News
Giant Catfish of Spain’s River Ebro
I’ve been lucky enough to do a bit fishing in a few different places around the world; from snapper fishing in New Zealand, to fitting in a bit of ‘hangover’ fishing during a clubbing holiday to Magaluf. One destination and species I had always wanted to have a go at though, was the giant Catfish of Spain’s River Ebro. I had seen the pictures, and even though I thought my largest Cat of 45lb was a modest fish, the more I looked over the photo’s of these Spanish monsters, the more I had to get out there and try and land one of these beasts!
After a chatting to a few mates, it was quite clear that I wasn’t the only one wanting to bag a big cat, and it took all of a day to get three of my good mates interested in a trip. All of us were short on holiday entitlement – mostly due to many sessions back home! –so we decided that we needed to do a shorter trip, with 3 days spread over a weekend being the preferred option. After a bit of surfing the web, I stumbled across a guide that would cator for a shorter trip than the usual week long one, straight away I got our names down! The guiding company decided on was Cariba Sol. None of us had heard of this one before, but the more I spoke with owner Steve Willcocks, the more I realized I had made a good decision.
Steve’s main area of business is family holidays in the Costa Sol region of Spain – some 10 hours away from the Ebro! Because of this, Steve rarely gets to fish this awesome River, but when he does, he puts every ounce of effort in to make sure he, or whomever is with him, catches as much as they possibly can. Steve’s enthusiasm was portrayed in each and every email I received, and every time I spoke with him on the phone, I really did wonder who was more excited about the trip, him or us!
So the day arrived. Myself and Friends Rob Winkworth (Winky), Russel Fitzpatrick (Ratty) and James Rodger (Jimbo) were already ready to go. On arrival at the airport in Zaragosa, Spain, we were met by Steve. We then had an hour long minibus journey to Steve’s chosen spot. During this time, Steve went on to tell us stories that well and truly wetted our appetite, probably the best one being that he had just landed a 164lb Cat about 4 hours previous. His excitement was seriously contagious!
On arrival at the River, we were welcome by Steve’s Friend Martin, not to mention more Carp crashing than you’d expect at your local commercial! We then had decided how we were going to play the holiday. We were all there for a 100lb plus catfish, so everyone coming home with one was our priority. We decided to take it in turns on the rods, all individually hoping that one of us would have more luck than the others. The order which we took was decided fairly easily, as Ratty struck into a Carp at first light, with Jimbo striking into the next and me taking the first Cat run.
Our line of attack consisted of baiting heavily with 21mm Halibut pellets flavoured with Dynamite Baits Fresh Squid and Octopus Liquid Attractant. Over the top of this, Squid was used as hook bait on a hair rig arrangement. Bites came steadily all holiday, although we did get amongst a lot of the venues tiddlers! Ratty was the first to experience the raw power of a monster Catfish on the first day, and after an arm wrenching battle, he was soon admiring a mega moggie of 146lb! None of us could believe it, the fish was enormous! After getting the photo’s the fish was returned. Old smug chops Ratty then sat back and opted out of the rotation of the rods, one tonner down, three to go!
The second day came and by now I had received a new nickname – Matty Small Fry! After striking the first rod in the morning I landed a 15lb’er, and my next time on the rods saw me land a 5lb’er. I needed some luck! With everyone now having landed fish over 60lb, I was feeling a little left out, but whilst sitting back chatting to Steve, I noticed one of the Rods hoop over in a proper way! I ran over and gave the fish an almighty strike. All of the rods were being fished at near on 300 yards ranges, so a good strike was required. Then began the fight of my life, where half the time I was looking over my shoulder looking at Steve saying the fish I had hooked was snagged – it turned out the fish was actually on the surface, and just bloody massive!
Steve had told us all before we started, as a rough guide, If a fish gave three strong runs it was going to be a 100lb’er. After the seventh run, I think we were all wondering just what I had hooked! With the fish now approaching the margins, Steve got ready to glove whatever was approaching. With the mainline now in Steve’s hands, he began to carefully bring the Cat into gloving distance. Due the water being so murky, it was difficult to see anything, right until the last minute when a fish of 7 foot long popped up in front of Steve! Steve was in like a shot, and began to heave the beast onto the unhooking mat. I let out one almighty victory cry and looked on trying to comprehend what had just happened. In the sling was a monster of a fish, but how big? Well, a little over 160lb big to be exact!
After everything was done and the fish was returned, I felt happy to no longer be Matty Small Fry! With a little under half the trip left, we all now felt that Jimbo and Winky stood a good chance of achieving their goal. The rest of that day went and disappeared in a flash, and it wasn’t until midday the following day that Jimbo’s chance arrived. The morning had seen a massive band of Rain move in, and totally drench all of us. Typically, right in the middle of this downpour, Jimbo received an almighty pod shaking take. Standing in his full waterproofs, Jim struck into a monster of a catfish, which only gave one run, but what a run it was! The run lasted no less than 20 seconds and at one point had us all thinking that he was about to be spooled by it! This led to Jim running out into the Ebro up to his neck, whilst the rest of us held on to him. With his camo waterproofs on, it looked like he was wearing a giant inflatable nappy, hilarious!
Knowing this was going to be another monster, I wanted to have the opportunity to land one of these beasts myself. Awaiting the moment, I stood patiently in the knee deep margins, waiting for the mainline to come within grabbing range. As it did, I began to slowly retrieve the line. I knew right in front of me a fish of substantial proportions was about to emerge, but how big? Out in front of me, up popped a bloody great bucket mouth, which I promptly grabbed hold of and simply hung on for dear life! Once again another real biggie had been landed, this time the fish weighing in at 156lb - Awesome!
It was now Winky’s turn – he had 10 Rods all to himself for another 8 hours, surely he was not going to go home empty handed? Well, unfortunately due to the heavy rain we had received, the hole river just switched off. We waited as long as we could, but we just ran out of time. Wink had to leave with a 62lb’er being his best of the trip. This was gutting for all of us, but it did have one saving grace. The cheque’s in the post Steve, we’ll see you again very soon, Winky needs a tonner!
Matt Rand