The trip started off with a 36-hour journey from my home in Taiwan all the way to the hotel at Bin El Ouidane in Morocco. I had arrived late in the evening, and after a good meal I had a good night’s rest. As sunrise was only at 08:15, I got up at around 08:30 to a spectacular first glimpse of the views that I’d be enjoying that week.
Shortly after breakfast, I met with the owner of the hotel and Morocco Carp, Hamid, and took a trip to meet the Austrian anglers who were currently fishing the lake. As the weather had been very up and down recently, the guys had had a tough go of it and were yet to land a carp. I had no doubt these guys would produce a good result, as they were currently in a good swim and the weather looked to be turning for the better.
After a bit of a look around and discussions with our guide, I had chosen the spot where we would start to fish, and our guides would get everything set up for us the next day. Gerhard was due to arrive at the hotel the next day, and we thought that we might be able to get into our swim and start fishing a day earlier. However, with the strong afternoon winds that was to be ill-advised, and we stuck with our original schedule
Our first day next to the water started bright and early, and we eagerly set about our tasks, getting our gear and swim ready. A lot of work went into preparing our fishing spots and getting camp set up. We baited our swims and placed our rigs carefully, and then the wait began. The fishing was very slow but promising. Gerhard had a run at around 12:30 in the morning but was unlucky not to hook up. A good sign for what was to come, or so we thought.
As with any of our trips, we try to do as much research as possible about the area we are going to fish and what baits work best. We have done a fair number of fishing trips prior to this one; however, the big difference this time would be that we would now be bait fishing. Ninety percent of our fishing is lure-based, with the occasional cut bait set out for a predator. However, this fishing trip would flip the script, and now we were full-on bait fishing for monster carp!
Carp fishing is not altogether new to us, and both Gerhard and I have had success with carp fishing in the past. However, this would be a completely new experience for us: specimen carp fishing on a large wild lake in the middle of the Atlas Mountains.
So I made some inquiries with the guys whom I had seen recently complete a trip to BEO, with great success, I might add. I got in touch with a gentleman by the name of Michael, and what an absolute legend and wealth of information he turned out to be. With all the secretive BS that goes on around carp fishing at times, Michael was the exception, and he gave us every last detail of what had worked for them. From how to bait our swim to what bait to use on the hooks to depths and distances to fish. He held back on nothing! This helped us tremendously and gave us the confidence we needed to take on this big open water.
On the advice received, we decided to fish the same area Michael and his boys had fished with great success a few weeks prior. The Austrian group who were currently fishing the lake had also just moved a couple of days before our arrival from that spot. They had not had any luck, but we knew there was a fair amount of bait in the water in that area, and so we figured it would only be a matter of time before the carp started feeding in that area.
As the lake is so big, we figured we probably needed to continue putting more bait into the water, and so we followed a pretty heavy feeding strategy, one that had worked well there before and on the advice of our guides as well. But, as with any great adventure, things very seldom go to plan…
We had passed the halfway mark and were into our last 4 days by the water. To say it had been tough going is an understatement. With no fish showing anywhere, it was tough trying to identify areas to target. We had discussed changing swims and moving to another area of the lake to see if we could find the fish elsewhere. However, we knew that the Austrian group had employed this approach and had fished just about every area of the lake that they could, and after two weeks they still had not had a single bite.
So we decided to stay in one swim and see it through there until the end. There were a few fish starting to show in our swim, and Gerhard had managed to land a decent largemouth bass from the boat while baiting up our feeding area. The weather had been consistent, with nighttime temperatures getting down to 2 degrees Celsius and daytime maxing out at 17. Even without the fish, it had still been an awesome week up to that point. It was such a great privilege to be able to spend that time there next to the lake in Morocco!
Finally SUCCESS!!!
After 7 days without a bite, or even a sign of a fish, I did a bit of research. Then, based on what I had found out and past experiences carp fishing, we decided to change up our tactics. I moved my rig to a completely new area that we had not baited or fished at all. It was in the area where we knew the previous group baited and fished. I dropped a single handful of maize over my rig and went back to shore. It wasn’t even an hour later, and BAMM!!! On the stroke of midday, a slow pickup led to an amazing capture. A true slab of “Moroccan Gold”!
Weighing in at 29.6 lb (or 13.3 kg), a beautiful common carp had just made my trip and made all the hard work and patience worthwhile! Without hesitation Gerhard was in the water with the landing net, making sure we didn’t lose this very important first fish of the trip. Once safely on the bank with the hook removed, we snapped all the pictures we thought we’d need and then sent that carp back on its way to fight another day.
At this point Gerhard decided to adopt the same approach and moved one of his rods to the front of camp and also dropped his bait with only a handful of maize in an area that was fished prior to our arrival. I would love to say that the action started coming thick and fast, but it would be 24 hours, almost exactly, before our next bite, and this time it was Gerhard who was in with his first carp of the trip. The bite was again very slow and took what seemed like forever to develop. But eventually line slowly began to peel off the reel, and Gerhard was in. It was a short fight and not the biggest fish (weighing 16 lb), but a very welcome one nonetheless.
Now we knew we had figured out a pattern, and all the rods were moved to the front of the campsite, and all were being fished with the minimum amount of feed being dropped with the hook baits. With only two more full days of fishing lying ahead, we were full of hope for more action.
We’d have to wait until the same time the following day again. It seemed like the fish were on a rather precise bite schedule, but finally we heard the sound we had been waiting almost 10 days to hear! A screaming run, turning the bleeping alarm into a one-toner! Gerhard’s left-hand rod ripped off, and we instantly knew it was a special fish!
No sooner had Gerhard picked up his rod to start playing his fish than the drama started. We could see in the distance where Gerhard had dropped his bait that the market bottle, which was in the water, was moving around in a way it shouldn’t. We realized the fish had swum around the line attached to this bottle, and Gerhard was in serious danger of being cut off and losing this fish.
We quickly jumped into the inflatable boat and headed out toward the fish and the bottle. Somehow the fish stayed on, and we had averted potential disaster. A few minutes later and we could see this huge common carp gliding below the boat. A short, intense fight ensued, and Gerhard ended up the victor. With the carp safely in the net, we headed back to shore for a quick photo shoot with the fish and then the all-important release.
Weighing in at an impressive 37 lb, it was to be the biggest fish of the trip, and a symbol of persistence, dedication, and the relentless pursuit of Moroccan Gold! Where all others who at that point in time had failed and come short, we had succeeded in our mission. A more satisfying sense of accomplishment will be hard to achieve! I may not have caught this fish myself, but being a part of the team and plan that was able to overcome the obstacles and challenges that were faced made this capture every bit as special and important to me as it was to Gerhard.
With one more day to fish, Gerhard managed two more fish, one nice, fat, round 21 lb common, and then a last junior (8 lb) model to round off the trip. Our time on the banks of Bin El Ouidane had come to an end, and thus the conclusion of yet another epic adventure! These trips are always over way too soon, but I guess that is what makes them so special and memorable.
At this stage of my life, as I need to focus on my future, I have no idea when my next grand adventure will be. I will, for now, live vicariously through my good friend as he continues to explore new waters, some of which few have ventured on before, and others a little less out of the way. But I will never be far from a river, or a lake, or an ocean, where I will keep honing my skills and keep my soul at peace until my next great adventure.