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

Embalse de Picadas

Embalse de Picadas — Cola del embalse de Picadas 001
Contributor photo

Cola del embalse de Picadas 001

Asqueladd (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Asqueladd) - CC BY-SA

Reservoir on the lower Río Alberche, downstream of San Juan, 65–90 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.
22% confidence
low-confidence read — verify locally
What moved it
  • WindW 7 km/hLight breeze
Today’s fly
FP
Foam Popper12–16
A dependable searching pattern for these waters.
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Wind
Light breeze
W 7 km/h
N
W
from the west
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
┄ 95% 10-yr norm
▬ Steady
93% full
High & steady
▼-1 ptsvs seasonal norm
▬0 ptsvs last year
▬0 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 19.6°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 19.6°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
WB
White baitfish 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.
SC
Small carp bug
14–16 · Nymph
Search the runs and pockets, dead-drift near the bottom.
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Comunidad de Madrid licence required
  • Check current bank access points, no-fishing buffer zones, and any seasonal closures for the spawning period.
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
Embalse de San Juan
7.0 km
Black bass · Carp · Pike
Embalse de El Burguillo
22 km
Carp · Barbel
Embalse de Valmayor
28 km
Carp · Pike · Barbel
Río Alberche
33 km
Brown trout
Río Guadarrama
37 km
Brown trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Embalse de Picadas — Cola del embalse de Picadas 001
    Cola del embalse de Picadas 001
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Reservoir on the lower Río Alberche, downstream of San Juan, 65–90 minutes west of Madrid. A genuine multi-species water listed with barbel, boga, carp, pike, black bass, and zander. For the fly angler the headline is black bass: the pre-spawn window (roughly April to early June) is when the bass push aggressive and visible in the warming margins. Through summer, dawn and dusk poppers and gurglers over rocky shorelines are the most reliable approach. Carp and barbel reward sight-fishing in the upper arms; pike take big streamers along the deeper edges in the cooler months.

  • 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
Big Stillwater Playbookreservoir tacticsReservoir Entomologymatching the hatchThermal Layers & Troutreading depth and temperature
Booking & contacts