We arrived at the Nomád 4 swim on Kovács Lake in Tokaj for our first “longer” fishing trip of the year. Beforehand, we tried to find out whether the fish were feeding and, if so, which methods and baits they were being caught on. We didn’t learn much, and the answers we did get weren’t clear. Weighing all this up, my fishing partner Arni and I came prepared with six different methods and six different baits.
On the afternoon of our arrival we mapped the water and then placed our marker buoys. Next came the initial baiting: I scattered 20–24 mm SBS Garlic boilies around one marker, and a handful of the pellets sold on site went to each of the others. On one spot I tried a snowman presentation with a 24 mm SBS Garlic boilie, on another an SBS Fruit boilie, also as a snowman. On the third spot I left the bait question open for the time being.
I cast out my rigs, and two hours later my left-hand rod produced a gentle drop-back, followed by a run. Strike, fight, landing net – the result was a 25.6 kg common carp that had picked up the 24 mm SBS Garlic boilie.
An hour later the same rod went off again. This time a 15.2 kg carp took my bait – once again the SBS Garlic boilie.
“Great start!” remarked my partner, who hadn’t had a single bite yet. He was using another manufacturer’s bait.
Another hour later my middle rod went off too. This one carried the fruit bait chosen on the basis of the information we had gathered beforehand, and it produced a 17 kg carp.
Darkness fell, and during the night my left-hand rod went off again. A few minutes later a 23.8 kg carp was resting in the landing net – this one had also taken the SBS Garlic boilie. I had one more bite that night, but unfortunately that fish came off. We also had to contend with a huge number of liners caused by the big sturgeon.
The next morning was quiet, with no bites at all. After some head-scratching, in the afternoon I tried a Ronnie rig with SBS pop-ups. Two bites, two break-offs: the hooklink parted both times. I suspected grass carp had bitten through it and that the fluorocarbon couldn’t take the strain. I then tied a braided hooklink, but didn’t get another bite on it.
After a long wait, a screaming run finally broke the silence that afternoon. At the end of the fight another 23.8 kg carp went into the landing net. This time my hookbait was an SBS Peach pop-up.
All my partner could say was:
“Oh, go to… you know where!”
“Here’s the SBS Garlic boilie – put it on!” I replied.
He did put it on, but he spiced it up with a bit of butyric flavour. Arni is a big fan of adding flavours, although on this trip it didn’t really work. In the end he was rewarded with two fine grass carp: one weighed 18.6 kg, the other 18 kg.
Another biteless spell followed. We put the fish losing their appetite down to the passing weather fronts, and racked our brains over how to get bites again. I took a bold step and switched one rod to the method feeder. The decision paid off: I was rewarded with carp of 22.2 kg and 22 kg. Once again it was the SBS Peach and Garlic pop-ups that did the business. During the night bites came every half hour, but unfortunately several fish came off.
Meanwhile my partner also managed to steer an 18 kg carp into the landing net – this one also came on the SBS Garlic boilie. Then the next front arrived, bringing gale-force winds and rain. We headed home the following morning.
At the end of the trip we drew our conclusions. For me, it proved once again that SBS baits work well even in changing conditions. My favourite is the SBS Garlic boilie: it has proven itself countless times, and we have even won competitions with it. I have been using SBS baits for more than ten years, and they have been effective on every water I have fished so far. The SBS Garlic boilie will definitely have a place in my bag on my next trip as well.
In my next report I’ll write about a competition and how we caught our fish on snowman presentations.
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