Maggotdrowning.com European Tour. River Ebro. Caspe. Spain. May 5th-9th, 2008.

Maggotdrowning.com

 European Tour 2008.

Monday 5th.

Well, we all assembled at Luton Airport around 11am for our Ryanair flight to Reus Airport. As fine a body of men as has ever been assembled for a Maggotdrowning quest to catch some fish. Along with myself were Dave, Stu, Trogg, Beebs, Norm & Jason (NoFinPhish).
At the check-in all went smoothly till Stu stuck his case on the scales!!!! some hasty repacking soon took care of that little hiccup though and we had time for a couple of pints prior to departure, though Dave did require counselling for shock after being told the price.

Onto the plane and the usual scramble for seats that’s common with these flights, for the short 1 hour 45 minute flight and in seemingly no time at all we were landing at Reus Airport. The baggage handlers certainly weren’t British, because as soon as we reached Arrivals the bags were already on the carousel!!! While Dave & Stu went to sort out the hire car the rest of us strolled outside to find Pat who would be taking us down to Caspe in his Espace which is around a 2 hour drive away in the Arragon region.

A pretty uneventful trip ensued, with Pat filling us in about the area while Norm monitored the temperature on the Espace’s digital thermometer. We finally arrived in Caspe just after 5pm and met up at the apartment with Gary(catman)Sheridan the owner of www.carpdreamfishing.com who was to be our guide for the trip. No way Caspe could be described as a tourist town, it’s very much a typical provincial one. He showed us up to the 3rd floor apartment that was to be our base for the next few days and arranged to pick us all up at 8am the next morning.

View from our apartment balcony.
Beds sorted and gear unpacked a quick trip to the local supermarket soon took care of essential supplies (Beer and Wine). After a few beers we set off in search of the local Chinese and finally found it, and very good it was too. A few more beers before finally returning to the apartment for a few more drinks, saw most of us drifting off to bed at various stages in preparation for the day ahead.

Tuesday 6th.

Most of us surfaced in good time for the day ahead, though Beebs & Jason did seem a little subdued, and Norm seemed to think that I may have snored occasionally during the night. Gary arrived right on time and we set off for his house to collect one of the boats, bait and tackle before traveling down to the Club Nautica to launch the boats from the slipway.
With the kit divided between 2 boats, Dave volunteered his services to skipper one of them, and the more sensible of us (Me. Stu & Trogg) elected to go with Gary.

Soon we were off turning right out of the Club Nautica and on to the main body of The River Ebro. The sheer scale of the river is quite breath-taking and it’s soon obvious that without a guide, it would be almost impossible to know where to start. On the way Gary explained to us how he made use of his Hummingbird fish finder and gave us a bit of a run down on his approach to things.
Gary at the helm.
After about 45 minutes steady cruising we pulled into a bay and got everything unloaded, and a gazebo set up to supply some shelter from the sun as the temperature would rise into the 80′s during the day.

The Catfish tackle was essentially 10ft up-tide boat rods with either Multiplier or Big Pit Fixed Spool reels loaded with heavy braid and shock leaders carrying a single LARGE hook that appeared to be a circle pattern with the bait (20mm drilled halibut pellets) fished on a hair. The weights were rocks from the surrounding area fixed onto a sliding swivel by elastic bands that would pull free on the strike, meaning that all the baits had to be boated out and not cast. The feed for the session was a 20kilo bag of pellets per angler that would be fed by hand from the boat once the baits had been placed into position.

So with each of us fishing two rods 14 baits were boated out and fed with pellet, and we settled down besides our rods full of anticipation. Well most of us did, Beebs however was still feeling a shade second hand especially as he’d slipped on the rocks and cracked his left knee that was still recovering from cruciate surgery and Jason joined him but only succeeded in washing his phone…
Well the sun beat down, but even with 14 rods and over 100 kilo’s of pellet having been fed, not a single bite was forthcoming. Catfish could be seen topping along with Carp, but none appeared to be interested in the baits.
While Norm could be seen pondering whether he was ever going to get a bite………..

 Dave took a more proactive approach and cobbled together a pole of sorts with some line and hooks he’d brought with him……

However it was no more successful than the other 14 rods.

