Issue 136

Issue 136

* Angling was one of the sports in the 1900 Olympics in Paris. It attracted 20,000 spectators over four days of competitions on the river Seine.
* Orvis has brought an abrupt end to its UK expansion and is closing all UK stores except one, to focus on the online aspect of its business.
* Tackle website Thomas Turner is to sell modern rods after securing a range of improved ‘Marksman’ rods that Hardy turned down.
* Carl Newell, who revolutionised long-range big-game fishing with his ground-breaking rods and reels, has died aged 86.
* A fish once extinct in the wild has been ‘brought back to life’ and reintroduced into rivers by a zoo’s conservation scheme.
* David Profumo’s superb work The Lightning Thread has been voted Book of the Year in the annual Classic Angling awards.
* The discovery of bone hooks and stone weights in Israel indicate that sophisticated fishing tools were in use 12,000 years ago.
* The President may be the rarest of all Hardy reels, with only three made, and one is coming up for sale at Angling Auctions next month.
* Adventurer Frederick Mitchell-Henry held the ballan wrasse record with a 12lb 12oz fish caught off Looe. But was it as big as he claimed?
* The azurine was a fish that never existed, yet for many years, it appeared in books by ichthyological experts.
* Sensitivity may not have been a strong selling point for US floats or ‘bobbers’ but their weirdness holds a strange appeal.
* Keith Arthur recalls the memorable day when he held a British record perch in his hands – for a short while.
* Invasive bluegills, a common US ‘panfish’, can be found everywhere in Japan. The person to blame for their uncontrolled spread was – the nation’s Emperor.
* Marketing expert Jeff Della Mura explains how to ensure that you have everything right if you’re planning on self-publishing a fishing book.
* Charles Thacher has donated his superb library to the American Museum of Fly Fishing. He explains how he amassed so many rare works.
* Vic Abbott was disappointed to find the £40 Perfect he had bought was missing parts. But it turned out to be a very unusual Hardy reel.
* John Bailey catches some big pike in storm-force winds, and wonders if extreme weather actually encourages fish to feed.
* Most people see angling auctioneer Neil Freeman as a highly social creature but he confesses that he’s nearly always happiest when fishing alone.
* If you’ve always wanted your own trophy room, how about something even better – buying a flourishing business creating big-fish trophies.
* John Stephenson uncovers a fascinating story behind a range of old tackle used by a member of the Dreadnought sea-fishing club.
* Our books pages range from works on fishing the wildest parts of Russia to a compilation with contributions by many top writers.
* A fish once extinct in the wild has been ‘brought back to life’ and reintroduced into rivers by a zoo’s conservation scheme.
* Neil Patterson is fiercely in favour of imposing size limits on trout stocking and believes the policy will halt the obsession with fisheries piling in overweight Frankenfish.
* Our letter pages discuss AHE Wood flies, solve the mystery of BJ floats and see authors responding to criticism of their works.
and lots more!