Date: July 2008

Details: !!!!!! Ebro News June/July 2008 !!!!!!

Howdy Anglers,

Following on from our last new snippet here is the info from our trips conducted at the end of June / early July.

This time out I had some help from and old friend who is no stranger to big fish, Tony Davis-Patrick. He joined the team for two weeks to help out and to finalise the remaining footage required for his latest movie project on the Ebro.
In the two week period we landed just short of 300 fish including cats and carp with some real crackers along the way.

Over 30 fish to the magical 100lbs mark were caught which still leaves us with no clients leaving sunny Spain with out a 100lber!!!!!!

Our biggest cat out was to Stephen Lister. At just over 150lbs it was the biggest fish of the trips to date (Please check out our web pages for catch reports)

This year had a strange start with water levels being up on previous years leaving very little bank space for anglers, so in some areas it was very crowded. As I don’t like to have anyone around to share our fish we opted to go up river were there had been no angling pressure for some time in the hope to catch some fish on their way back from spawning.

It was quite evident that the cats had been hard at it for some time due to many of them still showing their wounds from their somewhat vicious breeding behaviour.

Yet in some of the other areas we fished no fish caught had signs of spawning marks at all. Strange ... perhaps these fish had completed their spawning earlier on and had recovered?

Any way back to the fishing.

Our first group out was made up of 5 anglers... 4 from Essex and 1 from Australia who had won a trip from an earlier prize draw in Pike & Predator this year. Once the lads were back to our accommodation and we had gone through the usual we went off to bed for an early start in the morning.

Our first day proved ok with 8 fish to 134lbs... a good start!

Nick Dent landed his first "toner" at 134lbs and was made up, along with Aussie Dan landing his pb first with an 82.00lbs then followed it up with 102.00lb cat later that day.

As the week moved on the fishing improved, the best day saw us landing 29 fish to 136lb. The big girl went to Simon Streeter who was buzzing that night when we went in to town for our daily feed. It had been a hard day so there were big steaks all round that night!

The fish went in fits and start with a good then a not so productive day with clear feeding patterns becoming apparent.

We noticed that larger baits were working well this particular week and we were to find out that this would be the case for the following trips to come.

The carp were in plentiful numbers as usual and not afraid to pick up some of the cat rigs with 10-15 pellets on only to realise they had made a mistake right at the net!

This week saw the biggest carp tip the scale just over the 30lb mark which was a pb for Nick once again.

The lads this week notched up a total of 79 fish for the week which they were well pleased with and all of they achieved their target in landing a catfish over the 100lb mark.

Fish landed over the 100lb mark are as follows:
134.00, 102, 136.04, 127.12, 124.08, 113.12, 114.00, 126.04 with also 4 fish just under the ton and 2 fish over 80lbs. We had a great action packed week with these lads and a great time along the way.

The second group was made up of 6 anglers, a group of two - Andy and Stephen, and a group of 4 - Chris, Tom, Mark and Deano. These boys had not met before but got on like a house on fire!

They gelled right away and got in to the swing of things straight away. This week saw us go even further up river to an area that had not been fished since early May as it has been under water for some time. We took a chance and it paid off as that week we landed 149 fish which I believe is the biggest catch so far this season.

All six anglers had well over 20 fish with the largest just over the 150lb mark with 16 other cats over the ton.

I have updated the catch reports on our web site (www.eurocarpsessions.com ) so you can see our result there... but here are the 100lb fish caught this week:

107.08, 113.12, 124.00, 103.08, 150.08, 120.00, 123.00, 124.00, 101.00, 121.04, 111.00, 114.12, 127.12, 108.00, 123.12, 102.12, 124.00. Also we accounted for 7 fish just under the 100lb mark and 4 fish over 80lb. Most of these fish were on the move back down river after spawning in the shallower waters

I think we were slightly unlucky as if these fish had been at their heaviest we would have had an even better week with a bumper catch of big fish.
All the same it was an excellent catch and credit to the boys for their hard work during the week which made it for us. They really got involved and were landing & weighing by the end of the week.

