Ringer brothers win pairs final with Hybrid feeder masterclass

The Ringer Baits Boddington Reservoir Pairs series began with a bang for brothers Phil and Steve Ringer, who made it two wins out of two at the sprawling Northamptonshire water to pocket the £500 prize.

Fishing against 27 other pairs, the two England Feeder men cast in excess of 70m to keep in touch with Boddy’s famed big carp. Scoring two section wins, Phil and Steve triumphed over Jason and Graham Morris who also won their sections.

Finishing first and third individually, it didn’t take long to work out who had topped the shop, the 205-9-0 of the winners easily eclipsing the Morris’ 136-9-0. Phil, top man on the day, had 109-1-0 from peg 10 on the sailing club bank to make the win sweeter.

“After taking second overall last week, I fancied going one better,” Phil said.

“The mild weather means there are still carp to be caught off every peg. I set myself a target of seven or eight fish, which average 10lb apiece, and finished with eleven.”

In the clear water, Phil relied on a washed out yellow 8mm wafter, casting a Hybrid feeder 60m and only going out to 75m when bites stopped. A blank opening hour gave way to much better sport, four carp in four casts getting him off the mark in hour two.

“Cast times were 10 to 15 minutes max as the fish were feeding well, some pulling the rod round within a minute of the feeder settling,” he continued.

“Even though there were carp topping all over, it was important to keep casting to the same spot except in the last hour when the bites ceased.

“I also found that by leaving the wafter just showing on top of the pellets in the feeder, I could get a bite that much quicker.”

The Hybrid feeder was vital to Phil’s win