The cold means nothing when the wolf of the waterways turns its dark eyes to your lure or deadbait – it’s time to tame the beast...

From landing hulking catfish on the Zambezi to talking tackle with Ted Hughes, COUNTRY LIFE’s fishing correspondent looks back on seven colourful decades

Fred de Fossard

PHOTOGRAPHY ISSY CROKER Brilliant celebrity chef Paul Ainsworth ...

Unfairly maligned as a sneaky troublemaker, the quicksilver ferret is a characterful, curious and highly intelligent creature–with fascinating regal and cultural trappings to boot, writes Octavia Pollock

THE ADVICE YOU NEED TO GET THE BEST FROM YOUR FISHING