Angling Times

About Angling Times

Angling Times is the UK's biggest-selling angling weekly — Britain's number-one fishing publication since 1953, published weekly by Bauer Media Group from Peterborough. Known as "Your No1 fishing weekly since 1953" and the longest-running specialist consumer publication in the UK, it covers every branch of the sport — specimen, carp, predator, sea and game — with exclusive news, tactics, equipment tests and venue guides. Its editor is James Furness, and its website is anglingtimes.co.uk.

With a combined monthly reach of over 300,000 anglers across print and digital, and content from nationally known names in the sport, Angling Times is the go-to source for British anglers. In 2024 it absorbed the content of its sister title Improve Your Coarse Fishing, bringing three decades of that magazine's trusted coaching under the Angling Times umbrella.

First Printed in 1953

Angling Times was first printed in 1953 — making it the longest-running specialist consumer publication in the UK. For over seventy years it has served Britain's anglers through every era of the sport: the post-war boom in coarse fishing, the carp revolution, the rise of specimen hunting and the modern match scene.

Its tagline, "Your No1 fishing weekly since 1953," captures both its market position and its longevity. Bauer Media's Rob Munro-Hall has called it "Bauer Media's oldest magazine with 63 years of heritage behind it" — a description that dates to its newspaper-format era, when it was the UK's largest angling newspaper.

Published by Bauer Media Group

The title is published by Bauer Media Group — Bauer Consumer Media Ltd — from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, the heart of Britain's specialist magazine industry. Bauer describes it as "the UK's market-leading angling publication" and a key pillar in its multi-platform media strategy, alongside anglingtimes.co.uk and the Go Fishing website.

Bauer's investment in the title has included format innovation: after in-depth audience research, the publication evolved from newspaper to magazine format, with 84% of surveyed readers preferring the change for its portability and reading experience.

Editorial Scope: Every Kind of Fishing

Britain's biggest-selling fishing weekly delivers exclusive, cutting-edge stories and tactics from the sport's most important fish captures. Specimen, carp, predator, sea and game — every significant fish hits the headlines. The magazine combines up-to-the-minute news on competitions and venues with equipment reviews, bait guides and venue features.

A regular issue runs to 64 action-packed pages of angling news, tips and information, with a "Where To Fish" section, "Tips & Tactics" pages, news, letters and even a crossword — "plenty to admire," in InPublishing's verdict, "with accessible writing and busy design."

Big Names in the Sport

Angling Times carries advice from nationally known names in the sport — including Steve Ringer, Keith Arthur, John Wilson and Des Taylor — giving readers direct access to the thinking of Britain's most successful anglers. This expert stable, combined with a dedicated team of writers covering the week's money-saving deals from the nation's fisheries, tackle shops and holiday companies, is a core part of the title's authority.

The magazine also runs the Kingfisher Club for young anglers, introducing new generations to the sport — a long-standing commitment to the future of angling that reflects its position at the centre of the fishing community.

The Absorbing of Improve Your Coarse Fishing

In April 2024 Bauer Media Group announced that after 33 years of inspiring and informing coarse fishing enthusiasts, Improve Your Coarse Fishing would cease publication — with its content integrated under the Angling Times umbrella from May 2024.

Editor James Furness said the sister title "has been a trusted friend to thousands of anglers for three decades, thanks to its inclusive tone and easy-to-understand tips and tactics to help people catch more fish. My team and I will be incorporating that tone and ethos into Angling Times." Bauer's mission, in the words of UK group co-CEO Steve Prentice, "has always been to give anglers more confidence and enable them to catch more fish."

Print and Digital Reach

Angling Times reaches anglers across every platform: the weekly magazine available in all major retailers and by subscription, the anglingtimes.co.uk website with news, tips, equipment reviews and videos, the Go Fishing website with instruction on where to fish, and apps for iOS and Android offering members-only content, rewards and a full archive of past editions.

Its combined ABC — 25,878 in the June 2016 audit — and combined monthly reach of over 300,000 anglers across print and digital confirm its standing as the UK's market leader. Subscribers get exclusive content, member-only rewards and discounts, full access to the past-editions archive and more via the app.

Competitions, Gifts and Reader Offers

Every week the magazine runs major competitions — giving away the hottest new launches on the market — alongside seasonal free gifts, reader offers and cash prizes. "Worth loads-a-money to you" is the magazine's own verdict on its package of free gifts, reader offers, competitions and cash prizes, and the poly-bagged gifts have long been a feature of the title's newsstand appeal.

Angling Times Today

From its 1953 beginnings to today's multi-platform brand, Angling Times has remained the go-to source for anglers — the magazine Bauer calls the one that "continues to innovate with an evolving format to ensure it remains at the centre of the fishing community."

As the UK's biggest-selling fishing weekly, with the heritage of seven decades and the added strength of its absorbed sister title, it remains what it has always been: the essential weekly for anyone who fishes British waters, at anglingtimes.co.uk.

Seventy Years: From Newspaper to Magazine

Angling Times was first printed in 1953 — "Your No1 fishing weekly since 1953", as its cover tagline proudly declares — making it Bauer Media's oldest magazine, with more than six decades of heritage behind it. For most of that life it appeared as a newspaper; then, responding to in-depth audience research, Bauer reinvented it in magazine format. The research showed 84% of surveyed readers preferred the change — more portable, a better reading experience, better value for money — and the publisher had already proved the concept by converting Garden News from tabloid to A4 in 2013, after which it became the UK's leading weekly gardening title.

The magazine-format Angling Times runs to 72 pages at a £1.99 cover price, published weekly by Bauer in Peterborough, with a combined ABC of 25,878 (June 2016). A typical issue arrives in a polybag with a free tackle gift, opening with a Welcome spread and the editor's column, then "This Week" news, 14 pages of "Where To Fish" with venue vouchers, 14 pages of "Tips & Tactics", plus letters and even a crossword — and the Kingfisher Club for young anglers. Its website is anglingtimes.co.uk.

Absorbing Improve Your Coarse Fishing

In April 2024 Bauer announced the closure of Improve Your Coarse Fishing after 33 years — and the integration of its content under the Angling Times umbrella. "In a challenging period for many magazines, we're pleased to bring the Improve Your Coarse Fishing content under the Angling Times umbrella," said Steve Prentice, Bauer Media Group's UK co-CEO; editor James Furness promised to carry its inclusive tone and easy-to-understand tips and tactics into Angling Times. With a combined monthly reach of more than 300,000 anglers across print and digital, Angling Times and anglingtimes.co.uk are key pillars of Bauer's multi-platform media strategy.

The title's authority rests on advice from nationally known names in the sport — Steve Ringer, Keith Arthur, John Wilson and Des Taylor — and on unrivalled equipment tests and venue intelligence. Bauer's angling stable has also included UK Carp magazine and the Go Fishing website, with its where-to-fish guides, videos and features. Its readers, the publisher notes, splash out a total of £25 million a year on their hobby.