In Pursuit of the Wels Catfish - Page 2/2

Ron Woodward - United Kingdom

I could see it was a big fish and very close to my P.B 146.00, we quickly attached a stringer to the fish and slid it back in to the river. Then me and Colin set about repairing the scales, but had no joy, they were knackered. Colin said do you want me to get the other set of scales from Paul in the other swim and we can see what it weighs, I said no, I have enjoyed the fight and the size is not that important to me, at the end of the day, (P.B or not). So we put a fresh bait on the rod that had gone and put it back out, ready for more action, it was about 11.00 o'clock and as we sat watching the rods, we could hear the bells going again in the other swim. I think they had 6 fish that first night and that particular swim seemed to be a better swim during the week we were there.

Well I had had a nice fish so I said to the other two, I think I will go back to the apartment and have a good nights sleep after the long days traveling and so on, Colin dropped me back to the apartments and I left the rest to it.

Ron with a 141 lb'er

We weighed the fish the next day and it went 141.00 lbs, I did not fish for the rest of that week as I wanted to give everyone else on the trip, the best chance of them archiving their dream fish. By the end of the week they were all very happy anglers, with every one achieving their aims.

Jim Borg and his 165

Jim not only had one over his target at 104.00 lbs a new P.B, but also then beat that P.B by having the biggest fish of the week on the last day, at 165.00 lbs, his son Shamas also beat his P.B with a 122.00 lb fish, young James beat his P.B with fish of 43.00 lbs and 54.00 lbs, Julian had the most fish and also beat his P.B, the weights were 106.00 lbs, 61.00 lbs, 50. 00 lbs, 78.00 lbs, 15.00 lbs 70.00 lbs & 16.00 lbs, finally Jason who we renamed Golden B_ _ _s, did also beat his brothers fish with a new P.B of 157.00 lbs, he also had a 122.00 lbs & 106.00 brace amongst the fish he caught that week with Catmaster tours.

Shamus' 122 lber

All in all, it was an excellent and extremely enjoyable week for every one and ended up with me making 5 new friends. As for Colin and Paul they not only created an excellent atmosphere for every one to fish in, but they also catered for all their clients every need and because of the excellent service they provided, every one of the lads from that week have all already provisional booked to return on one of Colin's trips, Jason and Justin will be back in August this year, as they were not prepared to have to wait another 12 months before they return. I think Jason will be taking his brother with him, after speaking to him at the last CCG meeting, may be his brother will turn the tables on him ??

Well if you area looking for some action with Big Pussys and are interested in a guided trip, then ask one of Colins many happy clients, what they thought about it, I will not comment myself, as he is a friend of mine and it would not be right of me. All I will say is I will be back over their in a few weeks with my son and a very well known angler and then again with my wife and other son in July/ August. Incase you are wondering what happened on my second week after the Paul, Jim, Shamas, James, Julian & Jason went home and me and Colin fished for a week together, would you be surprised if I told you we caught more Catfish, well that is exactly what happened, our best night was 10 takes, with the biggest that night falling to me at 130.00 lbs, the best fish of the week was caught on the last night by Colin and weighed in at 152.00 lbs, well It's getting a bit boring now quoting all these big fish, so I will stop. Well my run of 100 pound plus cat's on the first take, after this trip has moved up to 4 in a row, first take every trip, could it continue??

Back to Spain with the Globe Trotter
Well after returning from that last trip and back on my PC (when it was working) catching a few anglers as I do, I came across an e-mail address which I thought might be Tony Davies Patrick's and as I have already stated in part 1, he was an angler who I really respected, from his writings and photography, although I had never ever meet or spoke to him. So seeing the e-mail address, that I thought could be him, I decided to take the bull by the horns and I sent off an email to the address.

You could of knocked me down with a feather, when I was more than surprised, not only did I received a reply, but also Tony stated he would like to go fishing with me. I replied with the information on two planned trips that I had coming up shortly, the first one where I would be returning to Spain to visit and fish with Colin again, the first trip of 6 days, would be from the 23rd of July, this trip had been planned by me and Colin in April, to do some more filming for the video's we are putting together to advertise his trips, as the filming conditions would be far better at that time of year for all the scenic footage. I would be taking my oldest son Lee with me as he could not come on the second trip, which was to be this years annual family outing abroad fishing, the reason he could not accompany us on the second, was due to him starting a new job and being unable to book the particular week's he would need to accompany us. It would be the fist time we had not been away as a complete family fishing that time of year, as usually Lee actually has his birthday while we are away on the family holiday fishing.

