17.09.18

River Wye Rewards For Dean Macey!

A recent trip to the River Wye saw Tackle Guru's Dean Macey enjoy some early autumn action! He uncovers the ins and outs right here!

"It’s been a LONG time since I had some time to myself on the bank, so I was buzzing when I managed to get a day on the Wye with no cameras, just some hard fighting barbel and me!

"The river was low and clear so I decided to ditch the feeder this time and replace it with a lead and pva bags full of mixed Mainline and Hinders boilie and pellet. I never use just one flavour when I’m boilie fishing for carp and I take that same approach to my barbel fishing. You never know on the day which will perform, so giving them a choice is always a safer bet in my opinion. Well, it certainly seems to work for me!

"Rigs were simple as ever…10lb Guru Drag Line as mainline, a Guru Micro Lead Clip setup, a 4oz Gripper Lead, two feet of Korda 10lb IQ2 Fluorocarbon and a size 10 Guru MWGB hook.

"Thinking the fish wouldn’t be climbing up the line, my plan was to leave the rod as long as I could on every chuck. With a little weed coming down, the 4oz Gripper held for about 30-40 min each cast. Freebies were scattered over the top every 15 min. They love the sound of free food. Spots varied from swim to swim but as a rule of thumb, I always aim to present a bait in the fastest part of the river or on the outside of any creases. With more water on it would be totally different but in low clear conditions at this time of year, most fish are looking for grub."

Loose feeding to get fish in the area is vital.

A size 10 MWGB is Deans favourite barbel hook.

"It was a perfect trip really. I caught from every one of the five swims I tried and the first fish from each swim was the biggest. Even though I probably could have stayed put in either one and caught more, I moved on after two or three fish. I would rather catch one fish from five swims than 25 fish from one swim to be honest!

"Lots of people think I fish the Wye a lot. The truth is that I probably do a few days every year and that’s it. That way, it’s always a treat when I’m there for myself. The highlight of the trip was the fact that it took me 10 years to catch two doubles from the Wye and then 2 more fish of 10.2lb and 10.7lb come along in the same day on this more recent trip! It might take another few seasons for me to see another 10lb plus Wye barbel in the bottom of my net, but it’s not the size of the fish that I travel 180 miles for!"

This 10.7lb cracker was the biggest of the trip!

Small PVA bags did the trick in clear water.

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