Big Whiskers

 A long wait for an exceptionally long and cold winter to end, and time to visit Spain for a three day fishing trip.
It was 7.30 a.m on Friday the 31 May, saw four Guernsey catfish hunters,( Phil W, Gary, Stu and Phil O) meeting at the airport to catch a flight to Gatwick and then on to Barcelona Spain for a three days of winching on the stretches of the mighty River Ebro, home of some of Europe's largest Wels catfish. What started off as loose talk was now a reality as we checked in, off loaded the bags and headed to various parts of the departure lounge for something to eat and a beer then away we went. A short flight later we landed at terminal 1 at Barcelona. By 3pm Gary had the hire car all sorted and without further ado the sat nav or should I say sat nav's were set for the two hour drive to the Catalunian village of Tortosa

Tortosa

 The journey down was easy and a couple of hours later and 18 euros lighter from the various road tolls we found our digs, a cracking little apartment as close to the Ebro as you could wish to get. After freshening up from our journey and taking a short walk along the river we ended up that evening getting a few beers and a very dodgy steak from a local restaurant. After getting suitably refreshed the night before, it was time to put on our fishing attire and head for our rendezvous with  our guides. We all jumped into our allocated launches, and headed off to various parts of the river eager to do battle with the big cats. We were a little anxious at the sight of the river as it seemed to be in full flow.   

FISH ON FISH ON!!
 HIT IT

It was late in the morning when Stu's piscatorial friend bit. The sound of a screaming reel, line was being stripped off the reel on the baited 6.0 circle hook that had half a chicken tied to it. As soon as we struck the rod pulled hard and slow away from us in a very big curve, it was on and it was big!! line continued to be taken for at least another 20 meters before Stu even tried to take some line back. The adrenalin kicked in! this was a powerful fish! I could see his fore arms and body begin to feel the strain, catfish are very powerful and patience is needed to land these fish, as we played the tit for tat battle of gain a few metres lose 10 metres, and vise versa, the shaking and big wobbles the fish puts through the rod as it twists and turns in the water was making me feel very nervous, but 15mins later he had done enough to tire the fish.
A lot of heaving and repositioning by the 3 of us, the giant fish was placed into the weighing sling and when held above the ground the needle settled at 84lb. A moment I will never forget for as long as I live. After the photo session, the cat was returned to the gloom of the mighty river Ebro where it sat sulking under the boats until it caught it's breath and swam off .

Looks to me like you've got yourself a juvenile Wels Catfish.
They get massive!

We headed back to Tortosa that evening for a few beers and a de-brief. Gary's and Phil O's boat further down stream hadn't fared well with them remaining fish less. Our guide said the unseasonal weather over the last few months had made the water colder than normal and needed to warm a few degree's to start the fish spawning and to start feeding.
Day two..

Small Whiskers
Channel Cat

Saw a bright and sunny 27c day, the water had more time to warm up in the gap between sessions, which meant the cats should be more active and that we would have more chance of catching. The same tactics that had proved successful the day before where re-applied and the waiting game began, yet again. Breakfast, lunch and dinner came and went with not any signs of life, but we knew what lurked beneath the misleading surface. So it was back to town for more beer, Rioja and Tapas empty handed.
Day three..

Phil O and Gaz
 working a swim

 The guides had a plan, we took the two boat to another stretch of the river that he thought could produce in the cold water conditions. Morning was quiet, All three rods were out as I took the time to relax. I could see the backs of several big cats just breaking the surface swimming along the far bank. The Catfish rods were still doing nothing. We had been plagued with small Channel Cats picking up the bait and taking it for a short run and not taking the hook until I hooked into a small one. The afternoon was a different story, rods fell silent as the cats seemed to change their habit, probably due to the cold water. We hadn't had a touch on either of the Catfish rods yet or lures, but I felt this would change during the afternoon as we tried a different swim. It didn't!, just the occasional big tug of a channel was just enough to make us get excited. Then came a txt from Stu down river..

                                           

                                   FISH ON!!! AND IT'S BLOODY BIG 

Bent rods, screaming drags, and smiling vacationers

The boys bench pressing a 150lb Wels
Big Whiskers

The rod bent, bent a bit more and what was on the end pulled harder and swam further than any of the fish the we caught so far. Was this cat over 100lb?, it definitely felt like it! Phil O played the fish tentatively as he didn't want to loose it. The fish didn't surface till the very end and by the way the fight went with slow powerful runs, and lots of those horrible moments when it feels like your fishing line is being plucked like a giant guitar string, causing a nervous wobble of the rod tip, he wasn't surprised to see a Catfish poke his smiling head out the water. Finally what we had come for!!! still not a monster! and definitely not a record breaker but weighing in at little over 148lb, a very fitting end to a surreal 78 hour fishing session.