questions about wels catfish

[catman195]

WOW do we have some Catfish EXPERTS here

[Dick Dastardly]

But sadly no answers as yet.Feel free to give me the benifit of your experience to Catman.I am sure all here would much rather hear good advice and information from two such experts as your self and Gazza rather than just reading blatant advertising!

[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

[Dick Dastardly]

Exactly Catman!Fair play to you Still like some answers to my questions though if any one has them experts or not!

[catman195]

: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 ]

[Dick Dastardly]

A very interesting point about the cats weights levelling out.If the growth rates had continued you would have expected 200lbrs to be relatively common by now wouldnt you?Its four years ago since I caught my 187lb and several of similar weight were caught then.Could there accelerated growth rates have caused them to peak prematurely?The cats in Czech (thats where the Dyje system is mate)are a lot older per pound but several 200lb+ fish have been accurately recorded.Due to the weather(?) their growth rates are a lot slower.As for Spain I nor anyone else I know has had a ratified 200 yet.My French mate Olivier Portrait had a very famous albino out at a very close 200 but did not want to bring it ashore to weigh accurately so never claimed it as.It is one thing about the Spannish Cats that has suprised me.I went through a spell of really wanting to be the first British angler to catch a proper 200.During this time I left the Ebro alone and concentrated on Czech and Russia.I was most suprised when I returned to Spain that the Cats hadnt got that much bigger,top end any way.

As for Asia,the old Yugoslavia etc when we can safely get to fish them I think it will be the same as Czech.The big fish will be there I am sure but they will be very few and far between.

I wonder if the Po fish will be the same as the Ebro's?

I supose if you take any fish and put it in to a different enviroment its growth rates.patterns and ultimate weight will be affected.Interesting stuff.

 

[ 24. November 2003, 04:10 PM: Message edited by: BUDGIE ]

[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

[Dick Dastardly]

Very true about the unseasonal weather a lot of locals I know have mentioned this to me.Havnt noticed a great deal of change in the numbers of carp where I fish but wopuld have to agree on the decline in Rudd.Never caught any barbell where I fish.I mainly fish in the Riba Rjoca area including the Mataranna,Cinca and of course Segre.Did quite a bit of Clonking on the Embalsa de Mequinenza (or upper res if you prefer)in recent years, the boys loved it up to 60 takes (yes 60!!!} a day.Nothing big (upper 70's max) but great fun.Only lasted two seasons though.I have always stuck to this area other than occaisional trips further down towards Tarragoza and the delta because like you I think this (at the moment any way)is where the biggest fish are.In time surely the delta will produce the biggest fish though? From what I know of Gazza he fishs down that way and will be ideally set up for when this inevitably happens.

[Andrew Burgess]

Here Bruv, What a Barbell

[Newt]

hoppy4 can probably give you good info on Germany the next time he looks in. He's been over there for some years now and does catfish.