Guys at work in the (lignite) mine…

27 October, 2012.

Janos Hudomiet

SBS Happy Carp Gang

"It’s not the weight of the fish that qualifies the angler! To give back the freedom of the fish is always much more important, than the quantitative results or pursuing records." (Amateur Carpanglers Club - Ethical Codex 4.9)

Prologue

When someone asked my 4 year-old daughter ’where has your father gone fishing’, she just answered with a sentence that she has been practicing for a while; "The guys are working in the mine."

It was a Thursday afternoon in March 2012, when Gaben called me on the phone:

"Are you coming to the mine? I am just asking because I wanna book it as soon as possible!"

He did not wait for my reply, but instead informed me that they had only a few free places left in August…

Guys worked in the (lignite) mine…

On the 4th of August we were on our way to the desired lake, which is so dear to my heart, especially because the owner protects the fish with passion and love, which sets an example for all.

When we arrived, the lake owner and his family had already prepared some nice food and drink. He then gave us the fishing rules and we confirmed reciept with our signatures. I was happy to read the words about fish care and recognised that we have the same mentality, so there wouldn't be any problem there.

At the end of the 'agreement' the closing sentence read as follows: 'If you do not agree with the written terms and conditions, please forbear our services.'

It is fair play, if you are not able to accept the rules, you can go away…

According to the result of our earlier draw Gaben and Otti would fish at peg number 1, Dan and myself at peg number 2.

Gaben and Otti at peg #1, ...

... Dan and myself at peg #2 started to find the best spots

Since Dan had fished there previosly and we also had a map of the lakebed from our friend, it didn't take long to find the best spots. While Dan was rowing around, marking the promising spots, I installed everything outside and listened to the radio broadcast covering the Olympic games in London.

H-markers, ready to go…

We found a tree at a depth of 11,6 meters. Usually, carp love to be here

All set, we excitedly awaited the first night

We took with us the flavours Phaze1, M1, Ace Lobworm, Bio Big Fish and Fruit & Nut from the 20+ Premium product range.

We were just enjoying the last rays of sun, when Dan's bite alarm sounded and he opened our week-long session with a nice 23.36 lb common. During the night we did not have time to rest as the powerful mine lake carp gave us a lot more work to do.

The weight of the long-bodied common is 23.36 lb

On behalf of fish protection, we only came out to shoot some photos with the big ones, while the smaller ones were released carefully from the boat as soon as we had done the sterilization. We also had an extra unhooking mat in the boat, which was written into the lake rules.

According to the regulations it is not allowed to use lead core, therefore we used a 20-25 meter length of 0.55 mm monofilament shock leader. We also used a safety rig system, so that the 5 oz lead would come off after the bite. Because of the presence of trees and bushes under the water we tied micro-barbed hooks to a 20 cm length of coated braid.

Moments before action

In the event that the rig became snagged underwater after a bite, we would not tug or pull on the main line. We did not want to hurt the fish by doing that, and we would wait a few minutes until the fish came out from the trees or, if it didn’t, we would cut the mainline as short as we could, allowing the fish to free itself.

At this time, Gaben and Otti's peg was absolutely quiet.

On the following day we only had two bites and Otti caught a kiddy catfish (16.31 lb) with the Fruit & Nut boilies (!!!).

Catfish are a well-known visitor if you bait with boilies, but Fruit & Nut?

There is also a rule in force on the lake that, in summer, because of high temperatures it is not allowed to take the fish out on the pier to shoot pictures. It was easy for us to follow this rule, because the water depth behind our pier was only 40-70 cm. As soon as we landed a fish, we parked the boat there to record the catch.

It is always good to prepare everything in advance for the weighing and, doing it like this, we can release the fish carefully and quickly

At peg #1, the Gaben - Otti duo would have great difficulties if they wanted to stand in the water with the fish, because the water depth was between 6 and 8 meters under their pier. To overcome this problem, by the ingenuity of the owner there is a stainless steel grid under the water fixed to the pier, whereon you can stand or kneel securely with the fish until you fill up the memory card of your camera. ;)

34.17 lb

29.10 lb

On the second day, at around 9 p.m. we heard just one beep from Dan's bite alarm and a moment later it started to scream and the mainline ran through the bite indicator like Linford Christie in '92 in Barcelona. At this moment I immediately jumped into the boat… Dan stepped in with the rod in his hand and we started to chase the fish. He played with the "underwater something" for almost 20 minutes, but it did not want to come up. Finally we got a peep of the fish and few minutes later it was gasping in the landing net while we were on the way back to our carp-care-station.

