The Romanian team won the World Angling Championships held at Lake Corbu, Constanta, in Romania at the end of September, but the English team complained that they were cheated out of the fishing prize. Speaking to the British press, they said that the Romanians had been feeding carp in the lake with a special bait for months and by the time the competition started the fish were hooked on the locals’ secret bait mixture. Team Romania dominated the competition, catching over 1.7 tonnes of fish and winning team gold, as well as the individual gold and bronze medals.

“It is obvious that any team fishing with the particular type of bait would do well and the rest would really struggle to get a bite. Within two hours of the match starting we were asking ourselves questions about the bait,” said Ian Huntington of the English team, quoted by the Independent.

But they conceded that it wasn’t against the rules, complaining instead that it wasn’t “in the spirit of fair play.” Other teams that practiced at the lake before the competition caught on to the bait trick and had more success, but the wily Romanians ruled the day and were crowned the carp catching kings of the world.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: http://www.worldcarp2012.com)