Cariba Sol Guided Carp and Catfishing Trips To The Ebro /Catch Reports/ fishing for carp or catfish fishing in mequinenza/ guided tours fishing for carp and catfish in aragon and caspe

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Sorry we have not updated the site with all our catches in 2010. We have caught our biggest hauls and biggest fish ever this year! The reports and Photos will be on this page asap!

click HERE to see Dynamite Baits and FOX International backed Matt Rand´s Report

Orbay and Ozzie Emrali booked a short trip with Cariba Sol and were very glad they did! After 2 trips with other guiding companies (who mainly fished from a boat), had failed to deliver. The lads decided to try fishing from the bank with Steve and this time got the results they were looking for! They arrived on the Monday into a swim that Steve, his co-guide Martin, Richard (Steve´s brother) and friend Pete had already been fishing for 2 days. The swim was a favorite of Steve´s that always produces big fish but full of snags. 2 big fish had been lost so far (one of which Oz and Orbs witnessed on arrival)! So the adrenalin was soon flowing!!! The first 2 days were slow. And the lads had opted to go back to the apartment each night, rather than bivvy up and night fish. This was the right move the 1st night. However, when they were picked up after their 2nd cosy night, Steve told them he´d had a new PB during the night of 171lb! It was tethered for photos in the daylight. So once they had seen the beast, the decision was then made to stay for the remaining 2 nights. This turned out to be a very good move as all the action from then on seemed to come in the early hours. Orbs, Ozzie, Richard and Martin all caught Big fish. While Peter (who was going for Carp) managed 3 PB´s consecutively!

Dave Santer wanted to have a memorable 40th Birthday so decided to book a 4 day trip for himself, his Father in law Arthur Foard and 2 good friends Mark Lavington and John wood. They were fortunate to arrive into a swim that had already been heavily baited and fished by Matt and Winky and another group before them! So it was only a few hours before they were on the fish! Dave was 1st up on the rods and had a 96lb to start his campaign. His Father in Law was next up and banked a stunning 174lb Beast! John and Mark were catching fish but Dave seemed to be getting the bigger fish when it was his turn on the rotation! Dave banked a PB of 126lb and bettered it on the last day with a 154lb. Mark could only manage a 50lb catfish. While John was too busy playing the Dog Whisperer with Steve´s Dogs to worry about getting to the rods when it was his turn!

On their last trip, Fox International Angler Matt Rand and Rob Winkworth (Winky) had mixed results. Matt banked a 160lb Catfish while Winky only managed cats to 72lb. This time both Anglers did well and banked several fish but it was Winky´s turn to land the big cats. His 1st big fish was a PB at 131lb. He improved on that by 5lb on his last day with a 136lb He also managed to land a few decent sized Carp, his biggest being a PB of 38lb! Matt tried several methods to catch some cats including livebaits which were a success! But his biggest was only half the size that he landed last year. However Matt did not mind as he caught a stunning 48lb PB Common which was an unexpected bonus!

Richard Harrison, Geoff Lister, Neil Sinclair and Paul (Wack) Walker returned a second year for a 4 day trip with Cariba Sol. This time the catfishing was slow but the Carp that were caught soon put a smile on their faces!!! The best fish (although not the biggest) had to be Geoff Lister´s stunning 39lb Mirror Carp! Mirrors are very few and far between on this river. The previous best Mirror Carp caught on a Cariba Sol trip was just 19lb. So Geoff´s fish smashed our record by 20lb!!!!

Brady Shaw booked a short trip for himself and 3 friends. On arrival they were taken straight to the swim where they were soon into some action! Brady was soon experiencing the arm wrenching power of these big fish. After a long battle in a very snaggy swim he was elated to bank a 166lb cat. This was Brady´s 3rd trip to the Ebro (his 1st with Cariba Sol). Earlier results on those trips were a blank and a 50lb cat fishing from a boat, so banking this monster within a day of arriving made him realise that fishing from the bank IS the best way to catch fish on the Ebro! Next up was Ben Carnell, he had 2 big fish on and lost them in snags before he banked his beast weighing 152lb! Ben and Brady were now leaving the rods to Orville(Orbs) and Serone(Blackie) Williams ,in the hope they would both bag a big fish each before going home. They had 36 hours to do so and had plenty of chances as the takes were regular and ALL big fish. However many were lost on the snags before Orbs finally bagged a 145lb. Blackie had 20 hours to hit all the rods and did hook up on several occasions with big fish. But unfortunately the snags seemed to magnetise the fish into them. Time ran out and they had to pack up and head for the airport before he managed to get one on the bank. Blackie also spent a lot of time snoring after a nice punch from Ben sent him into the land of nod after they had both drunk too much vodka? But don´t worry, they are both still good friends!!!!

