First-ever Angling Times, 1953

Our historian Keith looks at the stories that made the headlines on our launch newspaper

THE headline of the launch issue of Angling Times almost 68 years ago offered the chance to win £20 for being the first person to catch one of 50 tagged perch.

That was no mean amount either, the equivalent of more than £550 today. Every tagged fish caught would also result in the ACA, or Anglers Cooperative Association as it was known then, receiving £3 to aid its fight against polluters.

Ironically, running alongside is a story about the Bristol Avon being polluted on its tidal reaches... one for the ACA (renamed the Anglers Conservation Association in 1994) to get its teeth into.

Of course, the ACA was one of the angling bodies unified under the Angling Trust umbrella in 2009, continuing its battles against the bad guys under the new name of Fish Legal.

The Bristol Avon report also mentioned that weights as high as 12lb had been needed to win contests during the previous season. How times change, eh?

Taking a snapshot in time is always risky, but it gives an insight into the important matters... such as the banning of fixed-spool reels as they made catching fish too easy! As a caveat, this was purely about game fishing in Wales, where ‘worming’ was indiscriminate of fish sizes, and as most rivers offered free and available fishing at a time when World War II food rationing was still in place on meat, the concern was that stretches would be emptied of fish. Sounds familiar?

Also making the front page is a story of a 12 year-old angler catching a swift – something I’ve seen happen myself – 10 years after his father caught a swallow! Now that’s a coincidence! The venue was the wonderful Little Ouse near Lakenheath, far more famous for its roach and dace back then. The dace record of 1lb 4oz 4dr came from that river and the legendary Dennis Flack once caught 10 dace over 1lb, best just 2dr short, in a single day there. Dennis still holds the bleak record from the nearby Lark.

There’s another interesting story about catfish...but that’s for another time.

“Taking a snapshot in time is always risky, but it gives an insight into the important matters”