TACKLING SPAIN PART TWO

Ron bent into a monster (173 lbs)

I hope you enjoyed part one, now in part two I will take you through that very memorable seventh trip to Spain.

I was out there visiting my friend Colin. For those of you who are unaware, Colin is a very good friend of mine and he runs Catmaster tours. From March to October he runs catfishing trips and from November to February is his carp fishing trips (but this year he plans to run both all year providing he gets the bookings of course).

So as it would be the end of November when I went out there to visit him, the plan was to do a bit of carp fishing. So, I flew out on British Airways and was greeted at the airport by Colin and Simon from Quality baits, bait company (Simon was already over there discussing the possibility of supplying Colin his bait for Catmaster Carp tours that winter) Colin introduced me and we shock hands. I had meet him before, briefly, when he had supplied me with some free bait for a junior fish-in I ran at Penns Hall Lake in the Midlands a few years back.

Sunset over the cat rods

After the introductions were over, we climbed into Colin's People carrier and set off for the apartments in Mequineza, just off the banks of the river Segra (part of the Ebro system). There was already one of Colin’s customers there (Roger) who had just arrived. As he was by him self, I said I would fish with him to keep him company the next day. As we discussed tactics on which areas to fish etc, I said to Simon, (who was not a Carp fisherman although he makes bait) why don’t you came along and I will set you up to catch your first ever carp. He said okay as he had a day to kill before he was due to catch the return ferry back home. Well, that next day we had some excellent action. Not only did I catch Simon his first ever carp but also his second! At 34 lbs he was well pleased. Roger also had several carp up to 38lbs and I had the most fish with the biggest of mine going 28lbs and the smallest 21lbs. A good day - we had some thirty fish in all.

Well Simon was that impressed by his first day carp fishing, he actually rang up and transferred his ferry sailing for another two days in order to do some more, so that next day when he should have been returning home, he would be Carp fishing again.

The next day came and we also managed to also acquire Colin's young son Ashley. He had heard about our excellent result from the day before and wanted to join in on the fun, as he is a keen carp angler, so he brought his two rods and gear along. I tied him some rigs, baited up for him and cast his rods out to the spots we had action from the previous day. The reason I cast out for him was because being a young lad, he could not get the distance required to hit the channel we were fishing in. As we sat there after getting all the rods out, it was not long before one of them screamed off and young Ashley was in to a hard fighting Spanish carp. It led him a merry dance on his 2lb rods and when he eventually got it in, it went 29lbs, breaking his personal best. He was more than happy. That day we all had several fish each again with Roger landing the biggest one at 32lbs.

As we were about half way through that day, I said to Simon: “You’ve had your first carp now, how do you fancy catching your first catfish?” He said yes straight away. In the course of a couple of days, he had been converted into a carp angler and now I was about to also get him to become a cat angler, so when Colin came down to the swim to visit Ashley and bring him some dinner, I said to Colin “We are thinking of having a go for the cats mate. Are you up for it? Colin said yes. So I then asked Roger if he wanted to join in catfishing ,but he wanted to stop with the carp fishing as he had been out earlier that year catfishing with Colin and just wanted to take it easy and catch a few carp this trip as the cating can be a lot more demanding physically.

By this time a couple of other carp anglers who had booked one of Colin's trips had turned up and Roger was going to fish with them if we went catfishing, so I did not have to keep him company now although I had enjoyed the last two days with him.

173lbs cat with a mouth bigger than some carp anglers I know

So Colin went off to dig out all the gear we would need to do a couple of days cating; boat, rods, reels, alarms etc. We dropped it all in the swim, then Colin and Simon went off to get some baits, while I started to set up the camp and tackle up the rods. This would be our home for the next three days for me and Colin, only one for Simon as he had to be off to catch his ferry back home. So once Colin and Simon retuned with the eels we put out the rods and sat back waiting for one of the traps we had set to produce a result. Simon was to have first run, as he had never caught a catfish before. Colin kindly gave me second take and he would be last; as the sun went down you could feel the temperature drop and as we sat there talking, one of the rods sprang back and the alarm sounded. Colin struck the rod and then handed it to Simon - he was into his first ever cat. I could see by the look on his face he was well impressed with the fight of it. We gloved it and weighed and at 79lbs. Simon was over the moon, with his prize capture.