The view however was spectacular.

but perhaps the sighting of a couple of Vultures soaring on the thermals in the distance should have told us something. In fact the most action was when the wind got under the gazebo and trashed it in all honesty. It was a group of pretty disappointed anglers that headed back at around 7pm, the Ebro having shown us just what a hard nut it could be to crack.
Indeed Gary contacted several of his fellow guides on the way back, but it was soon obvious that nothing was coming out anywhere as both the Cats and Carp appeared to have been on the spawn.

Back at the apartment via the supermarket to top up supplies then a quick SS&S followed by a steak at the local restaurant and a few beers at the local bar, most of us got our heads down earlyish for a fresh start the next day. Norm made me take some of his snore stopping spray before turning in. (It didn’t work)

Wednesday 7th.

Another 8am start and as we climbed into the boats Gary told us that we would be heading to a different part of the Ebro up river near to Chacon to a swim where the old river bed comes close to the shore offering the opportunity to present baits in 60 feet of water!!!!! and just to offer a little hope we passed a boat that appeared to be playing a fish, would this prove to be a lucky omen?
On arrival we set up on what appeared to be a shingle beach and with us having more of an idea of what to do Gary was soon boating out the baits and positioning them with the aid of his fish finder.
Soon we were all settled in and keenly anticipating the 1st bite of our trip.
However those rod tips remained totally still………
Dave even went out with Gary in the boat to check with the fish finder whether or not there were any fish present, There were and Dave even videoed it just to prove it to the rest of us……
So the interminable wait went on, but with nearly another 100kgs of bait fed into this swim and fish present surely we couldn’t go another whole session with nothing to show for it could we?

Then just after 1pm Jason’s rod tip pulled over signalling a bite and he was into a fish………
The tension was tangible as Jason played what was obviously a large fish but finally Gary managed to get his hand on the shock leader and Jason’s prize was in view……
Banked and in the sling………
Weighed and displayed………
All 81lbs of her, she was then tethered to recover prior to taking some more photos. With a hearty round of congratulations out of the way Jason was soon down to his shorts and into the water despite it not being the warmest and him not being able to swim so we could take some more trophy shots………


Well after the excitement of the 1st Cat being banked, another rod soon hooped over, and it was Jason’s again ……
This time it was only a baby of around 15lbs, Perfection in miniature it was another Cat regardless of the size………
With the session drawing to a close Trogg’s rod was the next to go, alas this wasn’t a cat, but a superbly fit River Common that went 16lbs and was very welcome none the less.
Now with time running out and with fish obviously present we were presented with a dilemma, Would we be able to get the swim tomorrow?
This was solved with Trogg volunteering to stay the night at the swim with Gary for company bringing back a bivvy, bed-chair and sleeping bags after ferrying the rest of us back to the Club Nautica and arranging for Pat to bring us back by road the next morning. Well Done Fella.

The trip back was damp to say the least with The Mistral blowing and whipping up the waves meaning that we all got a good soaking on the way back. By the time we got back to the apartment we got a text from Trogg telling us that he’d had a 37lb Common Carp, a new PB.
A meal and a few beers were the order of the day by way of celebration before we turned in full of anticipation for our final days fishing that lay ahead.

Thursday 8th

8am and Pat was waiting for us and after a stop off at Gary’s house to collect even more pellets we were off to Chacon by road and after a little bit of confusion soon found the swim. Nothing more had come out over night just a couple of missed runs. The weather was quite overcast however and there was even the possibility of some rain later in the day forecast. Soon we were all set, although Beebs did swop rods with Stu so that he could be nearer to them as his knee was still giving him trouble.

The first bite of the day came to Webbo but with him nearly missing the rod and Stu’s phone sounding the Benny Hill ringtone at the same time he still managed to connect only for the fish which appeared to be a Cat from the way it fought, to shed the hook having crossed several of the other lines which led to the tangle brothers performing a rather intricate dance as they sorted it all out…
Soon though Stu’s rod was away and he was playing what was obviously a lively Carp…
They’re as fit as hell these Ebro Carp, but soon Stu had a 23lb Common to show for his efforts ……
Having got over that Stu’s rod was soon away again, and this time it was obvious that it was a Cat……
A degree of tension ensued when Stu realised that it was hooked on a Carp rig he’d set up that had a barbless hook however with the fish safely landed the hook was found firmly in the scissors. Weighing in at 82lbs it didn’t take Stu to long to get in for the obligatory photo’s even if the water was a little cooler than he would have liked.


