|
As you will see its been a memorable year for us, with the quality fishing going from strength to strength for the third year in a row, despite some adverse weather conditions along the way!
We like to think that it’s because we know the river and its fish better, having found that in the murky water the catfish feed as well in the daylight as in the dark. Catching them during the daylight hours is better for yourselves (photos/videos) and more importantly healthier for the fish.
You will also see that we have responded to some of your comments and have made improvements in areas that we felt needed them. Although we believe that with our combination of both boat and bank fishing and the number and size of cats you can catch, Catfish Capers offers a unique and unforgettable cat fishing holiday experience, we will always strive to improve our service where necessary. We aim to make your cat fishing holiday as complete and enjoyable as possible.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our guests for making 2003 such a good year for everyone and we hope that we fulfilled some dreams for you along the way….if not, come on back again…IT WILL HAPPEN!!
FINAL TALLY 2003
The catfish in Lake Caspe are certainly packing on weight!
Our record has gone from 128lb in 2001 (with 13 over a hundred) to 144lb in 2002 (160 over a hundred) and then 160lb in 2003 (264 over a hundred). I think fish up to 200lb will only be a matter of time
Our total for the year was 2040 cats, the combined weight being 119,719.75lb. (What’s that in tons?).
The largest Catfish of 160lb was caught by Mark Lazenby (who also had fish of 130,110 & 107).
Please note, that the majority of these fish have not been caught before…we seem to have very few repeat captures. This could be due to the sheer size and amount of water we fish on a daily basis, as we rarely fish the same areas two days in a row!!
2003 started off extremely well, with the last three weeks of March being particularly good to say the least! We had 24 guests and a total of 319 cats caught... of which 51 were over the 100lb mark! In April, we had 4-5 weather systems sweeping through, with very cold strong winds lasting 2-3 days at a time. With the water temperature dropping 6C or more overnight, the fishing was slow at best. Whilst not totally killing the fishing stone dead it was not as good as 2002, although plenty of good fish were still caught.
Into May and June and thankfully the weather was back to normal, nice and warm and settled. However, with the water level being some 3-5 feet higher than in 2002, the spawning carp were not in the margins as such but some 50-100 yards back… across shallows, through trees, shrubs, odd buildings etc., where only the smaller cats could venture. This also meant that the larger cats were not so concentrated around spawning carp; as a result we had to cover much more water this year to locate the bigger fish.
As you may know, the 2003 summer heat-wave broke many records all across Europe. In the town square of Caspe, the temperature reached 52C in mid August! This prolonged period of hot dry weather, combined with the irrigation water extraction, just about had the river at a stand still all through July and into August. Our results for numbers of fish caught in this period were not as good as 2002, which was almost certainly down to the conditions.
Don’t be put off though, as our biggest catfish in 2002 was caught in this time of year! We have decided to reduce the price accordingly for this period in 2004. Lets hope it’s not quite as hot and some of you could have a right result!
In the third week of August the rain finally came, the river started to flow again and guess what? The cats went on the feed.
We had our one and only albino of the year at 47lb (not massive but beautiful nonetheless with not a black mark on it) and from here, right the way through the autumn period, the river produced some superb and very consistent fishing, with multiple catch days being the norm. In fact, in the seven weeks from Aug. 30th to 20th Oct., I only had 4 days when I did not pull a 100lb+ cat onboard!
Unfortunately, a lot of the bigger fish were very skinny and had obviously not been feeding for long periods. I would say that on average the fish were at least some 10 to 15 pounds down in weight to size ratio (we had one of around two meters that only weighed 78lb!). I can only think they did not enjoy the long hot summer.
At the end of the third week in October, a very strong and cold northerly wind blew down over the Pyrenees and into the Caspe region, lowering the water temperature from 19C to 11C and this sudden drop in temp put the fish off again. I only had my son as a guest that week and no other guests the week after, by which time the fish had become acclimatised to the temp and started to feed again.
Most of the fish we caught earlier in the year around March time, were very fat and in good condition. This leads me to believe these fish are feeding well when conditions allow during the winter months. Now I am not about to tell you all to come out cat fishing in the winter and you will all fill your boots but a few anglers working hard to find the feeding fish can have some very good catches. This year during the five weeks from Nov. 5th to 10th Dec, in water temperature that slowly dropped from 12C down to 7.8C, we had 14 anglers sharing 96 cats, of which 12 were over 100lb. We were the only people out fishing.
On Sunday 7th December, with no wind, 16C and the sun shining (sun bathing in my T-shirt), I managed to glove into the boat a cat of 122lb. It was in super condition and was very fat indeed (the fish that is!). We were also catching lots of smaller fish and it was still great sport, to fish for cats near Christmas time! It certainly beats carp fishing for me and I would say its a million miles better that freezing your “Christmas nuts” off in the UK!!
We are offering a Special Winter package for 2004, both guided and unguided, that we feel offers excellent value for money.
These fish are still there to be caught in winter… why not come and give it a try?
|