Next morning just after we had put all the rods back out at 6.00am, we had our second take. It was my turn on the rods but as Simon would be heading off to the ferry to return home at 10.00 that morning, I said “Here Simon you have it”. It turned out to be 105lbs and Colin said “Well that’s it. You have just given away your seventh 100+ on your first take, the next one is bound to be a small one and break your run”. I said “What will be will be!!”

We then photographed the fish and a couple of hours later Simon went back to the apartments to clean up and get his stuff together for his journey home. Colin also shot off to see how the other lads were doing carping and he also had to take his girlfriend, Nancy, to one of the larger towns shopping. This meant I would be in the swim all day by myself, so I pulled in the cat rods and put out the carp rods. In the five hours Colin was gone I had six carp up to 32lbs. All were over 20 and I also lost what would have been a very big carp, if it was a carp that I hooked as it just went and went and went. There is a possibility it could have been a cat, as I was fishing fish meals, but if it was a carp, it was a monster (maybe next time?).

When Colin returned I greeted him with two sacked-up fish, a 32 and a 27. He took me a couple of pictures and I placed them back in the river to grow a bit bigger for next time. I pulled in my two carp rods and we set about putting the cat rods out, as it would not be long before it was dark and the cats were on the prowl searching for their tea. As we sat there waiting, Colin reminded me I had given away my 100+ fish to Simon and what would I do if the next take was only one of the river’s kittens.

I said it’s down to that fisherman in the sky mate; if it’s to be, I’m not that obsessed with my fishing and have always found that my attitude has always paid off. Well what happened next will be etched on my mind forever and was one of them moments all anglers dream of. The first rod, which was positioned at the end of the snags, bent over. The alarm sounded and line stated to be taken of the reel, even though it was set as tight as you could get it. I struck in to the take and pumped the fish as hard as I could to try and pull the fish clear of the snags. The only problem was, it was pulling out line quicker than I could retrieve it. Luckily for me, it went down river at an alarming rate of knots, so it swam clear of the snags. All I had to do now was get it back up the river. After a long and hard battle, I finally got it just in front of the swim but it was still taking line whenever it pleased (the sound effects on the video footage is excellent). Finally I got it closer to the bank where Colin was ready to glove it. He had already said earlier in the fish that it was going to be a 150+….I knew as soon as I picked the rod up it was going to be a good fish and my run of 100+ on my first takes was about to continue to seven, providing I did not lose it of course. Well, after a good battle, the fish’s head finally came up and broke the surface of the water, Colin said this is a new PB mate, as he wallow griped it. Once he had a hold I put down the rod and placed the mat and weigh sling next to the water’s edge and then after removing the hook, helped Colin slide the fish into the weigh sling. We slid it onto the six foot square mat we put down to protect the fish and I could see by the length of it, it was a big mother. We then measured the length and it went 7 foot 4 inches!

Colin, Ron and the 173 lb cat - which is which

Colin said “It’s got to be a big boy at that length mate” and had a little giggle. We then set about weighing the beast. This is a two-man operation and Colin has designed his own sling to cope with the task. He said to me, “well how big do you think it is Ron?” I could see it was longer than my current PB at the time, which was 154 so I said to him, “Looks like about 160 to me mate”. He had another little giggle. I was thinking had I over estimated it? We folded the sling around the fish and placed the handles on the hook of the scales and set about the weighing process. As the scales were facing Colin I could not see the weight so I was still in the dark.

