2006 Fishing Summary

Stephen Buss · Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:54 pm Post subject: 2006 Fishing Summary

Im Sat here in reflection, sporting the biggest grin for ages as it comes to summing this years carp & cat fishing adventures into words. I write wrapped up warm with lemsip at hand due to fishing’s enthusiasm.

To be honest I was not looking forward to the start of this years guiding on the River Ebro in Spain. Working hard for much of last year had taken its toll, but the quality time off over the festive period gave enough time to recharge a few batteries, refine a few methods & play with some new rods & reels from Father Christmas.

This year’s river conditions brought the best out of me, a very difficult season for most anglers, even when guided. My lady luck saw to record braces; I recorded my 150th 150lb+ catfish to the pebble rig within just 12 months fishing, told tales of the one that got away, broke my catfish personal best & sowed the seed to cement my career in the pastime I have known so dearly.

Returning to the rivers edge at the start of a fresh February, I noticed the fish were not to be seen in their usual haunts, mainly due to the rivers water level. My aim in February was to establish areas for fishermen the following month.

These were probably the best conditions as there were very few people fishing but fish location is an art never mastered. Most local guides were struggling & relied on fishing the waters of Caspe in order to save holiday blanks. The usual areas along the River Segre & the T junction where it meets the River Ebro were almost void of life even though being regularly fished. I noticed that very little swim feed in comparison was being used, so my search for bigger fish took me some 15km down stream from the town of Mequinenza.

The depths of the festive months saw little to no pellet in comparison to the summer’s quantity. Due to pellet formulations & its magic ingredient, the catfish were slow to rest & in the quest of hunger the catfish switched from large beds of pellet to feasting on large shoals of bleak. The silver fish in realisation turned & headed away from the waters of Mequinenza thus leading the catfish in the getaway chase.

It all started tucked away in a familiar fruit orchard that brushed two reed lined bays on the banks of the River Ebro. First Light on the 4th March saw my first guided catfish of 2006, a 2m 41cm 203lb beauty, the largest Wels catfish to have been caught by a Dane, what a start. Ironic really as the cat rods had only been employed due to slowing carp action & a sighting of a big cat. However, with this big cat out of the swim & sulking in the margins the carp soon returned to this usual retreat & for the following month many previously uncaught carp graced the bank.

The first week of March produced some 40 carp to just fewer than 40lbs, many low 30’s & I noticed the fish were getting in on the bait quick. By the first week of April, at some points in the day, you could not keep even 1 rod out, one day saw twenty mint 20lb+ common carp to a pair of tired fishermen. As the first week of April drew to a close no less than thirty five 20lb + & seven 30lb + carp had been hooked, played & weighed.

The carp action in this particular area over the next month or so was to be a real treat to say the least. I had great expectations & enthusiasm. Over 100 carp had quickly fell foul to the pebble rig, a scaled down version from what is used for the cat fishing, pebbles were oiled & left to soak, hook bait’s consisted of single pellet, either tipped with half / whole boilie or single grain of yellow plastic maize. Many personal best common carp fell, a battery of upper 30’s & low 40’s had graced the swims bank.

The swims main feature is a fishable point; either side of this point are unspoilt reed lined bays, one is shallow the other is much deeper with its opening home to a healthy & rich sunken weed bed. There is a wide marginal shelf that envelopes the point, resident fish are here for sure, my intention was to bump into the string of upper 40’s & especially the mid 50lb common that had seen my net & unhooking mat the previous time of year.

The pebbles were mostly placed by boat with the aid of an echo sounder; swim feed mainly consisted of hemp & tiger nuts so as to captivate the attention of shoals of carp rather than groups of catfish, combos of paste & pellet also played a part. Pebbles around 4-6oz were cast short distances, advantages of the pebble over a conventional lead is that you retain the weight for casting & hook penetration but best you obtain a direct line to your hook hold when the fish takes & sheds the pebble from its elastic band retainer.

