Ebro - Any help?

Hi guys,
next month I am heading to the river Ebro in Spain to try fishing for wels catfish. I've never been before but I've wanted to do it for years. I have some years of experience catching large catfish in Thailand. Mekong catfish, Stripped catfish, red tail catfish etc. I'm quite sure I have the required gear etc.
I'm flying out with my wife and then hiring a car so that I can drive around where ever I want. Caspe and Mequinenza seem to be the best spots. I will have all my own heavy tackle. Rods, reels, lines, hooks, swivels, traces etc. I even have an inflatable dinghy. I don't want to spend the 600 to 800 Euros for a guide for a week.






1 reel loaded with 600 yards 100lb braid
1 reel loaded with 300 yard 100 lb braid
1 reel loaded with 280 yards 100lb braid

All running +40lbs drag at max. All the gear and no idea?

What would be perfect would be to meet up with someone who lives out there so that they could tell me any dos and don'ts. I'd be happy to fish with some of you out there for a day or whatever sharing any costs. My only concern is falling foul of a law and getting a big fine, having tackle seized.

From what I can see rules include:
No ground baiting
No dead baiting on Catalan stretch
No live baiting
Keep passport with you at all times
No fishing before 6am
No fishing after 12am.
One side of river at Mequinenza requires a different license to the other side?

All the rules and regs I've been hearing about are really making it a bit stressful to even think about. mg:

So if anyone can give any tips that would be great. I may just hire a guide for a day. If I catch nothing I can live with it. It wont be the end of the world and I can treat it as a scouting trip.

fishingjack said:

So if anyone can give any tips that would be great. I may just hire a guide for a day.

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Hire a guide. He'll pay for himself a dozen times over. He'll be up to date on all the rules - which change with the wind - and can supply you with information that it would take months to accumulate on your own.

I admire your endeavour to go it alone, but I echo Geoffs advice to hire a guide.

I went a few years ago with Catfish Capers - Martin Walker - two of us £1000 each got flights, transfers, accomodation, food, hire of gear and a full time guide with a boat for 5 full days fishing (my biceps would have struggled with too much more).

We had to buy our own beer and had to spend an extra £200 each onextra bait, but it was an epic week banki9ng fish to 136lb, we both had three or four 100lb + fish, had a couple of 30lb + carp and we had countless cats between 30Lb and 100lb.

Fishing with big fixed spool reels, 80lb braid and 6lb TC rods. Baits were boated out c150 yards, a pound of lead to hold bottom and a string of about four or five 26 mm hali pellets on the hair.The runs are total screamers.

There are lots of local rules which the guide was aware of, he sorted the licences as well.

Also there was a nasty moment when my friend and I were confronted by a few locals at a time when our guide was on a quick recce upstream in the boat. These guys were looking for trouble, thankfully our guide returned at the critical moment and sorted things, clearly the locals knew him. We also heard of a father and son who were fishing one evening and pretty much got turfed out by the locals, I cannot remember the details though. This was upstream of mequinenza. I don't want to worry you but to be warned is to be prepared.

The fishing is superb and is well worth the effort, good luck !!