Famous perch venue to close to fishing

One of the greatest perch fisheries of all time is soon to be lost to fishing.

The famous Twins stretch of the Great Ouse near Buckingham, the venue where Martin Bowler banked a 5lb 4oz monster for Catching The Impossible and where John Wilson has caught 4lb fish on camera for Go Fishing, will shut at the end of the current river season.

This is because the landowner has declined to renew the 60-plus-year-old lease of Buckingham AA, in favour of applying for an Environmental Stewardship (set aside land for wildlife) from Natural England. This doesn’t necessarily mean fishing has to stop – several angling clubs on Worcestershire rivers co-exist perfectly well with Environmental Stewardships - so club officials are very disappointed by the decision.