After a couple of emails to each other and several phone call's, Tony had committed to joining us over in Spain on the first trip, as he would not be traveling with me and Lee, I had arranged that Colin and I, would pick him up from Barcelona airport. As Lee and myself would have arrived some 10 hours earlier that day and would already be at the apartment.

Well to cut a long story short, my son and I arrived in Spain at Barcelona airport on Sat 23rd June at around 1.30 pm. We were slightly early so waited in the departure lounge for Colin to arrive as he was seeing of his customers, from the week before on their flights. We did not have to wait to long before Colin came walking in from the departures terminal, he greeted us and I introduced him to my son Lee, as he had never meet any of my son’s before, He said it had been a slow week fishing wise, but every one went home happy.

As we all walked out of the airport terminal, heading to the car park, the heat hit us all; it was scorching, much, much, hotter than it had been on my last visit in April. We loaded up the hand luggage into Colin’s people carrier, (when you are on one of Colin’s trips he supplies all the tackle you require to fish from the bank, he even supplies bedchairs, profile brolyies, cooler boxes for your drinks, ever think to make your stay comfortable, the only thing you need to take is a sleeping bag, change of cloths and your Toiletries). Once we were loaded up, we set of to the river, after about a couple of hours drive we arrived in Mequineza, as we followed the road down to the apartments, the river which ran along side it looked very inviting, we unloaded our bags at the apartment and went and had a look at some of the swims, to see if they were occupied. They were all empty a good sign for the coming week, we would have the pick of them and also the opportunity to move if the swim we were in was not producing for any reasons.

That night we went to the local chinese restaurant for our tea, as we was not fishing until we had picked up Tony at the airport, well we eventually picked up Tony at Barcelona airport and what was to follow over the next few days fishing was excellent.

We set up in the pump house swim and that was to be our home for the next 5 days fishing, we had decided to fish runs, so every one would get some action Colin said he would go last and I said I would go next to last, this just left my son Lee and Tony to see who would have first fish, so I tossed a coin between them and Lee was the lucky winner (but it does not always pay, to have first run) as Lee had found out a few years ago with his brother Ross, while we were on dream lake 4, on that occasion Lee jumped in for first run and had a 16.00 ponder, then Ross had the second run and that carp came in at 42.00 lbs.

Well back to the trip in Spain, it was Sunday night and all the rods were out, and as we sat there listening to some of Tony’s exploits about his travels around the world fishing, the first rod had a take, Colin struck the rod and passed it to Lee (we had decided to strike Lee’s fish for him as it was his first trip to Spain and he was not as experienced as myself, Colin and Tony).

Lee played it in and as it came to the surface I could see it was only a kitten, Colin gloved it in and we weighed it, it went 14.00 lbs, we quickly released it and I gave Colin a hand put the rod back out fishing again. A couple of hours went by and we had our second take, it was Tony’s turn he hit into the take and started playing it in, as it came in I could see it was another kitten, Colin landed it and it went 18.00 lbs, we quickly returned it back to the river and reset the rod.

I started to think we had hit into a shoal of small catfish and my run of 100 pound fish on my first take was about to come to an end. Well some one up there must like me, as when the third take went early the next morning and I bent into it, I could feel it was defiantly not a small fish, it put a spirited fight and when I eventually got it close to the bank and it surfaced we could see it was defiantly over 100 lbs, Tony was clinking off shots on his camera, as the lighting conditions were good and as Colin gloved it, I thought that takes my run of fish over 100 lbs on my first take to five now ( lucky B****rd I am), we weighed the fish and it went a 112.00 lbs on the scales. We then tock some video footage and more photos of the fish on the bank and then retuned it back to the river. It was then a case of taking it in turn’s going back to the apartment’s to get washed and cleaned up and have some breakfast, two stopped in the swim to gaurd the tackle, while the other two visited the apartment. In the middle of the day it is very slow on the cat front and we usually start setting up and rebating around 4.00 pm. While Tony, Colin and Lee were at the apartment, I managed to land three Carp, no monsters, but they are good fun while you are waiting for the cat action.

