Following tremendous interest and support for the Inaugural World Catfish Classic we are delighted to announce that the prize table has been increased by a further £15,000 to a massive £50,000! Thanks to Berkley, the fantastic Berkley Pro bass boat and trailer will be awarded to the captor of the biggest catfish over the 3-day event, keeping all anglers on their toes right until the last second of the event. The aluminium boat will be custom sign written and is 4.4m long by 1.98m wide.
The town of Chiprana will close off its streets for the opening parade while the teams, carrying their national flags aloft, are led by a traditional Spanish band.
The opening ceremony will include the peg draw where competitors will go on stage to draw the all-important pegs that they will compete from during the competition. This Inaugural event will have access to 16 kms of prime bank space on the Ebro – centred around the Chiprana and Caspe area – closed exclusively for the duration of the event. This will provide the very best pegs for anglers during the three day event, also taking into account the transport and communication logistics.
As anglers will fish from a different peg on each of the three days, they will need to consider how much bait they use daily and, importantly, when they use it. Too little and they may not have enough to attract the fish, too much and their swim could either become starved later in the day, or they could be preparing it for the pair of anglers who will fish there the following day. The daily bait allowance of 50 kgs is not cumulative and no more bait can be added to the daily ration. The bait may only be pellets, boilies or squid and no live baits are allowed. Baiting up and rig placement may be carried out from boats and feature finding also, but the boat must be rowed, as any form of mechanical propulsion is not allowed, this also includes bait boats.
Team runners will be allowed to row the boats, and place the bait and terminal tackle under the direction of the competitors, and they are also allowed to glove fish. However, Team Runners may not under any circumstances handle the rods or play fish. Playing the fish is only allowed from the shore and competitors are not allowed to play fish from a boat.
Each day, the competitors will return to a huge bivvy city where traditional Spanish food will be provided for them, including truly massive Paellas for 500 people cooked on a log fire.
The captor of the biggest catfish of each day will be crowned “King Cat” and the overall leaders will be recognised also as the evening fiesta takes place. Setting a backdrop each day and spectacularly enhancing the location will be the sun setting over the river. Over 15 countries have already registered competitors including Japan, USA, Finland, Canada and Sweden.
“There has been a huge amount of interest in this inaugural event and to have Berkley, one of the world biggest brands in angling as a title sponsor demonstrates this. To be in a position to increase the value of the prize table through the addition of this boat is great news for the competitors and I look forward to presenting it to the worthy winner. It’s going to be interesting to see what the weight of the catfish will be” said Ross Honey, event founder.
If you would like to see the full event rules or read further information on the event, visit the official website at www.worldcatfishclassic.com
