FishingMagic Magazine

Now in its third year, the Fly For Coarse competition enjoyed another exciting and varied year in 2015. Challenging anglers to catch coarse species on fly tackle, judges Matt Hayes and John Bailey were delighted to see excellent quality chub, perch, dace and carp, besides a range of surprises including bream and even a gudgeon.

This article is about my tench fishing exploits in 2010 and 2011 Although I have been fishing since I was ten years old (sixty three years ago now) I do not consider myself to be a dedicated specimen hunter or a technically adept angler. In fishing terms I am quite capable of changing a fuse, but I am not an electrician. I hope you understand what I mean by that.

This is a bit different...there's no one there! But that needn't stop the wit and originality of Fishing Magicians...AND there's a wee reward from Laguna Baits for the best entry.

When Lord Smith, the Environment Agency's chairman, dared utter the obvious truth that Treasury spending rules limit the amount that can be spent on flood defence in sparsely populated countryside compared with heavily populated areas, his comments were received with outrage by the president of the Country Landowners' Association, Henry Robinson. Robinson retorted 'we simply cannot carry on like this'

At a time when communities across Britain are mopping up after the floods which devastated the downstream areas of many river catchments it beggars belief that government ministers are even considering deregulating practices which their own experts have told them will move water downstream even faster.

When it comes to famous carp around the world the name of Eric's Common is right up there as one of the most sought after. The huge common lives in the demanding Rainbow Lake in France and for quite a while held the title of the biggest common in the world. It is a fish I've wanted to catch since I started fishing Rainbow regularly in 2011. Read on to discover how I eventually succeeded...

The expression 'Urban Fishing' entered the anglers' lexicon a few years back. It came with the backing of 'edgy' Youtube videos featuring young hoodies - skateboard in one hand, rod in the other - contemplating the fishy potential of the junk-filled town stretch before them. The backdrops were not of rolling hills or lush farmland but of brutal concrete ugliness further defaced by graffiti and discarded drinks tins; by night, they'd be the haunt of druggies and other undesirables. But I could see the attraction.

Romford, Essex man, Dave Staff, refuses to accept the wisdom of centuries - and who can blame him?