Andy Kendal landed 6 fish over the 100lb mark along with Stephen Lister who landed 4 cats over 100lb to 150lbs. The rest of the group all had more than 1 fish over the 100lb. A great week with all happy!

This season as had it highs and lows with ever increasing water levels never leaving us with consistent areas to fish. Now with the water levels stabilizing, the fluctuation in water levels should only be from the farmers drawing to irrigate their crops and evaporation in the hot sun. So we should be able to see a pattern develop and have better ideas on the movements of these fish. The larger volume of water has dispersed the bigger fish to areas which were normally dry this time of year so locating the bigger fish has been a little more difficult.

I have posted on our website all the latest images of the best fish landed and few more for you to view. We're soon back out there again so I will keep to up to speed on our antics on the River Ebro.

Keep them lines tight!

Martyn.

!! Say Cheese !!	Andy Kendal 103lb	Aussie Dan 126lb
Chris Harrison 124lb	Paul Dent 28lb Ebro Common	Simon Streeter 136lb

Date: October 2007

Details: Ebro news

Hi all you catfish anglers out there, thought I would get my fingers working and give you our reports from the River Ebro Spain.

As you well know Spain suffered from the terrible weather conditions at the early part of the year but you will be pleased to know that they quickly receded in the month of July to give us more comfortable levels to fish and more bank space which was a blessing.

Once the levels had stabilised the fishing improved week after week with some good fish be banked from the top lake and down as far as Escatron.

One thing I noticed in our captures was the amount of fish in the 50lb to 90lb bracket which had increased from previous years, all good for our future monsters.

Well let’s get back to the trip info and catches.

I will give you an overview of the groups so it will give a better idea of the captures through-out the year of 2007.

Our first group the Newman party, well these boys really had the conditions against them with torrential rain, winds and extreme water levels and the flow was unbelievable but even with all these factors against us we still managed some good fish for the week with several fish over the 100lb mark with the biggest going over 140lbs.

These lads sure made up for the fishing in the evening and we all had a great time.
Well done fella’s see you next year.

Our second group saw Wayne and his group pit there whits against our Ebro monsters conditions were still rough but the sun managed to come out and give us some fantastic sunny days to enjoy.
Lots of big cats this week with Wayne landing the biggest fish of the week which I understand is a bit of a common occurrence for him as he has already banked carp over 60lbs from France.
The group landed over 10 100lbs cat with several of the over the 140 mark with the largest going 158lbs.

Top angling lads!

Group 3 well what can I say 10 anglers in total our biggest group for the year and we had our work cut out as the fishing had steadily improved and the cats were wanting bait more on a daily basis.
Rob, Tony and I had prepared ourselves for an exhausting week and that’s what we got!
No sooner had we placed the baits they were off and this was the case all week biggest fish went to Mike Chambers the head of the group and well deserved to, all anglers landed fish to over a tonne with carp to 40+ also made for an excellent but exhausting week for the group.
We all worked hard and banked well over 100 fish that week with 20 over the 100lbs mark.

Group 4 well these guy were know strangers to catching fish with some of the members professionally fishing for the Barnsley blacks, and catching is what they did,
Not only did these lads have loads of cats but the landed bag fulls of carp also to 38lbs.
This particular week we decided to take the group up river towards Escatron by boat to some of the areas few anglers’ fish and are only accessible by boat.
We arrived at our chosen swim and set up for the day although we did not land loads of fish all were over the 100lb mark with the biggest going 140lbs to Charlie who seemed to have the knack of landing all the big fish.
A great week had by all especially Billy the fish!!!!!!!!!!

Well-done fellas see you soon!

Group 5 the Griffiths group well what can I say about these fellas?
I have never laughed so much in my life the banter between these boys was amazing all in good fun off course!!!
These boys landed a staggering 111 fish to 152 with the angler who had never fished before in his life landing no less that 5 fish over the 100lbs mark!!!! I subsequently asked him for some lottery numbers LOL!!!!!!!

