An incredible 120-hour match in Croatia produced 79 carp over 40lb with the biggest going a massive 76lb 12oz.

The Moscow Carp Club event saw nine teams from the Russian capital taking part, alongside outfits from Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus.

This was no ‘knock-up’ either, with an entry fee of £2,000 and big cash prizes for the top five teams including E9,000 to the winners, E7,000 to the second team and E5,000 to the third. There was also E3,000 for the biggest carp and E2,500 for the biggest grass carp landed by anglers who were not in the first three teams.

Maxima Club Moscow weighed in 55 carp including a 62-pounder for a winning weight of 1996.03kg. They also had four 50-pounders and 28 more over 30lb.

Second spot went to Tri Bogatiria Club Moscow with 1,341.06kg, including the 76-pounder. Gosti Club Moscow picked up the third placed prize money thanks to their 1062.09kg total.

In an incredible match there were 282 carp caught, averaging nearly 44lb, for a combined total weight among the 12 competing teams of nearly 9500kg. The biggest grass carp caught weighed nearly 50lb.

Brit Jim Burton, who attended the match said: “I took up an invite from Andrey Zakharoff from Old Ghost Russia to attend after meeting him at the EFFTEX Show. I’m a match angler and I’d not done this ‘five days and nights of fishing from a tent’ lark before, so it was a bit strange for me, especially getting woken up in the middle of the night. But when a 50lb carp decides to have a feed on your bait, well it is quite exciting!

“This event is known as the ‘Friendly Competition’ as there is as much good food and drinking as there is fishing. There is talk of an invitation for an English team next year.”