Adam Baglin booked a short trip for himself and 2 workmates Scott Porter and Trevor Cobb. The weather was more fantastic than the actual fishing. But all anglers managed to catch fish and Adam just scraped into the 100+ club with a 105lb Cat! The most dissapointing part of their trip was a phone call en route to the airport on their way home from Tom,(who was helping Steve on this trip) Telling them he´d just banked a 141lb Cat!!!! Needless to say the air was blue in the minibus.

Adam Harvey convinced his Dad and friends to try Spain instead of France for their annual fishing trip! None of them ever expected the amount of screaming runs they got throughout the week! However,even though they banked over 100 fish weighing more than 2 tons, Not one of the group banked a 100lb fish??? They did hook into and lose 2 fish that were obviously bigger than the norm. But they all went home more than happy and vowed to return and make amends for the lost opportunities. They experienced two,three and four rods tearing off at once on a regular basis ,far exceeding their normal 8-10 runs per week french carp waters! They were also out of luck with the BIG carp too! Only managing a few carp to 27lb. But everone was more than happy with the amount of runs and fish banked,not to mention the drinking games played well into the early hours!!!

Mark Baker and Phil Lynn returned in search of catfish rather than Carp this time! Mark Brought along his sons Dean ans Sean along with 2 of their friends Adam and Dan. for a 4 day trip. Once again fishing was unusually slow for the time of year,however everyone went home with Personal Bests. The Big cats were elusive but Mark still beat his previous trip`s best by over 40lb when he banked his new PB of 156lb His son Dean soon followed with a 129lb beast! Daniel Lux was over the moon after banking a huge common turning the scales to a massive 44lb! Sean Baker also caught his PB carp of 33lb. Although Phil and Adam only managed smaller catfish,they were still PB´s!

South Africans Leon van der Nest, his Brother Ryno and Leroux Craven booked a 3 day trip which was booked as a christmas present from Leon to his brother and friend! All 3 anglers were hoping to improve on the size of catfish they were catching in their native land of SA. They all did manage to catch PB Cats but it was quantity more than the quality that was impressive on this very short trip! Decent carp were also caught. None of them managed to join the 100+ club but went home smiling after an impressive session full of action

Even though the weather AND the river levels were up and down, John Wilcock and Mick Robinson still managed to get on the fish their 1st day! In fact they got off to a flyer! Mick was 1st up on the rods and within a few hours of fishing was into a big carp. While he was playing that fish a cat rod took off! John was then playing that fish at the same time. The catfish decided to kite right meaning that John and his guide had to take to the boat and ended up banking his PB Catfish 3 swims down river! When John and Steve returned to the swim Mick had TWO PB carp in his landing net! A 3rd rod went just as he netted his 1st carp so he landed his 2nd fish and waited for help! The fishing was never as good after the 1st day but both anglers caught PB cats and Carp!

On their 1st trip(3 days)to the Ebro youngsters Tom and Jake didn´t have the best of weather! The swim took a while to get the fish feeding. The Carp were coming out in the day time but the catfishing was very slow! The lads only had 2 runs on the Cat rods,the 1st was a kitten of just over 20lb. On the 2nd night during the early hours one cat rod screamed of with a one toner on the alarm! This was just the sort of alarm call the boys were wanting! It was 5am and pitch black but Tom did a fine job in playing the fish! When Steve gloved the fish and dragged it into the bag,the boys could not believe what they had seen! The scales shot round to 136lb and the boys could not contain their excitment until after breakfast! Jake did not get another turn on the cat rods but both were able to bank PB carp on top of Tom´s beast!

