Angler's Mail

Last updated
Angler's Mail
AM Cover Nov 3 w.jpg
Cover of Angler's Mail, 10 May 2011.
EditorTim Knight
CategoriesCoarse fishing
FrequencyWeekly
Year founded1964 (1964)
CompanyFuture plc
CountryUnited Kingdom
Based inLondon
LanguageEnglish
Website www.anglersmail.com

Angler's Mail was a weekly angling magazine published in London, UK, by Future plc.

Contents

The magazine covers aspects of modern coarse fishing, and is on sale every Tuesday priced £2.20. Its latest audited average weekly sales were 30,606 for the Jan-Dec 2016 according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. [1]

The Angler's Mail released its final issue on October 27, 2020 after publishing for 56 years. [2]

Initial launch

Angler's Mail was first published on green newsprint in 1964 by Echo Publications, a small publishing house in the West End of London.

In autumn 1965, the late John Ingham, then on sports desk at The People newspaper, owned by Odham Press, heard Echo were to close Angler's Mail because the circulation had fallen to 8,000 to 9,000 a week.

John said: "I spoke to the then editor of The People and suggested it would make a very useful addition because Echo were heavily into angling. He gave it his support and it was bought for £8,000 in January 1966. I recruited new staff for a relaunch on May 6. Unfortunately the editor of The People went home after a long meeting about the relaunch and dropped dead, but it still went ahead. [3]

Editors and history

John Ingham became founding editor in 1966. He served 20 years with Angler's Mail and 40 years with Odhams, which became IPC Magazines (now TI Media). Until John retired, not one, single computer was allowed inside the IPC offices (then King's Reach Tower) because of the unions, until Murdoch's revolution at Wapping. [4] John wrote an angling column for The People until he died aged 88 at the end of 2011. [5]

Roy Westwood became editor in 1986 and finally retired from the staff in 2002. [6] During Roy's editorship Angler's mail became the UK's first all-colour UK angling magazine, ready for the start of the new coarse fishing season in June 1991. During the 1990s, Roy developed monthly magazine Stillwater Trout Angler. Angler's Mail also had sister titles in Coarse Angling (edited by Colin Mitchell) and, briefly, Improve Your Sea Fishing. All three magazines are no longer published. Roy continued to contribute to Angler's Mail as a photographer. [7]

In 2002 Tim Knight became Angler’s Mail editor. [8] Today he is the second longest-serving current staff member, behind features editor Richard Howard (who started in January 1987).

Sister publications

2009 saw Angler's Mail's second publication of an annual magazine, Carp Tips. [9] The fourth issue of Angler's Mail's annual Where To Fish magazine was also published in 2009. [10]


Demise

In October 2020, Angler's Mail announced over social media that on October 27, the last issue will be released. The publisher's Parent group, Future plc, had made the decision to close the title. The decision was most likely as a result of the financial challenges the print industry experienced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Various Angler's across the UK, including the likes of Matt Hayes voiced their grief over the end of the Publisher over its 56-year history. [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Uncut</i> (magazine) London-based music magazine

Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the Uncut brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006. The magazine was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies.

TI Media

TI Media was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its titles now belong to Future plc.

Richard Walker (angler)

Richard Stuart Walker was an English angler.

John Dennis Wilson was a British angler who had been involved with angling television production for over twenty years featuring on Channel 4 Television and more recently on the digital TV channel, Discovery Real Time. Wilson was voted 'The Greatest Angler of all Time' in a 2004 poll by readers of the Angling Times Newspaper.

Coarse fishing

In the British Isles, coarse fishing refers to angling for freshwater fish which are traditionally considered undesirable as a food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids—most particularly salmon, trout and char—so generally coarse fish, also known as rough fish, are freshwater fish that are not salmonids. There is disagreement over whether grayling should be classified as a game fish or a coarse fish.

Groundbait is fishing bait that is either cast or 'balled' into the water in order to attract fish to the fishing area. It is often used in coarse fishing. Ground-bait can be made by the angler or pre-bought by ground-bait manufactures. There are many different types of ground-bait that can be used to target specific species of fish. Ground-bait can differ by the sizes of the crumbs, type of seed, colour and smell. The angler can also mix additives to the ground-bait to alter its firmness in order to control the release or breakdown of the bait once in the water.

