20.04.17

Steve Ringer recalls winning Hungary’s Daiwa Feeder Challenge!

Last weekend saw Team Guru’s Steve Ringer travel to Hungary, where he won the Daiwa Feeder Challenge on a renowned international venue – the Szeged Rowing Coarse!

Absolutely delighted with his win and still excited about the fishing, Steve told us about the tactics, baits and tackle he used to take victory with 30.440kg of carp, carrassio and F1s.

“I always get mega excited about going to Hungary each year, and enjoy both the WalterLand Masters team pole match and the Daiwa Feeder Challenge. Unfortunately, the team match didn’t go to plan for me and my Daiwa team this year, but the fishing was still great, we learned a lot, and we had the feeder event to look forward to.

“With 165 anglers fishing, pegs on this long, straight venue ran from 11 to 175. I drew 160 which I was happy with, because in the pole matches the last 20 pegs seemed to hold a lot of carp.

“I set up four rods, a baiting-up/feeding rod and three 11ft Tournament Quivers to fish with. Reels were TDR4012s loaded with 8lb Guru Pulse line. My hooklengths were made on 0.13mm N-Gauge to size 14 Guru Feeder Special hooks.

“At the start I fed four litres of groundbait containing corn, hemp, joker and dead maggots at 15m using a big feeder on my feeding rod, before starting on a four-hole cage cast just 16m out, which was just beyond where I fed the initial bombardment. The theory was that the fish were reluctant to settle over a large bed of bait but like to sit off the back of it.

“In the smaller feeder I fished with a local leam, and in each feeder I put two grains of corn, two dead maggots, a pinch of hemp and a tiny amount of joker. After the ten-minute baiting period I hooked a carp first cast on four dead maggots only too lose it when I got cut off on the near ledge! The first hour was then slow and I had just one small 1kg carp and two small F1s in the net. At this point I decided to up the loose offerings I was putting through the feeder and this worked a treat. The next 90 minutes was manic as a procession of carp and F1s came to the net, all to bunches of dead maggots. It then totally died though and with close to 20 kilo in the net I knew I needed another burst of fish."

Having spare hook lengths was essential, as the nearside ledge was a harsh snag!

Steve fed a big bed of bait at 15m, and fished past it at 16m.

“With nothing to lose I put another litre of groundbait in at 15m and decided to stay patient and not cast as often - in other words sit and wait! In the last 90 minutes I only managed five more carp, losing two to hook pulls frustratingly. On the plus side though they were a good stamp and I felt I now had 25kg plus. With five minutes to go though I felt I had one more bite in me. With no playing fish time at the hooter there was two and a half minutes to go when I got the bite I wanted. When I first picked up I knew it was a good fish and felt time was against me. Luckily though I managed to stop the first run and by keeping the rod low and only lifting it at the last minute I landed the 2.500kg fish with still a minute to go!

“A quick word must be spoke about the bites which were best described as ferocious at such short range! The secret was to never take your eyes off the tip and make sure that when it moved you were on it instantly so you could get the right angle on the rod. I also think soft rods helped which is why the 11ft Tournament quivers were so good for the job! One last little trick was to use a line marker pen on the mainline to put a small mark where your clip was. This way when I needed to take the clip off (and I did a few times!) I could quickly clip back up the right spot with just one false cast to put the clip back on. Not only did this save time but it ensured I was always fishing accurately which is vital on venues such as this!

“That was it and at the scales I put 30.440kg on to win my zone. It was now a case of waiting and it wasn’t long before the news came in that I had not only won my zone but the whole match too! I have to admit this is a match that I really wanted to win having had a third two-years previously, as well as having won my zone the previous year too! It also made up for a slightly disappointing two days in the Walterland Masters the previous two days, and made the long journey home that little bit easier too!”

Terminal tackle choice was a size 14 LWGF Feeder Special to 0.13mm N-Gauge line.

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