Quick Questions with... Claudia Darga

This month our foreign correspondent Claudia Darga answers the questions.

Three words to describe yourself?
Easy-going, funny, reliable.

Who have been your biggest influences in carp fishing?
My fishing friends from my home town, Hamburg. They were the first to bring me into carp fishing and had the patience to teach me, even when I asked the same question several times.

Scariest moment on the bank?
Once when night fishing I heard some noises and looked up with my headtorch and just saw the eyes of a big Rottweiler, with no idea if he was a nice one or not. After jumping into my tent it turned out that he was a very nice dog.

How long have you been carp fishing?
I went on my first carp fishing trip nine years ago; in the beginning it was just as a guest but actively participating for seven years.

How did you start carp fishing?
With my boyfriend and his fishing friends.

Other sporting interests?
Nothing… so I stuck to carp fishing. I guess if I had an interest in other sports, I would not be able to invest that much time in carp fishing. However, nowadays I am working out every second day to prepare myself for the big fight at the bank.

One day left to go fishing, where would you go?
To a hidden lake where no one else has ever has been before (not sure if this exists, though).

Worst fishing-related injury?
So far I no real injuries yet – I’ve hooked myself quite a lot but not too badly, luckily.

Best three anglers you’ve ever worked with?
Jakub Vágner, Kristof Cuderman, Martin Bowler.

Your favourite moment in your carp angling career?
When I caught my first fish at Lac de Saint-Cassien – after having blanked several days in a row I got it in the last 10 minutes of the trip. And it was a 50lb-plus two-tone common carp, which is also my current PB. I was almost the only one who stuck to the ban on night fishing, and thus always was the last at the water and the first to leave. Those days were super-exhausting but they paid off.

Favourite capture?
It’s for sure that carp I caught at Cassien.

Three things you’d never go fishing without?
Wine, 10 pair of socks, headtorch.

Any regrets?
Not checking the air in the tyre of my trolley and having to do a 1km walk with all my tackle. Took me an hour and a half.

Biggest character you have met through fishing?
Jakub Vágner. What are your favourite bits about carping? Having the time at the bank to finally come down from all work and worries, and just become one with nature.

Your least favourite bits?
Carying all the tackle to the spot and for sure the cold during winter times.

Who do you most admire in carp fishing?
Kristof Cuderman, just because he fishes with almost perfection and a lot of patience. A very easy style of fishing but super-effective.

Tell us a secret?
Some people that have never fished or even talked with me think I am not fishing myself. The secret to them is… that this is a lie. How could I spend around 50 nights a year at the bank without fishing? How can you work for five years in this industry, 30 hours a week, without being able to fish? Impossible.

Tea or Coffee?
Coffee, black.

Favourite biscuit?
M&M peanuts.

Favourite takeaway?
Pizza bun with a nice garlic dip.

Funniest moment on the bank?
When I fell into a lake in April it was so cold that I was just shocked by what happened. For five minutes afterwards I was not able to talk, while everyone else was laughing very badly.

One fish you would have loved to have caught – past or present?
I don’t fish for a specific fish in a certain lake as I prefer the bigger and unknown waters where you never know what will turn up. This makes fishing for me so much thrilling as you never know what is in for you.

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