Darren Dallimore booked his 2nd Cariba Sol trip at very short notice! His 1st trip early in the year produced some nice carp but the cats were illusive. This time Darren was to experience the more fruitful side of catfishing.Steve collected him from Madrid airport at mid day on the friday. After speaking to other guides it was clear that carp fishing was going well on the top lake and in Mequinenza. But the catfishing had slowed up dramatically on the upper lake and on the Ebro & Segre at Mequinenza. This was mainly due to recent rains that had lowered the water temperature.Steve decided to head for his banker swim up river on the Segre. This turned out to be a good choice! Using live baits soon got results. As nightfall arrived so did the takes! Darren had banked his 1st big (104lb) cat within a few hours of getting the rods out! His 1st of what turned out to be 3 personal bests! The second night also saw more takes on the cat rods but only small cats were caught so the decision was made to move to the top lake at Chiprana. The first 24 hours were unbelievably quiet. 2 cat rods and 2 carp rods were put out but not a single run?? On the 2nd day at Chiprana (just as there was talk about moving again), a cat rod buzzer screamed off! Action at last but it was short lived as the beast escaped. Only a few hours later Darren was into another. This time he banked a new PB of 117lb! The remaining 36 hours saw plenty of runs on both cat and carp rods. Darren Caught Carp of 24,28 and 29lb. But the high light of his trip was banking yet another PB Catfish of 143lb just a few hours before having to pack up! Steve managed a catfish of 104lb and a carp of 34lb. Wednesday morning came to quickly so it was back to the airport for Darren. It was tough pulling out of a swim that was just about to fish its head off!!

Mark Baker booked a long weekend for him and 3 others to do some carp fishing. The plan was to heavily bait with maize and not use pellet to avoid any interference from catfish! This plan worked well for a while because all 4 anglers had banked PB carp by the second day. Then during yet another one of Tom,s ( aka uncle Albert ) giggling fits, all hell broke loose! A cat picked up 3 pieces of sweetcorn on Uncle Albert´s carp rod! All 4 lads took it in turns to play the fish on just 18lb mono! After 30 mins they banked the beast, which just made Uncle Albert remember MORE war stories to tell us all!! (strange as he was born in 1944)? Mark Baker managed to bank 2 Carp over 30lb, while Bill (who could be mistaken for Boysie from the same sitcom) and Photo Phil beat there previous PB´s with mid and high 20´s! This group certainly had the giggles for most of the time they were here. Even Stuart, Tony and Paul in the next swim, were asking to have some of whatever it was Uncle Albert was taking! A good weekend was had by all and I am sure they will be back soon to go for the cats next time!

Stuart Gordon and Tony Mills booked their 2nd trip with us after a 2 year gap. They booked for a 1 week trip with friend and newcomer Paul South joining them for the last 4 Days. They decided to bait heavily at Chiprana which will soon be too low to fish. The 1st Day was superb. 9 takes and 6 fish banked! The biggest went to Stuart at 166lb! An improvement of 54lb over his last PB! The fishing slowed up after the 1st Day mainly due to the ever changing weather. It was not until Day 3 that Tony landed his new PB of 129lb,again an improvement of 32lb on his last trip! Paul arrived on the following day and was next up on the rods. It was not long before he´d bank a PB of 92lb. After banking 2 beasts of 148 and 166 as well as a 96,Stuart turned his attention to Carp fishing, leaving Paul and Tony on the Cat rods for the remainder of the trip. Fishing was unusually slow but Paul and Tony did both bank more big fish! Paul finished his trip with a 125 while Tony could only improve by 1lb,banking a 130lb. Stuart caught plenty of carp but only one broke the 30lb barrier.

For their previous 2 trips with other guiding companies Richard Harrison and friends had not had a much success on the Ebro. However that all changed on their 3rd trip (Their 1st with Steve and Cariba Sol)! When the lads were picked up from the airport, they were driven straight to the same swim vacated by previous clients Matt Rand and Co! The rods were baited and ready to be rowed out! They arrived at 6.30pm and by midnight 3 of the 5 in the group had banked a fish each of over 100lbs! 1st up on the rods was Paul Walker (Wack) who shattered his PB with a 122lb Cat! No sooner had that one been banked, when another rod rattled off! This time It was Neil Sinclair with an even bigger beast of 148lb. Again the dust had hardly settled when yet again a buzzer was screaming off. This time Geoff Lister was into another big fish! He was elated to bank his PB so soon after arriving! This fish weighed exactly the same as Paul´s 1st fish of 122lb? 4th up Richard Harrison who organised the trip, had a sleepless night having to wait until morning to bank his 1st fish! But this one turned out to be the biggest of the trip at 150lb!! More smaller fish were caught regularly throughout the 3 days but Trevor Baker eventually hooked a 130lb PB on the 2nd day of fishing! Paul Walker beat his new PB on the last day by banking another big cat of 124lb. They landed 15 catfish in total weighing over 1100lb! The group celebated their success by having a feast at the Bella Vista Campsite restaurant in Mequinenza on Saturday night before heading for the airport early Sunday morning.

