The Ebro at Mequinensa
Reservoir · Fresh water · in The River Ebro
A long impounded reach of the Ebro behind a hydroelectric dam in Aragón, running through steep dry country, with deep water against rock walls, submerged former river channel and standing timber, and shallow arms where tributaries enter.
Safety: drowning and immersion — can cause injury needing treatment.
FishingHQ describes what this place is, not whether you may fish it. Access, permits and who to ask.
Also associated with this ground
Recorded as present here without a documented method or strength behind them.
Wels catfish · Common carp · Zander · European perch · Asp
How people fish it
Practised here: Predator fishing, Carp fishing, Lure fishing.
Methods the sources name for this ground. Each one is explained in full on its own page.
- Ledgering
Fishing a bait on the bottom held by a weight, with no float — the simplest way to fish at distance, in depth, or in wind.
- Spinning
Casting an artificial lure and retrieving it so that it moves like something alive — the most direct form of lure fishing.
- Deadbaiting
Presenting a dead fish as bait for predators — a method that works because scavenging is normal predator behaviour, not an exception.
- Drop shotting
A finesse rig with the weight below the hook, letting a small soft plastic be worked in place, off the bottom, without moving anywhere.
The ground and the water
- The ground
- A long impounded reach of the Ebro behind a hydroelectric dam in Aragón, running through steep dry country, with deep water against rock walls, submerged former river channel and standing timber, and shallow arms where tributaries enter.
- Exposure
- Sheltered by the valley walls from most directions, with the down-valley wind the one that builds a sea.
- Depth
- Deep against the walls and over the old channel, with a level that is drawn down and refilled on power and irrigation demand rather than on rainfall.
Through the year
Fished year-round with the catfish fishery at its most active through the warmer months and the level moving substantially between seasons.
Safety
Drowning and immersion — Can cause injury needing treatment
The level is drawn down and refilled on power and irrigation demand rather than on weather, so margins that were dry ground can be under water, and steep drawn-down banks of soft sediment are unstable and hard to climb out of.
What reduces it: Treat the visible waterline as temporary, do not walk out onto drawn-down sediment margins, and wear flotation on the bank as well as afloat.
Rules and access
Licence
Freshwater fishing licences in Spain are issued by the autonomous community and are valid only in the region that issues them. A river forming a regional boundary can require two.
Permission to fish
Separate, and additional. Specific waters and reservoirs commonly require their own day or period permit on top of the regional licence.
FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. Inland fishing in Spain is licensed by the autonomous community, and a great many waters additionally require a separate permit issued per water and frequently per day, often by ballot on the better rivers. Seasons, methods and permit systems differ between neighbouring communities and change. Establish which community administers this water and check with it before going.
Particular to this water: This is working water-management or navigation infrastructure, operated to a schedule set by its authority rather than by anything happening in the fishing, and access to it is that authority's decision.
Who holds the answer:
- The inland fisheries administration of the autonomous community, for licensing, seasons and water-specific permits.
- The river basin authority, where the water is a regulated reservoir or a main-stem reach.
- The autonomous community administering the specific stretch — the Ebro crosses several, and this is the licence-issuing body rather than any national one
- The Spanish national environment administration, for measures on non-native species that apply above the regional level
- The Ebro basin water authority, for reservoir operation, release schedules and water-level information
- The manager of the specific reservoir, marina or launching facility, for boat and access arrangements
- The protected-area authority, where a stretch lies within a designated site
Sources for this place
- Freshwater Fishes of the British Isles — HarperCollins (New Naturalist 75), 1992 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat requirement, ecology and life history of European freshwater fishes, including the species named for this water.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- The European Environment Agency's assessments of Europe's waters, seas and coasts — European Environment Agency, Copenhagen (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Assessment of Europe's surface waters, including hydromorphological modification, barriers to migration and the pressures recorded on the water body.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Trout & Salmon — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of European game angling practice by river and season, including the continental destinations British anglers fish.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated public descriptions of which continental waters are conventionally fished and how, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship, and not relied on for access, permission or any current rule.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy. Last reviewed 2026-08-18.