Martin Bowler teams up with John Wilson and Adam Penning to go in search of Spanish Gold.
Specialist World - Number 6 | Specialist World
Specialist World - Number 6
IN SEARCH OF SPANISH GOLD
The Ebro and Segre are Spanish rivers that I had read a great deal about in recent years, namely because of the huge catfish they contain. So, when an invitation came my way from the Bavarian Guiding Services to sample the winter fishing potential I grabbed it with both hands.
Catfish though were not on the agenda, instead I was to fish for the indigenous carp population. Carp have now begun to reach good weights in these two Spanish rivers, caused mainly by the large scale predation upon them by the famous catfish population. This has thinned out numbers substantially making 20's commonplace and 30's a realistic goal. This has been a massive change to the river systems in the last 30 years as previously only single figured specimens were possible. The introduction of 60 small catfish in the early 70s altered the ecosystem forever and this has now resulted in a big fish bonanza for not only the cat angler but the carp man as well - as hopefully I was about to find out.
A Cold Reception
My companions for the trip were John Wilson and Adam Penning of ESP fame. We departed from Luton on a cold morning heading for Barcelona and a bit of winter sun but stepping from the plane I was a little taken aback by the wind. No sun to be seen and it was bitingly cold, for a second I though we had got on the wrong plane and landed in Scotland!
Still, I was sure this was only temporary and I was sure that things would soon hot up. Thankfully our guide for the week, Gary Allen, met us outside the airport with a warm mini bus for us to get into. Gary informed us that the bitter east wind had just arrived and yesterday he had been sipping wine outside in short sleeves - typical! A two-hour journey lay ahead of us from Barcelona to the small town of Mequinenza where the Ebro and Segre merge.
Gary tempted us with tales of huge carp catches and filled us in on the geography of the region. The Ebro starts life high in the Pyrenees flowing east for over 700 miles before reaching Mequinenza. The Segre on the other hand rises on the French border near Sierra Del Cadi and flows north to join the Ebro. At Mequinenza a huge hydroelectric dam has been constructed across the river which originally caused the flooding of the old town of Mequinenza at the confluence of the two rivers. The original high street can be seen disappearing into the water and catfish and carp now inhabit the homes
With Gary's vast knowledge on the area the journey was soon completed and we could begin sampling the local produce in a bar next to the Segre - well it would be rude not to! The Bavarian Guiding Services headquarters is based next door on the Segre, which was to be our starting point that afternoon and with liquid refreshment over we made the short walk over to the river to wet our lines.
First Cast
Gary informed us that a 60-yard cast was required to reach the main channel of which we duly obliged. My first cast into the Segre. Tackle was far from fancy, a length of anchor tubing to a 4oz lead with 6 inches of Mantis and a size 6 Drennan Continental Boilie Hook with the eye inturned. Mainline was 18lb ESP. For bait we had a combination of Nash Scopex and John Baker's Bio shellfish, both in 18mm. One of these was simply impaled on a hair in conjunction with a 4-bait stringer.
As you can see tactics were far from complicated with the most critical point as always being location.
With the rods sitting on buzzers, the banter between John, Adam and I began. Mainly centred on taking the Mick out of John's rods and reels, it was John who was to have the last laugh though as his buzzer sounded and his rod bent into action.
A seemingly small fish swirled on the surface and was easily drawn to the margins, when suddenly it began to wake up. We were all excited to see our fist carp but she didn't want to play ball just yet. Eventually though the tackle began to take its toll and a gorgeous big golden flanked common carp rolled on the surface. Gary soon scooped up John's prize and hoisted it up onto the waiting unhooking mat. That's 30lb plus both Adam and I said and true enough it was all 35lbs of it. 'What a lucky old devil,' entered my mind. To put it into context Gary had been a guide on the river for 4 years and had not managed a bigger fish.
Boy, did we suffer over dinner that evening. To add to John's ammunition he managed one more while we remained fishless.
The next morning we awoke once again to freezing conditions with a thick frost making getting out of bed after a heedful of wine a difficult task. Poor Adam though was really suffering with flu and had to remain in bed. John and I braved the elements to once again do battle with the Segre carp.
It was obvious though that there were very few fish moving with only the odd crash far beyond our baits. The day was to bring a couple of fish in cold conditions including a cracking 29lb common to Mr Penning when he eventually decided to get out of bed. Ebro Bound
We all felt that we weren't on the fish and it became obvious why later that evening. A German angler told us that the Ebro a mile away was running 4oC warmer than the Segre. It didn't take a genius to work out where the fish would be.
Next morning we all jumped in the old Lada jeep we had borrowed and headed for the Ebro.
Driving alongside the river our prayers were answered with the site of carp crashing. With two and half days left we now felt confident of more action.
Our confidence was fully justified and within an hour my rod ripped off and I was staring at my first carp - all 4lb of it! That amused Adam and John no end. Not that I needed to worry as over the next couple of days I was to land fish up to 27lb and it was my turn to take the Mick. Mr Penning even resorted to poaching my swim and sneaking out a 28! I will have to watch him more carefully in future.
So our flying visit came to an end no sooner than it started with John catching the largest at 35lb. Although we had been unlucky to fish during the coldest week of the winter we caught fish of 27lb or over every day. If conditions had been warmer I would guess that you probably could get at least 10 x 20s a day.
If you want to land lots of carp in the day and drink lots of wine by night, I can strongly recommend a trip with Gary Allen next winter.
For further details call Gary Allen on 0034 46 50 32 or 0034 667 455 863.