As we were finishing up the photos Trogg’s rod was nearly dragged from it’s rest by a bite of savage proportions, the power of which dragged him down the bank towards the water however he soon appeared to have things under control, so much so that someone decided to drag his shorts round his knees while Gary whispered words of encouragement in his ear.
Unfortunately however it was not meant to be as with the fish close to shore it shed the hook.

Sitting down and reflecting with Trogg that I may as well frame my rods and display them in the Tate Gallery as a still life, of course i then had a bite!!!!!!!!!! and made a complete hash of it, ending up going almost base over apex and ending on my backside as the fish slipped the hook………

Talk about a nightmare, 2½ days and I miss my only bite.

Soon however Jason was in again, and this time the result was a Common Carp of 32lbs………
This was swiftly followed by Webbo connecting and finally banking a 24lb Common to break his duck……
 which just left me, Beebs and Norm blanking, and time running out. Of course just to rub it in Dave’s rod was soon away again, and this time it was obvious that it wasn’t a Carp……
This time it all went smoothly and the scales revealed a Cat weighing in at 84lbs. Needless to say it didn’t take long for Dave to strip down and get in for the obligatory photo’s……

And fortunately because Stu’s cat had been retained on a tether we persuaded Stu to get in once more for some brace photo’s although Stu’s cat didn’t seem to keen on the idea as it had rested up and was now fresh as a daisy.

 Well with time running out on the session, Gary decided it would be good to get us all together for a group photo, though with 3 of us still blanking, quite how Norm, Beebs and I managed to look so happy will probably always remain a mystery.

Sitting by my rods, it went through my mind just how much inevitable stick I would get from the forum members on my return, but then out of the corner of my eye my left hand rod dipped and I struck and felt a fish!!!!!! Salvation, now I’m not used to multiplier reels and to say that I played that fish nervously is an understatement of huge proportions.

However Gary soon had it safely banked and there it lay, a glorious River Ebro Common Carp that weighed 28lbs, a new PB. Mugger had got a fish at the death, and I think the photo’s show just how happy and relieved I was ……

  That was the end of the action for the day, unfortunately, leaving Beebs and Norm fishless, not for the want of trying though.
We said our Farewells and Thanks to Gary on the bankside as he had another group of anglers arriving the next morning and Pat was picking us up for the return to the apartment.

Out for another Chinese by way of winding up, we then hit the bar till we got kicked out as the owner wanted to go home, most of us slept like tops when we finally hit the sack.

Friday 9th.

Surfacing at various times during the morning we packed up and straightened up the apartment before popping out to get a few gifts for those back home, it was dull and overcast once more and had obviously rained at sometime during the night. Pat arrived to pick us up and half way back to Reus Airport the heavens opened!!!!!!! The rain in Spain apparently falling mainly on us by the time we arrived at the airport.
A brief delay saw us flying out about half an hour late, but an uneventful flight saw us almost back on time by the time we landed and collected our bags, bid our farewells and set off to our respective homes. Not quite the results we had hoped for, but a brilliant trip all round, and one that I definitely fancy having a go at again in the future.

Conclusions.

A great experience, we only had 3 days fishing and really you need a full week to get to grips with it as it’s so different from the way most of us fish in England.
A guide is essential, the water is vast and would be almost impossible to get to grips with without local knowledge.
Be prepared for the cost of bait that you use, Pellets cost us 59 euros per 20 kg sack and you need at least 1 sack for every day that you fish so it can soon mount up.
It would appear that early May could be a time to avoid in case you catch the fish spawning.
Don’t expect the locals to speak any English, this is rural Spain and not the Costa’s.
If you fancy a crack at this yourself, click on the logo below and contact Gary Sheridan for details of his guided trips. Mention that you were recommended by the lads from Maggotdrowning.com and you may even find that you get a bit of a discount.