Ebro Catfishing

Here you go Dinger, 50lb, caught some time last year!

The 100lber can take some anglers longer to achieve than others. Steve Jones has taken longer than most, with this week being his third visit to the river, but finally the mile stone was reached (just) with this well earned fish of 105lb.

This cat was found tight in amongst snaggy branches and slowly took a small carp livebait offering in the extremely cold water.

Pictures to follow….

A really tough set of conditions this week, biting northerly winds and even flurries of snow with nights falling to freezing point. The river temperature has fallen again as more and more cold water makes it’s way down from the north.

This has made the fishing and bait fishing really tricky with the water much colder than the ideal. Despite this, hard work and perseverance can occasionally tempt a huge fish to take, as was proved by this whacker of 167lb which took a mullet in the margins of B.C.A. The grateful captor was regular visitor Tony Hampshire, who upped his P.B by 21lbs with this superb cat.

A great finish to the trip for Steve PIllinger today with this great new personal best of 117lb which accepted a mullet fished in a flood water hotspot. The fish was the highlight of a slightly unlucky week which saw a number of small to medium sized fish caught by the Bristol based group, who went home happy none the less!

Matt Nixon and Mark Newman enjoyed the most amazing 5 hour catfish frenzy we have experienced in over 10 years of guiding on the river Ebro. Between 1pm and 6pm the guys boated a phenomenal 6 cats, with some amazing weights: 182, 145, 130, 118, 97 & 55lbs. When the river is in flood conditions the cats can sometimes be located sitting almost on top of each other, and this was the case today as the fish were located in a known flood water hotspot.

Mullet was the successful bait, accounting for all the fish. This staggering catch was all the more amazing when you consider that the river temperature is still sub 10 degrees Celsius! The delighted Essex based pair were left with aching arms, grins from ear to ear, and many a story to tell!

Mark Newman could scarcely believe his luck, when just 15 minutes into his first ever session on the Ebro his mullet livebait was taken by this huge specimen of 163lb, one of the true giants of the lower river. The fish was located in a slack area off the main flow as the river is presently pushing through at levels verging on flood. The fish put up a highly entertaining fight, picking up the flow and taking the boat through a surging eddy in mid river, before finally being boated after a marathon scrap.

The cats of the lower Ebro are often caught at their best weights in the colder months and this was definitely true of this monstrous fish caught by Northampton based angler Andy Love. This giant of 188lb was taken on a mullet on the ‘big cat alley’ drift and is the largest catfish known to have been caught on the lower reaches of the Ebro. With the fish getting tantalisingly close to the 200lb mark it may not be long until this next land-mark is achieved.

Congratulations to Andy on this memorable capture which capped off a difficult trip in cold water conditions.

Another fantastic result on the eels today with this lunker of 128lb taking a snake close to a marginal reed bed soon after starting the session. The fish is a reward for persistence after a tough weeks fishing on a wintry river, and is a comfortable personal best for first time visitor Greg Keys. The huge cat moved into the channel after snatching the bait tight to the margin and gave a lively account of itself in the fast flow.

Despite warmer weather this week the river is currently high and cold with water temperature around 9.5 degrees. The mullet are not currently available as they will not get onto the pipes to feed in the low water temps. Live eels fished tight into the margins are a viable plan B, and this was the successful formula today with these two big cats taking a liking to the ’snakes’.

The fish of 92lb and 100lb are both personal bests for their respective captors, Kev Unsworth and Canadian Paul Jenkins. Both cats were taken from upstream Amposta locations.

A bitterly cold winter here in Spain has chilled the water to around 8 degrees celsius which makes the catching of both mullet and catfish relatively difficult. However, for those prepared to brave the conditions some spectacular results can be achieved. This huge winter fish of 174lb was the reward for first time visitor Max Towner who bagged the beast close to a factory inlet near Tortosa. The huge cat is our biggest on record from the Tortosa section and a fantastic kick off to the 2010 season.