Cover Stories


THE BEST GEAR!


Top manufacturers and top tackle – it’s all there in p.37.


SHOW TIME! It’s the Carp Society’s big Winter bash


– find out what’s in store in p. 9.


Feeder tricked super stripy


4 lb 12 oz stripy. 


to land this more than chunky 4 lb 12 oz perch from a Hertfordshire stillwater. Mick offered three red maggots on a size 12 Kamasan Animal hook


P


ERCHFISHERS member Mick Stevenson went the distance


to a two inch 6 lb hook link to fool the bruiser. College lecturer, Mick said:


‘There is a fair bit of weed in the venue so you have to be quite geared up for it. ‘The fish picked the bait up at


60 yards and then weeded me up almost straight away. ‘I walked along the bank to gain


different angles of pressure and soon freed the stripy.’ ■ Check out Gary Newman’s perch fishing exploits in page 22.


PERCHFISHERS Mick Stevenson with his


KEEP ON CATCHING Top tips to put a bend in your rod


whatever the weather. p.28. ALSO INSIDE this week


NEWS 4 Monster chub on ancient bait


5 Eels get the chop 6 First conviction for taking fish 7 Youngster’s monster barbel 8 The fighting Irish – matchmen battle on 9 Carp haul topped by 53 lb whacker and Carp Society special


TACKLE 37 Gear of the Year


The BEST selling tackle


STAR ANGLERS 14 Glenn Maulkerson – Inside Line


16 Steve Collett – pike fishing Replay 20 Mark Barrett – Pike Scene 22 Gary Newman – in search of perch 68 Colin Davidson – carping in comfort and working nights


WHERE TO FISH This is your No.1 weekend guide…


compiled by our local experts 54 Midlands and East Anglia 56 London and South East 58 South and South West 60 North and Wales 64 On Tour Tony Keeling


INSTRUCTION 28 All The Answers – the No.1 coarse Q&A


avoiding blanks special 34 Secret Lives – colour variations 36 Easy Learning – winter roach


EDITOR’S “It is a sorry tale that will make any angler's blood boil." Welcome


ONE of our most enigmatic species, the eel has the most unusual lifecycle of any British coarse fish. Now protected, as numbers have dwindled to dangerously low levels, it is


incredible that they are now under threat due to what can only be described as slack practice by the Environment Agency. The full story, with shocking pictures, is in page 4, and love eels or loathe them it is a sorry tale that will make any angler’s blood boil. If these were birds on the RSPB ‘Red’ list, there would be a massive outcry and a total media


frenzy, but so far the EA have done a great job of trying to slip their ‘licences to kill’ under the radar.


WE make no apologies for larging up tackle in this bumper issue. Times are tough, but even if you can’t afford some of the items it’s nice to know what is out there. We have major manufacturers galore and key items from their ranges for you to check out at your leisure. And you can be sure that there will be some very tempting deals out there.


THE weather has been turning wintery of late, prompting some anglers to mothball their tackle until the spring. We hope you are not one of them,


»


because fish can still be caught whatever the weather throws at us. There is a huge unpredictability about angling.


I’ve seen a multiple catch of barbel on a day when the line was freezing in the rod rings and it was too cold for chub to bite. It goes to show that you just never can tell. In this issue we’ve got some great tips on how to avoid blank sessions, so get out there and make it happen.


Tight lines until next week. Paul Dennis DEPUTY EDITOR


WHAT'S YOUR IDEAL CHRISTMAS GIFT? It has to be a subscription to Angler's Mail ... for only £14.99!


Call 0844 848 0848 and quote code AMPT or visit www.magazinesdirect.com/iqtm m


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