Zoltan Kovacs

Competition Angler and CEO of SBS

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For the 13th time the reputable “Maconka – Big Carp International Boilie Cup” was held at the Maconka reservoir in Hungary. Its reputation for record quantities and record catches makes this reservoir a popular and unforgettable place. This Cup was the same, despite the extremely low water level and lack of rain which cast a shadow over the proceedings, a new record was set. We, The SBS SziKo Team, participated and in the end we set another record and became champions. If you want to know how we achieved this extraordinary feat and how we managed to beat probably the toughest field of all time read this article and I will reveal the secrets of our victory (as I always do so)!

The choice of the spot is the first thing that affects the outcome. First we usually draw to see in which order we can choose spots, then a team flag is stuck on the map to mark the choice. The first round draw was not favourable for us; we were the last to choose. There are competitions in which it is easier to consider how to avoid the proximity of extremely strong teams, this competition was particularly difficult, because each team, almost without exception, is made up of very strong experienced anglers.

This picture shows that well-known and extremely strong teams formed the field.

We were faced with the dilemma of choosing between two spots, based on the order we had set before. One opportunity was to sit on the dam, which was more overcrowded than ever owing to the water level. Or we could have stuck our flag next to the Halcapone Team, a team that has developed much and proved its abilities throughout the past years. They played tricks on the Haladás [Progress] K-karp Big Carp Team in the last two Cups. The decision was made more difficult in that the boilies used by the Halcapone Team consist mainly of SBS materials so they closely resembled our baits. Finally we chose the spot next to the Halcapone Team, the reason being that we had no neighbour on the right-hand side so there was a much larger area available for fishing than the spots on the dam.

We really had a large available water surface and we tried to fish it as well as we could.

However, the spot had disadvantages too, we had to tackle shallower water levels than the other teams. This is of major importance when a cold front appears, the shallow water reacts quicker to the cooling weather, and it may affect the eating habits of the fish unfavourably. Unlike many other teams that had chosen before us we took the risk and cast our vote for the extreme right spot of island “B”.

The right-hand side of island „B” (boilies island). No team has even won from this spot.

We noticed the first hopeful signs when we went to put down the buoys by boat and one or more large Carp showed themselves four times within a few minutes. I admit if I had not seen this I would have put my buoy down in a “deeper” place (10 to 15 cm). My decision was backed by the fact that our chosen place was at a spot where hard and clay beds meet. I knew that if there were enough Carp there I would attract them to this spot. We found a clayish and hard limit towards the bed at a very short distance from Andris. The next step was the feeding.

We made some changes to our previous routine here. As the Squid & Octopus boilies built on lobworm mix have shown their extraordinary power in the spring competition we kept to them, however, we prepared another boilie that had proven without doubt that it must be used in this Cup (we got feedback from fishing results, especially on the 48-hour testing of SBS Pontymánia [Carp Mania] when more than 500 kg Carp was caught and released): this was the Bio Big Fish product family. These two boilies would have been enough but it would have been foolish to ignore the well-proven M1 boilies.

The disadvantage of using three baits is that large quantities must be kept of all types because if one taste “moves in” there is need for supplies. Please ignore the mess, this is not a competition where there is time to clear up. :)

Our dilemma was: how to share the 3 baits between 2 feedings? I am talking about two feedings because it is usually silly to make more than two, it just splits the fish and greatly reduces the chance of a good catch. We had no choice but to take into consideration that Squid & Octopus and Bio Big Fish have similar flavours (both are mainly fish meal based), so we used both baits for one feeding. However, during the basic feeding we kept to our old well-tried method, the basic mix was made up of the following:

Squid & Octopus:

- 5 kg Squid & Octopus Nitro Method Mix
- 1 kg Squid & Octopus Carp Pellets
- 2 kg CSL Pellets 5 mm and 16 mm miscellaneously
- 2 litre Squid & Octopus CSL Groundbait mixer
- 0.5 litre Squid & Octopus Spod Juice
- 0.25 kg Squid & Octopus Boilies 20 mm boiled
- 0.5 kg Squid & Octopus Boilies 20 mm soluble
- 0.25 kg Squid & Octopus Boilies 14 mm boiled
- 0.25 kg Bio Big Fish Boilies 20 mm boiled
- 0.5 kg Bio Big Fish Boilies 20 mm soluble
- 0.25 kg Bio Big Fish Boilies 14 mm boiled
- 2 kg Halibut pellets 20 mm

