Welcome from the Editor...

WELCOME to the latest issue of IYCF. Some of my most enjoyable sessions this year have been when I’ve taken my six-year-old boy floatfishing for a few hours at a little local lake. Using maggots we never knew what would be on the end each time the float went under – roach, rudd, perch, skimmers, tench and even a few carp, which really tested the light tackle we were using, visited the bank. For some reason, this style of just fishing for whatever comes along seems to have fallen out of favour with many anglers who prefer to set their stall out for one particular species when planning their next session. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this but I’d forgotten how much fun you can have by not knowing what the next bite would be from. So when Angling Times’ Editor, Steve Fitzpatrick, told me he’d be enjoying some great short sessions on a stretch of the River Nene close to his home catching a range of different species, we thought it would make a nice feature for the magazine. Steve then came up with the idea of the Five A Day challenge – catching five different species in a session. If you pick the right venue, then this is something that is easily achieveable and a great bit of fun if you’re looking for something to make your winter fishing that little bit more interesting. You can find out more about the tactics that Steve has been employing to catch his five a day on page 35 and make sure you post your successful Five A Day Challenge pics on social media using #5adayfishing. Have a great month.