Pebbles placed in PVA bags were cast further, a pebble gives off more natural frequencies than a lead, they can absorb oils & flavours to aid in time release fish attraction & the bags can be filled with goodies to ensure you trap is sprung in haste. There is an increase in work load when fishing pebble vs. lead. For a start you have to carefully select & collect, if casting single pebbles, there is also a knack to their banding. Once mastered, which does not take a fishing lifetime, the pebble easily out fishes the lead & is a rewarding must for stalking & setting margin traps for monster Carp, Barbel & Catfish. Dare I say they fit snug in a bait boat!

The catfish by now were awake & moving in large numbers, head & shouldering like pilot whales, mid April to the end of May saw fishing new swims within the boundary of the Segre Nature Reserve. River levels had increased as did sightings of the specimen fish this water system is home to. My father was out for his year’s first visit, a too short a week still produced more than 80 carp & a handful of cats, nothing more would please me most seeing him with a 40lb common from these waters, alas this time was not the case but maybe next time?

April’s carp tally was a taste of things to come, eighty 20lbers, thirty five 30lbers and three 40’s to 41lb 12oz. April also saw 32 catfish over the 100lb barrier to the bank & 8 over 150lb, all were very special but two catfish caught within a week enlightened me to the growth potential that these giants of the river have. 35cm was the difference in length, 15lb in weight, the shorter fish was 199lb (2m 12cm) & a well rounded specimen with distinguishing marks along is flank. The 184 (2m 47cm) was a long fish, almost empty & could easily be 230lb on its day. The big catfish list continues, 199, 184, 170, 169, 165, 159,156 & 152lb.

The carp fishing started to tail mid May as the catfish started to return from further down river. The weather was warming, more importantly so was the water. In the last weeks of May the catfish started to rule the river. The carp then moved further up stream in impressive numbers, into the shallow weedy runs to spawn & this saw the start of some real action. May’s carp fishing saw slightly fewer carp to the bank than expected, although this may have been due to the catfish activity. The carp that were banked were of a better stamp & we saw the average weight of carp go up even though we caught fewer, the tally was a respectable fifty five 20’s, twenty 30’s & seven 40lbers to 46lb 4oz.

A battery of new catfish tackle haunted my swims, a step up as last year’s equipment unfortunately did not stand the test of time. We switched from two piece 10ft 6” carbon fibre to a three piece Grey’s Popper Rod. Our reels were not to burn out like the Penn 330’s had done; our shiny albacores from Alutecnos bellowed a class finish to an ideal specimen fishing rod / reel combo that sat on our new custom design rod stands from Mick Evans.

Fishing in the depths of prime catfish territory, with the river conditions on our side; a ghosting of good fortune was truly upon us. The pebble rig was still in play for the catfish, the times during most flow saw pebbles being placed that weighed up to 20lb. The carp rods were cleaned & laid to rest with haste. The last week of May saw the months catfish tally at 26 fish over 100lb many young males around the 140lb mark & 6 fish over 150lb. May was the month for the young wild boar, when lure fishing from canoes you would regularly bump into them sunning themselves & drinking from the margins of the nature reserve. Bank fishing one morning we counted 6 babies & two adults swimming some 400 yards from reed lined island to island. The big catfish list continues, 187, 173, 169, 159, 157 & 156lb.

In the 100 nights from the End of February to the Beginning of June I had spent just 4 asleep in my house. During this time I was awoke many a time, hearing fish of 150lb hit the top in addition to the shoals of carp moving in & out the swims under the cover of dark were sounds most welcome. I then returned to England, in pursuit of a Record Wels & a few games of cricket, the month of June on the Ebro & Segre is usually very good, fishing wise. Was I mad in leaving these waters during what some might call prime time?

The flight was called, accompanied by a fellow mild mannered thrill seeker Dan Baylis, we departed Heathrow to fish 10 days on the River Danube in Bulgaria, the second largest river system in Europe at some 2800km + in length. The previous week had been spent running round in preparation; we were both very excited to say the least. On the banks of the Danube we stood, two Brits, two Danes & a Bulgarian would have made a good joke. To see this river at one of its widest parts was a treasure; opposite in the distance was Romania amidst a pink & purple sunset.

