World Carp Classic - Official Global Website
Lake Bolsena 2nd - 8th September 2012

Well this years story begins once again and this time I’m down in Spain for a good number of weeks, its mid April when I leave England and looking forward to some warm early spring action which you are almost guaranteed down that neck of the woods. I take my time getting down there and even have a stop off at Salagou for the night as its just over half way, as usual its windy on there and also fairly busy with anglers so I'm pleased to be moving on in the morning.

Its lunchtime by the time I reach Caspe my first destination on the banks of the mighty Ebro. The river is synonymous with Spanish carp fishing but having visited Spain 3 times before this is my first session on the river. The carp just seem to be getting bigger with good numbers of 50s and even the outside chance of a 60 so I was itching to get the rods out.

First things first though and I needed to sort out some work related things to deal with the upcoming World Catfish Classic and also the clean up operation on that part of the river where the event will be held. This was to be called Friends of the Ebro and would be launched at Chiprana just down the road the following evening, there was a need for it as over the last few years the dumping of rubbish on the banks has got to a  ridiculous level and something needed to be done. I was basing myself to start with at Martin Walkers’ Jolly Fisherman bar/hotel in Caspe, it was Martin who runs the successful Catfish Capers and the up and coming Carp capers that told me I should have a go for the Ebro Carp the previous year as they were reaching decent weights. I was a little sceptical andthe pictures of Ebro carp I had seen in the press in the past hadn’t exactly excited me that much that I wanted to fish for them before, but hey I thought why not. First things first a cold beer was needed and a chat with Martin and Ross as to the plans for the coming days before getting fishing.  With the business side sorted I couldn’t wait to get the rods out and start fishing and catch the first carp of the year. The cat fishing had been slow mainly down to them starting to spawn which was good news for the carp fishing as they tend to show better when the big catfish are preoccupied. The first day on the river was very hot and the mosquitoes were out in force so I was pleased to have packed the mossy net and also the spray.

I had got some new Nash goodies to play with not least the new Titan viper but with Spanish rules being a bit funny about camping and the types of shelter you can use I thought it best to stick with the Profile X brolly, I would just have to wait a little longer before getting the Titan out. Still I would be using the Sirens for the first time which looked impressive with all their features and hopefully would be hearing them sing away with some big Ebro carp on the other end. Fish were showing well on the bit of river to be fished up stream from Caspe, it’s a 2 rod limit for this part of Spain and with the deep part of the river running along the far bank then this would be where any catfish would be feeding. I would therefore concentrate on fishing the first half and therefore the shallower bit of river where hopefully the carp would be in reasonable numbers.

Rigs would be simple and I had some of the Twisters to try having used the Fang Xs for a number of years, so many people had said how good the twister hook holds were that it seemed the sensible thing to do although I still had the Fang Xs in reserve just in case the pattern didn’t suit my bait presentation. I was told that the carp would only want the pellet and that boilies would struggle although I had enough iC1 and Monster Squid that I knew eventually they would get on it, what carp could resist no matter where they are tried in the

world.

Slow first 24 hours but that’s nothing new, I like to take my time and try to read the water in front of me, looking at the depths, w

here fishing are showing etc. my main aim is not quantities of fish but the biggest. The first night saw lots of action on the carp jumping and crashing front and I was itching to get the rods out next morning, I wasn’t fishing at night given it is banned and the likelihood of Guardia visits. I switched the iC1 hook baits over to a couple of 20mm halibut pellets, that seemed to do the trick and I had a double take within the hour, landing one, not big but at around 20lb it was a start and a couple of hours later this was followed up by a 36lb common in lovely condition, this was more like it. To be followed in part2 next week.