European Adventure: Wels catfish, Pike, Asp

[JDTuna]

Wels Catfish:

The main target of the European fishing trip was the wels catfish, a species that attains huge sizes. To target wels, we headed into rural Spain to fish the Ebro River, a river synonomous with big wels.

The trek to the river involved a drive down dirt roads, though an arid landscape that looked similar to the southwestern U.S. The river itself was not very wide through this section, similar to the Delaware. The water was muddy and the current slow, the perfect scenario to hide river monsters.

The setups were heavy duty saltwater spinning gear filled with heavy braid. While we fished from shore, a small johnboat was used to deploy the baits. The guide used the fishfinder to locate the fish and subsequently set the baits where the catfish were holding. It didn't take long to get the first bite.

Within 15 min of setting up, one of the rods began bouncing violently. The fish fought hard,* violently headshaking and making short runs against the heavy drag. In short order, the fish emerged from the murky water and I'd caught my first wels. It was not a big wels at 55", but the longest cat I'd ever caught. After a few pics, we turned the fish loose into the river.



We quickly reset the lines, and in no time another rod bowed over. This fish was a little smaller than the first and was around the 45" mark.



The next bite came quickly, but ended up being a small fish right around 36". I lipped the fish without a glove, and quickly learned that wels have longer, sharper teeth than catfish in the U.S. Lesson learned.

After that, the action died. We sat in the 90 degree weather for hours, watching the rods for any movement. The black flies were horrendous and though they didn't bite, they were annoying to say the least. We worked hard, constantly changing out the baits and moving them around. As the afternoon wore on, passing showers offered brief relief from the blazing sun and the incessant insects. But, still not much action. A late afternoon thunderstorm rolled by and changed that. Luckily, the storm stayed in the distance.

Right after the storm passed, a rod began to bounce. I set the hook on what ended up being another small wels.

We reset the rods, but there wasn't much fishing time left. Since I'd never caught a wels before, the trip was already a huge success despite the fact that I didn't land a monster. I just finished that thought when one of the rod tips began to slightly twich. This was the lightest bite I'd seen so far. The guide looked and said "pequeno," in other words, another little guy.

However, as I initially held the rod, it felt like whatever was on the other end had some substantial weight to it. It took a second for the fish to realize it was hooked, then there was a massive headshake as the fish ran upriver, peeling line against the heavy drag. For the first few minutes, the fish did what it wanted...transmitting bone-jarring headshakes up the line while making hard runs. Footing was tough on the steep, dirt bank and the combination of heavy drag and hard runs was actually pulling me towards the water. This was definitely the biggest cat of the day. The only question was how big.

As I began to gain on the fish, it boiled just under the surface in the middle of the river. In the muddy water I didn't see the actual fish, but the boil was the size of a jacuzzi. I inched the fish closer to the bank between runs, and finally a massive head emerged from the river. We secured the huge wels, which measured 89" long with an estimated weight of over 150lbs! Ended the trip with a monster.









Northern Pike:

One of the targets in Germany were huge northern pike. My good friend lived in Germany, and took me to a couple of lakes where he had caught pike to a colossal 51". Unfortunately, the weather wasn't on our side with cool temperatures and high winds, which made fishing from a rowboat difficult and put a damper on the bite. Nevertheless, we still managed to catch some nice sized pike, though no giants.



Asp:

My friend's fishing buddy took us out for asp on the Elbe river that runs right through the city of Hamburg, Germany. This was truly urban fishing, and there was increased police presence on the river due to the G20 Summit.

Asp are a carnivorous member of the minnow family that reaches over 30". They like fast moving lures in current. Asp hit very hard and fight well. Despite the unsettled weather, we did good, and I ended up with 6 asp for afternoon.