20 fish over the 100lbs mark for this group with carp to 40+ also.
We fished one of our favoured swims for this time of year and as always produced the goods for us again although the silt and mud made lading fish difficult we had an amazing week.
Well done fellas you deserve a rest for all your hard work! Oh and ours as well.

Group 6 father and son duo Vic & Kev Priest defiantly had there prayers answered after a bad start when we got our 4x4 stuck in the mud yes stuck in the mud!
But Rob and my self worked our socks of to make up for the bad start with landing 2 of the biggest fish of the year to these guys.
164.00 & 153.00 to Vic this fella is 67 years of age and he really got to grips with these Ebro monsters! Well done Vic hope you had a good rest when you got home.

Kev his son also got in to the big fish with his biggest cat being 137lbs these guys’ landed 48 fish with 12 over the 100lbs mark!

Well done chaps.

Well that was it for the season not looking forward to the 900+ plus miles back to the Croix Blanche Rob and myself packed our things and said our good byes to La Barca until next year.

The rain is on it way again so the river will soon start to rise again and the carp will begin to shoal up in the rich flowing waters and the cats will disappear to the areas that have been out of water for several months.
Fishing for cats is now at its best with all the fish at good weights were they have been feeding hard for the last month or so but now the carp fishing comes in to its own with the temperatures starting to drop and the carp grouping up to feed hard for there winter months ahead who knows what’s waiting for us.

I am currently collating our catch reports and will give you our totals for the year.

All the best and enjoy the images

Tight lines

Marty

Birds eye view of La Barca	Mr Lucky 152.00lbs	Sticky situation
Vic with his 164.00lbs	Waiting for carp!	3 over the ton!!!!!

Date: April 2007

Details: Off to a wet start!!!!!!!!!

We have all sang along to the rain in spain but this time we got it for real!

The weather conditions in the mountain areas has been the worst I have experienced for a long time.

Many of the small villages up and around Zaragoza have seen excessive water levels which has caused not only destruction to farms and property but has also seen the fishing take a back seat due to problems with water level, flow and colouration.

Our first group headed by Paul Newman experienced 30mph winds and excessive flow to the river making conditions some times unbearable and making our life extremely difficult to present a bait properly.

Our catches that week were reduced dramaticly due to the conditions only 3 anglers caught the 100lb'er they were looking for. Sorry chaps... but all angler caught and we had a great week all the same.

The second week saw Wayne Naylor and his group get in to some very good fish 7 over 100lbs to 158 and also carp to 34lbs.

Still a difficult week but we got our areas working well and the guys got what they came for!!!!!

We even had 2 sun filled days also to warm up the old bones amoung us.

I will keep you informed of what is going on on the banks of the Ebro with our coming trips.

Biggest fish of the week	Awsome Ebro common	Simons Whacker
Did well to lift it!!!!!!!!

Date: October 2006

Details: Ebro just the tonic for Stuart!

Hi all ...just thought I would share this with you. Stuart was a angler that booked with us last year ....following a very bad car crash and being in a coma for two months ..he was uncertain if he was up to the trip, as he had lost some of his strength from one side ....but after the staff at Angling Lines and myself had reasured him ....He had a great trip landing big Cats and Carp.


From: Stupotjive77@aol.com
Sent: 19 October 2006 21:05
To: support@anglinglines.com
Subject: Stuart Naish


Many thanks to all the girls at Angling Lines for setting my mind at ease, about the worries i had about the trip. Linda hi it's me again and as you said, i will be back with you again next yr.

Please can you find out if & when Ron will be flying back to the Zaragoza trip next yr, i am looking to see if i can go back april / may of next yr. If i get these dates i will again book with u again bacause Ron was a fantastic guy with a heart of gold.

Look forward to hearing back from you

Stuart Naish

Stuart with a big cat	Kiss for a lovely carp

Date: October 2006

Details: Mar de Argon River Record

Our most recent trip to the Ebro produced the new Mar de Aragon section to Croyden angler Steve Poole at 170.00lbs

We have still have fulfilled our promise to clients....... every angler whom we have taken to the areas we fish have all caught cats over 100lbs.

To bag this Fish for a client was a real result!!

