Zoltan Kovacs

Competition Angler and CEO of SBS

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In May 2005 an SBS Test team from Romania the Senzor Carp Team set a world record in the 100-hour Maconka Boilie Cup in Hungary. The weight limit for acceptable fish was 1 kg and, as well as Carp, Grass Carp and Mullet also counted. They set a terrifying, authenticated record with their 1016.25 kg catch. We thought this was impossible to approach or surpass until the first weekend of August 2007.

The 2nd Jászkisér Boili Cup was organized that weekend and the final results showed that we had managed to approach that world record which had seemed so inaccessible. Our team the SBS SziKo Team achieved 966 kg at the last weigh in. According to the cup’s rules this result is a world record in its category. The competition lasted for 96 hours (4 hours less than Maconka), and the weight limit for acceptable fish was 3 kg (2 kg higher). Only boilies were allowed as baits and only Carp were counted. In this category, we can state without exaggeration, this achievement is absolutely unparalleled. Let us see how the competition ran and how we managed to achieve this exceptional result.

After the unbearable heat wave we had had the weather cooled down a bit and brought some freshness before the competition started on the Tuesday morning. This weather promised us good catching opportunities, because the competition’s result is influenced by three very important factors, by the proper weather (which is proper for the fish, but is usually not really favourable for humans), the drawing of an excellent fishing spot, and the quality of the baits. We had complete trust in our baits, because, step by step, throughout the years we have developed them to perfection. Also we had increased their catchiness with new revolutionary products that we had yet to try in Cups. We only needed a good spot. As usual, I had to draw because if Andris had drawn an unfavourable spot he would definitely have gone mad by the end of the competition. He always gives me the honour of drawing. If I draw, he cannot blame himself, he can blame me for the lack of success instead. First we drew in which order we can choose spots. We drew number 10. We did not have much experience about the best spots; however, based on the little experience gained in last year’s cup we had some idea which spots we did not want to draw. They were the spots next to the dugout area and on the dam, because the competitors did not really achieve good results on these spots. I reached into the hat, mixed the papers thoroughly and concentrated hard to find spot 9, our last year’s spot we were so happy with because we were placed second. I felt if I got it and we could do it. I unfolded the slip of paper and it showed spot 20, not the spot 9 I was hoping to find; after some time thinking we realized that it was the unwanted spot on the dam. We quickly lost heart and were even more discouraged when anglers, who fished this pond quite regularly, said: “Don’t worry boys, we all stand the same chance”.

The next problem was when we went to put the buoys down. The regulation said that the buoys can be put down, but feeding stuff - baits - can only be thrown from the bank. We tried to find a deeper place where the ground was harder. The local field fisherman said that there was a fish ditch at a distance in front of the dam. We had to fish there! Instead of a ditch we found uniform 70 cm deep water with a 20-30 cm mud layer, there were no signs of a fish ditch… After the fourth try we gave up and placed one of the buoys at about 130m. There was only one reason we chose this place, we simply liked it. We found less mud and probably a bit deeper water there. We placed the other buoy at about 60m, because the bed was hard from the bank up to this point. Many times the feeding at places where the muddy bed and the hard bed meet is successful. Finally the gun was fired which indicated the start of the competition. We started feeding the fish. It was not an easy task to throw the proper quantity of baits to 130 metres. Of course, we started to throw the balls with the proven sling method; we placed some boilies and pellets into the slings. I was astonished how many fishers started to use the slings, too. It was an important factor, because the ones who used soaked missiles were at a great disadvantage, the missile’s impact in the 70 cm deep water chased the fish away for a longer time. The sling-users started with an advantage.

The competition started at noon and we saw that by the evening there were almost no results at our closer feeding buoy. We only caught a Catfish there while we were proud to have caught 80 kg of Carp at the far buoy. We moved the Squid & Octopus-based feeding at the closer buoy to about 110m, i.e. closer to our 130m buoy. It was a dangerous attempt but we switched quickly. The lateral space between the two buoys was about 60m. It was a good choice because we caught many more fish there during the night than at the other, M1 (Frankfurter sausage) feeding. We had caught more than 150kg of fish. We tried to use the sling as rarely as possible; we always had to wait 1 or 2 hours after an intensive feeding for the catches. We blamed the shallow water. We slung greater quantities in the morning and in the evenings, and maintained the feeding with special 24mm diameter boilies in the meantime. Only this boilie size is suitable to be thrown 130m.

