Look Out! Giant Carp Swimming
Passion drives fisherman's quest for big fish, which he never eats.
PARIS, Sept. 20, 2010— -- Frenchman Raphael Biagini is not your typical fisherman. At 30, he has a passion for big fish, very big fish. But not any big fish. Big carps. He is a specimen hunter. His biggest catch: a mirror carp he named "Nautilus," weighing more than 78 pounds.
His passion for carp started one early morning at the age of 12 when Biagini was trying to catch perch in a small French river. Suddenly, a carp rose to the bait. But it got away.
"A complete novice, I was fascinated by the strength of this 'opponent' which was unknown to me," he told ABC News. "This first fight was not a defeat but the beginning of a long passion. I'm convinced I was born for this.
"I like catching all kinds of fish," he added, "but I find the carp to have an identity. When you're rather an observer, it is easy to notice that none of the carps are identical."
For Biagini, a management assistant for an investment firm in Montpellier in the south of France, the main quality of a good carp-catcher is to be passionate. "For me, to be a good or a bad fisherman does not mean anything," he said.
"We don't fish to show the others who is the best, we do it for ourselves. In the end, whatever Mr. X or Y catch, only the notions of pleasure and well-being have an importance."
Besides being equipped with the appropriate gear to catch such a strong and heavy fish, a carp catcher needs to be a sharp strategist. "This is a fish that, to be duped, demands the use of real fishing strategies, such as in a chess game," he said.
"This is a powerful fighter, which knows perfectly how to make use of its environment to defend itself."
Experience and some luck do the rest.
There is no real method to catch a big fish, Biagini said. "Before wanting to catch a giant fish, one must be able to catch just one, even a modest size carp," he said.
"When one thinks he understands how to trap one, it's the accumulation of factors, sometimes uncontrollable for some of them, that will make the catching of a fish possible."
