Fly fishing in province Leon, Spain

Hello everybody!

My name is Antonio and I'm from Spain.From the city of Pamplona.


This is the story of the province of Leon and fly fishing in part of Spain and the south of Europe.


The first written reference to the use of León cockrel feathers for fly tying is the Manuscript of Astorga, by Juan de Bergara, dated 1624. The book begins: “In the name of God and Our Lady. This is a book on dressing and tying feathers for fishing for trout in certain months of the year, particularly January, February, March, April and May until St John’s day.” Much has been written about the quality of the feathers that occur only in this area. It seems that the composition of the terrain, rich in iron, is one of the factors responsible for a brightness and tonality that differs from all others. Tests have been done on breeding these cockrels in other parts of the world but never getting the same results, the color and brightness of the feathers are never the same as when the bird comes from the Curueño Valley. To find where the León cockrel comes from, you need to travel to a valley in the Cantabrian Mountains, the Valley of Curueño. There are two races of León cockrel, the Pardo and the Indio, and within these, many sub-varieties, forty types of Pardo and twenty of the Indio There are currently around 2,200 cockrels and hens in the valley, 1,300 of them are in the village of La Cándana, the only place in which all the varieties are kept. The “Indio” variety does not occur in the rest of the villages. The cockrels are “plucked” four times a year, every three months. The process begins when the bird is six months old and ends at about five years old. It is carried out only during the waning moon. Thomas Gil is a breeder of León cockrels, professional fly tyer, a fishing guide and the owner of a guest house close to the river. He has been one of the leaders of the Breeders Union of gallos de León, fishing guides trainer and fly tyers union. He also edits the magazine Ninfa (Nymph) and organizes an annual fishing and rural tourism conference. The breeders’ association currently has five members: Tomás Gil, Chema González, Joaquín Díaz, María Tascóm y Mª Rosario Díaz. It is said that plain rivers in the province of León are some of the best places for trout in southern Europe. The Órbigo river in particular, is famous beyond our borders and today has a good trout population with some really big ones. The Órbigo offers multiple fishing opportunities both on dries or nymphs. When trout are taking dries on the slow currents,a caddisfly is very effective. Caddis imitations as this made with Cock de León feathers, are very productive flies in León rivers. Despite the quantity and quality of trout, fishing in the Órbigo river is not easy. If one were to choose the best ambassador of Órbigo river in recent years, this would be José Miguel Matilla. Through his school, television and fishing sessions with friends and press, shows the excellence of his great European river. Virtually retired from competition, in which he was for many years, winning the spanish championship and participating in three World Cups.