Beginning of autumn

Autumn or fall this is the start to my favourite time of year with the transition from summer into winter. The dark nights draw in and the temperatures start to drop and the flip flop boys start to pack their gear away till next year.

It was a cold and windy weekend and i had two nights planned for some fishing, Quite a few fish had come out in the week so i knew i had a good chance of bagging one or two.
I got to the lake after work on the Friday around six, The lake was quite busy and not many swims was left so i just jumped in the swim next to bob the bailiff for more of a social.
Bivvy went up and all my gear chucked into it and off i went to see how the lads have been getting on. Bob had been down a night already and not had a thing but across the lake Andy had been down for most of the week and started really well bagging a 35lb+ and a 36lb+ on his first night then had a few mid 20's the next day.

Plenty of chat and banter and the odd few beers helped us pass the night, even got to see a few of Andy's dance moves and that was worth me not fishing for the night

Bob was the only one to get some action that night with a stunning mid 20 mirror, he also had another one in the early hours weighing in at 28lb+ common, Dan also caught early morning so i was a bit gutted i didn't fish that night as i was in the middle of both of them.

Out went my rods for a few hours to see if i could bag one with no joy.
Curry time i thought so the rods came in and the tandoori chicken and lamb biryani was ordered..

The time now was 18:20 the dark was drawing in so i got my rod back out on the spots.

19:27  Screamer time - right hand rod was off

Struck into it and it felt a good fish, after a good fight for 10 Min's the carp was ready for the net.
Didn't think it was that big when i first looked at it, thought it may be a 30lb at a push.
I went to get my scales and i couldn't believe it they had broke - wasn't a happy man but help was here as i had rang Russ to pop over to come take some pictures for me. We weighed the fish and i could believe my eyes when i sore 37lb something on them i said you need to read this as i want it to be right so we span the scales round so he could see them and lifted the carp. 37lb 7oz he said  Happy days
We slipped the carp back into the water wile i was getting my stuff ready for a photo.
What a lump i was over the moon...

This stunning carp was caught on 3 15mm Nash white choc boilies on a bolt rig fished in 21ft of water

 

Summer Time

This time of year i found it tricky to catch

Might be due to my style of fishing as i seem to do really well in the colder months

 

I planned on fishing over the weekend and the lake was a bit busy so i moved up to this end of the lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

I blanked quite a few overnighters and the odd few weekends before this weekend but i got lucky this time after moving swims at 6am as i sore fish crashing on the other side of the lake

 

 

 

 

Ebro Mad Cats

 

Riba Roja D’Ebre is at the centre of an 18 kilometre stretch of river between the big dam at Riba Roja and the smaller one atFlix. This is the “Real Spain” and there is no commercial development on this part of river. Ebromadcats is based about a mile away from this small, friendly village with its range of bars, restaurants and shops – ideal for stocking up on provisions or relaxing after a day on the river. If you can tear yourself away from the fishing, this is a great area to explore with the Mediterranean beaches just a 45min car ride away. Riba Roja is on the main Barcelona line so even if you don’t have a car, you can still get out and about

 

 

 

 

 

Anglers from all over the world come to the mighty river Ebro in search of the famous Wels catfish. Not surprising as these river monsters put up a terrific fight and give some of the best sport possible in freshwater venues.

The mecca for catfishing is still Mequinenza and Caspe where the record catch now stands at around 250lb. It is perfectly possible to spend a day at one of these venues during your visit but, make no mistake, the fishing in our section of the river is fantastic. Muscle-straining takes with the line streaming out and 150lb of cat testing you and the gear – doesn’t get much better.

This stretch of the river has the dam at Riba Roja about 5 miles upstream and another dam about the same distance downstream at Flix. There are plenty of big catfish and carp in the area and these are wild river fish that will give fantastic sport. During the 2011 season the record catch from the bank was 192lb for this stretch of the river – tantalisingly close to that 200lber.

 

 

 

 

It was a special occasion When me and two of my mates came fishing at Ebromadcats. A 66lb catfish as a birthday present – what more could you ask?

All three of us managed new P.B.s and proved are credentials by fishing without a guide and landing over 400lb in are 5 day stay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ebro PB 66lb

 

 

 

This was my first ever trip out to spain and i will be heading back out soon to try and bag myself a river monster

 

The Views are stunning and i would say if you have never been cat fishing before you must give this ago you won't regret it

 

 

More pictures can be viewed here and more info about ebro mad cats

 

http://ebromadcats.co.uk/happy-birthday-nick/

 

May Madness

This was a busy month for me catching quite a few nice carp

most of the carp was caught on a small chod rig fished in light weed

with a nash 15mm white choc pop up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cat fishing

The long awaited return to the lake, fishing the small lake for the “big cats”.

keen as mustard and desperate to get my first “whiskers” under my belt. And not in a small way either, I sets my sights high, “I want too break the 50lb mark"

I knew it was going to be hard as i only had 24 hours to track these cats down.

with the weather a bit cooler than yesterday and rain forecast for later that afternoon i soon got setup and ready for the night ahead.

