Having not done it for about 25 years,fishing that is,I went out with a couple of friends last week with the local guides in Bitem.What a night !!
To be out on the river was a treat in its self,to catch 3 large(ish) catfish was a bonus, 2 over 70lb and a 'tiddler' of 45lb.The river is so different in the evening,surrounded by wildlife,the sunset over the mountains and the utter tranquility of it all.
Thanks to Liz and Trev for a great evening and special thanks to Graham and Natalie for making it happen and putting us 'on the fish'.

Ian

funny how every time i put a message on here including names etc it gets taken off ...... Nigel are you taking back handers mate ?  ;D only pullin ya plank  :D glad to hear you caught some good cats nobrot although with a name like that i'm not sure i'd want to sit too close to you just incase mine started to rot too  :o

are you hooked yet ? caught the fishing bug ?
Once you've had a cat theres no turning back in my eyes, best fish to ever grace fresh water !

Hi Dan
I must admit I thought I'd have got a yellow card for mentioning names,but the ref must have missed it.Just keep telling Nigel he's got a great site going and he's doing a good job (which of course he is...)and all will be forgiven.......

Ian

:)What bait did you use for the cats?? ;)

Hi Nelson (do you own a boat..???)
I used pieces of chicken carcasses as recommended by the guide,on a basic rig,something like a wreck fishing set up.According to the TV angling presenters they will eat anything (that's the cat fish,not the TV angling presenters)apparently wild boar and geese have been found in their stomachs and being predators/scavengers it goes without saying they are not fussy

hi when you fish again with chicken try stiching it up with pellets inside mate and you can also try putting it in mesh bags it works wonders sliced thin zander may take it had one at 10lbs on a thin slice but nothing more. mullet lovet it well they love everything. well doe mate keep catching. hope this cold spell does not send them down to deep.

[quote author=gary the guide  link=1149796015/0#5 date=1162603242]hi when you fish again with chicken try stiching it up with pellets inside mate and you can also try putting it in mesh bags it works wonders sliced thin zander may take it had one at 10lbs on a thin slice but nothing more. mullet lovet it well they love everything. well doe mate keep catching. hope this cold spell does not send them down to deep.[/quote]


What sort of pellets ? Trout ?

Deep ? A Lithuaniuan staying with my friend has just caught a cat livebaiting in the main deep channel in Tortosa at 1 foot depth . . .

use the halibutt pellets mate any size from 10mil to 28mil

nice one, many thanks for that, will try it out soon . . . . I have been trying to inspire some mates to try some smelly roadkill, sadly none of them have been daft enough to so far, so I may be the pioneer, will let you know how it goes ;-)

roadkill hay erm let me see meow meow, woof woof, tweet tweet, which one in particular are you going to try fella. please do take there collars off before you cast them in. that might choke the catfish please mate, i promise your intentions are very good but the antis will love this to much i would truly suggest that maybe just maybe your thought process calms a little i am on your side but this can and does get read by youngsters and soft stomachs alike. stick to pellets or chicken breasts good heavens above man what next  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D :o

Road kill will work,Hugh Fearnley Whitteringonandon used it in his eel traps.Last month,we used chicken heads.......Oh and something that looked like someones testicles although it was actually chicken fat.

ok road kill it is then if i see a man sweeping up or bagging dead things from the side of the road i know who to look for  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D i truly hope you do catch mate ten out of ten for trying. i have had cats to 124lbs on dead baits fish mainly and i have caught catfish well over 100lbs with seaguls and coots moorhens and ducks all sticking  out of there throats so go for it.

[quote author=gary the guide  link=1149796015/0#11 date=1162848001]ok road kill it is then if i see a man sweeping up or bagging dead things from the side of the road i know who to look for  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D i truly hope you do catch mate ten out of ten for trying. i have had cats to 124lbs on dead baits fish mainly and i have caught catfish well over 100lbs with seaguls and coots moorhens and ducks all sticking  out of there throats so go for it. [/quote]


LOL, yes, just look out for "Flat Cat Fishing Enterprises" up and down the river . . . . logo of a moggie with a smoking tyre track through it    ;)

Really the idea came from discussions about how flavourless chicken is compared to pigeon/game/smelly roadkill, then a guide from Tivenys mentioned how a spot seemed to go Cat mad for a while when there was a dead dog stuck nearby . . . .


2 questions :

1] do you think deadbaits catch as well as live, might they have an advantage with bigger [?lazier] catfish ? Am I right remembering that is the case with Pike ["Dont tell him your name Pike"....] in the UK ?

