Bass fishing in portugal

[NJbassing]

Planning a trip to portugal this summer in July-August for just about a month. We are staying with family just outside of Guarda. Have been the past two summers and have not fished at all. Is there anybody out there who can give me any pointers about lakes, baits, equipment on the plane, etc.

[SoFloBassFiend]

Don't take one piece rods on the plane with you or most will become two or three piece rods by the time you arrive. 

[Bluebasser86]

I've flown with rods several times and haven't had one broken or damaged yet. Get a good rod tube or build one out of PVC or they will get broken for sure though.

[Tim Kelly]

Living in England, all of my bass fishing involves a plane ride. Since 9/11 it has become increasingly difficult to take rods on planes, and especially so if you're crossing the Atlantic. I used to fly with one piece rods up to 8ft long, but that would be either all but impossible or extremely expensive nowadays. I have built up an arsenal of decent quality 2 piece rods for my bassing trips, and they work well, though I hate the compromise I've actually managed to get most bases covered reasonably well in 2 piece rods, but it isn't easy.

 

I haven't fished in Portugal, though friends have. The fishing can be very good. I believe it's a bit of a procedure getting fishing licenses, so you might want to look into that. I've fished in Spain a number of times and believe it's similar to a lot of Portuguese bass fishing with deep clear mountain water supply reservoirs. Rock and not much weed due to the water level fluctuations. A lot of the bait is small 3-6" silver fish, called "bleak" and not as much crayfish as is typical Stateside. As a result I would probably expect spoons, cranks, jerkbaits, flukes etc to be one line of attack, but senkos and neds will catch you plenty too. I had a very good Spanish trip where Baby Brush Hogs were the best bait. As always, it depends on what the bass are doing and where they are.

 

There's a pretty decent competitive bass scene in Portugal, so do some googling and you will be able to find out about some of the results and venues. 

[Ze Miguel]

Hello! I'm a bass angler from Portugal and I just got on the forum! have you been here fishing this past summer?!

[Tim Kelly]

Hello Miguel. I haven't been to Spain for a couple of years, might be going to Lisbon in June. Is there any bassing near Lisbon? How difficult is it to sort out a fishing permit?

[Ze Miguel]

On 17/02/2017 at 6:41 AM, Tim Kelly said:

Hello Miguel. I haven't been to Spain for a couple of years, might be going to Lisbon in June. Is there any bassing near Lisbon? How difficult is it to sort out a fishing permit?

Hello sir!! That is great! I'm about 150miles away from Lisbon...and I usually dont fish that area, but about every litle pond or lake here holds bass, so if you realy plan on coming I'm sure I can help you sort something out

As for the fishing permit, it is realy easy for portuguese people, I'm not sure about people from other countries but it cant be that difficult

[Tim Kelly]

Thank you. Will get in touch if it looks like there might be an opportunity while I'm there.

[Oregon Native]

Another way to save some misfortune is to just ship your items in advance and it's there waiting for you.  Would work especially well if you have family there.  Rods in PVC of course and it sure saves the "BS" at airports.

[Redlinerobert]

Taking 1 piece rods is a royal pain.  I'm not sure what the airlines charge me for the rod tube but I travel with a Bazooka Pro when I'm taking rods on a fishing trip. 

One thing about walking through an airport with a long black tube that says "BAZOOKA" on the side, people tend to get out of your way.