Regular visitor Ray Jennings has sometimes been known as a kitten king, renowned for his prowess with some of the river’s smaller residents. Today it was time for a monster moggie for Ray and he battled it out with this bruiser of 125lb caught on mullet in deep water close to Tortosa. This is Ray’s 4th ton plus cat.
After some fairly patchy fishing over the last few days, with just a handful of small cats to show for our efforts, it was a welcome relief to get back into the big boys today. Martin Campbell, who has been visiting the Ebro to fish with us since our very first season, recorded his 12th 100+ cat with this excellent specimen of 126lb which snaffled a small mullet fished in a 20ft margin.
After a quieter day yesterday, with just a 65lber for Rowan, the guys were into the fish again today this time in the Amposta stretches. Success in catching some mullet led to an excellent day with the cats on the feed again, including another 100lber to Andy Wiggins at 131. This fish is Andy’s sixth ‘treble’ in his visits to the Ebro with www.ebro-catfishing.com. Rowan was delighted too, with his capture of the stunning albino at 78lb, caught only a couple of weeks previously by Brad Hughes. These two fish were the highlights of an excellent 5 cat day.
Another excellent day at Tortosa today got Andy Wiggins and Rowan Harper off to an excellent start to their trip. Deep sections again were the key to success with the cats seeking darker areas due to the ultra clear water and bright conditions. Rowan was delighted to capture a new personal best of 143lb with Andy claiming an excellent fish of 126lb. Both angler’s also caught a specimen of 75lb, rather bizarrely identified as the same fish, obviously hungry today!
An amazing hour for Steve Bampton and Pete Davis saw them land 4 huge catfish of 135, 110, 106 and 94lbs, with 3 fish on the boat at the same time at one point! Steve got the ball rolling with the first fish of 106 taken on mullet from a deep section at Tortosa. The action then went ballistic with Pete landing a 135, Steve bagging a 94 during the fight, only for the final float to go and an exhausted Steve battle it out with another monster of 110!
Perhaps the most hectic short spell of catfishing ever witnessed down on the lower Ebro!
The cats were triggered into feeding today and Colin Hett enjoyed a fantastic haul in the cooler overcast conditions. Colin bagged 6 fish with the biggest 125lb and other notables of 90 (caught on eel) and 88 along with 3 smaller ones. A further 2 fish were lost, with all the action taking place on the ‘big cat alley’ drift close to Amposta. Mullet fished in around 20ft of water were responsible for all but 1 of the captures.
With the temperatures soaring well over 35 degrees celsius and the river low and very clear, some days the catfish can be pretty lethargic when it comes to feeding. A good result was achieved today for Mike Wheel and Colin Hett with a fine brace at 88 and 106 respectively. Both fish accepted small carp livebaits fished in deepish water near Amposta.
The reward for persistance today came at around 6.00pm when Joe Green bagged this hard fighting 119lber. The fish accepted a mullet fished down around 40ft and was very welcome after a gruelling day in the heat. The fish is Joe’s 3rd 100+ in 3 visits to the Ebro with www.ebro-catfishing.com.
An excellent start to the month of July today with the cats feeding well despite the blistering heat. Del and April finished off their 3 day trip in style with a 3 cat haul including 130lb cats falling to both of them! Del’s fish was taken in the morning and is his 9th ton plus fish caught with Al and Martin. April took her’s in a very deep mark close to Amposta, it is her first ever treble figure fish and one of our largest to be caught by a lady angler.
Deep water held the key to success today for Joe Green and Martin Filer, with all 3 cats being taken from an area well over 40ft deep. The biggest on the day came to Joe’s rod and was this impressive looking specimen of 98lbs.