M1

- 5 kg M1 Method Mix
- 1 kg M1 Red Pellet
- 2 kg CSL Pellets 5 mm and 16 mm miscellaneously
- 2 litre Frankfurti Sausage CSL Groundbait mixer
- 0.5 litre M1 Spod Juice
- 0.5 kg M1 Boilies 20 mm boiled
- 1 kg M1 Boilies 20 mm soluble
- 0.5 kg M1 Boilies 14 mm boiled
- 2 kg Halibut pellets 20 mm

When the basic feeding was ready we had to wait for the horn indicating the start of the competition. We did not have to wait too long for the first catch, then the next one and so on… The result of the first night was very hopeful for us. However, it was a shock to see the results of the A’la Carp Team, they had a significant advantage, it seemed almost impossible for us to catch up. The next day’s catch was almost the same.

Gyurka did everything he could. He fought with shallow water, dipped and stored the fish that came one after another.

If you have a close look at the picture you will see that piping and slinging the boilies did not only attract the Carp but also the ducks. They are in the area where the Carp came during the feeding.

The thrill was that we progressed neck to neck with Sip Carp Team followed by three other teams (they only had a few kilograms less) while towards the end the difference between our team and the one managed by Uncle Nitu (pronounce: Nitsu) seemed rather promising. During the last but one night we hoped to catch up with them, because the difference was reducing all the time. However, after the relatively warm night we were dumbfounded, because their advantage had increased greatly. Andris, my team member with the least confidence was sure they could not be beaten, instead we should focus on the rather threatening Sip Carp and the further 3 teams so that they would not increase their advantage. Despite this fact our official helper György Bessenyei, who has extraordinary stamina and a positive approach, and myself said “we must never say it is impossible” in a Cup. A Cup is only over when the horn blows.

From time to time Carp heavier than 10 kg came …

We staked everything on one card and made the necessary preparations for the last night. We slung the optimum quantity, according to the regulations, and piped the proper quantity of boilies and were thinking hard on how to make the already overcomplicated combinations of baits more irresistible for the rather wary Carp.

… we could not catch up with the winning team.

Our positive approach was challenged because everyone who passed by said that a cold front was forecast for that night and it would be a huge problem for people fishing in shallow water, that meant us. However, even the bad news could not break our determination. I only drink energy drinks on exceptional occasions but then I felt it was time to drink one. The last night would decide everything. As dusk came the catches came often. After the third catch we reduced the volume of our buzzers, which was nerve-racking for the other competitors on the island, and then we started to pull the fish quietly. Within 2 hours the nets were almost full, and we had to ask for a special weighing.

Another hard task for Gyurka, he had to hold the fish while the compulsory pictures were taken.

And then came the turn: the temperature had dropped to a point where we could feel it even through our thermo clothing, and within a minute the catches stopped. Andris said right away: “You see, that’s what I was telling you. This is the end, in this cold weather the fish will make off.” But I was in such a drive from the previous catches that I started to feed them and kept on testing the combinations of baits and dips. When I glanced up I saw one member of the neighbouring Halcapone Team Árpi Szalay come “samba dancing” to our spot and ask: “Are they biting yours? Because they have completely stopped biting ours”.
That discouraged us even more. The fish are not biting their bait either. There will be trouble. We told him about our situation and advised him to try the things he had not yet used as bait that night. We did the same thing. He was in quite a bad mood when he went back to their spot and we saw him testing our dips. Once our lack of catch was over, Andris asked immediately: “What did you catch it on?” “AV1 dip!” - was my reply. “Ah, this is just a coincidence, I tried it yesterday”. “You may have tried it but that was yesterday and today it is cold. Remember, the AV1 toffee dip helped us out of trouble once in a Serbian Cup when it was cold “. “It’s all right, then” he said. All rods were equipped with fresh baits soaked in the AV1 dip… and by the time we finished putting on the new baits the first rods were already hot!