The river boiled at our feet, the flow was fast & consistent, we did not fish the first area we were shown, we opted to look at an inlet some 30km down river, this was where we first wet a line. In hindsight we hit the river at the wrong time but then the condition of any major river system is a lottery when fishing last minute. We had to bribe a swim as the area that looked most fishy was occupied by a family fishing for that evening’s food, we then later found ourselves flanked by long liners one side & drift nets men the other.

For 4 nights we managed only small Barbel, which in turn we used as live bait for monster catfish, the swim was not void of fish, but the methods employed by the locals may have made this part of the river a bit of a black spot. The stories of 200kg catfish rang true, the rivers potential is far from realised but a trump card was at hand. We decided to move to the mountains, the river looked as if it needed a month of Sundays, I spent another day by boat looking at other potential spots later in the trip, not to fish but to look on in ore, a return is on the cards but a small lake was our destination for the remainder of our Bulgarian adventure.

We arrived on night fall, the moment saved for a mornings view. The lake is probably 6 acres, a main body with spiny arms & rounded bays at each corner. The two spiny arms looked ideal for stalking, the lake is spring & river fed very deep & very shallow in parts. Within hours of fishing all four of us had landed fish, several 30lb common carp & a little sturgeon. The fish in this lake had been stocked from the Danube, it contained what I was led to believe a 79lb Common carp & an 82lb grass carp, in addition to a handful of dark mirrors around 60lb. The next four days were spent in despondency; it had transpired that a vast majority the fish had been speared in the shallows when spawning by the local farmers & shepherds. Our trump card had ended up a Joker.

On returning to the Ebro in July a new approach to the fishing was in mind. Reports of a slow Junes fishing came as a surprise. The upper lake was & will be the place to catfish; previous reports came back of a massive 100+ cats in a single day haul.

July was a hot one & saw the catfish spawn for a second time & a run of small male fish with 27 fish over 100lb to 148 was a good tally for the short time spent fishing. Several canoe trips down the Segre saw catfish rolling together within touching distance, them bumping & rocking the canoes will be yet another moment from being here to savour. One hard fighting 1m 85cm lure caught catfish broke the rod in three places before chewing knuckles & left all involved with hearts hanging out of mouths. The big catfish list will continue…..

The next six weeks fishing from August – Mid September went mad. It was not until this time that my catch results mimicked those of previous years. The warmest month saw 45+ catfish per week to my rods & reels, sometimes I could not row the baits out quick enough as we were having takes on the ones just set.

It was the month to break my personal best & again like last year landed two 190lb+ fish within quick succession, fish with friends & tell the tales of the one that got away & record braces to enthusiastic young locals. The August month was one of many a joy & an obvious heart ache, the month that saw regular monster fish to many a happy angler, a month that like previous ones had kicked off with a big fish, a pale & placid 208, again on the pebble rig but with a change in hookbait that gave me an increased edge & enthusiasm about the fishing that lay ahead.

I most enjoyed fishing the final days of August with Joe Taylor & ScouseMaster Karl. A 6 hour session on the 30th produced some 18 catfish with 14 breaking the 100lb barrier. To have had a string of 150’s, a trio of 170’s a 184 & a 194lber within hours was an achievement all involved will reflect on for a very long time. The trio of Karl’s 170’s was followed by Joes 184, another hard fighting lump that fell foul to the pebble rig, an impressive fish with plenty of room for growth, at the best of recent times this fish had the frame to accommodate 200lbs easily.

With my name on the next take our right hand rod bent flat & a ripping take left all with an air of anticipation. On prizing the rod from the rest, the fish hit the surface with an explosion of water & steadily started to rip powerfully up river. I stood firm, 17 stone of pure English Oak, rooted to the banks of a Spanish river, the only bow being my branches. A heavy fish that hugged the bottom whilst romping off up stream at pace, I managed to turn the fish twice mid river before it dived for the margins literally under the rod tip & waiting hand. The scales tipped 194lb, a beast of a fish with a large wide head. With two fish on stringers & twelve bells upon us the rods were retrieved & a sound night’s sleep ensued.

