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THANKS for buying this issue of IYCF. Incredibly, we’re already halfway through the year and shortly after this issue hits the shelves, the UK’s rivers will open once again to coarse anglers on June 16.

I haven’t done masses of river fishing over the years, bar a few carp trips here and there and a bit of rudd and chub fishing last winter. This year, I’ve decided that it’s high time that I caught a barbel from running water. Bob Roberts has invited me out and promised me some barbel from the River Trent, so I’ll definitely be taking him up on his offer in the coming months.

I’d love to hear from you guys if you’ve got any targets for the season ahead.

One of the things I love about this time of year is the number of daylight hours we get. It means that even when fishing sessions after work you still get four or five hours of light to play with. It’s also prime floater fishing time, which is one of my favourite ways of fishing for big carp. If you’ve never done it before, I recommend giving it a go. Watching a group of carp feeding on your floating freebies before slipping up and inhaling your hookbait is far more exciting than sitting behind a set of bite alarms.

I hope you all liked this month’s front cover. The artwork for it was supplied by the incredibly talented David Miller, who produces the artwork for the Environment Agency rod licences.

If you want to see more of the amazing work he’s created, check out his website ( www. davidmillerart. co. uk) or follow him on social media.

David has kindly provided us with examples of his artwork to use on our front cover numerous times over the years and I always love how they come out.

IYCF editor James Furness embarks on a quest for big tench and reveals how you can too