Welcome from the Editor...

WELCOME to the latest issue of IYCF. The last month or so seems to have been incredibly difficult for those venturing out on to the bank. A combination of high air pressure and freezing conditions seem to have knocked the sport on the head at a lot of venues up and down the country. With only a month to go until the end of the season, hopefully things will improve before the rivers close their doors to coarse anglers until June 16. If you need something to whet your appetite for an end-of-season running-water session we have some excellent features in this month’s issue. Firstly, venue expert Adam Fisher celebrates the adrenaline-filled excitement of targeting the large pike that reside in the River Wye (page 14), and if you’ve never targeted running water pike there’s an excellent rig to try on page 58. Staying with predatory species, IYCF’s features editor Mark Parker has enjoyed some great success with imitation crayfish lures for perch this season and he details how he uses them and explains exactly why they are so effective on page 70. Finally, if anyone is capable of catching a chub for the cameras in tough conditions it is the reigning Drennan Cup holder Dai Gribble. Sure enough, he didn’t fail to catch when we joined him for a day on the banks of the upper-middle River Severn and he promptly proved why cheesepaste is the only bait you need for that species at this time of year (page 30). Wherever you fish over the next few weeks I hope you have a great end to the season.