You must be confused now: is the 24mm size not too large? Well, here comes the revolutionary product, the soluble boilie. This boilie type has been tested many times in the past and it produces excellent catches under any circumstances. The most astonishing thing was that we could catch fish with these boilies when all the others - proven - boilies remained untouched. But will it increase the fish’s appetite in a period when they are eating enough? The answer was obvious at the end of the competition: YES. The essence of this soluble “miracle ball” is that it shrinks to smaller and smaller sizes hour by hour until it dissolves completely and forms a great cloud. The important attracting substances of this bait remain 100% sound because they are not cooked and no essential valuable additive gets lost. Therefore they are able to “work” in the water more intensively than any other bait and attract the fish. Another important feature of the soluble boilies is that the fish will find the proper size sooner or later. It swims to the bait when it is 22 mm and finds it too large, because it is careful and does not eat intensively. It swims around and by the time it gets back the boilie is only 18 mm. If that is still too large for the fish the same thing goes on and on until the bait shrinks to the size that is most suitable and optimal for the Carp. In the meantime the bait aggressively releases the appetite stimulators and flavours. This technique changed the basis of boilie fishing, because we have to forget the use of eggs completely. Now I know you are asking: where does it get the valuable vitamins and proteins from? The various attractants (proteins) provide the boilies with the necessary vitamins and proteins. This boilie type requires longer drying time. After the proper size is achieved, the boilies are dried for 2 weeks. We say without exaggeration that these boilies are much catchier than any other boilies we have used before!

In addition to an excellent bait so much more had to be perfect. Thanks to the 3.9m long 3.5lb FOX Roberto Ripamonti throwing stick, we were able, with a little effort, to keep the extreme 130m throws with 18 mm boilies, even in the highest winds, when the fish are at their best. We used soluble 18 mm boilies on the hair rigs.

Another important fact is that the basic flavour of our SBS Method mix was exactly the same as the flavour of the boilies we used. I know many of you think that it is not important, but we think that it really matters!

However, besides the many nice things there were some hindering factors. The most important of those was that the fish were terrifyingly strong. Even pulling a 5 kg fish to the bank was tiring and meant much loss of time. Many people would not think that less fish could be caught owing to such a seemingly irrelevant thing. The other hindering factor, owing to the soluble boilies, was that the distance between the hook and the bait increases as the boilies dissolve. This is a disadvantage as due to the great distance, when the fish takes the bait into its mouth, the hook catches on the side of its mouth. When it reaches the bank, a sudden aggressive pull and the softest rod or a reel with the best brake will not prevent the hook from breaking away. But I think we can disregard this last disadvantage in the case of such an important bait. Moreover, we can increase our chances by sticking the boilie very close to the hook on the hair rig. The distance will still be very short if the fish swallows a greatly dissolved boilie.

On the third day we had such a major advantage that the people started to ask why we were hurrying so much, we would be the winners for sure and how much more we wanted to catch, 1,000 kg? It planted an idea in my mind because we had a realistic chance to beat the record with such a high daily average. This fact encouraged us even more. Unfortunately, our enthusiasm was overshadowed by the fact that my friend Andris had to leave in the evening of the third night due to pressing family issues so our committed helper György Bessenyei took his place with special permission. It was a disadvantage, because he was rolling the balls and helped us put the fish away until then, which of course saved us time. When Andris left the wind started to blow. After some time we had a series of catches I had not experienced in my life before. When the fish was tired out, I threw the boilie back as it was, it really did not matter where it fell, another carp started to pull it within 5 minutes. Once there were catches on 3 rods, and we tired out the fish on two rods, and placed one rod back on the stand and locked the swallow brake… then after the new baits were fixed luckily the previously caught fish was still at the end of the rod placed on the stand. However, once it was tired out, another “victim” started to pull the equipment on another rod. Luckily, the measuring guys came when this series of catches started and we did not have to put the caught fish into the carp bag, so we did not lose any of the valuable time. The measuring guys weighted one fish after the other non stop. They did not even have time to measure the Carp weighing more than 100 kg in the Carp bags. They only dealt with the fish caught in series. By the time they had measured all the fish and the series of catches calmed down more than 2.5 hours had passed. Here I would like to say thanks to the measuring guys for their help and patience and to our neighbours who waited patiently until all the fish were measured and authenticated. Thank you.

Back to the 1,000 kg issue. The news that we wanted to beat the record spread like wildfire. Everybody was talking about it and an important event happened for the first time in our life, almost all of the competitors kept their fingers crossed in the hope that we could set a new world record. Many thanks for their honest encouragement, it was an unforgettable experience.

Final results of the 2nd Jászkisér Boilie Cup

Place I: SBS SziKo Team 966.2 kg

Place II: Pontybarátok (Carp Friends) 400.4 kg

Place III: K-Karp Team Hungary 349.96 kg

Biggest fish: Spro Carp Fun Boilie Team 12.49 kg

True enough that we finished the cup completely exhausted, with 966 kg fish and an unsuccessful record attempt, but we were absolutely satisfied with our result, and we were not disappointed at all. After we went home we rested for a long time. We considered everything with a clear head and our kind helpers raised our awareness to the facts I have mentioned in the intro. Then we discussed this issue with an expert and found that our achievement was a world record in this category which only needed to be authenticated. With or without authentication, no one can take this result from us!