The Coarse Fishing Guide

Latin name Gasterosteus aculeatus (Three Spined Stickleback),
Pungitius pungitius (Ten Spined Stickleback)

Easily recognisable, and possibly the best known British freshwater fish, these fish have three or ten spines along the back before the dorsal fin.

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Of the two, the three spined stickleback is the most common and is found everywhere from small ditches to rivers and lakes. The ten spined stickleback is more rare, and is found in stagnant waters in mud and weed.

Baits

Sticklebacks will take maggots and worms.

Tactics

Whilst not a fish you would deliberately target, you may get one when using a small worm as bait. If the worm is only hooked once in the middle of the body, you may even get two at once, one on each end as they are not often hooked, but can suck in quite a large length of a thin red worm or brandling and will remain attached after you lift your tackle out of the water.