03.10.13

Beast Of A Barbel - Dean Macey



Our resident Olympic barbel basher, Dean Macey, has been in action once again at his favorite local river resulting in a magnificent season’s best of 13lb 10oz.

Dean told us, "I've had limited time over the last month, so when I’ve managed to get out I've had to make sure I made the most of my time. The key to my results so far this year is the groundwork I've been putting in before wetting a line.

On recent trips I spent hours walking the bank and drip-feeding small amounts of bait in various swims to try and locate either individual fish or on the odd occasion a shoal. One of the reasons I love rivers so much is that every time we receive a decent amount of rain and the rivers push the limits of it capacity, the swim change and fish will inevitably move, meaning that your work is never done.

On this trip I arrived with just an hour of light left so I headed to a swim that I had managed to feed but not catch a few fish from during my last visit. Hoping they would still be up for some grub, I bait dropped three droppers of Hinders small Elips pellet and Mainline’s New Grange pellet and left the swim to settle while I rigged up my rod. All in all I left the swim to rest for about 30 minutes, I would have liked longer but I wanted to see the spot I was lowering my small PVA bag onto. As the sun dipped behind the trees I sat back thinking that everything felt perfect. I didn't have to wait long before, without warning, my rod slammed round to alarming angle and I was holding on for dear life. It was one of those barbel fights that make you question the gear that you’re using but my 10lb SUBline, 18lb Supernatural hook link and size-10 MWG barbed held firm and soon I had a stunning belter of a barbel resting in the net.
I was presently surprised when the needle span round to 13.10lb but I’m certainly not complaining.
Winter will soon be here and bites will soon slow down so get out and try your luck, this is the perfect time to of year to get out and catch a chunk".

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