Stillwater · Granite · Comunidad de Madrid / west (Río Alberche)

Embalse de San Juan

Embalse de San Juan — File:Pantano San Juan.jpg
Contributor photo

File:Pantano San Juan.jpg

by Manjeet Bawa (https://www.flickr.com/photos/manjeet) - CC BY

Reservoir on the Río Alberche immediately upstream of Picadas, 70–90 minutes west of Madrid.

Poor · Pike
Foam Popper · 12–16
Not the day for it
Good wave on — drift country. Not much stacked in your favour today. Worth an hour if you are nearby, not worth the special trip.
16% confidence
low-confidence read — verify locally
What moved it
  • WindN 5 km/hCalm
Today’s fly
FP
Foam Popper12–16
A dependable searching pattern for these waters.
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Wind
Calm
N 5 km/h
N
N
from the north
WaveRipple
Water temp
Air temp20°C
CloudClear
Pressure1017 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm

Some readings unavailable — check directly before fishing.

Reservoir levelas of 13 Jul
71% 10-yr norm
Dropping
86% full
High & steady
+15 ptsvs seasonal norm
0 ptsvs last year
-2 ptsthis week
Reservoir near full — settled fish across plenty of holding water.
How to fish it · for pike
When
Pike are ambush-feeding from weed cover. Fry and small perch concentrate in the warm shallows, drawing pike in during low-light periods. Mid-day pike retreat to deeper weed channels.
Where
Summer pike on the fly. Fish early (first light) and late (last hour) when pike push shallow to feed. Topwater is king — poppers and gurglers over weed beds. Mid-day fish hold deep in weed channels. Take a break during the heat of the day. Use a 9-10wt rod with a stiff butt for turning big fish away from weed. Welfare note: Water at 20.1°C — warm for pike. Fish dawn or dusk only. As a non-native invasive, handle by local rules: return one only where catch-and-release is legally permitted; elsewhere the official advice is to remove it from the water rather than return it.
The plan
Plan A

Summer pike on the fly. Fish early (first light) and late (last hour) when pike push shallow to feed. Topwater is king — poppers and gurglers over weed beds. Mid-day fish hold deep in weed channels. Take a break during the heat of the day. Use a 9-10wt rod with a stiff butt for turning big fish away from weed. Welfare note: Water at 20.1°C — warm for pike. Fish dawn or dusk only. As a non-native invasive, handle by local rules: return one only where catch-and-release is legally permitted; elsewhere the official advice is to remove it from the water rather than return it.

Plan B

Fish early and late, try deeper during the heat of the day with a fast-sinking line.

Watch for

Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.

Either bank or boat

Good ripple suits both bank and boat. Bank: work inflows, dam walls, and points. Boat: broadside drift covering wind lanes.

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

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Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Reservoir BuzzerHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
2
Lake OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
2
Silverhorns & LonghornsHatch
1
2
2
2
1

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Pike fly box
OS
Olive streamer
8–10 · Streamer
Strip it for fish chasing fry or in coloured water.
CP
Crayfish pattern
12–16 · Fly
A dependable searching pattern for these waters.
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Comunidad de Madrid licence required
  • Leisure use is heavy — check permitted fishing zones, seasonal restrictions, and any temporary closures around the swimming/boating areas.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Condition match
66%
Cloud25%
Wind100%
Temp60%

A reasonable day here, though cloud isn't quite in the sweet spot.

Other water nearby · 5
Gallery · 2
  1. Embalse de San Juan — File:Pantano San Juan.jpg
    File:Pantano San Juan.jpg
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Reservoir on the Río Alberche immediately upstream of Picadas, 70–90 minutes west of Madrid. A leisure water — boats, sailing, swimming — that nevertheless holds a real multi-species fishery: black bass, carp, barbel, pike, and zander. Bank fly fishing is most productive away from the busy leisure shore; the upper arms where the Alberche enters fish better than the dam end. Pre-spawn bass (April–June) and autumn pike are the strongest fly windows.

  • Reservoir
  • Granite
Why this score
  • Wind conditions (ripple) closely match what this water fishes best in.
  • Reservoir near full — settled fish across plenty of holding water.
Related guides
Booking & contacts