Matt Rand booked this 1st trip to the Ebro for himself and 3 friends, Their only dissapointment was that they didn´t book for longer! The Lads arrived in the swim at Chiprana on the top lake at midnight. 4 rods were put out sneakily at night. Once 6 am arrived we rebaited and put out a full set of 8 cat rods! All took turns on the rods and steadily the fish were being banked. Russell Fitzpatrick (Ratty to his friends) was 4th turn on the rods, his 1st fish was a PB to remember weighing in at 146lb! Being the good mate he is, he then told the others he would not rejoin taking turns on the rods until they had all banked a 100+ Matt and Jimbo obliged him by landing a 100 each! Matt´s was a 160lb and James Rodger( Jimbo) banked a 156lb Jimbo also banked a 97lb but poor old Rob Winkworth (Winky) although he banked 6 cats he only managed a PB of 62lb! On the last day Jimbo banked his 156lb early in the morning. This left Winky with 8 rods to strike all day until he banked a beast! (before having to leave at 8pm)! Unfortunately the rain set in and the cats just stopped feeding?? This was the case for the next 2 days, the fish switched on again just as the next group of clients arrived!!

August is not one of Steve`s favorite times of year to fish (due to the heat) But when he was contacted by single angler Steve Elliot Gurney who lives in Spain. And Sean Cunningham plus his friend Gareth Preston and cousin Nick Cunnigham from Manchester, who were looking for help on a DIY trip, he decided to combine the 2 with fantastic results!! The Manchester lads had already fished for a couple of days in Caspe before the 2 Steves arrived. They were happy with some nice carp they had banked without any help from Steve. However, once they joined up at Chiprana to fish together, things could not have gone much better! While Steve EG was busy catching lots of small cats and a few nice carp, the 3 DIY lads were dragging out some real beasts! Gareth managed 2 bank 2 big cats of 127lb and a new Cariba Sol record of 175lb While Sean banked 1 monster of 168lb on his carp rod! Nick was unlucky with Cats but all 3 lads landed 30lb + carp!! Steve EG Landed 22 Cats in total although his biggest was only 72lb. But Steve Elliot Gurney did have the last laugh as he also broke the CS carp record with an absolutely stunning 49lb Common!

Tony Toffolo, Olley Bentley and Lee Wakeling booked their 1st trip with Cariba Sol (5 days) although it was not Tony & Olly´s 1st trip to the Ebro. We fished the 1st night and day on a favoured swim on the Segre. There was no action and the water flow began to speed up, so we packed up and drove to Chiprana on the top lake. Our 1st full day produced 3 catfish one of which was a PB for Olley at 97lb. The second day was very slow and we only banked 1 cat. The 3rd day produced the biggest cat and 2 smaller ones .Carp were caught steadily throughout the 3 days we fished at Chiprana and all 3 Anglers caught PB Carp, two of the three had PB Catfish. Tony who organised the trip failed to beat his PB Cat which still stands at 114lb.

