The idea that fish think, “Ah, it’s 12 May: time for some serious fondling”, is ridiculous. Factors like water temperature mean they can spawn as late as August.Much of the pressure for year-round fishing comes from commercial waters and tackle shops, yet someone once said to me: “If it wasn’t for the close season, my house would fall down.” Meaning he could complete all the tasks that his wife had been nagging him about in the enforced break.But it’s more than that. Today’s youngsters will never know the excitement and anticipation of waiting by the waterside at 11.59pm and willing yourself to wait those 60 seconds. It doesn’t seem so long ago that a large proportion of the British population was afflicted by a nasty illness that only struck for one day in mid-June (the June Bug). If you drove past any water, it was crammed with anglers.The fishing was never as good as you dreamt it would be But that’s the whole point of dreams, isn’t it?. Tonya Harding won her home-state boxing debut with a unanimous decision over Emily Gosa on Friday night. The self-styled “America’s Bad Girl” entered the ring to a chorus of boos from the crowd of about 1,800 at Chinook Winds Casino, in Lincoln City, Oregon, but left to cheers after an easy points victory.

The entire fight barely rose above the level of a drunken street brawl, both boxers running to the centre of the ring at the start of the fight and stumbling through the first few seconds after colliding.Gosa, from Sulligent, Alabama, was making her professional debut, and went to ground early on Harding also stumbled down on one knee. With neither being credited with a knockdown, that was as close as either fighter came to hitting the mat.Harding had decidedly more power than Gosa, snapping the younger woman’s head back on several occasions and drawing blood from her nose in the second round. Gosa got in some decent punches, but none had the power to faze Harding.As Harding left the ring, again protected by her phalanx of bodyguards, trainers and hangers-on, she was taunted by a few fans, one of whom suggested that next time she bring her hubcap – a reference to a domestic dispute in which Harding attacked her then-boyfriend with one.Harding’s skating career ended in 1994 after she was linked to an assault plot to keep her American rival Nancy Kerrigan out of the Olympic Games. The plot failed, even though Kerrigan was clubbed on a knee with a car jack..

John Egan, the sort of jockey for whom the word “journeyman” might have been invented, continued his flirtation with the big time at York when steering the 4-1 favourite Dazzling Bay to an effortless four-length success in the feature, the William Hill trophy. Or rather, almost failing to steer, for the gelding’s surge through the final furlong was marked by an alarming, sudden jink to the right, not the most comfortable feeling from the saddle at close on 40 miles an hour towards the end of a six-furlong dash. But both man and beast soon recovered their equilibrium and came home virtually alone along the stands rails; not the way in which a competitive sprint handicap is supposed to be won.”He just had nothing to race with,” Egan said, “which is why he wandered about. You don’t normally hear the crowd, but I did today, and that may have upset him too, out there in front.”Last year was one the 35-year-old Irishman might have wanted to forget. He was swept up in a wide-ranging investigation into corruption in Hong Kong but was never found guilty of any offence, and soon after his return to Britain was out of action for nearly two months with a cracked pelvis, sustained when an intended mount kicked him in the parade ring at Newmarket.But 2003 has marked a sharp turnaround in fortune. Victory in yesterday’s £75,000 race set Egan up nicely for his ride in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday on Indian Haven, who gave him his first Classic success in the Irish 2,000 Guineas last month.”After I came back from injury, I kept my head down and kept working at the job all winter,” he said. “When a day like today happens I make the most of it, because I know full well that tomorrow may not happen.”Dazzling Bay, who beat Stormont (12-1) and Mr Malarkey (14-1), gave his trainer, Tim Easterby, his second successive win in the centrepiece of Timeform’s charity day on the Knavesmire, but one rather more expected than Artie’s 25-1 shock 12 months ago.