Colin said okay so we let the fish back down to the ground. I said, “Well? Was I over the top on my guess?” He just smiled and laughed. We strung the fish up and returned it to the river. I said “Come on then. What did it go?” He just laughed again and said “Your 160 is well out mate”. I looked at him thinking, that it was definitely a good bit bigger than any of the 150s I’ve had (I have never looked at the weigh scales yet, of any of the cats I have caught. I’m the same with my carping; I always let the person weighing the fish with me read the scales). Don’t know why - just one of the things I do.

Finally he put his hand out to shake mine …and as we shook hands, he said, “Well done mate! Your new PB has just gone up to 173.” I was well pleased. Not only had this fish kept my little run going, but it had just beat my PB by 19lbs. As you can imagine, I was over the moon and wanted to tell every one but there was only Colin there with me.

Next day we videoed and photographed the magnificent beast…. even against a big lump like me, it looks awesome.

That day I followed the same procedure as the day before. Colin went of to see the other anglers and sort out some stuff I was collecting for him, as he is applying to join the BCSG and he had to sort out his pictures etc. So around midday I pulled in my two cat rods and put out the carp rods again. Several more 20+ carp graced my landing net. Considering it was November, I was having a real good trip.

Later that day Colin returned and brought his son Ashley with him to spend the night with us, as he often does. As we sat there I was showing Ashley how to tie a few rigs up, as he is well into his Carping at the moment and wants to catch a 30lb carp. As the light started to fade, all the cat rods were put back out, setting our traps for the feeding spell (while I was over there they seemed to feed from 7am to 10am in the morning and from 9pm to 12pm at night), all in the legal fishing time. As it got to about 10pm, Ashley got in his sleeping bag as it was a bit cold. He quickly dropped off to sleep and was well away in the land of nod, when one the exact same rod as the night before went. It was Colin's turn and as he struck the rod, he said “This feels a good one. Wake Ashley up and he can have it.” He had previously said to Ashley, that he could have his take that night. I woke him up and Colin handed him the rod. He played it for some 30 minutes and when Colin and I pulled it up the bank, I remember thinking “This is bigger than the one I had just had”. As it lay there and we measured it, Colin said “This fish is the same length as my PB which was 182lbs. I started to think “Well it looks like Ashley may now have a bigger PB than his Dad. This happened to me on the trip with my son Lee and Tony when I give away my runs, as I had had a brace 151 and 154. Tony had a 160 and Lee a 155 (still it’s nice to give some a good fish providing you can handle it)

Back to Ashley's fish - Colin and I weighed it and it went 184, the second biggest fish out this year. What a result for young Ashley! He was now beating his old man by 2lbs. It has been an excellent year for Colin's trips and he has had three records broken over there this year, which are Biggest Spanish Cat 191, Biggest Albino 163 and Biggest cat to a junior 184. Not a bad year!

The average size of the cats is getting bigger and bigger each year and I will predict now, that within the next two years someone will brake the 200lb barrier (just hope it could be me).

Well I did have another cat before I went home; at 154 it would have equaled my old PB, so all in all it turned out to be an excellent trip for that time of year.

The carp fishing over there is untouched really and there are some real surprises waiting for anyone who gives it some serious attention. I was only playing at it and had 30 carp over 20lbs. As for the cats, it’s an awesome place. I have now had some 30 cats from there over the 100lb mark with five of them being over 150 mark. It’s certainly awesome fishing.

I think I have babbled on enough now lads and lasses so will end it here, until I update you on my next adventure. For those of you who would like to have a go over there but are unsure about the tackle licenses etc Colin will be running trips over there all next year Cating and Carping.
If you would like more info on this please visit my web site at http://www.catfishgroup.co.uk where I will answer all your questions. I hope your next fishing adventure gives you the fish of your dreams, as my last trip has done but if it doesn’t, there is always net time. Who knows what that will bring! And that’s why we keep going …. or at least I do….
Tight lines and all the best till next time.
I hope all your trips are good ones.

Big Ron Woodward --------------------------------------------------------------------------------