Moreover, we caught fish that greatly increased the total weight.

And it went on and on until we had to ask for a new weighing. It was then Árpi from Halcapone Team looked up suddenly and ran to us, “what did you catch them on, how is it possible?”. I cannot lie so I didn’t even try it but I tried to turn things to our benefit and said:

- Do you have SBS AV1 dip?
- Of course I have!
- Then soak your baits with it.
- Don’t tell me that’s the secret. I have tried a sweet dip, the strawberry one a minute ago and they have not touched the bait at all. Then why does it bite this one, it is sweet too.
- Árpi! Believe me and run, soak your boililes with this dip. But don’t catch more than we do. :-)

Then with an unbelieving smile he quickened his pace to reach his rods. A minute later I heard one of their rods buzz…, then another…, and so on…. In the meantime we had catches without interruption. The fish were biting this bait non-stop. We made some changes and poured some AV1 dip into the paste made for the paste lead (feeder) and mixed everything thoroughly, then we soaked the paste and bait into the dip. The attraction of this combination did not fade till the end of the Cup and attracted the fish close to the hook continuously. That is how we have made the “champion’s” bait combination:

The things you will need to make it: M1 14 mm boiled boilie, 1 Corn popper, M1 paste, AV1 bait dip…

String a boilie and a Corn popper onto a hair rig …

… remember always put the Corn popper next to the stopper

Pour AV1 dip onto the M1 paste …

… and mix the dip into the paste

Wrap the combination of the boilie and Corn popper in a thin layer of the paste …

… which looks like this one!

The next step is to mould a dose of the remaining paste, which also contains AV1 dip, onto the paste lead (feeder)

This is the proper quantity. If you do not have a paste lead the mass, owing to its perfect adhesion, can be moulded on a simple cigar lead too and it will not fall off during casting.

The last step is to soak the pasted bait into the dip …

The last dip is important because, when cast, the bait pulls a „trail of scent” through the water for the fish in the „middle” and attracts even the most cunning “resting” Carp to the hook.

I know it may sound overcomplicated, but if we missed any of the ingredients or steps it would have greatly reduce the number of catches.

However, Halcapone Team also had catches continuously. They were almost a threat for us, because they had even more catches during the last night. Our only advantage was that we caught big fish and they caught smaller ones. And finally, the result of the last night was Carp with a total weight of 212 kg. This is not a misprint! More than 200 kg fish in 12 hours. Owing to this extraordinary catch we couldn’t wait to see how much the others had caught. If others, e.g. Uncle Nitu had had a successful night then we would have no chance of winning… but we hoped that others would not achieve the same results. The weighing in the last hour showed that A’la Carp Team caught 80 kg fish. So we found out that we managed not only to catch up with the advantage, which seemed so hopeless, but also to surpass it.

The announcement of the results gave the following information:

We managed to defeat Sip Carp Team, placed third …

… who have considerable experience in competitions but the result of the last night was baffling for them, as well.

In a close finish we beat Nitu Ion’s (Uncle Nitsu’s) team who are called the king of the small Carp by the Romanian fishers

And with our final result we managed to be the winners for the second time

I. SBS SziKo Team – 896.4 kg, 349 fish.

This wonderful result cannot be emphasized even more, I thought, when István Dérer announced that the 349 fish is a world record in the light of the Cup’s duration. It means that SBS SziKo Team is a double champion and a double world record holder.

Great joy: the result no one can take away from us. 

Normally the story would end here, but I would like to share an important thing with you, which may serve as a lesson for everyone.

After the announcement of the results Uncle Nitu came to us with his Hungarian-speaking team member and congratulated us on our extraordinary result and asked if we were happy with his fishing success, taking into account that he is more than 60 years old. I replied that it was my fishing dream to be able to go to Cups with Andris and Gyurka at that age and hold on the way he had done in that competition. When he heard that he patted my shoulder and said he would love to have a joint picture of the two teams.

They had a great advantage until the Cup’s closing phase then at the last minute we defeated them. Despite their defeat they congratulated us with an appreciative smile and asked for a joint picture. This is a nice example how we should lose… and it makes good anglers immortal. An example everyone should follow.