Hi Guys

My mate has been talking about he and i taking a trip to Spain probably the Ebro for Wels cat fish. When we first talked about this i was a pure course fisherman, now im "Fly daft"

Has anyone caught these big cats on fly gear ?? And were would you start ??

i.e Rod weights ? length ? hook/fly size ?? patterns ?? lines ??

Englander

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Englander

"Barbless since 2008"

Vision GT Four catapult 9' 6#
Vision GT Four SW 9' 9#
Vision 3 Zone 9' 5#
Vision Cult 9' 3#
Shakespeare Trion 9' 5/6#
Cortland Endurance 9' 6#
Shakespeare Expedition float tube
Vosseler DC3 reel
Okuma Helios 8/9 reel
Greys G series 3/4 reel
Snowbee Geo 3/4 reel

I think it would be possible..but you must be RAVING BONKERS to try..lol.

The lures used in the Ebro for cats tend to be extremely large..14" ++ and made of a soft plastic to give them plenty of movement.

Having said that, smaller cats will feed in the margins at night, taking frogs etc from the surface. Maybe an oversized popper on a 12-14 weight would do it?

Certainly not subtle fishing!

It could be done, would not think bigger fish. but the smaller one's say up to 50lb or bigger from the boat, then you would have to use very heavy gear 14 weight rod or more. i had a 28lb cat when after a pike that was giving fry a bashing one day on a lake i was fishing in France. that was on a 9 weight will sort out a photo of it.

Dai..

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Any day with a y in it, is a good day to go fishing

http://daijonesflies.blogspot.com/

Read it and weep, don't even think of trying!

http://www.czechnymphs.com/FFC/ffc_2007_006.html

Especially when you see that a 10 year old caught it!!!!!

No Need to read it and weep Good luck to the boy, he did well. would have landed it fastter if he had gone to the bank faster. being on a (small)boat does not help when playing big fish on light tackle. two of my mate's hooked cats 250lb and played them for 5hrs 30mins and 7hrs 45mins. could not do any thing with them 7ft dingy. and another 180lb fish 1hr 30mins got ashore 11mins to get it. they will just pull you were they want to go, and you will not stop them. last year my mate had 39 cats over 100lb all from the shore a lot more easy the boat.

Hope to post photo of mine tomorrow.

Dai

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Any day with a y in it, is a good day to go fishing

http://daijonesflies.blogspot.com/

Wether its on the fly or not have always wanted a go on the Ebro but never got any one to commit to a trip.

Anyone fancy a Forum trip?

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Jim

My only worry is that when I die,my wife sells my fishing gear, for what I said I paid for it

There are also quite large, predatory cats in the US - flatheads, for example -

I think catching that beast on a nymph has to rate as the flyangling accomplishment of the decade.

One other thought - the Saar River in Germany has a number of warm water discharges, and due to the resultant two breeding cycles per year, is overpopulated with Wels. They are not so large, but would still be fun to catch.

Grant, go get them

Dai

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Any day with a y in it, is a good day to go fishing

http://daijonesflies.blogspot.com/

I have caught a great many catfish on the fly rod. These are the African Sharptoothed catfish Clarius gariepinus which are endemic to virtually all freshwater rivers and lakes below 5000 feet ASL. They are extremely aggressive predators and take flies avidly, although you have to fish at the right depth.

Sharpies can reach 100lbs in weight in extreme circumstances although fish over 40 lbs are rare. My biggest on fly went 31 lbs and I have taken them over 40 lbs on bait.

For fly fishing you need a powerful fly rod of about 9 feet capable of casting a weight 9 or 10 forward taper line. You also require a big disc drag reel taking at least 300 yards of 50 lb braided backing. In the days I used to fish for them I used a 9 foot rod made from a #9 rated Fenwick blank. The best line was either a clear intermedieate or a sink tip with a clear head.

As regards the amount of backing, I have had fish of less than 20 lbs run out 200 yards of backing against a tightly set drag. Keep the reel under water if this happens. I have seen a few smoking drags before today.

Flies? Big Woolly Buggers and Mrs Simpsons in size 2 or 4 tied to salmon irons were as good as anything. A simple leader consisting of 5 feet of 30lb clear Stren fluorocarbon knotted to 4 feet of 18 lb Stren fluoro for the tippet should do the trick.

To land them, grab the bottom jaw with your hand, drop the rod and take hold with two hands and drag the fish ashore. Forget landing nets - too much hassle.

It's all bloody good fun, the fish are as ugly as sin and fight like there is no tomorrow!

Sounds like my kind of fishing Ron.

Any pics by the way.

Do you know of any lakes in Dorset that stock them

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Jim

My only worry is that when I die,my wife sells my fishing gear, for what I said I paid for it