Fliegenfischen - Rudi Heger GmbH - Faszination Fliegenfischen

Flyfishing for Catfish!

Rudi Heger worked towards his goal for many years. And then a dream came true, the world record Catfish caught on a flyrod. Olivier Portrat followed the record breaking technique development and actually managed to catch the record itself on film!

In the early years Rudi Heger had a realistic chance of catching one or two Catfish on a streamer, using a flyrod - during a whole weeks fishing! Today, ten years later, we have come a long way and now know that those who have learned their lessons, by flyfishing constantly for Catfish, have a chance to catch one or two Catfish on a fly - per day. This is a higher success rate than can normally be expected for those flyfishing for Sea Trout, Salmon or Huchen!

Rudi Heger and I organised our first Catfish flyfishing trip in november 1997. It was Rudi who had to cast all day, I assisted with my knowledge and experience of Catfish - and my boat.

All beginnings are difficult. Rudi cast heavy jigs into the depths of the Ebro reservoir near Caspe in vain. I tried, without success, to call Catfish up to his streamer using a Catfish clonk. We moved to the areas that were shallower and where the water was more clouded. With Rudis equipment setup we were able to carefully explore and fish through the water that has a maximum depth of three meters.

Slowly but surely we began to have some success.

The first whisker wearers that Rudi caught weren't monsters but weighing in at 20 to 40 pounds they were the proof we needed: Catfish will take feathers and fur and not even very cloudy water prevents them from doing so.

Better places, better catches

In the following years we managed to gradually improve the results, this was mainly due to the fact that we were able to find more productive areas to flyfish in: places with cloudy water and a maximum water depth of 3 to 4 meters. The zones where the water close to the shoreline rapidly reached a depth of 2 to 3 meters, proved to be the most successful. Even better are areas where low branches and trees line the shore, overhanging and breaking the surface of the water. Covered, cloudy to very clouded, 3 to 4 meter deep water - that's a promising Catfish hold for the fly rodder.

From the very start it was Rudis wish to catch Catfish without the help of a Catfish clonk, of course it hadn't gone unnoticed that the Catfish were very inquisitive creatures that reacted to the knocking sounds produced by the clonk. After much debate as to the reasons for the Catfish reaction to the sound we deceided that Rudi would have to find a method to awaken Catfish curiosity with a flyrod.

And so in 1999 Rudi attached a 4 to 5 Gramm lead shot about 50cm in front of his streamer and went Catfish stalking. Instead of covering as much water as possible during a single fishing day Rudi now changed his tactics: He presented his streamer using 5 to 8 roll casts, carried out one after the other, letting the streamer sink slightly and then stripping in the flyline. The roll casts were executed in two second intervals, with a gurgling sound emanating from the split shot every time it dropped into the water.

Movement before the strike

The very first trials were exceptionally successful - and incredibly exciting. Even before the strike, the water starts to move when a curious Catfish is close at hand. The repetative sound of the split shot dropping into the water coaxed the Catfish from their hiding places. After presenting the fly and letting the line settle Rudi allowed the streamer to sink slightly and usually the strike came after the first stip of the flyline.

The stike was always announced ahead of time and sometimes accompanied by a monumental wave pushing its way towards the streamer.

Drilling and landing a Catfish over 1,80 meters from a bellyboat can be difficult when you are alone, especially if it is not possible to reach the shoreline and beach the Catfish. In such cases Rudi calls us on his mobile telefon and we come to his aid with a boat.

Over the last few years Rudi has caught dozens of Catfish using this method. His average for a full days fishing is between 2 and 6 Catfish, if the conditions are right and the fish resonably active. You must understand that these are not fluke catches, this is the result of a well planned, perfectly thought through, game fishing tactic that has been especially designed for those inquisitive whisker wearers from the deep. I must admit that Rudi is one of the most diligent anglers that I know of. He really does fish from sun up to sun down. We once calculated that on a good day he casts between 200 and 300 times for one Catfish - and that's not including the roll casts needed to attract them.

One of the last Catfish caught by Rudi has recently been recognised as an official world record by the IGFA – a trophy fish of 46,8 Kilos. And you know what - that is not the largest Catfish that he has caught on a fly!

Heavy Flyweight

When flyfishing for Catfish Rudi Heger uses a Rod of class 10 to 12, a fly line with a shooting head and a leader out of 0.40 or 0.60 monofilament. The 4 to 5 gramm lead shot is attached 50cm in front of the streamer.

He has caught all of his Catfish on Pike flies and has noticed a better return when using tube flies with trebles than fishing with the common large streamers tied on a single hook. The streamer does not have to be over dimensionally large, the usual Pike streamer size is more than adequate.

Equipment Used:
Rod: SAGE Xi2 1290-4
Reel: SAGE 3500 D

Take a look at the equipment Rudi Heger is using for fishing for giant catfish! [HERE] You can find this listed under the category: "Expert Outfits - Catfish"

Der spannende Bericht wurde freundlicherweise von der größten Angelzeitschrift Europas dem Blinker www.blinker.de freigegeben. Vielen Dank!

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