SPECIES: BARBEL EXPERT: Dean Macey

TV presenter and former Olympic decathlete, Dean has fished all over the country for a range of species

YOU can’t beat barbel fishing in the autumn. I love it! And when it comes to venues, the River Wye in Herefordshire is one of my favourites. My approach for targeting barbel here is incredibly simple. There’s no need to overcomplicate things. I start by baiting up a few likely spots with some hemp stodged up into a sloppy mix with a little groundbait. Hemp is an excellent base ingredient because all fish love it. I introduce the mix using a baitdropper and make five or six casts. By the time I return to the spot the fish have usually arrived and it’s just a case of getting a rig out without spooking them. When you cast a baitdropper it’s important to let it drop on a slack line. This ensures it descends in a dead straight line to the riverbed and your freebies are deposited on exactly the same spot every time. My barbel kit comprises a 12ft, 1.75lb test curve rod paired with a small freespool reel. I use 10lb Guru Drag Line for my mainline unless conditions are really snaggy in which case I step up to 12lb. On to the mainline I thread 6in of anti-tangle tubing for abrasion resistance against the rocks which litter the riverbed. Below this, I add a Guru Micro lead clip and attach a 2oz-4oz Grippa lead depending on the weight required to hold bottom in the flow. Grippas, as their name suggests, are by far the best style of lead to stay in place on the bottom. Another advantage, and this is one of my favourite little tips, is that the hole in the centre of the lead can be plugged with paste for extra attraction. I then tie a 2ft Pure Fluorocarbon hooklink to a size 10 Guru MWGB hook with a hair-rigged 11mm oily pellet hookbait, trimmed so it releases extra oils. I complete the set-up by threading on a mesh PVA bag of mixed pellets. I thread it on to the hook as opposed to just nicking it on as this prevents it coming off too soon and rolling downstream away from the hookbait. I tie my bags the day before the session so that the PVA absorbs some of the oil which gives me a few extra seconds of leaking time in the water.