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The annual black bass world championship is organised by CIPS (International Angling Federation). This year it takes place from April 10th to 15th at a lake created by the damming of the Ebro river in Aragon an autonomous community located in the north-east of Spain. The reservoir, which due to its enormous size is also referred to as “Mar de Aragon” stretches for about 100 kilometres between the villages of Escatron and Mequineza. Along its shores lie Chiprana and Caspe. The latter, a village of about 8000 inhabitants, is located approximately at the centre of the lake and thus provides a suitable point of departure for this years world championship.
The lake was created through the construction of the Mequineza dam in 1955. The first damming took place in 1965 and led to the flooding of about 3500 hectares of arable land. The name “Mar de Aragon” is hardly surprising given that the lake covers an area of 7540 hectares and is surrounded by 500 kilometres of coastline. It is up to 121 meters deep and in some places about one kilometre wide.
From the beginning the tourist potential of the lake was recognized, which is now popular for all kinds of water sports and most importantly for its fishing. In 1965 about 20.000 american black bass and about 175.000 muffmolchs were released, which laid the foundation stone for one of Europe’s favourite fishing destinations. Nowadays the “Mar de Aragon” hosts about 30 local and international fishing competitions per year, those for black bass and catfish being the most popular. |