Ebro Catfishing

Andrzej has been taking some stick from his pals this week, being the only one in the group yet to catch. However, as we know, good things come to those who wait, and finally this 117lber came along and walloped a mullet on the Ledge drift close to Amposta town. The fish put up some stubborn resistance before finally coming onto the boat.

This result means all 3 of the guys from Poland have broken through the 100lb barrier on their first visit to the river - a dream come true for them.

To see an entertaining montage of the guys first visit to the ebro, copy and paste the following link into your browser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU1_7doxsRY

A fantastic result today with an outstanding brace of ton-up catfish for Krystian Rudnicki and Jarek Szewczyk. The guys, who live in Burton-on-Trent, were on their first ever visit to the Ebro. Krystian was unlucky to twice drop fish at the beginning of the session, but this was soon forgotten when his float disappeared without warning and he was hooked into a first ever Ebro catfish of 107lb.

The highlight of the session was a gigantic cat of 167lb which took a large mullet fished very shallow over banks of dying streamer weed. The fish put up a marathon battle of 20 minutes plus with some memorable runs in the fast, shallow water. For a delighted Jarek this is truly a fish of a lifetime!

The best fish today was again a 90lber, but this time it fell to the rod of Gary Greenhill. Mullet are abundant at present and once again this was the successful bait, with the fish being taken from the ‘mozzie bay’ area. The most bizarre moment from today’s session occurred when a large cat attempted to grab a 28lb fish being played by Gary at the side of the boat!

More action today with the cats looking to feed in the warmer, settled conditions. The biggest fish of the day was this 90lber which was caught by regular visitor Lee Booker. The fish accepted a live mullet offering in 20ft of water on the notorious ‘big cat alley’ drift.

The conditions have been horrendous over the last few days. North West winds have continued to hammer downstream and the water temperature has dropped over the last 10 days from 19C to around 14C, obviously not ideal.

Today the wind finally abated and the effect on the cats was almost immediate with a 4 fish haul for Lee Booker and Gary Greenhill. The session’s most memorable moment was a double hook-up involving these 2 beauties of 77 & 67, both accepting mullet fished in around 25ft.

It’s been a week of awful conditions with ultra strong, cold, northerly winds and a rapidly falling water temperature, not condusive to great fishing. Despite these conditions, a moderate degree of success has been achieved and the final cat of the week for Gary Carter was this 50lber, on a day when a blank looked the most likely outcome!

Just when you think the winds can’t get any stronger….they do! Another battle of a day on the river, fighting against the elements. Fortunately the mullet are about in numbers at present, so bait is currently A1. The highlight today was this 88 which took a mull which had strayed out into centre channel, and added to a 35 taken earlier on from a tight marginal position.

Highlight of todays session today was this double header of 35 & 60 for Gary Carter, Al lending a hand with the 35! The wind was pushing hard again so any result is a welcome one at the moment. The biggest disappointment of the day was a large lost fish which took a bait close to the gunnel, but turned and shed the hooks almost instantly!

The cold winter winds have come in a big way, with 3-4 North Westerly’s making the river a bitch to fish at present. The only options are holing in tight to some of the reedbeds and seeking shelter from the onslaught. Water temperature is also falling out quickly, with cold nights causing a drop of around half a degree per day.

It was a good result today when this 101 spectacularly hammered a mullet on a coloured water feature, adding to a 47lber caught earlier in the day by Gary Carter. Check out the shots also of a truly

memorable sun down over the Ebro.

Steve Gleeson marked his first trip to the Ebro with this fish of 99lbs, caught with Mike Smith with Martin currently away Sturgeon fishing in Canada. The fish took a mullet livebait near the chicken factory at Amposta, but couldn’t quite tip the scales down another pound!