Stillwater · Granite · Castilla y León / Salamanca (upper Tormes)

Embalse de Santa Teresa

Embalse de Santa Teresa venue image

A large, popular reservoir on the upper Tormes south of Salamanca, below the granite of the Sierra de Béjar.

Poor · Pike
Foam beetle (12–14) · 10–12
Not the day for it
Good wave on — drift country. Not much stacked in your favour today. Worth an hour if you are nearby, not worth the special trip.
20% confidence
low-confidence read — verify locally

Peak season here starts around September — worth planning ahead.

What moved it
  • WindSE 6 km/hLight breeze
Today's fly
Foam beetle (12–14)
Foam beetle (12–14)10–12
Fish it tight to the bank on warm, breezy days.
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Wind
Light breeze
SE 6 km/h
N
SE
from the south-east
WaveRipple
Water temp—
Air temp20°C
CloudClear
Pressure1018 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm

Some readings unavailable — check directly before fishing.

Reservoir levelas of 10 Aug
┄ 67% 10-yr norm
▼ Dropping
65% full
About normal
▼-1 ptsvs seasonal norm
▼-6 ptsvs last year
▼-7 ptsthis week
How to fish it · for Pike
When
Pike are ambush-feeding from weed cover. Fry and small perch concentrate in the warm shallows, drawing pike in during low-light periods. Mid-day pike retreat to deeper weed channels.
Where
Summer pike on the fly. Fish early (first light) and late (last hour) when pike push shallow to feed. Topwater is king — poppers and gurglers over weed beds. Mid-day fish hold deep in weed channels. Take a break during the heat of the day. Use a 9-10wt rod with a stiff butt for turning big fish away from weed. Welfare note: Water at 19.8°C — warm for pike. Fish dawn or dusk only. As a non-native invasive, handle by local rules: return one only where catch-and-release is legally permitted; elsewhere the official advice is to remove it from the water rather than return it.
The plan
Plan A

Summer pike on the fly. Fish early (first light) and late (last hour) when pike push shallow to feed. Topwater is king — poppers and gurglers over weed beds. Mid-day fish hold deep in weed channels. Take a break during the heat of the day. Use a 9-10wt rod with a stiff butt for turning big fish away from weed. Welfare note: Water at 19.8°C — warm for pike. Fish dawn or dusk only. As a non-native invasive, handle by local rules: return one only where catch-and-release is legally permitted; elsewhere the official advice is to remove it from the water rather than return it.

Plan B

Fish early and late, try deeper during the heat of the day with a fast-sinking line.

Watch for

Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.

Either bank or boat

Good ripple suits both bank and boat. Bank: work inflows, dam walls, and points. Boat: broadside drift covering wind lanes.

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 3 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

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Through the year
0–3 scale · August highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Reservoir BuzzerHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
2
Lake OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
2
Silverhorns & LonghornsHatch
1
2
2
2
1

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Pike fly box
SC
Small crayfish pattern (8–10)
12–16 · Fly
A dependable searching pattern for these waters.
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Castilla y León licence required (Confederación Hidrográfica del Duero)
  • Barbel, boga and cacho are protected during spawning — check current dates and any zero-bag rules
  • Wels catfish is invasive: there are handling/retention rules and the species should never be moved to other waters.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Condition match
66%
Cloud25%
Wind100%
Temp60%

A reasonable day here, though cloud isn't quite in the sweet spot.

Other water nearby · 5
Río Tormes (Santa Teresa trout beats — Salamanca)
8.0 km
Brown trout · Barbel
Río Tormes — Villagonzalo II (Hucho)
17 km
Brown trout · Barbel
Reservoirs near Salamanca / lower Tormes
25 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Río Corneja system (research priority)
26 km
Brown trout
Zapardiel de la Ribera
32 km
Brown trout
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

A large, popular reservoir on the upper Tormes south of Salamanca, below the granite of the Sierra de Béjar. Unlike the deep Arribes canyon reservoirs downstream, Santa Teresa has broad, gently shelving margins and weedy bays that warm reliably through the summer — and that makes it the genuine warm-water sight-fishing water of the Salamanca group. In the warm months barbel and carp cruise the shallows and flats, giving classic spot-and-cast fly fishing, while pike hunt the weed edges and bays. There is an ecological shadow: wels catfish (siluro) are established here and a real conservation concern for the native fish. This is the inheritor of the old 'lower Tormes reservoirs' character — the one to fish for cruising barbel on a beetle.

  • Reservoir
  • Granite
Why this score
  • Wind conditions (ripple) closely match what this water fishes best in.
Related guides
Big Stillwater Playbookreservoir tacticsReservoir Entomologymatching the hatchThermal Layers & Troutreading depth and temperature
Booking & contacts