He’s name is Krištof Cuderman and he is from Slovenia. Now he is 32 years old and started with fishing when he was really young but started with carp fishing more seriously in 2001. Since then this is a big part of his life. Krištof really like fishing new lakes and visiting new countries and always set very high but achievable goals for hisself. In 2013 he set his first world record, catching a carp over 50 lb in 8 different countries. He improved that record a few times in the following years after. Today his own three world records – 30+kg carp in 7 different countries, 70+lb carp in 7 countries and 80lb carp in 3 different countries.
For us, Krištof is one of the most respected fishermen who sharing his experience. Also he is a lovely, responsive and kind person and we are unspeakably pleased that he has agreed to give an interview for our portal!
Private
— Can we say that carpfishing is your profession? If so, what exactly is your job? Or do you have another job elsewhere?
I could say that I’m 50% professional angler. Because I also have a job outside of fishing. I’m a salesman for a dried fruit and nuts company. Many people think that I’m fishing all the time but it is not true, unfortunately haha.
— Do you remember the day when such giants of the industry as FOX and Dynamite Baits invited you to colaborate?
Yes I’ve been with Dynamite for over 10 years now and with Fox for more than 6 years. I used their products long before they invited me to become their sponsored angler so it was really special to become a part of their team. It is really nice to work with such good brands and with great people.
— Could you please tell us about your equipment?
Ever since I first started fishing Fox has been my number one choice when it comes to gear. I have some Fox gear at home which is 20+ years old and I still like to use it from time to time. I am really proud to have been working with Fox for many years now. I like their wide range which offers basically anything a modern angler might need. I fish very different lakes which means I have to adapt my gear to the lake. I am a big fan of X4 12ft 3lb rods which I use the most lately, together with Eos 12.000 reels.
— Do you remember your most difficult fishing trip?
Yes, I remember that fishing very well. I went for my longest and most difficult fishing session in 2011. A 100 ha big lake in Germany, home to around 20 carp. I spent 21 nights at the lake alone, unfortunately not catching a single carp. I was diving 2-3 hours every day, trying to find fish and control the feeding spots. Brim were causing me lots of trouble. I lost about 5 kg of my weight at this trip. It was mentally very difficult but also one of the trips from which I learned the most. Specially how to become a better angler and the outlook to have on this hobby, also it had an impact on who I am as a person.
— How many days per year do you spend at reservoirs?
As already mentioned, many people think I fish all the time. Until 2018 I spent around 45 to 60 nights per year fishing and last year (2019) a bit more – 88 nights fishing in a year. Whenever I do go fishing, I prepare very well, gather all possible information and give my maximum at the lake.
Tactics
— Let´s talk now about tactics. How much time on average does it usually take you to find a spot? How exactly are you doing this? Do you start with sailing across the reservoir with an echo-sounder? Collect general data by dispersing H-blocks, and then probing it with a prodding stick? We´re interested to hear about the process and technology itself.
I pay a lot of attention to finding the right fishing position, or as I like to say – micro location. Lets take it step by step. In case I am fishing a lake where I can book a position in advance that makes it a little easier as the position is already set so I just need to find the micro location. In case I have the whole lake to pick from I have to ask myself what season I am fishing in, what information I can gather in advance (for example what part of the lake do carp like to stay in the most), I have to know the basics of what the structure of lake’s bottom is. This way it will be easier to orientate on key areas and lose less time.
I always use a sonar, currently I have Humminbird Helix 7 which I am very pleased with, also GPS is big help and a big must are H markers and a prodding stick.
What I have in mind with the term »micro location» is an area of about 2x 2 meters which significantly stands out from the surrounding area. It could be an overhang, small clay area among the gravel or a small sand area among the mud. It takes a lot of patience, knowledge and precision in order to find an area like that. Big carp pay attention to areas like this because they are something special. At the same time it’s hard to find these areas and many anglers fail to do so which brings an advantage to those who manage to find them. Only experience will bring you the right feeling of what a proper micro location means on a certain lake. There are no rules and each lake is different.
— How much bait do you put into each spot?
This depends on the lake, the season, how many fish are in the lake, how many anglers are fishing the lake at the same time… I would say the average is 1,5 kg of food per every carp caught. On some lakes it is more than that, on some lakes it is less.
— Have you ever caught fish using pop-ups? Generally speaking, what do you think about fishing with pop-ups?
Using only pop-up I caught just a few carp at the beginning of my career. I soon realized it is quicker to catch smaller carp using this technique but harder to catch bigger carp using just a pop up. In the past few years I am using bottom bait in combination with pop up a lot, in so called snow man. I can say I caught most of my biggest carp using that rig. I like to experiment with different fluro pop ups. My favourite are Pineapple & Banana, Mulberry Flurentine, Complex-T fluro and Hit&Run pop us (specially pink and yellow).
— How often do you recast your rods?
I try to change them as less as possible. I usually stick to a rule to recast a rod after 48 hours if I didn’t have a take on that rod.
— Do you change your bait depending on the year’s season? If yes, what namely is changed?
When it comes to boilies I don’t change them, I just change the quantity — feeding less in colder months. In winter time I really like to use pellets as well as add more hemp to my particles than in the summer.
— What’s your favourite Dynamite Baits boilie that you could share with our readers?
I have been fishing with Dynamite boilies for over a decade and practically achieved successful fishing sessions with all of them. It is many times hard to pick the one to take fishing with such a good selection of bait. All that said my favourites would definitely have to be: Squid & Octopus, The Source, Complex-T and Monster Tiger Nut.
— How much does the weather affect the activity of fish? Could you please mention the most convenient circumstances?
