The Sessions March 2021
Opportunity taken 😊
I signed off last month having looked back at my experiences boat fishing for the Spanish Carp on the Ebro system. With another month of no fishing I looked back through my diaries again and will tell you about and amazing trip in Nov 2012 where I capitalized on some brilliant Carp fishing.
11 November 2012 – Rio Segre, Mequinenza, Spain
I arrived in Meq for our annual Nov Catting trip knowing already this trip would not be quite the same, Colin had gone back to England to care for his mum who was unfortunately ill so I knew for most of the trip I was likely to be fishing alone or with one of the guides if they were not working. Catting alone is not easy due to the way we fish and handling the fish but with experience it can be done as long as there are people on the end of the phone to help with weighing and photographing. I spent the evening getting my rods, rigs and tackle bag ready and then eating out and catching up with my friends in Meq.
12 November 2012
Ryan wasn’t working so we agreed to fish together for a few days which was great as he is really good company and a good angler too. We set up in a swim called the BBQ for 14:00, a well-known reliable swim and with no one else on the section we hoped to be in for a good session. The weather was warm and sunny with a strong upstream wind, the levels were ok without much weed coming down but the water temp was low for the time of year at 11.8 degrees.
As with most trips I continued to experiment with rigs, on recent trips I felt fish were feeling the tight mainline as they came in to investigate the baited area and were powering away giving me a bang on the rod top and then nothing. The Dyneema braid we use for hooklinks tends to loop up instead of lay flat on the bottom due to the hook and pellets landing fairly close to the lead so I wanted to push the hookbait away from the lead and tight mainline and try to get it down on the bottom. To do this I put three feet of stiff sinking rig tube on the hooklink and trapped it between two swivels, I then attached a 12 inch section of braid with the hook and baited hair. In the margins it looked perfect, the rig tube pushed the hookbait away from the lead and it laid flat on the bottom keeping it away from the mainline.
It was awkward to swing into the boat alone so it was good to have Ryan there to help, I rowed both rigs out to spots at 15 and 11 feet coming back up the far shelf and baited both spots with two double handfuls of pellet.
Ashley came to join us for the evening and went to my right and promptly had the only fish of the day at 110 pound.
We wound in for the night at 02:00 and the one thing of note was the Carp, they were continually crashing out in the shallows on the other side and hadn’t stopped all day.
13 November 2012
The night was very cold and clear and there was lots of weed coming down first thing making fishing very difficult so we didn’t start until 08:30. The water temp had dropped again to 10 degrees which wasn’t good news for the Catting but I try to remain positive as a bait in the water is better than none at all. The Carp were still repeatedly crashing in the shallows.
It had warmed up through the day and I was thinking of a re-bait early afternoon when the 11 foot rod went over, straight away I thought it was a Carp and I was right it was Mirror at 34-12, a real prize jewel from the Segre but not great on a 6/0 hook, 100kg hooklink and a Cat rod.
The weed had caused problems all afternoon and we were constantly out in the boat clearing the lines. The Carp were still crashing out so at 17:00 I wound in one of my Cat rods and set up a Carp rod. The rig was 15 pound mainline, a 10oz lead on a lead clip, 8 inches of coated braid to a size 4 Continental Mugger with a single pellet tipped with a piece of fake corn. I rowed 150m over to the shallows with a prodding stick and felt around on the edge of the weed, I found a nice area either side of a swans nest which gave me a perfect marker, I then rowed back got the rig and after returning lowered it into the three feet of water and scattered 10 pellets around it. The rod was put in the Cat rests beachcaster style to keep the line away from the weed coming down in the flow. The 10oz lead stuck in the silt enough to create the tension needed to keep the line up out of the water.
Literally 20 minutes later it crashed over and I coaxed a 37-08 Common across the river and into the net. This was followed shortly after by a 33-00 on the Cat rod, now my mind was ticking…..
After some food and a tackle shop run I put both the Cat rods out, Ashley came back for the evening and we all had a Cat each with mine being the best of the three at 138 pound.
14 November 2012
Again the morning was very cold and clear, I put the Cat rods out for a couple of hours but had made my mind up to Carp fish through the day. While I was sorting myself out I put a snide Carp rod out along the reed margin on a single pellet and a piece of glow in the dark corn, it went straight away with a low twenty that I had to go out in the boat for to get it out of the reeds. That was enough of a prod to get the Cat rods reeled in and put out two Carp rods. Both were set up as the previous day only I used glow in the dark corn on both, I don’t know why I chose to use it, it was instinctive but a good choice it turned out to be….
I placed them either side of the swans nest and baited up with a light scattering around each so fish were used to picking up odd baits and it wouldn’t attract Cats. This was the start of some sensational fishing.
The first take was another low twenty and the weed was a bit of a pain made worse as I was fishing alone, but the next take late afternoon made it worth the hard work with a fantastic fish at 42-04, quickly followed by another at 38-08.
The next two were lost in weed so I made the mental note of where it was and placed the baits far enough away for the rest of the trip and didn’t lose another fish despite playing them 150m across the river with 10oz leads…..
I managed to fish two Cat rods for the evening and had three Cats at 80, 110 and 141 despite being on my own. To keep the line out of the water with some tension when rowing out I put a sock in the butt ring, this worked pretty well on the Cat and Carp rods and allowed me to row in and tighten up without the line being in the flow and clogged with weed.
15 November 2012
The level had been lowered overnight and my spot was now two feet deep but still deep enough to cover a big Carp so I carried on with the same spot. It was a cold foggy morning but once the sun came through the bites started with a quick brace at 35-02 and 35-08.
It then went cold, foggy and quiet until the evening when Ryan had his first Carp at 40-08 and I added another at 36-00. We had been joined by another friend, Wing Nutt, he was Catting and had a stunning almost full albino and a PB at 193 pound.
