Steve Ringer answers questions posed by Total-Fishing.com members as part of its Angling Direct competition….

Q: If you could pick one non English angler to represent England at a CIPS World Championship (either float or feeder) who would you select and why?? 
Dunno

Steve Ringer Says: That’s a difficult one but from what I have seen of the world feeder championships so far then it would have to be Theo Leijrik from Holland. I drew next to Theo last year in Italy and to say he was impressive to watch is an understatement. His casting is awesome, on a six pence every cast even at range and technically superb. Also he seems to feel no pressure and just gets on with the job which is vital in world championships. In Italy I was next peg to him and he beat me convincingly although I got my revenge in April this year by returning the favour on the rowing course in Ghent. One thing’s for sure though and that is I’d rather be fishing with him as opposed to against him so he’d be the one I’d have on my side given the chance!

Q: What’s the best fishing accessory (i.e. items under £10) in your box and why?
iansi01354

Steve Ringer Says: When you say best fishing accessory I presume you are talking bits and pieces so I would have to say sensas loop tyer. I first started using one around 8 years ago and can honestly say I’d now be lost without mine. For tying small uniform sized loops they are simply awesome. 

Q: Rank these in terms of importance; bait, depth, presentation…. and explain why you have chosen then in that order.
Jimmy Bronze

Steve Ringer Says: This is a difficult question to answer as all three are important. I would have to say though that my number one would be presentation for the reason that it doesn’t matter what depth or bait you are using if you are presenting the bait poorly then you aren’t going to catch no matter what bait or depth you are fishing at. From here it’s a really tricky one as on some venues I fish if you are on the wrong bait then you can literally struggle for a bite. Having said that I’m going to go for depth as at times finding the depth the fish want to be at can be crucial. When fishing for f1 carp for instance one of the most important parts of the day is working out what depth they want to be at. Once I sort the depth I can then put multiple lines in to take advantage of this. Same can be said for carp and I always say that if you are foul hooking carp in open water then chances are one of the reasons is likely to be that the carp want to be higher in the water than where you are fishing. To prevent this I will often replumb to find shallower water in order to see what difference that will make. So last but not least we have bait. I think the key with regards bait is to give yourself at least two options. This way if your opening gambit in terms of bait turns out to be wrong you can still change. An example of this would be taking pellets and meat. I love fishing meat and when it’s right there is no better bait but when its wrong there is nothing worse. Pellets on the other hand are a good safe option so I will therefore use them as a backup should the meat fail. At the opposite end of the scale I have never believed in taking lots of different baits as if you aren’t careful you can end up swapping and changing all day without giving anything a fair crack. Best to keep it to two, three baits tops as if you end up trying more than that then chances are you won’t be catching anyway!