When 67 yr old Ken Oxley and 61 yr old Dennis Pitts booked their 1 week trip they had no idea what they´d let themselves in for! They thought it was deck chair out, cast a rod 10m in front and wait. Now of course , they know better.They were taken to the same swim Steve had fished successfully a week earlier. But this time Steve was armed with a 40kilo sack of maize and his cooking pot in readiness for some daytime carp fishing! We set up just before nightfall and were soon into the cats. Ken was 1st up on the rods and was amazed at the power of a big fish he had hooked. After playing it for 20 mins he was snapped up just as we were about to land it. Just before midnight another rod screamed off and Den grabbed it! This time after a long fight Dennis banked his 1st big cat weighing in at 118lb. During the days we fished for carp and although the biggest caught was only 27lb the quantity and quality of the carp(including a couple of fully scaled mirrors) was more than enough to keep them happy! Seriously heavy rain poured down and ruined the fishing for 1 day! The lads decided to head back to the comfort of the apartment while Steve and Dio held the swim!! After the rain stopped so did the bites, so we packed up and moved to the Top lake at Chiprana for what was going to be our last 2 days and nights. The 1st day was a busy one! We had 10 runs and banked 6 fish up until midnight! The biggest was 114lb and the smallest 35lb. This action took its toll on the lads who had coped well in this difficult swim that involved a rock climb down to the water! By the last day, dodgey ankles and sore knees were rife! So they decided they had caught more than enough fish and were happy to pack up and head home earlier than planned.

Steve needed a vehicle driven to Mequinenza and who better to ask than his brother Richard. Payment was 3 days fishing for Richard who although is a keen fisherman,had never fished for cats before! We arrived late so the 1st night we set up in Mequinenza. By morning we had not had a touch so decided to move before getting settled. We drove to a favoured swim up river from Mequinenza on the Segre. We were soon getting takes on live baits and banked a couple kittens before nightfall. Once darkness fell Richard Banked his 1st big catfish at 102lb. We had 2 more takes during the night but failed to hook them. The following night(our last night) was the best. We had more small cats followed by 2 more decent fish. The 1st was banked by Richard at 120lb The 2nd by Steve at 146lb. The swim was busy with carp but we were not prepared for carp fishing. Next time we will make sure we have plenty of Maize to chuck in!

Cariba Sol regular Andy Balchin phoned Steve to get a last minute Solo deal. He booked a long weekend trip to the Ebro (his third trip with us).There were only two provisos from Steve for this last minute deal.One was that he could fish with his 2 rods himself and the other that Steve could bring along his new co guide (and new puppy) Diablo! Andy agreed and flights were booked. We arrived in Mequinenza on Friday morning to hear that the river was not fishing very well due to the snow melt in the mountains constantly changing the temperature of the water. Andy ( an experienced catfisherman) was desperate to catch some carp so we went to a favoured swim on the Ebro which was a deep water swim. We got some bait out and fished for carp with all 4 rods. Andy banked a mid double as evening approached, this was our first fish and the signs were not good. We had a few runs during the night but lost them all on a big snag in the swim. Saturday saw the weather change and a strong uncomfortable wind began to blow. At times we were holding onto our bivvies even though they were pegged down well! The day only produced another small carp but as night fell our luck changed for the better. Steve had a screamer and soon realised a cat had picked up his single hook bait! After a 30 minute battle on 18lb main line he banked an 89lb cat. Later that night Andy banked a 25lb common.Sunday was another windy day but turned out to be a memorable one! Andy noticed large numbers of silver fish spawning by the bank under overhanging trees. We also kept hearing catfish surface in the same area. We put out a float rod and soon caught several small fish to use as live bait. Steve set up a cat rod and put out a drifting live bait. Within minutes he had a take from a small cat which was just 18lb but now we were onto something! Andy had the next go on the rod and was elated to hook into a proper fish of 105lb. We managed to bank 6 cats in all making the trip very worth while. Unfortunately we ran out of live baits. 6 of them caught us fish and the seventh was stolen by a local moggy which was annoying as we´d had a take with each bait we put out on the one cat rod! The carp were slower to take the bait but Andy rounded his trip off perfectly with a 36lb PB an hour before we packed up to head for the airport!

For the 2nd year running spanish residents John and Martin booked a long weekend trip to the Ebro. When we arrived in Mequinenza on Thursday morning, it was bitter cold! There was a freezing fog which delayed us rowing baits out (for fear of being lost at sea)!!!. We opted for putting a PVA bag on each carp rod and casting out into the heavy fog. Suprisingly we were soon rewarded with 3 Mid doubles and later a stunning 32lb common. We got the 2 cat rods out by mid afternoon but they remained silent for the next 24 hours! During the next 48 hours we had plenty of action on the Carp rods although quite a few were lost on snags. There were only 2 more 20´s caught. A 27 and A 29. On the 2nd day at around 2pm We finally had some movement on A Cat rod. It was not a fierce take like we would normally expect but after 10 minutes the fish woke up and began to fight properly. It battled for 30 minutes before we were able to see the fish and what a great sight it was! An Albino mix which weighed in at 131lb! The Cat rods were silent for the remaining 24 hours. We packed up on Sunday before heading back south.

