Good evening all. Can anyone help please. I am intending to start fishing again after a 20 year absence and want to fish the River Wye around Hereford for Chub and Barbel primarily and would be grateful for any advice on appropriate rod (float and feeder)and reel. Also, can anyone recommend main line and hook lenght strenght as well as hook sizes please?
Many thanks in anticipation.

Paul Hereford.

This is all personal but if it had to be just one rod i would go for the Greys Specialist or the Greys Specimen

With regards to reels i would opt for a 5000 or 6000 size from Shimano

I use Krystonite in 8Ib and 12Ib for my main line and for hooklengths. You can also use some of the braids on the market for carp fishing in the lighter strengths. These are better when tying the hair rig. Hooks i use size 10,8,6 in Raptors and Drennan specimen's for the barbel and go upto 4 and 2 for Chub.

Can i also suggest you get a good unhooking mat also. These were not realy used 20 years ago. Graham as done a good review of one here

Hope this helps

Many thanks Bryan I will have a look at the rods and reels you suggest as well as the unhooking mat.

A friend has recommended the Garbolino Mayhem 1.5 test curve twin tip rod (2 Section) one is a quiver top and the other a lot meatier. I'm not sure. Any thoughts please anyone?

Paul, I'd recommend one of these - http://www.fishingmagic.com/review/reviewproduct.asp?RGN=9&RCN=77&RPN=2262&sp=&v=9#2640 I own one and it is excellent for barbel and Chub, has similar specifications to the Garbolino Mayhem, and can be picked up for a reasonable price.

I use mine with a Shimano Exage 4000RA reel which you can pick up for about forty quid, it has an excellent fighting drag system and has never let me down. As for the riggy bit I use similar components to Bryan - 10lb Krystonite mainline, Drennan Super Specialist hooks etc.

For trotting there are some excellent and very cheap carp waggler rods about which can do the job very well.

Thank you JimmyFloyd for the advice. I really appreciate it. I will certainly have a look at the Shimano Hyperloop Barbel rod that you suggest and the Shimano reel. Paul Hereford

No problem mate i did not recomend the greys barbel as i very rarely use the quiver tip and the twin avopn tops i find more usefull given diffrent water levels. I have always found the quiver pulls around to much on the bigger faster flowing rivers myself. But hay each to there own or this world would be a boring place.

That's true Bryan. Many thanks for the advice. I have a decision to make!

Paul, this is all part of the fun! The Avon top vs quiver tip debate has been discussed long and hard on this site. Both have their advantages in certain situations which is why it's good to have a rod that can be used with both.

The problem I've found is that all the tactics I use for barbel on my local Kennet also result in a fair number of chub bites and even the odd big roach, so my perference is for a quivertip which shows these up better than an Avon top. But as Bryan points out they do have their limitations.

Best thing to do is get yourself down to your local tackle shop or a tackle fair and give a few a waggle. There are some fabulous rods out there nowadays - real feats of engineering - with enough different types to cover everything from a tiny stream to a Yangtse river style rampaging torrent!

lol I know what you mean Jimmy. This is what I am finding trying to find the ultimate rod that will serve me well in most situations on the Wye, Lugg and stillwaters of Herefordshire. Like you say I think it best to go to Woody's in Hereford and suss the rods out and then make a purchase. Thanks again!

That's great. Many thanks Fluke.