16 November 2012
It was my birthday and what a place to spend it, in previous years the river had been so kind to me on my birthdays and it didn’t let me down again with a 42-01 Common 30 minutes after starting in the morning. It was foggy and really cold and I stuck with the two foot spot and it paid off.
I’d got into a routine of rebaiting every two hours, it was a lot of rowing but enjoyable all the same. I was constantly charging two pieces of corn in the sun and changing them four to six hours, I was so confident in the approach and really felt I had it right.
The day remained quiet although there were still Carp crashing out and positively the water temp was on the rise again at 11.7 degrees. The next fish came early evening at 33-02 and by 20:00 I’d put the Cat rods out for the evening. Ryan, Ashley and Wing Nutt were at home with their better halves leaving me to fish alone and it turned out to be another good birthday with Cats at 130 and 176.
17 November 2012
The morning was cold and foggy again but the water temp was still rising at 12 degrees, this was becoming perfect Segre conditions for the Carp. I was thinking of popping back for a shower mid-morning when I had another quick brace at 39-12 and 39-08.
Once the fog lifted it was warm and sunny, Ryan had his second fish at 36-12 and I added another two at 28-02 and 34-12.
It was my turn for the food run in the evening and as I returned it was great to see Ryan netting the best of the session so far, a good fish at 44-12.
It then started to hammer down with rain, we put the Cat rods out and sat out drinking a bottle of red wine in the rain, it was strangely warm, although that was probably the alcohol, and just great being outside and it’s fair to say we had too much wine and a good laugh that evening.
18 November 2012
It rained most of the night bringing the level up two feet and loads of weed coming down, fishing was not possible in the morning so it was a good time to go back for a shower, a change of clothes and have a cooked breakfast in the bar. I got back for midday and got Carp the rods out but it was difficult with the weed but the levels were being lowered so it got easier as the afternoon went on.
Ryan had the first fish at 37-12 with my first take at 17:00, this one went 31-02. My spot was now 18 inches deep and most would not continue to fish it, however I know from boat fishing in the shallows the Carp will happily feed in that depth.
The lads had all gone home again and what followed was a brilliant evenings fishing made more special I think as I had to do it all alone and in the dark, rowing out and dropping rigs in a river at 150m is not easy and in the dark it’s even tougher. I kept the Carp rods out and put a snide Cat rod out too.
I finished at midnight and what a six hours, taking Carp at 30-01, 35-15 and a magnificent PB at 50-08 along with a Cat at 176, the Carp pics were difficult and not the best but it did not and will never detract from the memory of that stunning fish.
19-21 November 2012
The next two days were difficult, the weather was similar, cold foggy starts and then warming up but the level had come up three feet bringing lots of weed down making fishing very hard, the Carp had gone further back into the shallows away from my spot and the extra water had dropped the water temp from 13 down to 11.2 degrees.
I had a Cat at 118 and a small Carp, Ryan had a 31-15 Common and a small Cat and we had a client Catting who had a 175 but it was difficult fishing with us rotating going out in the boat to clear the lines.
It got a little easier on the 21st with a warmer morning and less weed, I had three quick fish to 33-08 and then late evening I had two more at 34-01 and 40-01to make it a good day.
22 November 2012
Another day to remember for both Ryan and I, it started well being quite warm and no weed problems, we got baits out early and Ryan went on the breakfast run. I had a take while he was away and played a heavy fish across the river, it felt a good one and didn’t pop up until under the rod tip, that’s when my knees went when I saw a Mirror under the surface, they are the price jewel of the Ebro system and to get two in one session is lottery winning stuff, it went in the net first time and I was elated. I left it to rest in the net and rang Ryan and got a torrent of friendly abuse down the phone, he was soon back in the swim with Ashley and we got ready to weigh it. They’d asked me how big and I guessed a thirty plus looking at it in the net, I broke the net down and as I lifted it up I knew it was bigger being a very deep bodied fish. As I turned to lift it into the cradle a well-known English angler (I won’t name him as we get on quite well) pulled up in a car with another Ebro guide, I couldn’t believe it, we’d caught all those fish on the quiet and they turn up when I have a Mirror. There was nothing we could do but weigh it at 46-12 and do the pictures. That was my only bite of the day but what a stunning fish and one to remember.
Disappointingly but sure enough within an hour they were lined up next to us trying to cast across to the shallows, but were always going to struggle without a boat and they soon gave up when the weed started later in the day.
Ryan went out and fished in a boat for the evening just down from my spot, to be honest I felt that was why my spot dried up for the day, it was bitterly cold but he stuck at it and was rewarded with two stunning fish at 49-14 and a Catmaster record at the time of 53-08, what a brace and great to see my friend catch them.
To cap a memorable day the client, Pete from Poland, had a Cat at 191 pound.
23 November 2012
The final day was the coldest of the trip but I managed two to 31-06 to finish a brilliant session where I really made the most of an opportunity. November trips were always Catting but seeing all the Carp crashing and acting on it taught me never to ignore an opportunity and it’s something I’ve tried to take into all my fishing since.
The glow in the dark corn without doubt made the difference on that trip but strangely has never been as good since…..so who knows.
I finished with 29 Carp, 2 doubles, 5 twenties, 17 thirties, 4 forties and a 50-08, with two Mirrors, along with 9 one hundred pound plus Cats with two 176’s, brilliant stuff and having now not been for three years I can’t wait to get back there.
Present day
I cut short a Bream session to write this piece today, 5 April, as it was snowing in April and I hadn’t had a bite all night, I’ve got a week off from the 8th so I’m hoping it warms up as I’ve got plans for Johnsons and its Crucians followed by some Tench fishing locally but let’s see how the weather goes.
Until next month, tight lines and be lucky 😊
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