Winter barbel fishing on the River Wey

It's mid-February and with a few early signs of spring to be enjoyed I try my hand at barbel fishing on a high and coloured River Wey, in Surrey. Using a traditional bait of flavoured meat, I fish into the dark and enjoy some beautiful nature in addition to the angling action. Enjoy the video and please subscribe to the channel for more films like this. The Magic of Fishing book is available from all major online book sellers. Tight lines!
TMOF book - rb.gy/z30o1e
#fishing #riverfishing #riverfish #barbelfishing #surrey #woking #eelfishing #fishingbait #fishingbaits #pleasurefishing #coarsefishing #feederfishing #winter #winterfishing

[@benjaminmiller6]

I lived in sendmarsh/ripley for 30 years growing up.. i never got to fish that stretch but we used to walk my dog along those banks. Ockham mill is great. My dad still lives in the village.. ive subscribed.

[@themagicoffishing]

Many thanks! I lived in Ripley for eight years too - lovely village aside from the traffic. Great to have you on board.

[@tonymiller681]

@@themagicoffishing I'm Ben's Dad. Our family is originally from Suffolk but Ripley is a wonderful place to live and fishing the Abbey Stream and Eel trap stream are early memories of Ben and I fishing together.

[@benjaminmiller6]

Amazing memories dad ❤

[@billsiviter9272]

Meat flavoured with Garlic granules in a plastic bag in the freezer is my favourite barbel bait. The Wey looks a lot like the Dove

[@themagicoffishing]

Plastic bag in the freezer is great advice for anyone reading this. I usually freeze my leftover meat in a zip bag and it seems to soak up more of the powdered flavour as it defrosts. I would love to fish the Dove and grew up fishing the Derwent in the Peak District. Got a whole chapter about it in my book, in fact, and I enjoy revisiting that neck of the woods whenever I’m back in Sheffield.

[@b62boom1]

I won't fish for barbel without garlic. I put the powder on everything. Maggots really soak the garlic flavour up and can completely outfish straight maggot. Garlic is really good for fish, it helps their digestive system, it helps with injury recovery, parasites like leeches really don't like it, as it comes out in the fishes slime. We use garlic oil throughout the winter and to a month or so after spawning on our supplementary feed we give the carp in my club lake. They used to get masses of leeches over the winter, it doesn't happen anymore because of the garlic oil. It's also good for their blood system. I'm convinced that fish can sense if something is good for them, and garlic is just that. I started using ridiculous amounts of garlic powder and oil and it was pretty shocking how my catch rate improved. It must be the same with barbel, they just love it. Great vid bud!

[@kobilux]

Well done, John. Excellent, when the big Chub turned into a lovely Barbel. The magic of fishing indeed. 😊

[@themagicoffishing]

Thanks and I'm glad you agree it was magical, rather than poor judgement 😄 I could blame the coloured water and strong current; or the fact I only saw a few glimpses of a rather pale flank to begin with; or the fact I'd had a nice chub out of the river a week or two previously; or, most likely, the fact I'm still learning when it comes to barbel! I can still count those I've caught on two hands, but it's addictive stuff and something I enjoy trying when the river's up. Always a risk explaining what you're setting out to do at the beginning of a few hours' fishing and filming, but single mindedness paid off and I was well chuffed as you could probably tell. Magic feeling indeed and they don't need to be monsters 🎣

[@markpells7860]

Hi John, interesting to see you have had the same result as me on that stretch of river. Using big meat baits I have caught good eels from various swims. Loving the videos. Tight lines.

[@themagicoffishing]

Thanks! Yes, good to see eels in the river, even if they aren’t what you’re targeting.

[@pauledwards6470]

Nice day out for you mate,like you say we all need a bit of ME time, nice barbel and a surprise eel.

[@themagicoffishing]

Cheers 😀

[@crashnburnband]

I used to fish along the Wey Byfleet, Woking, and Ripley 30 years ago I had some great fun with the Chub and Barbel glad to see it's still fishing well.

[@themagicoffishing]

Cheers - I'm gutted the season is coming to an end. Hope you enjoy some of the other videos on the channel as there are quite a few filmed in those areas.

[@jasoncluley4927]

Nice barbel 👍🏻

[@themagicoffishing]

Cheers!

[@kinblanking]

Lovely to see. I used to live in walsham gates cottage back in the day. Some lovely fishing in the river upstream and downstream of cottage. Had some lovely roach and perch in flood water eddy's in conditions like these, very close to this area.

