UK Champ Steve Ringer Tackles New Venue With Baits He's "Never Used Before!'

You would have thought Steve Ringer had seen it all when it came to fishing. However, on his first-ever trip to a Carpadrome in Belgium, Steve set out with the challenge to catch a 10kg carp by edge fishing using a combination of baits he had never fished before.

With a mix of wheat and hemp to target large carp and chickpeas as a hookbait, Steve was eager to see what he could catch.

Steve set out to catch a 10kg carp and was looking to fish down the margin to tackle a carp of that size. His chosen tackle for this challenge included red hydro, 0.22mm n-gauge mainline, to a 4-inch hooklength with 0.19 n-gauge and a size 12 super XS spade hook.

The float choice was a 0.4g margin diamond, ideal for fishing perfectly in shallow water. This float was selected for its sensitivity and stability in shallow water conditions. Paired with the brand-new Guru N-Gauge Margin XS pole, Steve was well-prepared for a day of battling big carp. The pole was chosen for its strength and rigidity, allowing Steve to handle the large carp he was targeting.

He began fishing with two big pots of wheat and hemp, followed by his first attempt at catching a carp on chickpeas.

Steve quickly encountered an unusual problem: too many carp in his swim. To combat this issue, Steve had two choices: lay the rig in and drag it against the bank, initiate some competition feeding, or wait for the carp to hook itself.

Or, he can do the same technique, but rather than waiting for the carp to hook itself, he likes to strike with a light lift.

To tackle this issue further, Steve decided to fish inside the bait. So, he fed slightly further away from the bank and then put his hook bait inside that feed, tight to the slope, bankside. The fish were feeding lakeside of the float, working their way towards the hookbait. These changes eventually meant Steve got his first bite.

Now that Steve had learned loads about feeding the margins in this new venue, he made some changes in his approach, changing from a large pot to a extra large pole-mounted pot so he could feed less, attract fewer fish, and, therefore, be more accurate and clinical in his fishing. This worked perfectly, as the next bite was much cleaner.

Steve continued to fish throughout the day, and while he never achieved that 10kg target, he quickly applied what he had learned about his feeding and caught an impressive number of big carp throughout the day.

If you want to see the remainder of Steve's session, watch the full video of Ringer's trip to Belgium below.