Fishing the River Ebro Spain.

[Carpy]

Ok andrew as i said i do have 11 floating days, so i can take a 2 week holiday anytime. I really hope you can fit this trip in, same with budgie.

[Carpy]

Andrew said:

You mean 30th April - 3rd May? Otherwise is a nearly a good long year off Carpy ;D ;D

Carpy I really need to think about this, I would dearly love to go as Budgie might not be up to it, will have to check the holiday dates as are load of workers at my job factory have started booking the holidays!

Will let you know by Monday Evening or Tuesday Morning mate.

Well its Thursday Still no answer. but i'll let you off you have been a bit poorly

[Andrew Burgess]

Carpy said:

Well its Thursday Still no answer. but i'll let you off you have been a bit poorly

Whoops I have forgotton all about you Carp. ;D,As for your information I am much better now at the moment. Right I need to know all the details and how much this will cost me mate. A rough figure will do mate. Any chance of that Carpy? I definitely would come as I don't Budgie can't make it this year as he doing others angling projects for this year. ;D

We need to meet up sometimes and go over with everything, if that alright with you Carpy ;D

[Carpy]

Ok Andrew i will try to put together some prices.
and yes the best idear is to meet up and make some plans.

[Andrew Burgess]

Can we do it next weekend mate? Meet up and go over the ideas?

[Carpy]

Ok Andrew sounds good to me

[BUDGIE]

Now you know how to get there and what paper work you require I will let you know about some of the methods I have found best for catching big Cats.To save repeating myself about tackle have a look here to see what I use-

www.fishingmagic.com/news/article/mps/UAN/339/V/3/SP/

A lot of my catting in Spain has been done from the bank so the tackle and methods reflect this.However boat fishing for them is very good and can make life a lot easier,as long as you know what you are doing that is! Most proffesional guides in the area work from boats as it is the easiest way to take in experienced anglers.I have fished a lot from the boat in latter years but mainly so I could use one of my favourite methods-Clonking.This is covered in this article I wrote a few years ago-

www.fishingmagic.com/news/article.asp?SP=&v=3&UAN=424

Had some terrific days sport on the Upper Reervoir (Embalsa de Mequinenza) clonking.Many multiple catches,best was over 70 fish to the boat (three anglers) nothing big but plenty between 30-70lb.Trouble with clonking is that it is short lived and they soon wise up to it.Wouldnt bother with it now.

Despite having caught both 100lb+ cats on both lures and fly (see picture below) The bread and butter attack that I have always used is live baiting.I will put together something on the "Polyball rig" ,"Far bank rig" and the now famous or should I say infamous(!) "Bouy rig" and post it this week.These are the real killer methods for off the bank.



101lb caught on an 8" Dahlbherg Diver fly and AFTM8 rod

[Andrew Burgess]

BUDGIE said:

101lb caught on an 8" Dahlbherg Diver fly and AFTM8 rod

On a fly rod? ;D ;D

[BUDGIE]

Yup a fly rod,fly reel, fly line and fly! Only one Ive taken on fly as the fight was just to long (and would most likely still be so on heavier gear) to justify doing it again.The ones I have had on lures Ive been able to land in respectable times though.Caught two on surface lures and one on a rubber shad (this one was unintentional as I was Zander fishing at the time from a boat).

One of my favourite swims on the Segre has a shallow back water area.Some times the cats chase carp in to the shallows and all hell breaks lose! After seeing this a couple of times over the years I started always having a lure rod set up with a Muskie Jitterbug lure.This would just sit there in case the cats apeared in close.When they did it was like watching perch chase fry.......just that these fry showering from the water were 4lb carp! It doesnt happen all the time but when it does its an impressive sight.A couple of casts amongst the turmoil was all that was needed. The use of a fly was a natural progression for me having caught most other fish on this method as well.

Strangely it was one of the few captures I have put in the Angling press but no one was really interested! Got loads of awards and prizes from the States mind.

[Andrew Burgess]

BUDGIE said:

Yup a fly rod,fly reel, fly line and fly! Only one Ive taken on fly as the fight was just to long

That one thing I will not do ;D - Don't fancy a long fight with a catfish ;D ;D

[BUDGIE]

Dont fancy a long fight? Then you best get down the gymn and start working out! ;D

Before I spill the beans on rigs and methods here are a few words about bait,

As I said despite having caught a couple of good fish on lures and even one on the fly bait fishing is the most common approach on the Ebro. Back in the UK where I first started catting most of the waters that contained cats were very over stocked (mainly with carp) and therefore the cats soon learned to eat anything! Boillies, worms, dead fish, squid, liver, luncheon meat in fact anything you could stick on a hook!



A CLAYDON LAKE 20 TAKEN ON LIVER

Despite having used and tried most of these I still found treating the cat as a predator rather than a scavenger and using live fish bait was best. This proved even truer abroad with the live bait ruling supreme. In fact it was nigh on impossible to catch on anything else in Spain, Italy or France! Recent years though have seen some good Ebro fish caught intentionally on big Halibut pellets. After the success my friends, customers and I have had using livebaits I have never felt the need to change.

For baits I prefer strong working long lasting fish such as carp, tench, and on certain rigs eels! A big cat happily feeds on 4lb carp all day long, its their natural prey in the Ebro. However using baits this large can present problems to the angler. The ideal size for me is 8” for use on a Polyball rig and 10-12” on suspended rigs like the Far Bank or Buoy System rigs. Not as big as the cats can take but a far more useable size.
You can catch your carp baits all day long out of the river. Simple feeder gear with groundbait and sweetcorn suffices, its great fun too as long as you don’t try it in the main heat of the day! The one trouble you will have though is that the average size of carp in the river is closer to 4lb,this means you will have to catch plenty of them to get a few bait sized ones! Because of this and to ensure I have a few baits so I can start catting straight away I always take 20-30 with me. Best way to transport these is in a heavy duty polythene bag with a small amount of water and blown up with pure oxygen. This way they will last the two day journey. Your biggest enemy here is heat so try and always keep them in the shade. Even to the extent that you make sure the car/trailer is always parked out of direct sunlight on the trip down.



ROB “BAGGING UP” SOME BAITS FOR THEIR SPANISH HOLIDAY!

Once you get on the bank your baits are best kept in a wire cage or a lidded bucket with holes drilled in. They get bashed around too much in a keep net and their dorsal spines catch in the netting. Place the containers on a long bit of rope in the margins out of direct sunlight. It is really important to keep your baits in top condition. Eels are usually available (carp some times to when in season) from the local tackle shop in Mequinenza. Because of this I rarely take them down with me and just buy them there.

Next time I will tell you how I mount these baits and what rigs I use to present them.

[Carpy]

I will be booking this trip to fish the Ebro, Cant wait.
It look's like, i will be going on my own.
But i cant wait. Big cats and carp.