Sangachal - The Trestle

Hi everyone!

It finally happened! Sangachal "Trestle" - a famous spot, and I got to fish there!

Rustam – a HUUUUGE THANK YOU for giving me the chance!!!

We headed out on the 22nd and stayed overnight into the 23rd. By the time we'd bought shrimp and got to the spot it was already around 15:00. There weren't many people, but all the close-in spots turned out to be taken, so we set up camp about a kilometre from the shore.

I looked around and realised – my tackle isn't for kutum… L Light rods – spinning reels and a casting baitcaster. No klinok rods, no Nevskaya reels, no heavy telescopics with reinforced guides. Live and learn, as they say. J What a situation....... The seasoned crowd, in the form of the local old-timers (these guys don't set foot on shore for 3-4 days if the fish are biting!!!), were absolutely delighted when I pulled out my Shakespeare medium light and declared with authority that this piece of kit, flimsy as it looks, would lift a whole 7 kilos! J But fishermen aren't a mean bunch, and once they realised they'd met a "newbie" they slapped me on the shoulder and promised – don't sweat it, sailor, luck will smile on you too… And if you do catch one, it'll definitely be on your "Shakespeare". And with that we went our separate ways – jokes are jokes, but nobody's cancelled the fishing.

Long story short – night was coming, we cast out the tackle. The pro gear on the "working" side, and my "poser's kit" wherever there was room. (I did rig up all 4 of my rods after all.)

There were bites – but no feeding frenzy. Something kept stripping the bait – we figured gobies and hoped it'd calm down by nightfall. No such luck! The water isn't deep at this spot and there are loads of little fish. In a word, we weren't bored – checking, recasting. On the "working" side we managed to land a couple of nice little kutum before sunset. We waited for dark. When it came nothing changed, and the seasoned crowd decided to move further out to sea.

We thought it over and decided that nobody's cancelled the old fishermen's laws – if the fish are there, they'll bite. Both at the far post and the near one. In a word – we were too lazy to reel in all 11 rods, swapped phone numbers with the "nomads" and promised to call in an hour or so to find out where, what and how.

The upshot – out there further from shore or here closer in, it was all the same, but by the time we left for home we had about 17 fish splashing in our basin, 12-15 kg in total… Ж-) Good fishing, guys!!! J

So that's the report!

Oh yeah – almost forgot… I took my first kutum, about 800 grams, on the "Shakespeare"! J When I was lifting it out of the water I rested the rod on the railing – the tip was bent a full 90 degrees!!! Not a sight for the faint-hearted, I'll tell you. I thought it'd snap! No way – not a single crack – nothing! Proper working tackle! I lifted it with the baitcaster – also a "Shakespeare". I lifted another one with my 8-year-old "Mikado" with a "Fire Fox" spinning reel - no problem. The tackle holds up, but if I get to go for kutum again I'll change the gear. You need "beefier" 3.3-metre rods and anchor sinkers.

As for the rest – 0.6 line, 070-2 Chinese hooks.

Tried out shrimp paste and silicone shrimp – caught a goby! Ж-)

Good luck, everyone!