When it duly came to photographs the following sunrise, the video recorder was set on play & the cameras waited. Joe’s fish was first out of the water & onto the bank; it lay calm on the wet mat & was carefully freed from its stringer. The fish, whose head was facing the bank then writhed round in a single slap & wriggled ferociously, back into the river within a blink of an eye.

We all stood in amazement, shrugged & hummed but the sudden realisation of “your turn next” hit home. I decided to take the stringer out in the water & have just water shots with my new prize, the fish soon hit the surface & I wrestled a position to free its retainer. On doing so I managed to get a grip on both pecks with the fishes chin on my chest. With a single flick of its tail, the fish in its entirety then slipped through my grasping fingers & back to where it knows best. Once the dull feeling from inside had risen both Joe & myself chuckled, August had been a very kind month.

The big catfish list continues, twenty fish over 150lb, six fish over 160lb, twelve fish over 170lb, eight fish over 180lb, six fish over 190lb & three fish over Two Hundred pounds. In addition to this pocket of big fish we also landed 52 fish between 100 & 150lb & 82 fish less than 100lb.150 x 3, 151 x 3, 152 x 2, 153 x 3, 154 x 4, 156 x 2, 158 x 2, 159, 161, 164, 165 x 2, 167, 169, 172 x 2, 174 x 2, 176 x 2, 177, 178 x 3, 179, 181, 182, 183, 184 x 3, 186, 189, 191 x 2, 192, 194, 195, 196, 201, 202, & 208lb.

The End of September to Mid October saw a welcomed slower pace to the fishing action; the first rains brought a sharp rise in water level, repeated rainfall ensured inconsistencies with regard to river colour, flow & level. The carp rods were back out & with the first common being a battle axe of a 43lber only twenty two 20’s & five 30’s were caught.

I moved form the area fished in August, down stream against a rising level which could have been a step in the wrong direction. I think it is very possible for pockets of large fish to get trapped in certain areas of the Segre dependant on water level. These pockets of fish may take weeks to return to usual haunts but there were still a few fish to be had to where we had moved to down river. The big catfish list continues, 191 (caught on carp rod), 178, 177, 169, 167, 162, 156, 151 & a 155lb albino.

My father returned as the conditions had calmed some, a short time into his week & after banking a pretty mid twenty pound fully scaled, the conditions worsened & looking at the river a few weeks rest was in order. In this time off from fishing the river an invitation was accepted & I travelled South in pursuit of the Golden Comizo Barbel. I had caught a fair share of Andalucian Barbel on previous Barbel fishing efforts but the Specimen Comizo is the one shrouded in most mystery, it was not until visiting their home that I realised why.

Some 15 crystal clear, reed & forest lined lagoons with weedy margins connected via small streams & fantasy waterfalls set in a hilly gorge was enough to see me somewhat lost for words. I fished alongside Pete Staggs, a pioneer of Barbel fishing from the depths of the Spanish heartland who has accounted for many specimens in excess of 30lbs. During the few days I spent fishing I wished my dad was by my side, especially when looking some 8 metres down into the clear patches that we were fishing brought back childhood memories. Putting three common carp on the mat to just over 29lb, I was also lucky enough to claim a near 18lb Golden Comizo. Releasing it back into the cold clear waters was warming when watching it roar off from my hands. All fish tore off like stallions & the Spanish lagoons is an area I will concentrate more efforts in next years fishing adventures.

Returning to the river week 45, I spent many hours watching the clam waters around Mequinenza; I even managed a few hours’ carp fishing that resulted in a pristine mid 20lb common carp. This month was a weird one fishing wise; the fish seemed to be running up & down the river as if it were Christmas week. Fifteen 20lb & 5 thirty pound commons were banked in the short time spent carp fishing. Two more weeks catfish guiding was all that lay ahead, the conditions leading upto Mid November gave me the sense of bigger fish to come, especially with regard to the carp fishing as a number of low 50’s & a 59lber had been seen on the banks.

With over 500kg of catfish swim feed sat in the Garage; I thought it best to end the years fishing where it had started. From the 23rd of November to the 12th December I watched 3 big catfish lost to other hands, to start & end the year on a 200lb + catfish would have made this a truly fishing fairy tale write up. I landed a pristine common of 31lb 4oz, it was almost jet black & a strain we call coal miners, it was the biggest coal miner I have ever seen, with dark black scales all over the underside of its belly, seeing this one makes me think they must go over 40!