2] by "seaguls and coots moorhens and ducks all sticking  out of there throats" you mean they were regurgitating recent meals due to being caught rather than you interrupted a fish in a mad killing spree ?


BTW, Spotted in the local paper L'Ebre a couple of months ago an article about the Ebre/Ebro and fishing, [mainly] East European immigrants removing fish to eat, it is a culture thing, and North European Cat fishermen, mainly English, fishing at night, running unlicenced boats and fishing from nature reserves - down on the delta and Vinalop island got a mention. There was no [in my understanding] mention of a crackdown, merely that they are aware of things and are looking at the situation. No mention was made of the fact that the Catfishing clearly brings money to the area, yet returning a Cat to the water is illegal - you are meant to kill them.

I myself have seen the local guys on a saturday set up on the bank with their beachcasters,beer and crib table and then just leave the poor fish lying on the bank to die.Is this a Spanish thing knowing that they are not quite as animal PC as us "caring Brits" or because they are not a native species in the Ebro.The Aussie are legally bound to kill European carp if they catch one in their rivers or billabongs and yes,the eastern europeans do eat their catch,most of the Polish lakes are devoid of fish unless they are privately owned and policed.
In answer to the questions,and I'm no biologist,if I was one of natures largest scavengers I wouldn't want to work to hard for a meal so dead(freshly killed) would be best.They are pretty much blind and find thier food using their "whiskers",a fresh drop of blood would have them banging the table with their knives and forks in anticipation.We were given a bit of inside info by a barman who suggested when  to fish a spot near a chicken processing plant where the over flow  would spill into the river,he also told when they would be cleaning it and told us when not to then fish it as the chemicals would send them away.

Funnily enough, I was planing on fishing the chicken pipe this morning, didnt make it, so it is planned for tomorrow We saw there were several large cats around 2-3 days ago hitting the shoals of Mullet there, but I didnt know about the chemical  cleaning. I know a guy who works at the factory there so will find out what the cleaning schedule is !

On a similar subject,does anyone know if there are crayfish in the river and can they be eaten...???

:)Hello again Nobrot, yes there are crayfish in the river and lots of them, they're a bloody nuisance!! The downside is you cannot catch enough of them to make a meal. The place where we have actually seen lots of  them is at Riba-roca at the inlet where they hire the boats out, above the dam.That's if you feel inclined to row your bath up there!

Hi Nelson
Thanks for that.

Ian

hi roswell
how has the road kill gone so far. hope your not trying to run things down mate if there is nohting about . that article you seen do you still have a copy. have attched a picture of an 80 kilo fish we caught on the delta

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Hi Catman,

No great news to report, I suspect all the available roadkill is being gobbled up by some of the more enterprising immigrants....I swear I saw one brandishing "The Roadkill Cookery Handbook" so may have to resort to lowering my already terrible driving standards . . . .   ;)

Plus, as it is wintertime, fishing does not seem like fishing, I miss all my Mossie mates eating me alive, the constant threat of sunstroke, "interesting" smells.....and we all know there is nothing worth catching at this time of year now dont we ? http://www.tortosaforum.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1166296917


"Flat Cat Fishing Enterprises"

I use quater carcases ..... infact ive had cats on halfs ..... huge baits normally deter smaller fish but if they do move in then you just get taps for ages untill a biggun moves in.

I'm going to try a whole fresh chook soon hair rigged on the biggest hook i can find.

As for the world championships ... ive never seen something so funny in all my life ! Whos sponsoring this massive event ? ha !

i was chatting to nigel the other day about this competition and i mentioned the fact that there is already a world cup/championships . as there are over 200 species of catfish there have actualy been sevral big competitons for catfishing including noodling . that where they grab the catfish by hand, but most of you know that.one other major factor for this to be run as a wordl championships is that overriding fact that you have to be registerd to run any competions that will be recognized in the long run and to be registerd for a world cup to the fed de pesca. you also have to have backing from the igfa committee independant game fishing authoritys i know this as i was going to run the competition many years ago. and have a full list of about 100 things to do to make it a recogonisable world championships. and no i will not send these out to anybody let twho ever is responsable, do all the heartache thats involved.
all the boats for one have to have a fully designated number from the commitee running this competition the police and ambulances have to be on standby for any disasters that happen and thats just the start the police will ask for your fed de pesca number and then they will approach the commite to see if its all been passed and fully verified . but all the same guys i wish you all the best but i will not be entering i am sorry to say. i dont think its right to snub it in any way shape or form but i hope you can take this advice and follow it on but saying that it takes a year to organbise. catfish capers are also running a competiton up the top lakes caspe region but i do not think its a world championships good luck and tight lines.

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