For 61 year old Pete Johnson and his friend Colin Hockenhull, the thought of bivvying up at El Dique on the top lake this time of year was chilling! But the weather turned out to be perfect during the day and just a little bit chilly in the early hours of the morning. We arrived Friday morning and had the rods out by Mid day. We put out a sack of pellet for the 4 cat rods and had 2 Carp rods out. The carp although plentyful were mainly mid doubles but we managed to bank three 20´s the biggest being 27 and a half pounds. but they kept us busy while waiting for the Cats! We had 5 cats on during the three days and nights we fished. Pete managed a PB of 149lb. Colin had the biggest fish of 165lb and Steve their guide banked a 138lb. We packed up Monday morning and headed for home smiling!

For the 2nd year running Andy Balchin and brother Nick were back to improve on last year´s results. Unfortunately their dad and oldest brother Matt could not make the trip this year,so they brought along Deano instead to sample catfishing for the 1st time! The trip started slowly. We set up in a swim on the Ebro at Mequinenza. It was tucked away so night fishing was not a problem. We fished the same spot for 3 days and nights but only had carp to just over 20lb, The Cat rods had just one half take the 1st night and that was it. We packed up and moved to(El Dique) the top lake. It didn´t take long for the rods to start bending! First up Andy had a 106lb Cat. Then Deano lost a big cat after playing it for 10 minutes. Nick then banked a 112lb. The following day another 3 were caught then on the last day there was CARNAGE! 11 Cats(5 over the 100lb mark) and 2 Carp. The biggest was banked by the new boy Deano 146lb. Nick´s best was a 142lb and Andy did not beat his record set last year at 132lb so had to settle for a 112lb. The total haul in just 3 days was 15 catfish (8 over 100lb) weighing a total of 1510lb

The fishing in Mequinenza during April and May this year,was the worst i can rememeber! Firstly the very unstable weather made things tough during April. Then when May arrived the Cats wanted to spawn but again unstable water temperatures dragged the spawning period out for over a month! Even when we left on the 28th May the fishing was far from back to normal on the Segre and Ebro in Mequinenza! The only good fishing was Carp fishing. We had loads of nice commons that all LOOKED big until we weighed them! When we thought they were a 30 ,they were a late 20. When we thought they were a 40 they were just a mid 30? Again recent spawning was to blame for this! However the top lake catfish HAD spawned and so every guide and their auntie headed for Caspe or Chiprana!!! I have never seen so many fishing the top lake and so few fishing in Mequinenza!

After phone calls from their guide warning them not to expect the same frantic fishing they experienced 7months earlier the 2 lads arrived resigned to the fact that this session was going to be more like they were accustomed to in the UK. They bought a large quantity of pellet to increase their chances but the Finca swim was only producing nice Carp. After 2 slow days We decided to give it a try on the top lake at Chiprana! Which turned out to be a great move! We had 16 runs in 8 hours of fishing producing 8 catfish (4 over the 100lb mark)!! At one point we had 4 runs on the trot which even led to their guide Steve catching one that just happened to be the biggest at 142lb! The day soon ended and the decision to pack up and go was a big mistake! We got to the swim early the next day to find it taken! We found another swim and piled in the bait but only got the one 50lb Cat on the bank that day. We finished the rest of the week at the Finca which only produced one more catfish of 87lb but the Carp kept us amused and Chez Chapman did land a PB of 35lb 8oz.

This 5 day trip was a chance for some old friends to catch up! Dave Marvel, John Hale,Steve Adcock who all live in the UK arranged this trip to catch up with the forth member of the group,an old friend Will Wicherley who immigrated to Canada several years back.The lads were also warned that the fishing was not going well and so were not expecting too much! However because of the lack of Catfish, the carp were giving us plenty of action. We were finding it hard to get hold of live baits so resorted to catching small carp,roach and rudd ourselves to put on a live bait rig! The first two days went without a bite on the cat rods so we put a small carp on a live bait rod which paid dividends and banked John Hale 92lb personal best! Steve Adcock lost what looked like a 40-50lb cat just as it was about to be landed! There were also 2 kittens caught around the 15lb-20lb mark. Sadly none of the lads broke the 100lb mark! But they did manage to drink at least 100 litres of beer and wine while they talked about the good old days! They will be back!!!

