Hi John,

Just a quick line to thank you most sincerely for a great time fishing with you in southern Portugal last week. I really enjoyed the trip and will definitely try to come back and fish with you again in the not too distant future.

The whole trip ran like clockwork from the moment you picked me up at Faro airport until the time you dropped me off a week later. The accommodation that you provided for me at the Hotel Colina dos Mouros in Silves was ideal. It was clean, comfortable and all the staff were extremely friendly. What more can you ask for? Silves is a great place to stay and all the locals that I encountered were extremely kind, friendly and helpful and the local restaurants and cafes were excellent. An evening meal plus wine and coffees and all for less than 15 euros can’t be bad !!

The three still water venues that we fished during the week were all different and beautiful in their own ways. I particularly enjoyed fishing the lake further to the west in the nature reserve. The tackle and bait that you provided was first class and everywhere we fished everything happened that you said would happen. You can’t argue with that. Your expert knowledge of the fish and fishing in your area is without equal. My main objective of the trip was to catch some Gypsy (or Andalusian) Barbel and I achieved that quite easily. Unfortunately, because of the prevailing weather and river conditions, we could not fish for the barbel in the rivers as originally planned but I thoroughly enjoyed catching them in the various still waters in the area. They were all in wonderful condition, beautifully marked and they all fought like tigers. Great sport. The carp fishing was excellent too. It was good to be able to catch all the target species using different fishing methods and baits and next time I come over to fish with you I plan to try some different techniques to catch them. Seeing you catch such large fish on light float tackle was a real eye opener. We caught plenty of fish during the week in what was without doubt difficult weather and water conditions so I can’t wait to come over and fish with you when the fishing is red hot!! Next time it would be great if we could get to target the barbel on the various rivers in your area. That would be ideal from my point of view.

Sincere thanks once again John for a great trip. I really enjoyed myself and I will definitely be trying to book to come over and fish with you again, hopefully, in the not too distant future. My batteries are now fully recharged and I am ready for anything that life decides to throw at me.

All the very best, as always, and tight lines wherever you decide to fish,

Paul Bowen            2018

Thanks so much John for a most enjoyable couple of days fishing and also for all your help in connection with my recent visit to the Algarve. Although being an avid angler for many years up until the millennium, I now consider myself very much a novice and have to learn the art all over again. The accommodation arranged for me was absolutely first class, in every way, and my apartment was equipped with everything I could ever need. The facilities, including indoor and outdoor swimming pools, gymnasium, sauna, massage and pool table were superb and the local restaurants offered great food at a very reasonable price.

The fishing trips were very much the highlight of my trip, tremendously helped by the fact that all the tackle and bait that you provided was spot-on and the weather, although not suitable for sun bathing was absolutely perfect for fishing with an average temperature of around 23 degrees centigrade. The lake we fished, just a fifteen minute drive from my apartment, was absolutely delightful with the local goats, pigs, horse and a variety of birds that came to have a drink further enhanced the experience. I must admit that my day one catch of thirteen carp, up to 7lbs, including a fabulous looking fully scaled mirror and a bonus barbel of 4lbs, eclipsed my wildest expectations.

I am sending you a copy of the short video sequence that I did of you playing and landing one of your fish together with a few random pics that I took. However, I think that I should mention that although they show you dressed for a British winter, I was fishing next to you in my T-shirt and shorts. My second day turned out even better, with fourteen carp, up to 6lbs, plus four barbel, all around the same size as the one I caught the previous day, providing me with a similar tremendous feeling of excitement that I used to experience when I first started fishing some fifty years ago. Just as it was all those years ago, I cannot wait for my next fishing trip and I am planning to return next February.

Thank you again John for making it all possible.

Eddie Mears     2017

Trip booked with John Bates at Tightlines Portugal for some Shark fishing in the Algarve. John met us at Faro Airport and transported us to our hotel accommodation.

Hotel was bed and breakfast. There was a swimming pool and all staff spoke English. On Fishing-day’s breakfast was easily arranged for early start.

Fishing days; John would accompany us and transport us to the boat, where his partner Mario was ready and waiting. If the weather/sea was rougher than expected (which happened on our first day) there was a back-up plan of a 50+ acre lake where you could fish for wide mouth bass.

The remaining 3 days we managed to go out to sea, where we caught 5 blue sharks up to 50lbs, Red Snapper up to 7 lbs, bream up to 3lbs, and plenty of huge Garfish, Mackerel Groupers and Conger Eels.

John and Mario certainly put us on to the fish.  

The equipment and bait was provided and excellent.

Overall the trip was definitely for fishing, in which they care about you succeeding, and not the rip of tourist charters.

Will definitely be booking again, and hopefully soon, watch this space

Clive Dawson   2017

I’ve just spent three days of freshwater fishing magic with John Bate in the Algarve.

On the first day, to get us started, we used floats and feeders to catch 20 carp up to 9 lbs in a heavily stocked lake.  We had to wait for a while until a shoal of carp appeared and muddied a large swath of the lake by feeding on our ground bait.  Once the action started it was non-stop excitement and fun.

Next day we used poppers and spinners to catch 30+ largemouth bass.  We began in John’s boat on the largest lake and explored the numerous, picturesque bays.  We finished by stalking bass on a small lake that also contained some tempting carp. Day 3 was the climax. We tied up the boat in the marginal reeds of a small bay where we'ed seen large carp patrolling in the deep, crystal clear water on the previous day.

Using sliding floats, 2 lbs test curve rods and light bait runner reels with boilies as bait we set our ambush.  After an hour of quiet, patient waiting my float shot off and the reel screamed as a 19 lbs carp went on a blistering run.  After struggling to keep it away from the rushes  I manoeuvred the fish into the open water and after many hard-fought minutes John landed it - a scale perfect common and my biggest float-caught carp. After I’d caught another big common,  John’s float suddenly rocketed off and mine followed seconds later- a double take!  John’s fish headed straight for the margins and, having thought the fish was lost, he skilfully coaxed it out and into the net - a 21 lbs beauty.  I landed my double a few minutes later. To complete a marvellous day, I had three more runs and landed two more commons edging 20 lbs.  The excitement of clearly seeing large carp feeding around your bait in the depths only a rod length away from the boat takes some beating.  If you get a chance, why not experience the breathtaking fun accompanied by John in sunny Portugal.  My only warning is: don’t forget the suncream and take plenty of drinking water!

Tony 2017