River Ebro

The drive up to Riba Roja de Ebre was about a six and a half hour journey, five and a half driving and around an hour for refueling and lunch breaks etc, on arrival we were greeted by our hosts Mike and Mary, and after depositing our luggage and having a cupper at Riverside Lodge Ann and I went into Riba Roja to pick up the day permits and pay for them,	*The Ebro at Flix*
these day tickets run from January the 1^st up to December 31^st and cost 17euros per person and covered the areas above the dam at Riba Roja de Ebre and all the way down river to Flix, these were the areas of the river we intended to fish.
*Another fish on for John at Embalse Utxesa*	The rod licenses I obtained from the Inter-net by going onto the web site of ebro-fishing .com, click onto the link to “Fishing Licenses in Spain, Catalunya” and then follow the instructions in English the last bit is in Spanish but it does explain that bit for you.
On arrival back at the campsite I asked Mike about anymore places we could fish for carp as a lot of members were more interested in carp than cat fishing, he said there was a lake about ¾ of an hour away and gave us directions on how to get there, although he said the fish were smaller there than in the river there were more of them, a German guide who was at the bar at the time said he had personally caught a 29lb plus carp from there, plus a smaller type of catfish, Ann and my project for Sunday morning, was to find the lake.
*Lynn's Flix Carp weighing 19 1/2lbs*	*Bobs Carp Flix* *Lynn's Catfish at Flix*
Sunday morning after breakfast Ann and I left to find the lake at a village called Sarroca de Lleida, this involved a trip back to Flix and then follow directions for one of the Major towns in the area called Lleida, looking for the turn off to Sarroca de Lleida which would be about half an hour up the road and on our left hand side, we were to take the second turn off to Sarroca de Lleida as this would be the shortest route to the lake. After passing the first sign post and traveling another 6 to7 kilometers we decided to turn back and take the first turn off which took us to a “T” junction turn left here and we were into the village, as you leave the village there is a sign post for Utxesa, follow this along an old tarmac road which eventually turns into a gravel surface and you will come to the lake on your right hand side, entrance can be gained at this point or through the Urbanisation of Utxesa, in between these two points are 60 man made swims, pegged out and built into the lake with big pieces of flat rock making reasonably comfortable places to fish from.	*Bobs Carp Flix* *Lynn's Catfish at Flix*
To obtain day tickets for this lake you carry on past the lake for about another five minutes or so into the outskirts of a town called Torres de Segre, just as you get into the town there is place to park and a small bar called Galgarcia where you buy your day permits. We were assured by one of the guides there that the police were very hot on licenses and there were several instances where anglers had had their tackle and even their cars impounded. On the day that Ann and I were there, there was a competition in progress, it was the final of the C league of the Catalunia Federation championships, the winner of each section would go into the Catalunia Federation Final along with the section winners from the A and B leagues. The ten anglers from the final with the most points would go through into the Spanish Nationals. I spoke to one of the official there who told me they only fish three-hour matches and are only allowed to use natural baits with no ground baiting, loose feeding with maggot and sweet corn was allowed.
*Stuart and Carp Utxesa*	*Bob Elms and Utxesa Carp*
Ann and I arrived back Riverside just in time to meet the rest of the members as they arrived, after they had all checked in we had a tour of all the areas I knew of that are fishable in comfort, It was whilst we were on top of the dam at Riba Roja looking at these areas that we were rather dismayed to find some Polish anglers? fishing from the top of the dam with lures and throwing their catch onto the concrete of the dam to die in the sun, while we were there this consisted of three catfish and a nice sized Zander.
	*Fish left to die by Polish anglers?*
This was followed by a trip to the tackle shop Pujol in Flix, please note prices in this shop are not as marked up if you want to know the price ask, more often than not the price is half of that shown or you buy one and get one free. Fishing proved to be difficult on the river with it running two to three feet higher than I have seen it in the past, only the odd one or two fish were taken on the Monday, over the next couple of days Ann caught carp and broke her personal best carp record with a fish of 16,1/2lb and Lynn Thompson caught a nice carp of 19,1/2lb, my best for the trip was a 12,1/2lb carp with my smallest 7,3/4lb.	*Chris and Ann on the bank at Riverside*
*Alan with Utxesa Carp*	*Bob with Utxesa Carp*
Thursday was a none starter on the river with the water authorities opening three gates on the dam at Riba Roja and three on the dam at Flix causing the river to rise around 1.5 metres and racing through at a fair old rate of knots, we were given various excuses for this exercise from trying to flush out Mosquito larvae and excess of weed to trying to flush away residue from the Chemical factory at Flix, my belief is they were just controlling water levels higher up the chain. Whilst all this made it impossible to fish the river most of the party went up to the lake at Sarroca de Lleida to try our luck there, most anglers caught at this venue and returned the following day whilst the river settled down after the flush of water on the Wednesday, again most caught fish, Lynn in particular having a good day.
Saturday we returned to the river at Flix, Lynn having good day catching three Catfish and a couple of Eels her biggest cat weighing in at 23lbs, I myself having a blank day, Ann back at Riverside where she had decided to spend the last day was rewarded with a catfish of 70lbs and one of 35lbs. Saturday evening we all went down to the Panzer restaurant at Riba Roja which we had booked earlier in the week, and once again we were served with a meal second to none. This is one of the things about our away trips that makes it so enjoyable, the social side of it, the get together in the evenings after a days fishing, talking about the fish caught and the ones that got away, that, and the scenery and the wild life, the Red and Black Kites, the Eagles and the Stalks, this is mother nature at her best, all of this makes all the effort worth while. Many thanks to Mick and Mary of the Riverside Lodge our Hosts for the week not just for their hospitality but for the help and advice given, also thanks to all members that went on this venture for their input in making it an enjoyable event. Looking forward to the next venture	*Chris Lusty and friend at Riverside*