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Puerto De Mazarron Fishing Club welcomed current Surfcasting World Champion Eduardo Martinez for a special Master Class Tuition session over the weekend of Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th January. Sixteen pupils waited eagerly on the Saturday morning to meet the legendary Spaniard. Unlike the weather, Eduardo did not disappoint. He started off by demonstrating and explaining the importance of using top quality equipment and how to look after it. Eduardo is a Grauvell backed fisherman and thought nothing of attacking a five hundred euro top of the range TC Surf rod with an angle grinder to show the strength of titanium and carbon when mixed together and how the Fuji rod rings did not retain heat even after this treatment. When a line is being retrieved fast the rings will not retain heat that is caused by the line being reeled through rings, despite being in contact with them for a period of time so therefore will not cause damage to the line. We were then treated to an insight into his different methods of catching fish in varying situations. This was of great interest to me because as he competes in the World Championship he has to prepare for many different waters. He displayed over a hundred and fifty terminal rigs, all constructed by himself. He is so successful at this that he even has his own design of rig construction materials for sale on the market under the Emago brand name. I have personally used these materials for over two years as I was advised by my Spanish fishing friends that these were the best on the market. They were right, they are - and now I know why. Detail to preparation is the key to success was the message Eduardo kept repeating. A visit by Sports Minister Doña Maria Jose Lorente to welcome our guest to Puerto De Mazarron on behalf of the Town Hall was an indication of the importance of the sport of fishing within the Spanish community.
A leisurely lunch followed and then back to the classroom for a detailed explanation on how to construct a terminal rig.
A leisurely lunch followed and then back to the classroom for a detailed explanation on how to construct a terminal rig.
On Sunday morning, after being given special permission, we gathered at Playa Grande beach in Puerto De Mazarron for a display of some awesome casting from the maestro. With temperatures hovering around freezing and a backdrop of snow dusted mountains this was an alien environment for us all. We all soon warmed up when Eduardo dug himself into the sand and cast out past the yellow marker buoys out to sea, well in excess of two hundred metres, explaining the technique as he went along! He seemed to be able to achieve, only dreamed about distances by us all, time after time. He used several different casting styles and then coached us all on the secrets of achieving greater distance when required. All this was with a fixed spool reel not a multiplier. As I have mentioned before in my columns the multiplier is a reel neither he or any other of the Southern Europeans seem to be fans of for several reasons. These I have covered before and will, no doubt, do so again in the future. For a finale Eduardo took a Grauvell rod and reel loaded with two hundred and fifty metres of line. He cast it out and proudly invited us to look at the reel spool. No line left on the spool only the spool knot…..wow! These reels are one metre per turn on retrieval so we know exactly how far we are casting for competition purposes.
The fascinating insight drew to a close and a very welcome coffee awaited in the Playa Grande Hotel. I thanked Eduardo Martinez, who was travelling back to Barcelona to start his preparations for this years World Championship, for the pleasure of sharing his knowledge and skills with us. Once again as foreigners here amongst our Spanish hosts we had been accepted with warmth and friendship. I would like to also thank Fiona Temple-Smith, who was once again dragged out on a very cold weekend, for her patience and doing a wonderful job once again translating the very technical issues of angling sport for me and my friends.
The fascinating insight drew to a close and a very welcome coffee awaited in the Playa Grande Hotel. I thanked Eduardo Martinez, who was travelling back to Barcelona to start his preparations for this years World Championship, for the pleasure of sharing his knowledge and skills with us. Once again as foreigners here amongst our Spanish hosts we had been accepted with warmth and friendship. I would like to also thank Fiona Temple-Smith, who was once again dragged out on a very cold weekend, for her patience and doing a wonderful job once again translating the very technical issues of angling sport for me and my friends.
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