Daniel Novak

SBS Happy Carp Gang

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Unfortunately this year we did not have much time for fishing. Our team, the Happy Carp Gang got together just once at the end of the spring for the ABK Boilie Olympics, which was a 3 day competition. Despite our lack of trips, it has become a compulsory routine that each year we spend a week together at Lake Ecsed. We had already put this in our schedule in the spring and I was reassuring myself that the start of this session would come soon.

Dawn lights

At last the day had come. I had already fully packed the car on Friday and on Saturday morning I got in the car. I was on my way to Hudi listening to the radio, when I turned into his street I noticed that he was just pottering around the garden. I was having a coffee when Gaben arrived, the plan was that the three of us would go for this session but unfortunately due to a job Gaben had to cancel. On our departure he was sad because he could not join us this time. Otti was also busy but he was planning to come on Wednesday to join us for the last couple of days of the session.

Our convoy started towards the destination. I smiled several times when I looked into the rearview mirror and saw Hudi in his sunglasses. After arriving at the lake everything was as usual, we started with a several hour discussion in the snack bar and after we settled at swim 4. I had been to this swim previously so I had an idea of what spots we should fish. On both sides of the swim there are fallen trees and shrubs in the water along the bank, from here the bottom slopes down rapidly to a 19-20 m depth. The snags are good hiding places for the fish but we would avoid them because of fish safety and because of our nerves. In line with the bank, close to a snag it is almost impossible to land a fish and an angler with good intentions is not just focusing on the number of bites but also thinking that it does not make sense to lose 9 out of 10 fish especially when you have a good chance of harming the fish.

Along the bank the spots with the snags

Corner

About 170-180 m away in front of the platform there is an underwater ridge in line with the bank. It is easy to find where it starts with the sonar, from this point towards swim 7 and 9 we found several promising spots with different depths and lakebed structures. 

I was sitting with Hudi in the boat, checking the screen of the sonar and shortly there were four “H” markers floating on the surface around the promising spots showing us the direction to the first cast.

Gaben, Otti and Hudi had surprised me with 2 new rods for my birthday, the 3 m long 2.5 lb. TF Gear Compact rods had waited for months but now their time had come. I hoped that they would have a chance to show their capabilities. Hudi had the same rods, so when everything was ready four identical rods were resting on the rod-pod ready for the action.    

Slim and soft rods, for playing the fish from a boat

At 9 pm my left rod alarm started to beep. Without any prior warning the well-known sound was just kept screaming from the speaker. The rod was bending well, but the reel did not make any sound because of the soft settings of the clutch. The rod handled the play of the fish very well. After the landing, the 8.5 kg common was immediately released and the rig was back on the spot right away.

An hour later Hudi’s turn came. His rod on the right was away, the reel was just kept giving the line gently to the unknown adversary.  We passionately collect phrases heard on the bank during fishing sessions and we are starting to use them, usually when playing a fish. It was not different this time either. Just moments before the landing Hudi was still joking with these phrases… After 10 minutes of tough play we were happy to see the result on the scale and on the mat, a mirror which was 17.68 kg.   

The first evening started well

Let’s go home

Evening still-life

Before the session the weather of the entire country had not changed for several weeks, but from the second day the experts predicted a cold front with rain. On Sunday the colder, windy, rainy weather arrived and the air temperature dropped. The incoming cold front usually triggers a feeding response from the fish but it is interesting, as I have experienced before, that this rule does not always apply at this lake. For 2 days the bite alarms were silent. We trusted the promising spots, but experimented with our rigs at different depths.

The hazy, rainy mornings…

…always starting with cleaning the boat

In the period when there were no bites at all, Gaben visited us and gave a presentation of his extraordinary casting skills

In the middle of the week the weather front left and our breakfast was disturbed by the sound of the alarm. A common over 15 kg has picked up the 24 mm C1 wafter bait.

Each morning there was the 3 of us on the platform; Hudo, me and the cholesterol

After 2 days with no bites, the first volunteer

With my other rig I was using a bait which was under testing at that time. This gave the first fish of the session. The spicy bait which is going to be released by SBS under the name M4 most probably in 2014 produced 3 more fish that day. One of these fish was over 20 kg and the others over 10 kg. The play of the fish was a unique experience in the crystal clear water. The video footage at the end of this article gives a feeling of these moments.

A closer look at the M4 bait which was under testing at that time…

…and right before retracting

A common over 20 kg from the 8 m deep water

It might be interesting for some of you as to what kind of bait presentation techniques and feeding methods we were using during this session. On bigger waters it might be reasonable to use a big volume of feed, but here on this water we are working with a smaller amount almost all the time.  I am pretty much sure that on a pit with such lakebed topography (full of humps,plateaux, and slopes) it is more important to locate the right spot. If we give enough time to find these and we have some experience about the route where the fish swim, then a fistful of bait is enough to catch the fish of our dreams.

This much per rod and no more

If there are shells, then everything is there!

The simple, proven rig was doing well on the spot full of shells

It may be unbelievable but only that amount of bait was thrown in the water around the rigs with each cast as you can see in the picture. It means only a fistful of 20 mm High Oil Halibut Pellet, two times a fistful of 20 and 24 mm 20+ Premium Boilie and two times a fistful of cooked tiger nuts. In terms of flavors the M4 was the number one, but the Toffee & Tiger nut flavored C1 produced a lot of nice fish too.

For the last days of the session there was the three of us because Otti joined the team on Wednesday, as a result we were fishing with 6 rods instead of 4 until Saturday.

Right after his arrival we went to find some spots for him. This time his choice was the Fruit & Nut boilie and he made his bait more attractive like a real expert, using the same dip and paste. The well prepared rig was waiting on the bottom of the lake within a couple of minutes and in 1.5 hours the first bite arrived. The tip of the rod was bending and the line has started to run off the reel. Following the usual boat-chase, at the conclusion of an exciting play, a nice mirror was resting on the carp mat, which was close to 20 kg.

On Wednesday, after the morning coffee Otti arrived

A bit of dipping…

...and putting some paste on the bait

Otti started fishing only a couple of hours ago, but he is already holding an almost 20 kg mirror in his hands

Meanwhile Hudi was also busy

During this one week session we had a chance to use the SBS Tackle Pro products which will be released at the Carp Show later this year. We really liked the special multifunctional Dive Master leader. This circle woven, lead free material helps to camouflage our rig, and it is sinking like the leadcore, but it is subtle and feels like silk. It is multifunctional, because the leader, which is available in two different sizes, can be used as a replacement for the leadcore leader but the thinner one also works as a hooklink material. The rigs, tied with the 20 lb. Dive Master worked very well at this difficult venue. This leader is already one of my favourites.

The SBS Tackle Pro – Dive Master has become one of my favourites during testing

The last dawn

We returned home from our favouritelake with memorable moments again and we are planning to go back there next year several times too.  You can see the video footage of this one week session here.

Written by: Daniel Novak

Camera man: Janos Hudomiet, Daniel Novak

Photos: Janos Hudomiet, Daniel Novak