It was a great sunny morning. My dad has decided to take me and my sister out for a late fall fishing, so we went along.

I have never fished in Kazakhstan before and was quite curious about it.

We drove out of the city for about an hour until we reached a small village. We had a land cruiser so it was easy to drive through a seriously bumpy road. There were mountains of hay around the road — people are getting ready for the long winter.

We left the car by the river and began setting up. Apparently, we were going to try spinning. I was given a thin fishing road with a little bait attached to the end of the line. Bait was made of rubber, had a shape of a small bright green fish, and smelled like squid. I wondered if my cat would bite into it if it found it lying on the floor.

There was the Irtysh river, narrow and fast. The temperature was only about -12 C, so there was no ice on it just yet. I went down closer to the river and found two “holes” in the ground where I could put my feet and not be afraid to fall and roll down into the water.

I threw the rod in and rolled the bait back, untouched, for about an hour, before something happened. I felt a strong pull, bent forward, started spinning the rod like a manwoman, pulled a bit too hard and fell on my behind into the bush behind me, yelling for someone to come and save my fish before i go down the river with it. #dramaqueen

My dad came to the rescue and pulled the long, sharp-teethed pike out. That was how i half-caught my first pike.

We stayed for another 6-7 hours, snacking with baked potatoes, boiled eggs and sausages in between. The trip ended with my dad and uncle sharing a bottle of vodka and celebrating the fact that we caught about 11 pikes.

Fun times :) Can’t wait to experience it in winter, when we need to drill a hole into a river and sit next to it, hoping to catch a fish AND not fall into a cold river through broken ice.

Come to Kazakhstan for fishing!