A Europe-wide economic crisis won’t make time for slow learners, so adapting to the market has been a key point in the growth of Navarra Fishing Adventures – so much so that the business is hardly recognisable today from how it started off.  ​

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It could be this ‘on the job’ learning that makes Mark den Toom and Christian Doyle sound like old hands, despite only being in their second year of trade as Navarra Fishing Adventures.



As with most good businesses they started out as no more than aficionados heading out to the local river Ebro to spend an early Saturday morning on the riverbank.  Years of overfishing and bad practice in the region had led to rivers being closed, and upon being reopened the two of them were delighted with what they found:



‘We had timed it just right, as the rivers in the north were open again and we were among the first on the scene to test the waters,’ says Mark.  And it was not just mother nature who they had timed it well with, as public bodies were still accepting applications to help get new businesses off the ground, and in their case, into the water.



The European Centre of Navarran Businesses and Innovation (CEIN) looked through their business plan and saw they were onto a winner that would be good for Navarra as a whole – Mark and Christian were ecstatic to discover that an idea that they had conceived, written up and developed in a matter of months had won the funding.



Being awarded the grant not only gave them the funds to cover their start-up costs, but also a crash course in business that they remain grateful for to this day.  ‘The first plans we drew up offered four fixed packages for the customers to choose from, which as we went on we realised was a little naïve,’ explains Christian. 



They began to see that clients wanted the freedom they get on the banks of a river on a summer day to be matched by the liberty of choice in the packages Navarra Fishing Adventures offers.  The business mentoring convinced them to redevelop the selling system, giving the clients the ability to customise and develop their own holiday.

And the CEIN business classes were not restricted to just the tangible side of the company such as website design, managing finances or developing contacts in their field, but also in their personal development as businessmen. 



‘Probably the most important thing we learnt was how to accept criticism.  When you have spent days and days working on one aspect of the business, such as the layout of the website, the last thing you want to hear is someone telling you it’s no good.  But if you want to improve you’ve got to learn how to take it on board, and unfortunately friends can’t be relied on to criticise your hard work.’































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Another aspect they were helped on was learning how to market their product as unique in the holiday industry.  They knew that part of their appeal was Navarra itself – hence the use of it in the name – yet at first they were placing too much emphasis on the ‘fishing’ ingredient.



‘Every photo we had was with a fish, showing off catches we had made.  One of our business guides quickly ran a search on Google for fishing companies, and every one she brought up had the same images of photos containing a fish in the foreground and a man in the background.  Her point was well made – if we were selling Navarra’s natural beauty as part of the package we had to show that side of the business in the photos.’



They clearly took her message on board: bring up their website today and the first picture you see is of a beautiful Navarran landscape, with only the rods poking into the picture as a reminder of the fishing side of things.



Further changes on the way to becoming the professional business that Navarra Fishing Adventures is today including reevaluating who their clients were.  When they started off with the intention of only bringing in people from outside Spain, they realised they were missing a brilliant opportunity that was right on their doorstep.



‘The Camino de Santiago brings in a lot of people from abroad who are just here for a day or two while they pass through on their pilgrimage, and we were just completely ignoring these potential clients.   Now we offer single day packages that appeal to people who have limited time in the area and would not be interested in a four day holiday.’



Despite keeping a steady stream of clients busy on the rivers of Navarra, Mark explains how they still managed to hit a personal milestone in the life of the business only last week: 



‘We took our first all-female group for a day out just last week, which was great.  Fishing is seen as being an exclusively male activity, yet we don’t see it that way and would love to see more females getting into fishing.’



Operating a business model which focuses on the needs of the client, the two entrepreneurs were more than happy to play around with the running order of the day in order to suit their new audience.   ‘We’re always happy to do the typical fishing idea of spending the day sat by the river and taking a few beers down with us, but we think we have more to offer than that.  So with this last group we took a bottle of good quality local wine and food, set up a table and had our lunch by the water.’



And it is of no coincidence that the wine and food was locally produced.  ‘In difficult times one of the best things you can do is work together, so we’ve been talking to local businesses, hotel owners, restaurants, food sources etc, with the idea of trying to collaborate with other locally owned ventures.  It works out well for both sides, because we might get a small discount for, say, bringing a group of twenty to a restaurant, and the restaurant gets income on wh​at might have been an otherwise quiet evening.’



Although the actual trips themselves require the whole day to get set up and packed away at the end, and regularly involve them sacrificing their entire weekend, the work done on the day pales into insignificance when compared with the preparatory work completed far away from the eyes of the clients.



‘The biggest challenge for us was finding out where the best spots were to fish in Navarra,’ explains Mark.  ‘They had only just reopened the northern rivers again to fishermen when we started the business, so there was a lot of work to be done before we even set up a single rod.  We have to focus on the north as the south typically has very wild and natural river banks which are relaxing and beautiful, but with many parts that are inaccessible to anglers.’



In total they have looked at around 50 different spots in Navarra, which when you consider that it takes up a whole day to properly decide on the quality of the location, is a lot of work for two people to get through.



‘In the end we settled on about 20 high quality spots, with us taking the clients to different areas depending on the fish local to each spot.  Many people in the fishing work are very selective about what type of fish they want to catch, so we had to be sure that we had enough places to suit the tastes of any client who books with us.’



‘When trying to evaluate a spot there’s quite a few factors involved, so you can have a good idea of whether it will be productive or not, but you’ll never be certain until you test it out yourself.  Factors to consider include the water levels, proximity to a dam, if it’s stillwater or backwater, etc.’



Christian adds that the work involved on the day spent fishing is the easy part compared to finding suitable spots: ‘someone could come here and look on their own for spots, but it is most likely that they will spend most of their day getting to their location, and after setting up they discover that for one reason or another the fish simply aren’t there.  We do a lot of preparation on the day, but the real work is always getting to know the area.  Without that you are just wasting time.’



And since Navarra reopened the rivers they are keen to make sure overfishing does not happen again, which means they have had to tighten the bureaucracy and paperwork involved.



‘Non-Spanish speakers might have a hard time getting a license, especially if they’re only here for a day or two.  As we’re fully-licensed and know the system pretty well by now, it’s not as difficult for us, and we make sure it is all arranged by the time the client has arrived so not a minute is wasted.’



The boys don’t see fishing as the limits to Navarra’s potential in the international market, either.  Christian sees the Navarra brand expanding  into new terrain in the coming years: ‘Maybe in a few years we’ll have a few sister sites going alongside what we offer now – Navarra Cycling Adventures is a possibility.’  The locals certainly enjoy the two-wheels-over-four philosophy, as just stepping out of your door on a pleasant day will undoubtedly bring an encounter with a group of lycra-clad aficionados tearing down the main streets.  You may not find so many men with shaved legs this side of Bondi beach.



The philosophy of these two who have made Navarra their home is that even in these difficult times, business can still thrive as long as people are prepared to change their dog-eat-dog mentality – for Navarra cooperation is key.  ‘Working together with other businesses can offer a more complete experience of Navarra for visitors, with everyone working with their strengths and sending business each other’s way.  It’s win-win.’



You can have a look at the packages they offer at www.navarrafishingadventures.com and like their Facebook page to get the latest info and offers at www.facebook.com/NavarraFishingAdentures