Issue 83

*Charles Thacher takes a look at one of the earliest angling guidebooks, written to remind a US general about fishing’s delights.

*Ben Wright examines the 30-year history of the Ambidex reel, arguably the most famous British-made fixed spool.

*John Essex casts a line on the first European Championships in 1953, and how a ‘secret weapon’ helped England to victory.

*John Bailey pays tribute to John Wilson, the charismatic television angler who has just departed to UK to live in Thailand.

*Tom Kerr carries out some detective work to identify the very rare four-strip rods of the 19th-century maker Thomas Tout.

*Clive Young recalls seeing the first Shimano Baitrunner and a tackle dealers’ trip to Sweden that had surprise results.

*The first 100lb carp, and the first rod-caught cod to top the ‘ton’, have been caught from France and Norway.