Carp Fishing in Hungary

Whilst living in Germany I became a regular visitor to the large European shows, more to meet and chat with the big fish anglers than buying products, it was during these visits that I got hint of goodcarp fishing in Hungary, lakes that contained carp equal to that of the well known big fish waters of Cassien, Rainbow and the Orient. After being shown some photographs of the lakes inhabitants I was impressed, an awesome amount of big carp all from the same gravel pit. Despite prying I was unable to extract the name or location from the said anglers, it was their jewel and they aimed to keep it that way. Since then I have been searching for more information, the few snippets sourced was not enough to mark the venue. I knew it was somewhere in Hungary, it was of reasonable size, very deep and still being worked for gravel, that’s as close as I got to this unknown big fish jewel, and so the years went on…………

During a telephone conversation with Rob Hughes of Angling International I was trying to persuade him to give me a sneak preview into some of the new Berkley range, the subject changed to big fish venues in Europe that were whispered around the grapevine. Whereupon he mentioned a lake in Hungary that contained some very big carp, the lake he described was of a gravel pit of 800 acres, fairly deep and still working in one small area! Bingo, the penny dropped, Rob actually new the name of the lake that I heard whispers of, not only did he know it but had carried out a reconnaissance expedition with a view to running Angling International trips to it, he barely had time to finish the question and my place was secured, I was going Down East!

Carp to over 90 lb in Hungary

On arrival at Heathrow I met a multitude of carp angling characters, with most of them being experienced on larger venues, all with one goal in mind, to catch a big carp from a new lake in a country they had not fished. On arrival in Budapest Jason from Angling International introduced us to Attillo and his English-speaking wife Andrea, the former being an experienced Hungarian carp angler that Rob had met on his RECCE trip. They had kindly volunteered to give up their valuable holiday time to assist us throughout the 10 day carp fishing trip.

Lake Features – Hungary

The bulk of the lake is very deep with depths averaging 40 feet, however after many arm aching hours of rowing with sonar attached, worthy looking features were marked. Mainly small plateaus that rose like mushrooms from the lake bed, the pinnacles being15-20 feet from the surface. After speaking to others throughout the week it was clear that these were the mainstay of the features and could be found in many areas of the lake. Placing a rig on top required a gentle lower to ensure that the lead was sitting on top not of the side, a couple of feet out of position meant the rig would settle in 35 feet rather than the planned 15-20 feet.
Due to the time of year the water temperature was very low, averaging 11 degrees centigrade on the surface; the lower layers were much cooler. For that reason it makes sense to fish shallow, preferably on top of plateaus as high up as possible, touching on the warmer thermo cline. In my experience this is a general rule for early season carping on large deep waters; once the warmer weather arrives the upper layer is warmed which in turn encourages a mix of nutrients that brings life and warmth to that layer; the carp are not normally too far behind.
Fishing is allowed from the two Islands and an obvious place to intercept moving fish, they are very popular swims, the larger became known as Monkey Island due to several of our group claiming to have seen a monkey roaming its banks, not sure what they put in that Hungarian soup Steve?
In addition there is a number of tree lined, reed fringed margins and bays, it was from one of these bays that James (British bream record holder) managed to land a number of smaller carp; a grassy of over 30 lb fell to one of the pair. The only other feature worth mentioning is the working bay where gravel extraction takes place on an occasional basis during week days. The water is amongst the clearest I have come across, from the high banks it is not dissimilar to peering into an aquarium, I sat for hours watching and feeding the roach, dace and occasional Tesco carp.

Recommended approach to fishing this type of venue – Hungary

Observation is the key to success when fishing lakes of such magnitude. There are two main lines of attack, either find features in likely areas and sit on them for the duration or stay mobile until fish are caught, once they move you follow, simple? Not always! We moved several times, as fish were seen crashing in other areas of the windy half; within an hour the rowing boat was loaded and the biceps burning towards nearby swims, hard going physically and mentally but an effective approach.
The windy conditions during the first 24 hours made it difficult to row rigs out any distance therefore I opted to fish one rod at the base of the marginal drop off in 15 feet of water close to where the waves were lashing against the bank causing a brown muddy slick, a very inviting spot. A few handfuls of 18 mm mainline fusion and CC Moore tiger nuts were scattered around the general area and the marginal rod was in position ready.