This trip was only a 76 hr session arranged at short notice by 3 friends. John and Martin aleady live in Spain and the other Del, flew in from London (Ryanair 70 €uros return)! We put out four cat rods(at distance)and four carp rods. We chatted to other fisherman to discover that the carping (normally good this time of year) was really slow. This proved to be so as they only had 4 runs on the carp rods producing just 1 fish of 18lb throughout the session! However the catfishing was MUCH Better!! Once darkness fell it was just before midnight when we had our 1st run. This resulted in 1st up on the rods Martin Walters banking a Personal best 145lb Catfish. There was no more action until the following night. At around 8pm we had the 2nd cat run of the trip. Unfortunately this one was lost a a snag. Later the same night at around Midnight we had our 3rd run. This time Del Sinfield landed a PB 125lb! Just an hour later at around 2am John Brooks,after a long hard fight banked the biggest fish of the trip! This beast weighed in at 156lb! Now all the clients had a smile on their faces and were not put off by the fact that the carp were not biting.The last night was quiet as far as cats were concerned. Although they did eventually bank their 1st carp. Monday morning arrived too soon. The rods were packed away in time to get Del back to Zaragoza airport for mid day.

This trip was booked by two pairs of anglers Chez and Paul from Croydon along with Tony from Southern Spain and his friend Stuart who flew in from London. After introductions were made both pairs of anglers got to know each other as we drove the 3 and a half hours from Madrid to Mequinenza. The rods were in the water by 7pm. But a strong wind blew up just before midnight forcing us to reel in all the distance rods. Just a couple of carp rods were left in the margins. One of these took off at 4am and a large carp was lost. Fortunately by this time the wind had dropped enough for us to row out a few cat rods.This turned out to be a good move as within 4 hours of putting the rods out, Tony Mills banked a personal best Catfish of 97lb. Unfortunately this swim became unfishable due to the amount of weed that was floating down the river. So we moved around the corner onto the River Segre. Within a few hours Chez Chapman had landed a 145lb(PB) and an 84lb Cat that had both picked up a single hook baits on his carp rods! He did well to bank these using only a 31/2 lb Shimano Ultegra carp rod and18lb ESP mono line!!

In the early hours of the next morning.Paul Collins banked a 157lb PB (the biggest fish of the week)! We fought a battle against weed for the next 24 hours before deciding to give up and move to the top lake near Caspe. The 4 Anglers on advice from their guide Steve decided to bulk buy a large amount of bait to get a new swim on the feed. The decision paid dividends as the lads were soon into fish. In fact after a few hours it was non stop action! We had double takes,triple takes and the rods were even being taken as we were rowing them back to the pod!! The remaining 3 days produced another 42 fish. 5 of which were 100lb plus,the biggest being 128lb!


Martin, Ozzie and Orbay with a 137lb a 147lb and a 159lb. The result of a busy night´s fishing!!	Steve´s Brother Richard with a New PB of 165lb	Even the guide Steve banked a new PB of 171lb while Oz and Orbs had a cosy night indoors!	Pete Johnson with his first 40lb Carp. He also banked a 39 and a 36 on the same trip!


Dave, Mark, Arthur and John with Dave´s 154lb Catfish	Arthur Foard(not to be outdone by his son in law), with a PB 174lb	Mark with his 50lb PB Catfish	John Wood wearing one of his LESS striking shirts!!!


Winky finally gets his ton! This was one of 2 fish over 130lb that he banked!	Fox International Angler Matt Rand with a new PB Common of 48lb	Winky managed 2 130´s on the same trip!	Rob Winkworth (Winky )also had a PB Common of 38lb!


Richard Harrison with a PB Common Carp of 43lb!	Neil Sinclair with his PB Common Carp of 36lb	Geoff Lister with a PB Mirror Carp of 39lb! A very rare fish on the Ebro!!	Paul Walker with a PB Common Carp of 35lb!


