NEW PERSONAL BEST FOR CLAUDIA DARGA

German carp star recollects a successful trip to France including bagging a new PB from Cavagnac Lake

Cavagnac and a new day-ticket PB..

I had six wonderful days to spend at the legendary Cavagnac Lake.

This is a beautiful pay fishing lake in the south of France. It is well stocked with some decent carp up to an incredible 70lb and I was super excited for the challenge. I met up with three friends of mine to spend a nice and relaxing time together on the bank.

The beautiful Lake Cavagnac holds carp to 70lb

In all honsety, I wanted to stay the whole trip at the public water but as my friends wanted to visit us, I called the owner of Cavagnac lake and he luckily had two spaces left. They were not the best spots, but we wanted to make the most of it. The lake is just perfect for spending a great time with family and friends. I have been to the lake already the year before and caught some nice carp. This time I was already prepared and knew how to fish the venue.

The approach

The key to success was a size 7-8 hook paired with a single 20mm Hot Fish boilie a bait which was so successful last year I couldn’t not bring some along. I primarily fished with these again but also some Source boilies as these are a really good bait for this water. So I fished two rods with Hot Fish and one rod with The Source.

I soaked the baits 24 hours before fishing in lake water as the bottom of the lake is quite muddy and I didn’t want the boilies to soak in the taste of the mud like they would if I fed them straight out of the bag. Also, it helps to get the baits a bit washed out making them less wary to Cavagnac’s big carp! Just perfect for this water.

Go small to catch big

I decided to just fish with my hookbait and  around 10 free baits around it. A tactic I use regularly. I am not a big fan of a lot of bait and spodding out. Even had on big waters, bigger than 100 hectares I’ve had a lot of success with this approach.

A single 20mm Hot Fish or The Source boilie with a few freebies was Claudia’s chosen approach

If I am able to localise the fish, I get quick takes without waiting. And out of my experience those fish are, in average, bigger than those caught on a heavily baited spot. However, this tactic demands very high-quality baits as the fish need to find it and want to eat them as well.

Successful session

At Cavagnac, there were 15 other anglers that shared the lake with me during my stay, meaning a lot of fishing pressure during the session. Despite this I still managed to catch around 20 fish myself and lost about five other fish due to snagging up in the thick water lilies on the lake. I managed a new personal best at 61lb 7oz which was also the biggest fish caught during this week. I was over the moon especially since there were so many fishing the lake!

Claudia’s new PB – 61lb 7oz of pure Cavagnac muscle

I had another fish at 50lb 7oz to go with the sixty and a couple of 40 pounders rounding off an epic trip! What a great session and we only stayed six instead of the planned seven nights. My tactics with a single washed out boilie, a small hook and a hand full of Hot Fish or The Source boilies did the job and ended up with this great result. That was such a great trip with so nice company and a lot of fun. Being successful at the same time and sharing it with your friend is the best thing about fishing!! See you next time.. Claudia