Friday July 25:

I wake up with a very sore back because I stayed up late and typed on the computer the night before.

After the usual breakfast, Tamas drove me over to Laci and Agy's house on Magyar Ut in Nagykanizsa(50 000 people).

They have a lovely small house, very picturesque and clean. A lot of work has gone into the house since they first purchased it.

Laci showed me the garden. It has changed drastically in 4 years. Many grapes have moved and there are NO beehives. They are now out of town about 10-12 km away.

We have a few drinks before lunch(ebed). There is halaszle (fish soup) for lunch...just in case we do not catch any fish. There is toros testa – noodles with cottage cheese and fried bacon on top. This is traditionally served with the halaszle. Very rich. Then there is dessert, chocolate covered cherry cake and also a chestnut (gaston ?) filed roll cake. Coffee and that makes for big meal.

We relax for some of the afternoon or should I say recover from lunch. Laci will show me his beehives before we go fishing.

The hives are about 10 km out of town down a two tire road. The hives occupy about a plot 30 m by 30 m. The lot is surrounded by a 2 m fence. There are about 20 hives there. I am dressed in a beekeepers outfit (head-to-toe).

The bees are first smoked when the hive is opened. This makes them listless. They don't attack and I wonder why we are dressed so much. Laci says these are European bees and not agressive...definitely.

After looking at several hives Laci finds the Queen in each to make sure they are there. One queen for each...makes a family. There are lots of “baby” bees but not much honey at this time of year. The fall will bring honey. Laci has notes on each hive. Robi also has hives here. Much work went into clear-cutting the trees.

We are off to pick up Robi. He is about 5 km away in a small village. He is ready and has all of the fishing gear we will ever need. There are 3 collapsible chairs as well.

Laci has picked up some “bait” before we went. A plastic bag with grain and the fly larvae.

The lake is another 5-10 km down a very beat-up road. It is the same lake we went to 4 years ealier.

After setting up, it is close to 5 pm. The rods are very long but the 2 hook is tiny. There is a basket to hold corn nibbles and the grain which has been wetter. There is a small basket on the fishing line to hold a little of the grain/corn mixture. We use some larvae on the small hook.

We cast the lines out to where we can see carp.

The first few fish are mudcats about 4-5 inches...tiny but they are taken off with gloves.

After a while I am casting well. Robi uses a bobber and hook.

More small mudcats. We switch to corn nibbles with honey on them.

Finally, I catch a kaseg of some length. Unfortunately these fish are very boney and not worth keeping. Pictures are taken.

Nothing bigger is caught. It rains a little off and on for a bout 1 hour total. A few friends of Robi pass by. One stays to fish, he is after a BIG fish (a pike of sorts). He uses one of our smal kasegs for bait.

At 8:30 pm we are off to home. It takes us about an hour.

I will use Agy and Laci's large bed. I sleep very well and my back is much better by the morning.