“The fish have become cunning”: an angler from Kuva tells of a 17-kilogram bream caught at the Karkidon Reservoir

A Kun.uz correspondent visited the Karkidon Reservoir in the Fergana region and spoke with experienced angler Koyil aka Abdurakhmonov. He talked about his record catch, his favorite fishing spots, and why large fish have been caught less often lately.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 31 October 2026 at 13:052 min read

The key facts

At the Karkidon Reservoir in the Kuva district, anglers keep fishing despite the cold weather
Angler Koyil aka Abdurakhmonov caught a 17 kg bream here — landing it took an hour and a half
He also mentions catches of a 16 kg wild carp and a 14 kg grass carp

Fishing in cold weather

The Karkidon Reservoir in the Kuva district of the Fergana region, as usual, is filled with people: anglers come here to fish together with their loved ones. Despite the drop in air temperature, fish keep taking the bait — Kun.uz reports after visiting the reservoir and talking with experienced anglers about what fishing really means.

A record catch and a family tradition

The main hero of this story is Koyil aka Abdurakhmonov, for whom fishing has been a hobby since childhood: his father took him fishing from the age of 7–8, and now he takes his grandchildren along. After retiring, he comes to the reservoir twice a week — in his free time from farming. On the day of the conversation, he had cast six hooks into the water.

An hour and a half of battling a bream

His most memorable catch was made right here at the Karkidon Reservoir — a bream weighing 17 kg. It happened during the month of Ramadan, during iftar (shom mahalla) with a friend: the line suddenly went taut, and both of them set off after the fish in a boat. Because of its size, landing it took an hour and a half, after which they managed to bring the fish in. According to the angler, he later caught a 16 kg wild carp and a 14 kg grass carp at the same spot.

“The fish have become cunning”

The angler complains that lately large fish are caught less often: “The fish have become either smarter or more cunning.” He notes that the bite depends on the weather and wind direction, and the result is unpredictable: sometimes by 1 p.m. not a single fish has been caught all morning, and there are days when they return home empty-handed — but with luck one can catch 20–30 kg. Besides Karkidon, he goes fishing in Arnasoy, Chust and at the Chartok Reservoir.