We set up for the coming night and some more action, it was Colin’s turn for the next run but as Tony and lee had only had a couple of Kittens, he said he would not have his go and give the other two a chance of a bigger fish, as Colin has had over 100 over the 100.00 mark, he is perfectly happy just to see other anglers catch the big ones, this state of mind, make’s him an excellent guide, as you will find out if you are planning to go on one of his guided trip’s.

Well that Monday night saw another two cats landed, Lee with a 95.00 ponder and Tony landing a superb specimen of 125.00 lbs. Next morning we followed the same pattern, photographing and videoing the fish, then returning to the apartment for a shower and clean up, something to eat and retuning back to the bank totally refreshed. Lee had several carp while we were waiting for the temperature to lower and we could re-set the traps for the coming night and what a night it turned out to be, best night of the trip as you can see from the photo.

Tony, Lee and Ron with a fine brace

Big Ron with over 300 lbs. of cat..

I started it off with a 151.00, then Lee followed that up with a 33.00, Tony next with a 30.00, then me again with a 154.00, then Tony had a 90.00 and lee followed that with a 129.00, we also as we had several mistakes as well, as you usually get a few mistakes only fishing a single hook, but all in all it had been a very good night’s fishing, this meant that every one now had, had, a fish over the magic 100.00 pound mark, I had been the luckiest with a superb brace of one fifties, so decided that the other two could have all the takes from now on.

Well the next night (the Wednesday) was totally the opposite and a very slow night with only one fish being landed by Tony at 34.00 pounds (that’s fishing for you). But in one way it was good, as we had chance to recharge our batteries, it becomes very tiring when you are up each night and then cooking in the mid day sun each day.

Well it was now Thursday and this would be our last night together as me and Lee would be flying home Friday morning, Tony would be traveling back with Colin in his car. As it was the last night and I had caught the biggest fish of the trip, I said I would treat the group to a takeaway from the local chinese restaurant, it was about 8’o.clock on the night when Colin accompanied by Lee, set off to drive to the next town to get the Chinese take away, they had been gone about ¾ of an hour and as me and Tony sat there watching the rod tips and talking about the one that got away, one of the rods sprang back and indicated a take, Tony looked at me as he had had the last fish, Lee was not there, so I should have been next take, as I had decided that I would let Lee and Tony have the rest of the runs, I turned to him and said hit it, it yours mate. Tony struck into the fish and could tell straight away it was a much bigger fish than he had caught earlier in the week.

Tony Davies Patrick with a 160 lb. Wels

Lee Woodward with his 155..

..and a full-length shot of the 155, with Collin

It gave him a tremendous fight and just as it got close to the bank, Colin and Lee arrived, the fish was landed and weighed, 160.00 lbs Tony was well pleased, we strange it up and settled down to our curry, or at least we thought we were going to. I had only just managed to get a couple of spoon full’s in my mouth when one of the rods went, I jumped up and struck in to the fish and said to Lee, this one is yours son, I quickly passed the rod to him and he started to play the fish, when I struck the rod, I knew it was a good lump, you can feel the different resistance’s sometimes between the big fish and the small one ’s, as he started to play the fish he soon realized he was not hooked up to one of the rivers kittens, it was a long hard battle and at one point he tried to give me the rod back, as he was hurting all over, eventually he got it close to the edge and I gloved it out, as I felt the weight of it I knew it was a good fish, at 155.00 not a bad result for his first trip to Spain. We had another small one that night at 31.00 lbs, it was returned straightaway. Next morning we went through the usual process of photographing and videoing the two fish, before we set off on our return journeys back to the U/K.

Hope you have enjoyed this update on some of my visits abroad to France and Spain, Hope to be updating you on any forthcoming trips also. My thanks go out to all my good friends for there parts in these trips, Colin, Rob and especially thanks to Tony for putting up with my snoring for 5 nights, he as suggested we fish together again, he must be a sucker for punishment! But on a more serious note if you are a carp angler, thinking of trying a bit of cat fishing, Tony and myself would thouraly recommend Colin’s Catmaster tours set up in Spain, if you fancy a go hear are his contact numbers.

Home 0121 451 1861
Spain 00 34 620 605 113

Well all the best till next time, I hope all your trips are as good as the one's I have just reported on and you all enjoy your fishing.

All the best

Big Ron Woodward

-> back to page 1

T-Shirts | Hats | Sweatshirts | Fish Pins

Subscribe to product updates/news!
This mailing list will only be used for the purpose
of distributing our newsletter (remember to check or uncheck
any options you wish to receive/not receive)