catman195

Channel Catfish are already in U.K. waters several stillwaters have them in and they have been caught in the River Trent in matches fished just upstream of Nottingham

Why not try the river EBRO in Spain great weather & fantastic fishing for Carp & Catfish it should be ideal for his first trip as it,s only a couple of hours on the plane Try:- http://www.catmastertours.com/ I can assure you they will look after him they will pick him up at the airport and a very experianced guide will be on hand for him ALL THE TIME All the tackle is provided and the accomodation is large new appartments 100 yards from the river Catmasters record is second to NONE for producing BIG fish and they offer a guarantee to catch fish Single anglers are made most welcome no matter what their experience For a first time trip I think you find them spot on and the price is very reasonable compared to others in Spain

Gary You did not need to be so precise with the location as I said I had a genuine reason for asking As you know I have fished the Amposta area a fair bit and I have been told by a couple of people who fish there all the time they have seen a seriously big Cat rolling several times in various locations a few miles upstream from Amposta These are people who have had Cats up to almost 150lb so they would know a big Cat if they saw one

Gary This is a genuine question could I ask you where you saw the Catfish that was well over 200lb P.S. I have sent you a P.M. and a e-mail

Gary I am not going to get involved in this as it is getting way out of hand I am only going to make a couple of comments and then that,s me finished Firstly almost all of the comments you have said I made to you are not TRUE either the ones by e-mail or on the phone Secondly as for following you about on the net I think you should look again the only time I mention the company as you put it is if somone asks for advice on the Ebro or to ADD A REPLY when somone else has mentioned their company and as for blatant advertising I think you should look how many times the link to YOUR website appeares on nearly every site I visit either put there by yourself of somone you know including a blatant plug for your holidays on this site in the carp section I have no problem with you plugging your holidays but just because somone puts out other information on other holidays you should not complain people have the right to get as much info as possible on a suitable holiday before they make up there mind who to go with And don,t you remember when I was giving out some info to a lad on a forum some time ago you came in and offered him a special cheap rate to go with you ??? did I get uptight about that NO I am afraid you can,t expect to have the market to yourself I was warned about the bikkering between the guides on the Ebro but I was hoping to avoid it

Gary I can also assure you I have no problem with yourself or Budgie as you have pointed out we have never met so it would be impossible for me to form any views on you either as a person or a fisherman I would be very interested to hear your findings on sexing Catfish out of the spawning season If you have managed to sex them beyond doubt good luck to you I have met lots of well respected Catfish anglers and none of them have been able to tell the difference and I have read in more than one article that without killing them and opening them up there is no way to tell [ 25. November 2003, 06:41 PM: Message edited by: catman195 ]

Budgie Nice to have a interesting debate for a change I have spent a hell of a lot of time in Spain over the last couple of years and have fished the whole length of the Ebro from the delta to Zarragozza I also expected the Ebro fish to push on in weight Around Mequinenza & the upper lake you could argue that the food fish are thinning out i.e. Roach, Barbel, rudd, etc but despite what people say there are still loads of small carp up there But the Delta Area is stuffed full of bait fish but the growth rates still seem to have slowed the only thing I can think of is the weather in the last couple of years like us Spain has had some freak weather First snow for 50 years worst floods for as long as some people could remember and this summer 3 heatwaves with temps up to 44 degrees and water temp up to 28 degrees the Cats just slowed right down and stopped feeding for long periods we caught loads of long lean fish that should have weighed a lot more It would be nice if some new waters could be made more accessible to take some of the pressure off the Ebro fish we need some pioneers with lots of balls and a flack jacket

:cool: :cool: :cool: Budgie Can,t help you on Germany or Italy as I have not fished there and I have no Idea where Dyje is I have seen a photo of a massive Cat caught in Germany last year but I Can,t remember the name of the river Regarding the best place to catch a 200lb Cat I think it has to be Eastern Europe or Asia there are lots of places where they have been left alone and may have reached that size I am told the Tigerus & the Euphratese have some massive Cats in them but the only problem is they run through Syria, Iraq & Iran but I am sure it won,t be long before the Yanks are running trips out there Turkey and Croatia must also be considered As for a 200lb Catfish in Spain who knows ??? the biggest authenticated one I know of is 192lb Caught by Reg Whithouse while on a guided trip with you know who I saw the fish weighed and the scales have been checked There has been a few claims of an Ebro 200lb but I have not seen any photo,s or evidence to back this up Most people I spoke to said it was inevitable the Ebro would do a 200 this year but as far as I know it did,nt and everyone said the upper and lower Ebro would produce loads of 150+ Cats this year I have spoken to several guides and it has not happened I wonder if the weights are leveling out now due to the massive amounts of Cats in there ? but I still think it will produce a genuine 200lb Cat before long [ 24. November 2003, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: catman195 ]

Just the point mate I am not PRETENDING to be an expert and in my opinion there is no such thing as a Wels Catfish expert purely because not enough is known about them I know plenty of people who have been fishing for them at home and abroad for many years and have caught 1,000s of them but if they are honest they admit they still don,t know that much about them and are still learning there is almost no info available on their movements, habits, spawning etc And I don,t think you have to be a genius to realize why this thread was started

WOW do we have some Catfish EXPERTS here

Am I wrong or did I just reply to the original post to let people know of other options to the one mentioned (pushed) And if anyone is doubting the facts stated Catmaster have a detailed record of EVERY big fish they catch including photographs usually on 2 or 3 different cameras and somtimes video unlike some other people who make similar claims :cool: :cool: :cool: [ 21. November 2003, 11:21 PM: Message edited by: catman195 ]

:cool: O.K. Mate If it,s Carp you are intrested in the Ebro is stacked with them and they are feeding big style at the moment Ebro Carp Tours (Catmaster) have had loads of big Carp in the last few weeks including fish to over 40lb :cool: :cool: :cool:

Nice to see you had a good time in the Delta it is a very nice area If you go again why not go after the BIGGIES in the mid river area around Mequinenza Catmaster tours http://www.catmastertours.com offer the same sort of service i.e. airport pick up, all tackle, nice apartments, and a full time expert guide They have had a fantastic season this year with Catfish up to 192lb and loads of fish over the 150lb mark A couple of weeks ago they had 13 Catfish over 100lb with the biggest weighing in at 180lb Plus [ 17. November 2003, 06:13 PM: Message edited by: catman195 ]

Hello all I have never met John Wilson but I have spoken to plenty who have including guides who have helped him The general opinion seems to be that he is a difficult bloke to get on with and is very set in his ways But love him or hate him I don,t think anyone could dispute he has helped to bring angling into main stream television [ 02. November 2003, 05:35 PM: Message edited by: catman195 ]