Tackle dealers and newcomers to the sport

Am I alone in saying that it horrifies me what goes on in some of our tackle shops?

Recently I was in one of my local tackle shops when a chap came in making enquiries. Apparently, his young son (8) had shown an interest in going fishing. He was making his Dad's life hell with the pestering []him to go fishing. I was earwigging I have to admit as I am a PAA coach and the shop has a stock of my business cards in the shop.

Anyway to cut a long story short, the guy had once seen someone catch a pike and had been impressed so he wanted gear for pike fishing. I couldn't believe it when the assistant started showing him, pike rods and big pits. I know he has a living to make but I felt I had to step in and make a point.

I asked if he or his son had ever fished before, No.

I asked the shop assistant what the cost of a 42" net and handle with an unhooking mat and a set of forceps and wire cutters would be. About ?80 was the reply, I think at his prices it was more. I told the prospective customer that was a minimum of additional gear he would need before he went fishing for pike. I asked what the price was of a small landing net, a spool of 3lb line and an elasticated whip, a few floats, a disgorger, shot and hooks would be. About the same he said, actually it was cheaper.

I explained to the customer that he could possibly go pike fishing for week and not catch one, but if he went to the right places locally he was almost guaranteed catching small carp and roach. I explained that it was dangerous for both the pike and the angler if he wasn't taught how to handle them properly. I said that for a small boy, a 2 ounce roach was as much a prize as 5lb pike. Once they had the basics sorted and discovered the joys of fishing they could progress to pike or specimen fishing of some other type. The tackle dealer would make his sale of pike gear then and in the meantime would have made a lot sales, for a float rod and reel, a leger rod and reel, maybe even a pole.

It concerned me that there was a man who had never fished before and who was going to be sold the wrong gear by tackle dealer. In a couple of months he would probably have all the gear that he had bought on e-bay. He and his son would never take the sport up properly. Finally, the tackle dealer could have lost a life time customer for a quick sale.

Funnily enough, I am still welcome in the shop as after the customer had left (with his 2 whips etc.), the shop assistant and I had a long discussion about the topic. He agreed that selling the pike gear would not have been the best move he had made that day.

I am sure that a lot of tackle dealers out there will tell me it doesn't happen but it does. It seems to me that a lot of them do not think very hard before making a sale.

What do you guys think?

I think we've all seen it Richard,both in the shop and on the bank.
I've no doubt many a young angler has been lost for good purely because of the tackle he/she has been thoughtlessly sold

Start at the bottom and work your way up through the species and size becoming competent at each level before moving on.
Learn the craft in its entirety. There are NO shortcut long-term, as the weakness in the craft will always expose the instants eventually.

Angling is a journey - one that lasts a lifetime!

Well said Fred

I find that a friendly approach when you see someone like this is often welcomed and a bit of advise without sounding patronising is the right tac to take.

Swopping a size 10 hook for a size 20 and then seeing the person start to catch is reward in it's self.

Quite true Phil.

One of the problems we as lifelong anglers face is how to deal with absolute novices, and I also blame myself here.

The likes of Phil, Graham and many others on this website grew up fishing from the net and jamjar to eventually the rod and line. We learned about catching fish bit by bit, but it was a different world in those days.

Today, people want to pay their money and get instant gratification. Not for them the slow steady apprenticeship that many of us old 'uns served.

Where can a 6 year old youngster go and catch a few sticklebacks with a net and display them proudly to his mates or even schoolteacher like I did?

The pitfalls that a young budding angler taking to fishing faces these days are enormous.

I agree with all that has been said and Phil is spot on, but it wasn`t the father`s fault ,not knowing a pike from a ruffe or the son`s for the same reason ,tackle shop`s have got to learn has Fred has pointed out ,rip people off now and you will lose a lot of customers in the long run becouse they will lose interest and give the sport up through misinformation which is sad and bad .

True Les
But a bit of research by someone wanting to start fishing or the parent of a child showing an interest in angling would go a long way.

The internet and forums like this offer plenty of advise and walking round local lakes and ponds will soon have you talking to anglers and most will be glad so give good, FREE advise.Many will point you to a good taclke shop and tell you what to ask for.









Mo

I started fishing when i was 7, i had a rod, a real, line,a float, a hook and some bait. I first fished at Oham Lakes in lincolnshire (excellent fishery and the owners are bang on. Unfortunately it is for sale now as the owner had a heart problem i believe.) and loved it so much i made my mum and dad spend the whole weeks holiday on the bankside and the guys on and around the bank supplied me with old disgorgers and introduced me to new baits and styles of fishing. I gradually built up my collection of equiptment through things they offered to me and things they tought me how to use so i could buy them. Then the most remarkable pair of guys i've ever met, two twins spent 3 days on the lakeside teaching me the ins and outs and to end the week they gave me a 6 foot whip and a simple rig and i was hooked on pole fishing. I now fly fish, carp fish, pole fish, ledger and match fish compitantly because of the help of all those guys...i am in there debt as fishing really has become my passion.

Sam.

Hats off to you for stepping in, brave man since the assistant (and the owner) could have told you to butt out.

But hats off to him too for allowing you to advise and just selling the whips instead. I hope they get a lot of pleasure out of them, perhaps sharing the pleasures of catching.



You should have sold them a little course in "How to" as well!