The weather is very important. Just like it affects our mood it also affects the carp. Usually big, rapid changes in temperature are bad for fishing, no matter if the temperature goes up or down. I personally like to have constant weather for several days in a row. To me this is the most important, other than that any weather conditions can be potentially good for fishing 😊
— There´s a theory that a big fish has its own «bait hours» and that it cannot be lured out at a different time.
I have to say this depends on the lake. There are lakes where you get most takes in the middle of the day, no matter if it is 30 degrees outside in the summer. On other lakes it is hard to catch a big carp during the day time. Every lake has a different rule. I personally caught more big carp during the day.
– You caught carp over 70 lb in 7 different countries. Which of these 70 pounds fish means the most to you and why?
Each of the fish is very special to me, I can shortly describe why.
Parco del Brenta (Italy) – On my second session at this lake I caught the biggest fish of the lake named Faustina with 32,3 kg. I missed the record weight of the lake by only 200 grams.
Etang 5 (France) – big and hard lake to fish. I was at the lake for the first time and on the 6th day I caught biggest carp of the lake – Big Girl weighing 38,6 kg (85,1lb).
Pelagičevo (Bosna) – I first visited the lake in april 2014 and set the new Bosnian record at the time with a carp of 32 kg.
Fzz (Austria) – I already mentioned I caught Erna four times and each time I caught her I improved my personal best. At the same time it was twice the new record carp of Austria.
Monster carp lake (Romania) – I caught the biggest fish of the lake last year weighing 31,8 kg and named it Dynamite which is after the name of my sponsors Dynamite Baits to who I will always be really grateful to for all their continuous help and support.
Šumbar (Croatia) – I recently managed to catch two amazing 70lb+ carp in one session – a mirror and a common.
Bled (Slovenia) – Is my home lake and in winter 2018 mi je uspelo ujeti največjega krapa v jezeru s težo 32,3 kg ter s tem dodal Slovenijo kot sedmo državo na svoj seznam.
— What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
If you want to be successful in carp angling long term there are three very important personal virtues one must possess in my opinion: modesty, patience and self-trust.
Modesty from the perspective of not setting your goals too high and being able to value smaller carp as well. At the same time staying down to earth while conquering first big achievements.
What I have in mind with patience and self-trust is sticking to what we do and believing in it 100%. For example I see a lot of anglers totally give up and change their strategy after two unsuccessful days because they saw their neighbour on the next peg doing something different. You have to first trust yourself and then as you learn and observe others you can think of how and why you would change your strategy and what you would gain by that. Many times it’s much better to wait and persist for another day or so and the results come.
General
— In Russia we have a lot of discussions about bait. There´s an opinion that only HNV-boilies can be used for catching big fish and nothing else. Various fruit boilies, pellets, liquids are suitable only for fishing at commercial reservoirs
I wouldn’t agree with that completely. Definitely not only these boilies. There are no certain rules in fishing. For sure we have better options for a big catch with good quality boilies but it also depends on the lake and what the carp in the lake are used to eating. Fruit and nut boilies are best bait for big carp on some lakes. But for sure I can agree that less liquids is better for catching big, old carp.
— What´s your opinion on sport carpfishing and have you ever taken part in it?
Last competition I took part in was WCC at Bolsena in 2014. I did compete in Slovenian national competition with my father and my friend between 2004 and 2009. We became national champions twice and went to world championship to represent my country. Sport/competition carp fishing and fishing for big fish are two different worlds. I decided to put my time and energy into catching big carp. If you want to succeed in something you have to put all your focus and effort on that one thing.
— Have you ever been to Russia?
No, haven’t been to Russia yet. It was planned for me to take part in a fishing show in Russia for Dynamite Baits but the plans changed last minute. I would love to visit your country and hopefully I soon get the chance.
— Do you have a desire to go on a fishing trip to our country?
Yes, of course. I love to go fishing to different countries and explore new lakes which offer new challenges. Željko Capan, the trainer of the Russian national carp fishing team, is my good friend and we often discuss fishing options in Russia. My big wish is to come fish Volga river.
— This year our team will participate in WCC and IBCC for the first time. Have you ever attended these tournaments and what advice could you give to our team?
I attended WCC at lake Bolsena, Italy twice. I don’t have experiences with IBCC. First of all you need a lot of luck to begin with at every competition to get a good swim. It is important to always do your best and the results will come (if the fishing position enables that).
— There can be much silt in our reservoirs. What advice could you give concerning fishing on silty reservoirs?
I often fish in 5-15 cm of silt. There are different kinds of silt — deep old silt which consists of dead leaves and plants and is not suitable for fishing (if we set our bait here it will soon gather the unpleasant smell) and there is also thinner, harder silt which doesn’t have such a strong smell and can be a very productive spot for fishing. This kind of silt offers lots of natural food for the carp which means the fish are used to feeding there.
People often make the mistake of using more liquids and dips when fishing in silt as they think the bait has to be more attractive because of the silt. I absolutely don’t agree with that as carp are adapted to find food and eat in the silt. The intensive smell of the bait is more likely to make them more cautious or scare them away.
Quick questions!
- Tea or Coffee? — Tea
- Common or Mirror? — Mirror
- Wide Gape or Curve Shank? — Wide Gape
- Train or Airplane? — Airplane
- Silt or Gravel? — Gravel
- Basketball or Football? — Football
- Boxing or MMA? — None
- 12 ft or 13 ft? — 12ft
- Sinking Braid or Coated Hooklink? — Coated Hooklink
- Inline or Safety Clip? — Inline
- Monster Tiger Nut or Complex-T — 😊Monster Tiger Nut
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