Year's Biggest for Deano - Dean Macey

My fishing time has been very limited over the last few months, so all my personal sessions have been very short evening trips after barbel and chub. On tricky venues, keeping your finger on the pulse is very important so when I do get a few hours to wet a line, at least I can be sure of being on some fish. My first few trips to my local river resulted in one small chub that fell off just beside the net, so not that successful at all. However, I knew that I was getting closer by a process of elimination.

This trip I decided to fish quite a long way downstream of where I normally find a few fish, in the hope of getting away from the crowds and more importantly, changing my luck. I fed my chosen swim with a dozen 10mm Hydrid boilies from Mainline and a few small balls of Hinders Barbel Bomb paste, then went for a walk for an hour. My first cast was made just as the light started to fade. This time of year, daytime action can be slow in coming but at dusk and dawn, if you’re on fish, it can be very productive.

After the lead went in nice and quietly, I scattered another five baits around the hook bait. It was clear from the start that there was a fish or two in the area as I had a couple of liners within the first 10 minutes. About 40 minutes after I made my first cast the tip went round and I was soon into a decent chub. Holding station in the current, it swung into the margins looking for a snag to shed the hook in but steady pressure kept it heading in my direction and I soon netted my biggest chub of the season.
At 6lb 12oz it was a big fish and well worth the 80-mile round trip for just a few hours fishing. The rig was the very simple and one I use for most of my river fishing now days, incorporating 10lb Drag Line, a Micro Lead Clip (fished running), two foot of 10lb IQ2 and a size 10 MWGB.