Welcome...

HAPPY New Year and thank you for purchasing this issue of IYCF.

Like everybody, I’m hoping that the next few months will see us gradually start to return to some sort of normality.

I’m hoping that I’ll actually get to see the rest of the Improve team in the flesh more than a couple of times in 2021. Video calls are handy but they’re just not the same.

We’ve managed to meet up a few times to shoot features but I still find it strange that we’ve gone from seeing each other almost every day in the office to being able to count on our fingers how many times we’ve seen each other since last March. We even had our Christmas drinks over a video call, which was a new experience!

If someone had told me then that we would be sending our issues remotely for the next year, I wouldn’t have believed them. And yet here we are! But throughout all the change and upheaval, except for a few weeks at the start of the first lockdown, angling has remained a steady constant for us all.

In fact, I think I fished more last year than I have for a long time. It’s been a great activity to enjoy with the kids and I also managed to do a bit of my own fishing too.

Over the next couple of months my plan is carry on having a go for the perch in my local lake and hopefully get a little closer to the 3lb mark. Once things start to warm up and the evenings start getting lighter, I’m sure the carp rods will be coming out again.

I really enjoyed taking minimal kit and just fishing for a few hours after work this year so I’ll definitely be doing more of that in 2021.

I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that by the summer we’ll be able to hold the IYCF/ Angling Times office match again as that’s always a great day out.

Have you set yourself any angling related goals or targets for the year ahead? We’d love to hear what they are, so be sure to drop us a line to let us know.