The day before the 19th of Novembers events, outlined in part one, started with a 20lb common to Kev and followed in short order by a spunky 21lb 5oz carp to Lynn’s rod before Kev landed another 21 lb fish. Sian and I were fishing four rods. Two for Carp and two for Catfish, our strategy was simple, to swap rods when one of us landed a fish.
The difference between catching Carp and Catfish can best be compared with a romantic candle lit night with your favourite fantasy figure and being rogered by a herd of rampant Rhinos. Fighting a decent Catfish is brutal and the tackle needed to subdue them, suitably robust. We use sea fishing, uptide rods. Whilst very strong, they have just the right action to absorb the insanely powerful lunges of these beasts. They are connected to the hook with 75kg braid and 150kg Kevlar hook link. 1/2 lb of lead ensures that the size 10/0 circle hooks sink home and the bait we were using was 28mm halibut pellets, six of them on a hair rig. The rods point to the sky anchored to mother earth by rod holders made from angle iron driven into the ground with a club hammer. The line is wound so tight that it sings in the wind and bite detection is provided by a bell clipped to the rod tip. Not subtle by any means. But very effective.
One of the Cat rods began to dance, the bell ringing madly. I picked the rod up and leaned into what felt like a very small Catfish. After an unremarkable fight we were amazed when the net slid underneath a 24lb 2oz Carp. In England, big Carp are usually well crafty and require quite a refined approach to have any success. In Spain, it appears, this is not the case. Anyway, this was a personal best for me. I have often focussed on a particular species for a while before fixating on another, often prompted by the changing of the seasons, however I had never gone all out for Carp and had never caught one over the twenty pound mark. The fact that the Carp had taken an unfeasibly large bait on very robust tackle didn’t dampen my spirits one jot and there was, once again, much whooping, back slapping and fist pumping. As an aside, the unfeasibly large bait syndrome has not been confined to carp. Kevin and I have both caught Roach on Carp gear with 22mm pellets as bait. Mine was around 1lb 12oz and Kev’s a shade over 2lbs.
The Catfish rods now became Sian’s responsibility even though we were still without a Cat. Sometime later one of the Delkim bite indicators screamed under one of our Carp rods and I lifted into what felt like a decent fish. The boys were getting very interested in things by this stage and I passed the rod to Aaron. He’s caught a few fish over the years but this was something else. As the fish lunged and the rod bent double he hung on, pumping the rod when he could and bringing the fish ever closer. When Aaron tired he happily passed the rod back and to me and the fish was netted WTF! I had broken the twenty pound barrier and the thirty in one day!!! My fish tipped the scales at 33lb 12oz. Beer was called for, then another and then… another. My day was complete. Over to Sian. She now had control of all four rods.
Sian’s P.B. Carp prior to the 20th was a Koi of around 14lbs caught from the river Medway just above East Farleigh Weir. On the morning of the 20th I had been fishing for Roach with Kev. The Carp and Cat rods had been set and Sian was in the Motorhome tying rigs, drilling baits and sharpening hooks. Not! Coffee drinking, F.B. and our kids’ breakfast were on the agenda and Sian was multi-tasking with a vengeance. All of a sudden the strident, staccato, signal from one of the Delkim’s indicated that a fish had been hooked and was not best pleased about it. Not one to miss an opportunity Sian came charging out of the Mo-Ho in her P.J’s, like Usain Bolt coming out of the blocks, picked up the rod, turned the reel handle to disengage the baitrunner, and leaned into her first Carp of the session. This fish was having none of it and Sian needed to be more suitably attired to educate it.
I was summarily dispatched to fetch her boots and spent the next couple of minutes trying to tie the laces, while she danced this way and that, applying side strain where needed, to vanquish the leviathan and steer it away from weed beds and snags. Job Done! The fish was netted and the scales recorded a colossal 37lb 10oz.Sian had busted her P.B. in style skipping the twenties completely.
Her insane grin said it all! If I had one tip for a happy relationship it would be this… Take your partner to a wet, muddy, fly infested riverbank. Share your resources and above all else, compliment her on how she stinks of sexy fish slime after she has totally eclipsed you!
The carp rods were mine again and not long after I had a run. The fish was on for around 30 seconds before the hook pulled. Gutted! Then Kev lost one as well.
