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Daiwa man’s 30kg net triumphs on Hungary rowing course
STEVE Ringer added another big European title to his packed CV after beating the 167-strong field in the Daiwa Feeder Challenge on Hungary’s Szeged Rowing Course last week with a 30-440 carp net.
Fished as a one-off event after the two-day Walterland Masters, former World Feeder Champ Steve put the disappointment of an indifferent weekend on the team match behind him by leading them home on the feederonly match, which was fished to strict international rules.
Opting to fish just one line around 15m out, Daiwa/Guru man Steve netted carp to 3kg, fishing an open end feeder with dead red maggots on the hook to finish almost 3kg clear.
He had the two-day Walterland event, plus knowledge of landing carp quickly back home in the UK, to thank for his triumph.
“The venue had changed from last year in that more carp as opposed to carassio were present and because it was an individual event. This allowed me to attack the peg more than I had done in the previous two days,” Steve said. “Because bait had been going in for six days on the 13m pole line, it made sense to fish the feeder just past this mark as opposed to further out, where there was no feed at all. I fed five litres of groundbait, packed with corn, hemp, joker and dead maggots, but then changed to a leam mix through the feeder.
“I’ve found fish on the continent don’t settle over groundbait as they do in England – it works more as an attractor at the start and after this, leam is much better,” he continued.
“It was also important to keep creeping out further into the peg as the match went on, as the carp seemed to back off. Although I started at 15m, I’d add another 50cm to the cast during the match and often catch as soon as I made the change.”
A slow first hour saw the peg improve, with Steve enjoying a
good spell catching big carassio and the odd carp before it went dead, prompting him to cast further out and keep in touch with the fish.
“Why did the fish back off? I think the noise of the feeder going in spooked them, but also at 15m range there was still a slight slope to the bottom and so bait was being pushed down this a little further out,” he explained.
“This effectively offered the fish free food in an area where there wasn’t any obvious danger. What was also vital was to land the carp quickly as the fish turned up in your peg and fed for a short spell, so it was crucial to make the most of things when they were there. Because I do a lot of carp fishing in the UK, I could land fish much quicker than those around me.”