Josh Pickett

Small-headed clingfish ( Apletodon dentatus ); look at those beautiful green eyes! ©Joshua Pickett   "As far as I'm aware, this is only the third ever rod and line capture of this species, and the first on bait"   Clingfishes are among my favourite groups of fish, and for the weird-loving, piscine enthusiast, it's easy to see why. Belonging to the order Gobiesocoidei (no relation to gobies), and within the order Blenniiformes (some relation to blennies), they comprise almost 200 species across the world! They have big, personable, and sometimes vacant-looking eyes; a beakish snout, and they're virtually all mouth. The feature of their namesake, however, is their adapted pelvic fins which form a large sucking disc, so strong, that when ultra-light anglers hook into a clingfish, they often assume they're snagged.   British Clingfishes There are four species of clingfish in British waters, each just as interesting as eachother; we have the Connemarra clingfish...

Britain's Strangest  Fishes   From the intestinal breathing Spined Loach to the invasive behemoth Wels Catfish in freshwater, over to the grunting Grey Gurnards to the venomous weevers in saltwater, it's apparent that Britain is not short of strange fishes, but a lot of those unusual species you may have already heard of. What about Britain's  strangest fishes ; the sparse, enigmatic species that go by unnoticed, often for years, or decades at a time? The seas surrounding Britain's shoreline, and in the heart of our rivers and lakes, are home to over 400 fish species; over half of which even the most seasoned species anglers may not have heard of, or realise were or have been present here.  I'm tired of those thoughtless 'TOP 10' lists; AI slop made only for engagement bait. Recently I read one by a reputable publisher on 16 of the world's weirdest fishes, where somehow Cuttlefish made the list. Approximately 40,000 species of fish on the planet, and th...

  "An interview with Joshua Pickett, best known as the international award-winning author of The Bichir Handbook , one of the most comprehensive modern references on the order Polypteriformes. His work bridges the gap between hobbyist knowledge and academic research, drawing from scientific literature, historical records, and years of firsthand experience keeping and studying bichirs. Joshua is particularly known for challenging misconceptions in the aquarium trade while staying closely aligned with current taxonomic and phylogenetic research." As seen in The Weekend Aquarist , issue 14, February 2026. Read the full article here .       Towards the end of this 16 page feature, is a supplementary article on all the living polypterid species. Illustrated (by Georgina Blusch) with the original pre-print artwork for The Bichir Handbook .

  2025 has been a mixed bag; I set out with a list of 20 new UK species to catch (across different disciplines: LRF, shore casting, boat, coarse, and game) fully expecting no more than 10–15 lifers. I wasn't interested in targeting species I've previously caught, but inadvertedly, I beat my previous year's tally before July's end, catching old species while pursuing new ones. As the year progressed, plans changed and opportunities arose for other species that weren't on my list at the start of the year. Lure fishing took a backseat when it came to hunting most new species; windows were small (sometimes an hour or less at marks), although lures accounted for virtually all of my regular fishing and competitions (except for the Angling Trust). All photos/icons are my own catches

   Read the full review for free on the British Wildlife website, here . 

    The Midlands Mission Species Hunting with Jack Perks & Leigh Clifton   For a few months myself, and the one-and-only 'fish twitcher' , Jack Perks, had been planning a species hunting trip in his neck of the woods, Nottingham. Quite frankly, Jack had been overstaying his welcome on several occasions when he'd come to crash at mine in Cornwall; drinking my rum, scoffing our pasties, and ravishing our women—admittedly, I seldom got time off work, so I can only assume this is what went on 9–5. It was Jack's turn this time, and luckily, I was only interested in the fishing!  The (rather insane) plan was, to catch a 13-hour, overnight coach in mid-Cornwall with 2 changes, after work on Tuesday; I don't drive myself, so this probably screamed desperation to catch a few fish to you, reader... I know, I know; that can't actually be the case — but I assure you it is. We had planned all manner of fishing, so in a successful effort to be compact, and a fruitless one...