Dan's mirror was big, a 40.68 pound carp, and after the PSR (photo shoot, sterilization, release) his rig was placed back in the successful spot.

Dan and his 40.68 pounder

After bites we always take our rigs back to the right places. The H markers and the sonar system gave us a helping hand to find the right area, sometimes in 10-meter deep water. We threw 10-12 boilies around the rig and 2-3 baiting spoon of particles (tigernut, corn and hemp).

The secret of precise feeding is the careful preparation of the ingredients. With this method we can ensure that the baits will be around the rig, even in deep water

Tigernut, corn and hemp

At this type of clear mine lake, if you wish, you can check your feeding spots easily with goggles in the shallower water

Over the following 2 days we did not have a bite… During this silent period, nature gave us a taste of the fauna of the lake. We were sitting in our chairs listening to the twittering of the birds when we heard a strange splat close to our camp. A few minutes later we recognized a dark and a brighter spot in front of us in the surface layer of water.

Dan went out in the boat immediately to shoot some photos of a big pike (approx. 18-20 lb) that had caught a little one, but it could not dive to deep water... It kept on trying without success, and this was the source of the weird splattering sound that we could not identify earlier.

When Dan came back to our camp it was my turn with Gaben and luckily we could record this amazing moment with a handy cam. We knew that if we didn’t do something, most likely both of them would waste away, so I grabbed the big one's tail and finally it opened its mouth - both fish had a narrow escape.

Tit for tat

Early evening we had a heavy bite on the rig that we put out in 80 cm deep water. 'Hudo, now it is your turn!' - said Dan and he was quickly into the boat waiting for me, ready to go. I stood at the front of the boat with the rod and we moved with high-speed towards the carp. We expected that it would go straight into the deep water, but instead it just moved slowly in the shallow water. Before it started to fight hard Dan was able to position the landing net in its path and I steered the fish into it. We got it!

'Look! It is not as small as we thought!' - said Dan quietly, before we started to navigate the boat back to the shore.

At the bank we put the heavy mirror into the safety weigh sling and lifted it up onto the hook of the scale, excitedly awaiting the final result. First it jumped up to 51 lb and then it dropped to settle at 44.86 lb (20.35 kg). I was so happy that I could not speak, I just gave my friend a hug. I wanted to throw him into the deep water – something that I learned from Otti at Lake Boar (see picture below) - but Dan just pointed to the camera hanging from his neck to suggest that it would be a bad idea.

WrestleMania with Otti

No, it is not the local time

Two ones with bellies

The massive mirror sucked up the bait in just 80 cm deep water

I am a member of the 20+ Club with the M1 20+! Now it is your turn Otti!

For the remainder of the session we worked on Otti's success, hopefully to catch a 20+ (kg) carp.

In the last days of the week Gaben and Otti were on fire, Otti had great success with the 20+ Premium Fruit & Nut. One day before our session ended Gaben, the grasscarp specialist of our team landed a nice 30.2 lb grasscarp and a 34.17 lb common carp.

31.08 lb

30.20 lb

Dan's father came for a flying visit, just for one night, and he also had two nice 20 lb+ carp from the deep water.

On the last day, Otti's alarm screamed and he and Gaben jumped into the boat. We were observing them from our pier just how quickly they had started this action…

After half an hour Otti's gruff voice sounded over the walkie-talkie: 'Dan, can you come over to shoot some photos?' I just stayed at our place to keep my eyes on the rods, and I saw that Dan and Gaben were shooting photos and recording a video of Otti's real big catch. I tried to call them on the walkie-talkie, but no answer… Finally Otti reported shortly: 'It is 44.82 lb mate!'