I baited my swim with 1kg of halibut pellets then placed my rig over the top of it, i was using a halibut pellet tipped off with a 20mm pink white choc pop up.

The night came with no bites so i got my head down ready for an early morning fish.

6:30am i was awoke by a screamer, i struck into my rod and new it was a bigun as it started to put a bend in the rod straight away and was ripping line off my reel.

After a good 25 min fight i managed to pull the cat into the net which wasn't easy as it was about 4 foot long

I was over the moon to catch one as the weekend before i was so ill i didn't get the chance to fish for them.

It wasn't the one i was after but still 38lb isn't bad, it was the best fight i have had this year and i will defiantly be after these again some time.

A few hours later my carp rod took off with a nice little 20lb mirror

Happy days

Caught on a chod rig - Which im starting to love using

20mm white Rainbow White choc pop up 

 

The clocks go forward

Its that time of the year when the nights get shorter and the days start to get warmer, I was looking forward to my 3 nights fishing and couldn't wait to get back down to the lake to see what life this warm weather had brought.

Forecast was looking good with nice warm days around 16 degrees and mild nights around  6 degrees,
Fish must be on the move i thought.
Upon arrival i checked out the small lake to see if anything was on the move, when a big lump crashed out in the bog swim leaving a big ring of ripples on the water. I should of learnt from what i had seen in this lake but i didn't.

I had a chat with a few guys that had been fishing for a few night's, they said its still been hard fishing but one managed to get a 29lb mirror in the morning and had the white tip common out which normally comes in at 25lb the night before.

I was buzzing with excitement as i walked around the big lake with my stuff, Half way round i sore two fish poke their heads out over the spots i was going to fish (happy days i thought) So straight round to the pads i went (This was a bad move i found out three nights later)
Even though i blanked in this swim the last time i was down i thought i would of had a good chance of getting a bite from this swim.
Due to the warm days i set out to do some zig fishing and only having one rod on the bottom, Ive been dieing to try Nash's new zig bugs but they haven't hit the shops yet so i made my own to try.

All i had in my box to try was Two 10mm black monster squid and a artificial red maggot cut in half  with a hint of yellow at the end

Looks ok to me i thought so i started at around 13 foot about 30 - 40 yards out. No joy with that so i went down to around 10 foot for the night. not a beep. My right hand rod which i had placed in the pads was getting liner's late at night but resulted in nothing.
The next day was the same, i was starting to think that all the fish had moved to the other end of the lake as i wasn't getting any bites at all.
My Bottom bait was placed on a little gravelly spot among the weed, but for some reason it was remaining untouched also.

Alsorts were going through my mind but simply, you cannot make a carp feed where it doesn't want to feed,  regardless of how much bait you put in.
They definitely have their preferred areas and i wasn't on them this time.
I have learnt that they like to feed happily on the large silt gullies that run down the near side of the island and feel safe in the open water in front of the folly, this is were i will be heading on my next trip to try and out smart these carp.

The only fish to come out of the lake was caught by a good mate of mine jimmy who had a new PB at 38lb 9oz

Caught on a chod with a white pop up

Up and downs

Ups and downs would seem to be my theme in this introduction. For example, I've just fished my most unforgettable winter's for many years. This weekend's long nightmare came soon after possibly one of my best winter's ever.

Highs and lows, ups and downs, call them what you like, they are a part of carp fishing.
From the elation as the net is lifted to the gut wrenching feeling as the line goes suddenly slack.
My First visit early march was defiantly a low, 3 nights fishing and resulted in a blank.
I thought to my self "why has it all gone wrong?" Last trip the bait worked, The rig worked, fish showing over my bait. just this trip they didn't want to play ball in my area.
Don't no if it was down to the weather or angling pressure or what.
Perhaps it would be better just to tell my self, "Don't panic, keep doing the basics right, wait and your turn will come. Learn from all your sessions - the ups and downs.
Don't just ask yourself the question "why did i blank" and also "why did i catch" Carp fishing for all of us can be  easy at times but it also can be very hard.
After all, isn't it the bad times that make the successes all the more magic.

On a high note fish did come out of the lake while i was their.
Jason had a 27lb mirror on a short day trip and Mark had a real dark 24lb winter looking common, so good to see the fish were still feeding and moving about.
Even the small lake is starting to wake up, 3 fish out over the weekend - 13lb ghosty on a zig caught by Russ, first ever fish on a zig too so that made his weekend.
Mike did one night bagging a 15lb and a 23lb carp