Power Comics

Power Comics was an imprint of the British comics publisher Odhams Press that was particularly notable for its use of material reprinted from American Marvel Comics. Appearing chiefly during the years 1967 and 1968, the Power Comics line consisted of five weekly titles: Wham!, Smash!, Pow!, Fantastic and Terrific. The first three of these titles were essentially traditional The Beano-style British comics papers, supplemented by a small amount of Marvel and DC Comics material, while Fantastic and Terrific were more magazine-like in style and were dominated by their Marvel superhero content.

The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the Daily Mail, was first published in 1896.

The Angling Times first printed in 1953 is the UK's largest angling newspaper. They also publish Improve Your Coarse Fishing and UK Carp magazine.

Matthew Hayes is a British angler who is featured in televised angling shows on Discovery Real Time.

Odhams Press

Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and then IPC Magazines in 1963. In its final incarnation, Odhams was known for its Power Comics line of titles, notable for publishing reprints of American Marvel Comics superheroes.

Redmire Pool is near Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, England. At only 3 acres (1.2 ha) in size it is considered by angling experts to be the home of carp fishing. The earliest sign of its potential was unveiled on 3 October 1951 when a British record carp of 31.25 lb (14.17 kg) was caught by Bob Richards. The water was made famous by Richard Walker who caught a British record carp, weighing 44 lb (20 kg), overnight on 13 September 1952. The fish, a common carp, was transferred to the London Zoo aquarium. She was initially given the name Ravioli by Walker and named Clarissa by the staff of London Zoo.

Bob Nudd born in Chelmsford, Essex) is the first English angler to win four individual World Freshwater Angling Championships; in 1990, 1991, 1994, and 1999.

Carp fishing

Carp is a common name for various species of freshwater fish that are sought after by some recreational fishermen. Carp are native to Europe and Asia, and belong to the family Cyprinidae. They have been introduced, with mixed results, to various other locations around the world.

Benson (fish)

Benson was "Britain's biggest and best-loved" common carp. Benson's popularity was such that she was caught 63 times in 13 years, although the accessibility that made her popular was also the cause of controversy among angling's elite. She has also been referred to as "the people's fish" and was voted by readers of Angler's Mail as Britain's Favourite Carp in 2005.

Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing is a television series on Quest, first airing in January 2013. It is based on the 1940s comic strip by Bernard Venables.

Angling records in the United Kingdom

This is an impartial and comprehensive record list of 292 British record freshwater fish, past and present, involving 57 different species/sub-species of fish caught using the traditional angling method of rod and line. Records to include the angler, species, weight, date, venue, also referenced with a recognizable publication. The list is intended to include all categories of fish caught by anglers, that enter freshwater including and some migratory sea fish. The time since last record fish was caught is 358 days.

The British Record Fish Committee -(BRFC) are the official organisation taking responsibility for all angling fish records within the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, collectively known as the "British Records". Since 2009 the BRFC have been part of the Angling Trust

Angling records of Europe Sports

This list is of the heaviest European freshwater fish caught using the traditional angling method of rod and line.

References

  1. "ABC Certificates and Reports: Anglers Mail". Audit Bureau of Circulations . Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  2. Bailey, John (2020-10-21). "John Bailey: Collapse of Angler's Mail hurts us all". edp24.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  3. Angler's Mail, May 16, 2006.
  4. Angler's Mail, May 16, 2006.
  5. "Fishing advice, insight and buying guides | Advnture". Archived from the original on 2014-02-28.
  6. New Angler's Mail editor plans to tackle main rival. Archived June 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. The Author, Angler's Mail Guide: Catch Bigger Coarse Fish by Andy Little. Archived October 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. My job: Tim Knight, editor, Angler's Mail, 28 September 2007. Archived June 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  9. Carp Tips 2009 magazine launched. Archived October 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Essential Guide From Angler's Mail, 19 May, 2009.
  11. "John Bailey: Collapse of Angler's Mail hurts us all". 21 October 2020.