3rd time lucky for Brady Shaw with a beast of 166lb!	Ben Carnell with his PB of 152lb	Orville (Orbs) Williams with a PB of 145lb	Ben Carnell with a 27lb carp that was also a PB for him!


Adam Baglin with the biggest of several cats he caught! This was 105lb	Adam, Trevor and Scott with a triple hook up!	Scott Playing one of th many cats he caught!	Trevor declares war on the illusive big cats by putting on his mud/war paint!!


Mark Harvey Sean Harker (Edu) and James Dawson with the results of one of the many triple takes they had!	Adam Harvey and his Dad Mark with a PB of 73lb	Barrie Dawe(BJ) with one of many kittens that kept him busy constantly rowing baits out !	Adam Harvey with the biggest (26lb) of only a few Carp that were caught


Mark being helped by son Sean with his new PB of 156lb	Dean Baker being helped by friends Dan & Adam with his PB of 129lb	Danny Lux with a stunning Common of 44lb another PB	Sean Baker with a PB common of 33lb


Leroux Craven with his biggest Cat	Ryno Leon and Leroux	Leon with his biggest Carp	Pods and bivvy just before sunset!


John Wilcock with his PB Catfish of 108lb	Mick Robinson with the Bigger of his two PB carp caught simultaneously! This was 31lb	Mick´s Best Catfish was 97lb	John´s Best carp was 27lb


Tom Hargreaves (15) with his 2nd catfish capture of 136lb	Jake with his biggest Carp of 26 1/2 lb	Tom With his biggest Caro of 26lb	The weather was not great but the smiles say it all!!


Darren & Dio with the 1st cat caught on the Segre 104lb	Darren and his guide Steve with another PB of 117lb	Darrens biggest of the trip at 143lb!	Steve Banked the biggest carp at 34lb!


Uncle Albert (Tom Baker) with the 110lb Cat	Mark Baker with a PB,one of two 30´s he banked on this 4 day trip!	Phil Lynn with his PB 28lb Carp	Boysie(Bill) Photo Phil, Uncle Albert (Tom) and Mark


Stuart Gordon with a PB 166lb Cat	Tony Mills with a PB130lb Cat	Paul South with a PB 125lb	Suart Gordon with the one 31lb common he caught


Wack with a PB 124lb Catfish	Richard Harrison PB150lb Cat	3 on the mat 150lb,148lb & 122lb	Celebration Dinner!


Matt Rand with a PB 160lb Catfish	Ratty with a PB146lb Cat	Jimbo with his 156lb,	Winky with his PB 62lb


Steve Elliot Gurney 49lb Common	Gareth Sean and Nick with the 175lb	Sean Cunningham with his 168lb	Nick Cunningham With his PB Common of 32 1/2lb


Lee with his PB catfish of 157lb	Olley´s PB Catfish of 97lb	---Another PB for Olley! This time a stunning 30 1/2lb Common from the top lake	Tony´s PB Common Carp of 27lb


Ken´s biggest fish and PB 114lb	Den Pitts biggest & PB 118lb	---A nice Segre common of 27lb	A stunning fully scaled Mirror


Martin Walters 131lb Albino mix	A nice winter fish	Steve took a run on the Carp rods to net this 32lb Common	Sunset at Mequinenza


Pete Johnson´s PB 149lb	Colin Hockenhull with the biggest of the trip. A PB 165lb	Steve was given a take on the rods and banked this138lb	1 of only three 20´s on the trip


Nick Balchin Playing a big Catfish	3 Big Cats sat on the mat! 146lb 120lb and 106lb	Nick Balchin,s 120lb!	Dean Mc Nally´s PB 146lb


Paul Collins into a cat posing for camera	3 takes at once resulted in one lost and these 2 banked	Steve´s take was the biggest of the day at 142lb	Chez still managed a PB Carp of 35lb 8oz


John Hale PB 92lb	Steve Adcock with a 29lb Common	Dave Marvel with one of many 20´s	Is it the beer or the fish that´s making them smile?


		John Brooks 156lb PB	Martin Walters 145lb PB	Derrick Sinfield125lb PB


Paul Collins 157lb PB	Chez Chapman 145lb PB	Stuart Gordon 108lb PB	Tony Mills 97lb PB