23.06.14

A New Season - Dean Macey

The first cast of the river season is always a very special moment and there's no better place in my mind to make that first cast than the River Wye. The fish, scenery and the fact that when you book with the Wye and Usk Foundation you get the whole stretch to yourself for the day, which makes it just that little bit more enjoyable. This season was no different; even though I missed the magical 16th, I did manage to get out a few days later on a stretch of the Wye that I filmed on for Fishing Gurus last year. The filming last year wasn't that productive so I was fully prepared to work hard for every bite, but it turned out to be one of the most prolific days I've had on the river in a long time.

On arrival, it was clear that the river was very low and clear, couple that with the bright sunshine and you have got some very trying conditions indeed. In these situations, when everything is against you on rivers, a little patient is the angler’s best asset. So, with that in mind, I walked the whole stretch of the river and baited every likely looking swim with Hinders medium Elips pellets. I gave every swim at least an hour before fishing them just to give the fish as much time as possible to gain their confidence.

My first cast was made around 10am and to be fair, after walking my legs down to stumps, I would have been quite happy for the fishing to have been a little slow, but within the first 60-seconds I received a viscous wrap round on the rods and was soon connected to a spirited chub. Second cast was the same, so was the third and fourth, but on the fifth cast of the day the rod flew round and kept going! My first 6-foot twitch of the season and soon after I landed a stunning barbel of about 6lb.

This was to be the way the whole day went. Every cast, in every swim that I baited resulted in a fish. Mainly chub up to around the 5lb marks with a few barbel thrown in for good measure.

Rig wise, as always, I kept it very simple. 10lb Drag Line down to a Guru Micro Lead Clip, 2oz Guru Cage Feeder loaded with Barbel Bomb ground bait and mixed pellets, 10lb IQ2 hook link of about 18" and a size 10MWGB. Hook bait choice of the day was either a glugged up Hinders Blitz ready-made dumbell boilie or a glugged up Mainline New Grange.

The fishing was spectacular, verging on the ridiculous at times with me having to wind in just to find time to eat myself.

What a way to kick start the new season!


Dean Macey

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