Meanwhile the match in the Promenade swim had finished. I don’t know how they did but there was certainly none of the pandemonium heard from across the bay that we had inflicted upon them.
The day before, Sian and Lynn had cycled to the town to pick up some supplies from the supermarket and tackle shop. There had been a few things on the shopping list. Wine and 3kg of 28mm pellets greatly added to the ballast on the return journey and there was a bit of grumbling when they got back. The girls said that they had met this geezer in the tackle shop who had given them some tips on the location of the Catfish. They arrived back with everything on the list, real heroes, Sian had to contend with a dysfunctional bike that changed gear whenever it felt like it. No mean feat, up and down hills with a twenty five kilo rucksack on your back.
We moved back to the Prom, back in the swim that Kev had worked so hard to selfish for us a few days prior. The temperature had started to drop though. In the mornings there was frost on our seats when we woke up and there was a solid rolling mist coming down from the dam. For the next two days we didn’t catch any Carp or Catfish but the bonus for me was a 2lb 3oz Roach caught early in the morning. Not to be out done Lynn banked a Roach ½ an oz over the two pound mark as well.
On the 23rd a couple of geezers pulled up in their vans and we got to talking, as you do. Chris and Mark were their names and it turned out that Chris was the bloke that the girls had met in the tackle shop.
Let me take you back a decade. When my Dad passed away, I struggled to get back into gear for a while and Sian, perfect wife that she is, suggested that we should head for the Ebro for some Catfish therapy. We had been twice before with the Bavarian guiding service, but that’s a whole different story, Sian was six months pregnant with Aaron at the time, the Bavarians were horrified that we were taking this dilapidated house boat out on lake Caspe, (lake doesn’t do it justice) but Sian assured them that she would be ok and after some soul searchin, the prospect of monetary gain won the day and they agreed that we should proceed as planned…. Anyway when we returned the boat, a week later we were told that the Catfish record had just been smashed by some English bloke. Chris Trimmer.
Now seventy years old, Chris moved to Spain some years ago and here we were chatting about the old days. He suggested that we move to the other end of the Promenade, where there was a plateaux out in front around 9 meters deep, surrounded by deep water. “The Catfish come up onto the plateaux at night to feed” he said.” The old river bed is like a motorway and the fish drive up and down it, but…. they drive off the motorway to visit the restaurants in town. The plateaux is one of those towns”. Sian and I moved like a shot! This move presented issues however. Kev had located a shallow area close to the bank which he thought the big roach would move onto. Understandably he wanted to stay. With the amount of big roach coming out surely a 3lb specimen was on the cards. Another trip to the shops and a bigger landing net, scales and a weigh sling were purchased. What a tart I am!
The night was dark. The water was wet. My bra was cutting in, our baits were on the plateaux and… the Catfish were feeding. One of the uptiders hooped over, bell jingling like Santa’s life depended on it and Sian was into a Catfish. Yippee Kayay MoFo! After catching the Carp on the Catfish gear previously it was very satisfying to see the rod properly bent double, flattening out when the fish shook its head diving for the river bed. It’s a funny thing pain. There are times when pain is pleasure and the maniacal grin on Sian’s face confirmed that the hurt this fish was putting into her muscles was indeed a beautiful thing. Once the fish had been vanquished and was on the bank we all started the, by now, customary cheering, hugging and back slapping. Chris and Mark walked down to us from where they were fishing to see what all the fuss was about. The tale of the scales was 70 lbs. The fish was returned to its watery home after the photo call and Sian revelled in her sliminess in the way that only someone who loves fishing for these beasts can.
The following day, Tom and Aaron saw some action. Unlike Dead Fred’s Finger, the Prom produced Roach all day long. The boys were doing their school work and playtime came in the form of Roach fishing. Tom had the first fish of around 6oz, then Aaron had a larger fish of perhaps eight. Aaron was happy with this and both boys happily endured the cheers and congrats that follow an awesome capture. But Tom needed more and continued fishing putting another five Roach on the bank to just under 1lb. Size isn’t the be all and end all and catching a good roach on balanced tackle is as surely as satisfying as catching a big Carp or Cat. Tom has become addicted to that jag jag erratic pull of a Roach fighting to evade capture and wants more. That’s my boy!k
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