK PB of 39 lbs, Dave rates these Canarian lakes as without equal for the visiting angler simply by virtue of the average size of fish they contain and the consistency with which they produce. A typical Chira carp will pull the needle down to around 23 pounds, and no eye brows will be raised if it goes past 30 pounds. His own PB for the lake is a fish of almost 46 pounds, with the best by a customer going close to 40 pounds. Best single day bag by one person has been 7 fish, and best combined catch for the day is 13 fish. And while some of the other 17 lakes on the island are thought to contain bigger individual fish, statistics like these are not to be sniffed at. Adding to the attraction of Chira is access both in terms of getting the 4WD vehicle close to the best fishing spots, and permission from the land owners who are working with Dave to widen the scope of the package by offering accommodation to those who might want more than a few isolated days to fit in with other holiday requirements.

We arrived at the lake to find the first rays of the sun beginning to appear over the surrounding mountain tops, and carp topping as far as the eye could see. It can get cool up in the mountains, particularly in December and January, so we had been warned to bring along fleece jackets. But we were clearly not going to need them. Year round sun bathing temperatures are what allow these fish to pile on the weight and hit those target weights with such ease. Three of us fishing with 3 rods apiece should give some sort of a result. As for the outfits themselves, these were 12 foot 4 inch Dimag rods with test curves of 1 to 3.5 pounds teamed up with Shimano bait runner reels loaded with 15 pounds bs main lines tipped off with a 30 pounds rubbing length to combat abrasion from the rocks, particularly around the margins. Hair rigs baited with Mainline Activate boilies and more catapulted in as feed complete the picture. Baits in the water its time to sit back and relax in the sun, helping yourself to chilled drinks until lunch time when barbecued chicken, pork, potatoes and a salad is provided. All very civilised. But what of the fishing.

We had previously agreed between ourselves that the first fish to each pod should be taken by the person whose gear it was, after which that person would drop out until every one had caught. Then if more fish came along it was every man for himself. The first alarm to sound out was mine, though typically as I was emptying my bladder behind a rock at the time. With the 'job' only half done, I had to dash back to the bank, grab the rod, and connected with what felt like a weighty fish about 40 yards out over a shallow plateau. After a spirited struggle the fish finally broke surface a few yards out before being guided into Dave's waiting net. In the weighing sack it took the needle around to 23 pounds which falls into the average category. Pity the same isn't true of fishing back home. That was me out of the equation, so I took a walk around the lake with a light telescopic spinning outfit which picked up a few small bass. On previous visits I had taken along a 5 weight fly rod which was great for the bass. But not intending to fish the lakes, I hadn't bothered packing it this time around.

My fishing partner Dave was next on having flipped a coin with Dave Beecham's other customer called Rick who was also staying at our hotel. And it was one of my rods again that supplied the action. This time a fish of 24 pounds, again on the rod closest to the dam. On the day, the shallow bank top where my baits were positioned seemed to be the spot, though on previous days, the centre swim had provided the bulk of the action. With 9 rods to go at and only an hours fishing left, the pressure was beginning to be felt by Rick. Dave Devine didn't help matters by telling him to look on the positive side and think of it as 9 rod hours instead, adding how it would be impossible to fail. When the final whistle came, Rick was asked which rods he wanted to leave fishing until the last while the others were packed away. Not surprisingly he chose to stick with the ones that had produced the two earlier fish. But sadly the hat trick didn't come. That's the way carp fishing goes. Once the baits are in there is little else you can do other than wait. Even at Chira, on the odd occasion blanks occur, though the statistics show this to be an unlikely conclusion.