At 0200 hours the following morning I was awoken by the receiver signalling a positive take, it was necessary to land the fish by boat as it powered off into deeper water. With the well honed rowing techniques of my partner for the session Keith Turner the carp was soon in the net and weighed in at just over 40 lbs. My first night result turned out to be the largest fish of the trip, Keith lifted the scales and were read by both of us at just over 40 lbs (17.5kg). The following morning Rob came round to take some video and a few photos; will the footage be on Sky TV Rob? The water shots may give the impression of warmth; actually it was only 11 degrees! This resulted in the opposite of morning glory! Soon after the photo session I moved to a swim 100 yards along the bank, closer to the area in which I had hooked the fish.
The following night my expectations were high as I noticed a couple of carp head and shoulder over one of my baited areas, a plateau at 300 yards. Whilst in the land of nod the said rod sang its song, line was leaving the spool at a slow ponderous pace, normally signalling a decent fish. Unfortunately the boat was moored in Keith’s swim which meant this one would have to be played from the bank. The slow moving leviathan indicated a good fish, keeping the rod high I was able to play it to within 100 yards of the bank before a grating was transmitted up the line; it had found an unseen obstacle. There was no choice but to loosen the spool and place the rod back on the bank in order to collect the boat, as I ran down to the dinghy I attempted to wake Keith with a shout, to no avail. Several minutes passed before returning to my swim picking the rod up and winding down towards the fish. As I wound down the line pinged from the snag and once again I was in direct contact, it felt very big as it towed the boat almost wrenching the rod from my hands on a number of occasions. Eventually I was gaining the upper hand as it was now close to the boat, the net was positioned across the bough, it was nearly ready. There was no more than 20 foot of line between me and the fish when another grating was felt and all went solid! I clinched the line in attempt to free it, I peered into the clear water under head torch light, a pop bottle could be seen hovering a couple of feet below the surface and the line running close by. I managed to grab the thick rope to which the bottle was attached and started heaving. As I was hauling this dead weight through the water an occasional tug on the heavy rope signalled the fish was still on, then one almighty tug on the rope and I sensed the worse, after almost 40 minutes, the Goliath was free of the snag and my hook! Gutted is an understatement! The remainder of the pop bottle marker float and rope was winched from the depths to find a bucket of cement tied to the bottom, it was an over kill that had caused the loss of what I am sure was a very big fish. Early the following morning a bonus common of approximately 20 lb was landed and slipped straight back without weighing. The wind direction changed that day and the majority of the fish followed as Keith spotted a number of carp head and shouldering on the far margin, a move was in order to chase those fish.
The following 3 days was spent chasing them, even though we located carp with every change in wind direction they were not interested in feeding until the wind swung round to its original direction whereupon we ended up in the same swim that we started in. During the last 3 days I went on to land a 28 lb mirror and several doubles. Due to being the only one catching with any consistency I invited other anglers to fish close by, James moved into the swim next door for the last 24 hours and saved a blank by landing a 38 lb mirror from a marginal spot, a couple of hours before packing up my close in rod was away again, this time I was kneeling behind the apertures with a chunky mirror of 35 lb 10 oz.
Between the 15 anglers on the trip carp worthy of note were as follows: James 38 lb mirror, James (British Bream record holder) 30 lb + grass carp, 20 lb + mirror, Jason from Angling International 38 lb mirror (another 30 + was landed from Monkey Island but cannot recall the captor) Rod Simpson scraper 40, 35 lb 10 oz mirror, 28 lb mirror + several between 15 – 25 lb.

Carp stock

In the past Lake Bor has produced some very big carp with a couple well over 70 lbs, it contained carp that may topple the current world record. I say contained in the loosest sense of the word as with many of the big lakes in Hungary seine netting is carried out on a legal and illegal basis with all carp killed for the table! Therefore the stock and size is of an unknown quantity. In 2004 there were at least 3 x 30 kg carp caught with the largest over 33 kg, therefore very big fish are still present, in what numbers only those that have a pioneering instinct may find out.
Recent years have seen the introduction of many Tesco carp the name being derived from the carp contained in the aquariums of the local Tesco’s supermarket, perfect size for the dinner plate. The greedy pig rig reduces the chances of being pestered by them.
The low catch rate may have been a result of low water temperatures and did not give the group a true reflection of what the lake is capable of, next time I will almost definitely fish it later in the year. Andy Chambers arrived as we were leaving for a mammoth 4 week session, maybe he will uncover some of its secrets. He should do well considering the 4 week period is over a prime time of year; I look forward to reading his catch reports.

Food and Fishing Facilities

Atillo and Andrea delivered Breakfast and evening meals to each occupied swim on a daily basis; the food is based on the Hungarian palette; which normally encompasses a continental breakfast of bread and spreads and an evening meal of a soup starter with the main meal ranging from battered pork to pasta variations. The food is palatable and from what I am told better than that of the once famous Romanian lake. During these meal deliveries Atillo takes orders for a shop run, this enables a stock up on any other essentials. Thanks go to Atillo and Andrea for the excellent job they did!
English style toilets and showers are available in the very well presented fishing restaurant/lodges.
Mainline bait was ordered upon reservation and distributed on arrival; I don’t recommend taking large amounts of bait on the plane as it works out very expensive. However I do recommend you take a few kilograms of dry tiger nuts.

Conclusion on my first carp fishing trip to Hungary

Lake bor is the type of water for the experienced angler, don’t consider it if it’s your first trip abroad, it’s on the same scale as Cassien or Raduta. Although the lake did not throw up any of its larger residents, the trip was thoroughly enjoyable, not just due to me catching, but the aura of fishing a lake of unknown potential and quantity in excellent company.

Rob informed me of the many problems he had encountered whilst crossing Europe with a large 4 x 4 vehicle crammed full of bait, bivvies and bed chairs: He was stopped at several border crossing points and told to empty the vehicle completely and felt a little intimidated by the soldiers waving their AK 47 assault riffles! However once on Hungarian soil it is a much civilised country, the problem is with the border crossing point of one of the countries you need to cross on route. Flying with angling International is the safest option and the entire organisation is done for you.