However, the river in this time was again calm, like a mill pond for most of my stay. Having seen over 15 fish over 150lb to 186 on the bank in the space of a week, I knew I was on the fish. The last three nights I fished alone which was a treat even though I saw few fish, fishing single hook baits on 6 catfish rods for 42 hours without a sniff was enough to call it a day & I returned home to complete this write up. Looking at the Calendar as I write I still have 5 days from the 26th Dec to bump into one last big catfish! Fingers crossed. Christmas week will see the carp tackle in full use as many think a new world record common carp swims these waters so close to me. The big catfish list draws to an end, 186, 181, 178, 176, 175, 172, 167, 163, 159, 157, 156, 155, 153, 151 & 150 x 2.

This year does not come without thanks, firstly to those that have fished with me & taken part in a cracking years fishing, roll on next year, many new personal best fish were caught this year, some may be beaten but most not forgotten. Tightest Lines to you Brian Westergaard, Troles Taylor, Mick & Paul Wheeler, Benji & Louis Jaques, Joel Crozier, Lee Hazel, Frank Jennings, Adam Cole, Callum Derby, Graham Benyon, Dave Moore, Dan Moran, Pete & John Wilson, Phil & John Straw, Bill Collins, Mark Adams, Ray Albone, Del Bullfield, Steve Powell, Adam Turner, Maurice Savage, Jonny Jensen, Jaspers Rasmussen, Gary Norton, Gary Drew, Mark Fossy, Ian Cooper, Carl Knight, Adrian & Daniel Hull, Tim Cadman, Alan & Shaun Brown, Joe Finnis, George Bagnall, Stephen Bucknall, Wayne Shipp, James Burke, Shaun Vincent, Brian & Alan Danbury, Mark James, Tony & Sam Davey, Phil Burr, Tony Swann, Nick Ratcliff, Denis Lynford, Stewart Ely, John Medlow, Graham Glue, Dale Maxim, Martin Turner, Dan Baylis, Rob Anderson, Graham Noon, John Tattersall, Peter & William Staggs, Tim Sumner, Maruis Le Roux, Dan Aplin, Ade Robinson, Joe Taylor, Steve Morrison, Darren Gallaher, Dipesh Patel, Howard & Sean Lamb, Caspe Chris, Scouse Master Tours Karl & Mark & Lenka Hofirkova x.

Secondly to the tackle & bait used to tame these lumps to the bank. Thanks to the Greys Popper Rods & Albacore reels used for Cat fishing, Berkley & Triple X for my hooklink material, the pebble rig & CatBusster Continental hooks for a reduction in fish mouth damage & an increase in rig mechanic efficiency. Mick Evans for our catfish rod stands & Tim Reese from Dana Feed, Jan & Steve for our Indicat alarms. Our sponsors Bob Baker, Richard Gardener & Ian Russell who’s bits & bobs & bait have made this years fishing so much easier, Danny Fairbrass & crew from Korda for sending us there running rig systems to incorporate with our pebble rig, Cemex Angling & Michael Anderton for continued web support, Paul & Joe Griffiths from Hook Line & Sinker, Mathew Prisco my cricket captain & soon again opening partner for a peppering in the middle, Gary Allan for some sound advice, Woking & District Angling Associations Officers & members for installing my passion for angling & last but by no means least me Mum & Dad for being in my corner.

My tally of specimen cats has given me a new thirst for big fish. With well over 1000 specimen catfish to date under my belt including over 165 150lb + catfish, another 85 over 175lb & personally gloved 6 different guided 200lb monsters to boot, the globe of specimen fishing is knocking on my door. I intend to cast my net further, in an attempt to offer anglers global specimen fishing consistency. Fully backed by a battery of family & the industries best contacts in addition to some of the Worlds best fishing guides & expert consultants I promise next years fishing write up will be worth more than a read.

Tightest Lines to You

Stephen Buss

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