[@themagicoffishing]

Oh wow, I've always wondered what it's like in there! And dreamed of living somewhere like that. Nice to hear from you. I've made other videos shot in the areas above the weir, like these, if you fancy a bit more nostalgia... kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYXTaJhtp72Xeq8si=EJalIiD0zyemKTdT kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaLRgnxpi95nqcksi=jhWDmIF6GB9aZJlg

[@themagicoffishing]

And if you watch this video you'll see your old house quite early on - kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYelZIuImbOmhcUsi=i-22JHmo2MejFS54

[@neilwayte517]

Thats the second of your videos I have watched and like the first most enjoyable. Having spent the last decade plus fishing the Thames for the chub and barbel I had forgotten about that bit of the wey. There were rumours of barbel down there 40 odd years ago but I never tried for them because the carp on that club waters were more interesting at the time. Great stuff and I look forward to the next one. You never know the Thames might actually drop enough to be fishable before the end of the season.

[@themagicoffishing]

Many thanks. I'm ashamed to say I'm yet to fish the Thames! Shocking when I've lived 'down south' for 25 years now, but work's always busy and with membership of two local clubs, I suppose I've always felt I need to explore their waters fully before trying to work out such a massive river from scratch. When you don't know where's available on a day ticket, where the fish generally are, where to park, etc, it's an easier (and perhaps lazier) option to stay more local and there are plenty of miles of the Wey to explore. But there are always forums and tackle shops to ask and I must get round to it one day! I fished the Trent a lot growing up and that's another big river that I always enjoyed tackling for pleasure sessions and matches. Tight lines.

[@neilwayte517]

Any help you want with the thames just ask. Plenty of free fishing with some very big barbel and chub. Always happy to give you pointers and all the info you need.

[@neilwayte517]

Oh and some serious roach fishing

[@themagicoffishing]

@@neilwayte517 That is brilliant to know - thanks. I could do a vid on my first ever trip this summer!

[@ukmartin2569]

Nice, thank you for sharing. I can totally relate to your experience. Tight lines my friend.

[@themagicoffishing]

Thanks for watching!

[@daveewens6578]

Pleasure watching.

[@themagicoffishing]

Thanks!

[@laurimiking]

Just found your channel. Really enjoyed this, so thank you. Have now subscribed.

[@themagicoffishing]

Welcome aboard!

[@harrybobs4014]

Quality relaxing watch, subscribed

[@themagicoffishing]

Thanks very much - relaxing is what I aim for (and a bit of magic from time to time)!

[@mikegoldbey6186]

Great video John. The video just popped onto my feed, I am glad it did. I was wondering how often did you recast ie during an hour?

[@themagicoffishing]

Thanks for watching! When there's weed coming down and catching on the line I sometimes recast 3-4 times in an hour. Maybe twice if not. I give it a bit of time but also like to try different spots in the swim if I'm not feeding one particular run. As my barbel mentor David once told me, if you're fishing the right conditions and there are barbel on the feed, you can often expect a bite pretty quickly (as I got on my first few casts in this vid).

[@mikegoldbey6186]

@@themagicoffishing John thanks for replying back so quickly. So in addition why 5 spice? I my self have just started to target barbel this season, on my local rivers the Hampshire Avon (Royalty) and River Stour (Throop). I started off with my favourite styles trotting maggot and rolling meat (spam) but no success, so have I have moved to static using Boilies, pellets and spam. But with the current flooded conditions and with 2 1/2 weeks left until the end of the season I am looking for any help so why 5 spice, please. Kind regards Mike

[@AaronCarpAngler-UK]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@davewilkes6000]

Just googled it tribraturay of the thames

[@themagicoffishing]

Correct 👍 It’s where Weybridge gets its name from and it also flows through places like Guildford and Woking (where I live). I mostly fish club stretches but there are free areas too.

[@davewilkes6000]

Just goes to show there are little gems of river all over our country we are truly blessed in this country to such beauty and sport....

[@stevenmoses5807]

Where can i get that tub of five spices from. Ideal for making boilies or paste to wrap around pellets..

[@themagicoffishing]

Blimey, yes, I should try it in a paste! I got that big jar from Amazon as my Mrs got a bit fed up with me emptying the small jars she gets from the supermarket for stir fries 😁🎣 Just had a quick look and couldn’t see the same one, but there are big bags of the stuff available for £2 to £5. Or I spotted this rather posh looking jar for a fiver which is apparently ‘blended’ in my home county of Yorkshire! amzn.eu/d/e7qhqCH

[@Magpie74]

What rod and oz lead were you using in that flow? Looked to be holding bottom nicely without tip bending too much

[@themagicoffishing]

It's a pound and a quarter test rod - avon model with two tips. Needed 2oz lead that day. It's rained even more since then and it must be belting through at the moment.

[@davewilkes6000]

Where is the river wey never heard of it

[@themagicoffishing]

I’d never heard of it, either, until I moved from Sheffield to Surrey about 25 years ago.