Total of 69 fish:

S.Poole J.Penfold D.Moulto K.Champion
67.00 65.00 138.00 36.00
104.00 104.00 30.00 87.00
114.00 98.00 10.00 83.00
115.00 35.00 102.00 25.00
30.00 79.00 124.00 92.00
25.00 57.00 138.00 45.00
76.00 95.00 30.00 84.00
79.00 68.00 81.00 31.00
53.00 27.07 109.00 50.00
53.00 88.00 56.00 111.00
25.00 130.00 89.00 42.00
54.00 123.00 30.00 98.00
66.00 102.00 125.00 53.00
73.00 117.00 76.00
42.00 46.00 92.00
20.00 20.00 28.00
46.00 18.00 141.00
35.00 82.00
60.00
170.00

17 over 100 Not a bad week!

Enjoy the images

Martyn

What a Beast!	Awsome fish!	141.00lbs
Two to handle!	130.00lbs	111.00

Date: July 2006

Details: Guided Catfishing trips keep hitting the Ton's!

Well - we met our target last year of catching every angler we took to Spain at least one 100 lb plus catfish, so all the trips went very well. We ended last year by going out there in December to shoot a DVD (out soon) on fishing for cats and you will see that every angler had cats over 100 even in the depths of winter. (We will be running a special deal on the DVD once it’s launched next month - anyone making a booking after buying the DVD will have the cost of it taken off their trip.)



Our trips to Spain this year have been a great success with a three week stint in April producing over 300 cats banked up to 156lb with 70 being over the magic one hundred mark …… not bad fishing by anybody’s standards I would say.



I will split the three weeks down for you now ….week 1 (1st to 8th of April) saw Tom Massey and his mate Graham Rotherham, both catfish virgins, bank 76 Cats. 24 over 100lb, 7 over 120lb, 2 over 130lb and 4 over 140lb the biggest one to Tom at 147lb. Total weight for the week was 5340lb. On the fourth day they had 3 tons on the bank at the same time 110lb, 121lb & 126lb, not bad fishing and, as you can see from their comments, they enjoyed themselves: The best holiday we have ever had! The travelling is second to none compared to a 6 hour trek into France. We hoped to catch a cat near to 100lb not 24 and both of our second Cats were 105lb & 147lb. If you love mud wrestling with catfish this is the holiday for you!



Week 2 saw the Angling Lines team over there, David, Linda, Steve and his brother. They had come out for a rest, but it did not turn out to be that way LOL , with 72 cats landed that week - 22 over 100lbs. Biggest were140, 138, 134 ( all caught by Linda ) plus another four over 120lbs.

As you can see, even without working too hard they had lots of fish, here are their comments:

This was a really fantastic holiday. Ron's help & advice was invaluable in putting so many fish on the bank for us. He really is a top class guide. The fishing is truly out of this world - this has to be the best freshwater fishing on the planet at the moment. The way these magnificent creatures fight has to be experienced to be believed. Top class guide, top class facilities & unbelievable fishing!



On to Week 3 which saw two sets of father and son and one of the sons’ mates fishing.

The group consisted of Mr M & Mr S Pearce, Mr P & A Salters and Mr S Butters.



Although two of the anglers did not fish as much as the other 3, the group still accounted for 82 Catfish up to156lb. They also had 5 common carp, which gave them a grand total of 87 fish for the week of which 22 cats were over the magic 100lb mark.



Here is the feedback from father and son M.Pearce and S.Pearce: 45 fish caught - total weight 3,521lb. Pb - M Pearce 156lb, Pb - S Pearce 142lb. Catch included 12 fish over 100lb. Average weight 80lb.



Ron & Martyn of A&J were excellent guides who looked after us very well, both for fishing and socially, i.e. taking us out at night



Well as you can see from the feedback above, Marty and I ( Big Ron ) are still achieving our goal of catching every one of our anglers a cat over that magic 100 lbs. We have not yet failed any of the clients who’ve joined us on one of our guided trips to Spain.



Hope you have enjoyed this feedback and that it’s given you the confidence to book with us on one of our venues.



Tight lines

Big Ron & Marty