dmitri

no fair play in this tournament! the italian team wanted to win on their home lake whatever it takes. no angler in his right mind would do such a disgraceful act as poisoning fish in competitors livewells. I have no respect to these people. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME ON THE ITALIAN TEAM! the fist two days they could not do anything against the Russian team, who displayed real team work and had a lead of 23 points over italians. the only way for italians to win was to play dirty, I mean disgracefully dirty. Eventually, Italy won by only half a point (89.5 vs 90) and were happy like children, while all other participants supported the Russia team as true champions (apart from Russia, another two national teams boycotted the official closing ceremony).

I think I recognize the place. Looks like Geneva lake. I was there just yesterday, but no fishing unfortunately :'(

what head/hook did u use? I hope not the ones I made for u, cause I've just ordered the same frames and hooks. today I got no bass, but 2 nice zanders. there was no wind in the morning.

agree, little bit of both. Also, run-n-gun or sit-wait depends on the season. I would prefer more run-n-gun during pre-spawn, for example, and more sit-wait in the summer.

6.2lbs on a 1/2oz spinerbait

walked? Ruuuuuuun Forest, run ;D on the practice day I noted time required to get there - 21 min (fast walking, almost running). In order to be there first on the tournament day I had to cover that distance in 17 mins. quite a few people managed to walk all around Dhipotamous and Asprocremnos reservoirs One of the guys was given a nick name Spiderman for getting to place where nobody else can get. His reward this time was the Cyprus record bass that he got next day after the tournament.

Thanks CyBasser for a great report. Few comments from my side: It's been my first tournament I must say I liked it soooo much!!! Day after day excitement grows to unbelievable levels. I don't know a better way yet to spend my holidays. It feels like it's been a month away from the office. First day was a disaster. Having totally overestimated my knowledge of the local waters I got lazy and didn't do much during the practice days. I visited Kuris (1st day reservoir) the day before the tournament for 1 hour after sunset during a rather heavy rain. As a result, water clarity the next morning was a big surprise for me. What has worked two weeks ago, did not work at all during the tournament. Also, looking at the others, who BTW did quite well, trying to imitate them and experimenting with new lures and techniques was a very bad idea as this resulted with nothing more than a loss of time. For the second day we've decided with Viron and CyBasser not to fall into the same trap, but focus on the areas, lures and techniques we know best. I also decided to myself not to waste a lot of time on moving from one spot to another. Luckily, I found a good spot quite soon. Within a reach there were some shallow waters, then a drop with a couple of good bushes, then further in deeper waters there was a submerged tree from which I caught all 5 bass on that day. My secrete weapon was dark red Chompers (those smelly ones), which looked very much like crawfish one of the main feeding subjects for bass in that reservoir. I ordered them from BPS in advance knowing that nobody else would try anything like this. After I landed second bass, I did notice a small damage on my monofilament leader, but did not bother to change it. That was a big mistake as after just a few casts it cost me a 5 pounder which I lost after a few-second fight. Nevertheless, the day was much better than the previous one. Last day that was the only reservoir where I spent at least some time during practice days. I knew where I was going, run from the very start, got there first and caught two nice bass within first 20 minutes. Then I stayed at the very same spot for all 7 hours as I could see many others running around with no success. My tactic paid well, I landed two more bass and showed the highest score that day. I've taken the following lessons from my first tournament: Lesson #1 make a full use of practice days Lesson #2 keep your eye open, but don't get disturbed by what others do. Stay calm and follow your plan. Lesson #3 tournament days are not for experimenting. Don't waste time. Do what you can do well. Lesson #4 take some time to check your tackle (line, leader, swivels) after each successful or unsuccessful fish landing. Lesson #5 stay physically fit (especially true for shore fishing). Many thanks to all for your support. I did get a lot of valuable ideas from you guys. Regards Dmitri

ups! now we are in trouble :-? That is a great news, Viron

It is 20 people fully registered up to now, of which 1 Cypriot (CyBasser) and 1 guy from Bulgaria. All the others are from Russia. dmitri

i can see you catching record trout next weekend dmitri

thank you All for warm welcome and sorry for off topic. 2 Cowie about report in the magazine, sorry, you are confusing me with someone else. But I do put a lot of passion into fishing. 2 Viron Put more pressure on your boss and kick some @ss in November. March is too far away. 2 island bassin CyBasser provided all the details. let me know if you need more info regards Dmitri

there will be a tournament (Russian Bass League) in a couple of weeks in Cyprus. This time we'll break European record for sure ;D as there will be a whole bunch of very dedicated fishing enthusiasts running for the whole 3 days after those fatty pigs we have here in Cyprus ;D dmitri