Shopping in your local tackle shop.

Before anyone jumps on my head. I will be the first to say that there are some very ,very good tackle shops BUT,,,,,,,Are they also a dying breed?

The 2 shops in my local town could not in any way fall into the above category. Their bait ie maggot and caster are more often than not appalling,expensive and as regards good coarse knowledge and info in one of them its none existant and the other one you can get some info but only if you are willing to pay through the nose while doing so.

I went in both shops looking for a new bait table and a trolley last week. Exactly the same trolley I know Ican buy for 25-35 quid 20 miles away they were asking £45.00 for in both shops.The same bait tray here 34.99. There 24.00 quid.

Of course I told them about it. In the first tackle shop the idiotreverted tohis usual tactic of insulting my intelligence and attempting to choke me with bullsh*t. The 2nd one told me they would price match. Why? I asked them both why dont they just control their greed and give the local anglers a fair deal. I wasted my breath. I told them I was trying to buy from my local shops but they were making it impossible.

In the finish I went on Ebay. I paid 18.00 plus 7.99 postage for the trolley and 8 quid for the table discounted postage because the dealer packed them in the same box and enclosed a reel pouch buckshee. Where am I going to shop the next time I want something?

Of course I realise about overheads with shops etc and the lack of the same with Ebay sellers but some of those overheads need to be absorbed in their profit margins otherwise surely in the case of my local shops they arent looking for customers as much ashoping for mugs.

A personal pet hate of mine is the local tackle shop by me selling items way over the RRP of the product! Not sure if this happens elsewhere as well, but damn its annoying how can they expect to keep local customers coming back. I quite often resort to online shops and find the items at nearly half the price.

For example last week ineeded some floats.

RRP 99p
Online 80p
Local Tackle Shop £1.75

ARGH!!!

The only loss is to themselves, i now end up buying more online at better prices to keep myselfstocked up, just to save myself having to visit the place.

Mark
www.pikeandperch.co.uk

I must admit that I travel 13 or so miles to a very good tackle shop rather than use the one in my town.

The one in town has very limited stock and unscrupulous activity.

I took in a couple of old rods that needed new tip rings, and as the shop organises matches for youngsters I said if they did the repairs they could use the rods as prizes or as loan items for kids that had none. Next time in there I spotted one of the rods in the "second hand section", the guy on the till claimed toknow nothing about it, I did not donate it to boost their takings!

I do a lot of my buying now on E-Bay, one, for the price and two, because the tackle shop I used to use is full of anglers hanging about reminiscing of the ones that got away, it was difficult to get to the counter, and if I managed that and asked for a certain item sometimes my request was greeted by a stupid quip from someone, so I use E-Bay, some tackle shops drive themselves out of business.

What are E BAY maggots like and how much do you save?

Shrink tubing costs pennies but all the tackle shops price it up for£1.50 to£2 its disgusting and you only get aroung 8 inches of shrink tube per packetin total plus you add 50p if its made by fox, nash,gardner etc. Dad that tackle shop is a bit pricey but what tackle shop has three young lasses waiting to serve you.

Only two shops one could call local to me - both about eight miles distant. One is well stocked but the prices are a bit on the high side, and one never feels particularly welcome in there - untilyou produce a wallet full of cash, whereupon the proprietor takes on a persona not unlike that of Scrooge, rubbing his hands together and grinning toothlessly. I play a game whenever I go in, which involves totting up the total price of all the things I've selected. Invariably I find I'm about thirty percent too low. The other shopis great if you like Fox stuff, but otherwise pointless. Both are just about acceptablewhen all Iwantis a few maggots.

In consequence I frequently travel thirty miles to buy from a real tackle shop; otherwiseI order online. I wish I had a good local shop, but I don't.

I must be fortunate as I have two, bothwithin a 1 1/2 miles from where I live. One'sis predominantly amatch/pleasureshop witha small selection of specialist tackle. Will always order any specialist tackle I need if they deal with the manufacturer. The bait maggots, casters are to die for, as you would expect from a match shop run by a match angler of 40 years plus. Old School you seewhen all match anglers fished rivers and wouldn't put up with rubbish bait.

The other is predominantly carp orientated, well stocked with carp stuff, great for pellet and crossover stuff into my areas of fishing.

Both are friendly, helpful and competitively priced. Yes you can find stuff cheaper on the net but they are local and shops I'd like to see continue for as long as I've got left to fish on this earth.

Via Guilders Failsworth

and Carp Fever Droylsden

That should get me the10+ discount next time I go in /forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif

And as Slime says how much are maggot on the net?

Living in rural area I have at least 18 miles to the nearest tackle shop, which thankfully is well-run, and with reasonable prices. One is always greeted well in the shop, and with a cup of tea or coffee usually. The name of the shop is Reid's Tackle at Witherington Farm Lakes, owned and run by Dave Moody.

I've been using it for virtually all of my angling needs for about 6 years, but I still go down to Ringwood from time to time to buy from Avon Angling as well, and that is over 30 miles away.

Some years ago I had an accounting firm run the economics as I was interested in buying a well know tackle shop in the South of England. Most people would be very surprised to see how much capital is required, and how relatively little profit most shops make.

Internet selling is all well and good, but tackle shops, like Post Offices and local high street shops, will all disappear if they are not patronised. Personally, I far prefer the face-to-face experience rather than the faceless experience of buying over the Internet.

I wonder to when anyone managed a good chat and to glean local fishing information from an Internet-based seller?

i only have three tackle shops within about 4 miles of my home ,i only use two of them ,the odd one is other side of town,all three shops , are well stocked and all have very cheerful staff ,and knowledgeable i much prefer to use the shops ,one shop has the big advantage that my brother lives close by so i can visit at same time.
Ihave bought of the net but only smsall stuff ,would not consider a buying a rod or pole from e bay

I guess I'm lucky in that my two local tackle shops (in Fareham), Hansfords and Rovers, have always been good and I'm certainly not averse to comparing prices between the two.

We still need, and will continue to need,GOOD tackle shops. Some of the crap shops described in the posts above should go the way of all smelly things - down the pan. Perhaps with us all having to tighten our belts and watch what we spend, and where we spend it, the less attractive side of the tackle shop industry will fall victim to the recession. Let's hope so.

Despite my good personal experiences of shopping in Rovers and Hansfords, I STILL can't bring myself to buy 'Super dooper, you can't bend it, will catch everything, unique flavoured' angler's luncheon meat or sweetcorn at those horribly inflated (and unrealistic) prices. Sometimes I think it's more than some of the tackle shops that are taking the piss. Take a bow, Van Den Eynde and Dynamite Baits.

Funny that this posting was on today, I've just been to see the Bank Manager about some dosh to open a shop, not just for fishing tackle but for shooting, riding and other outdoor leisure acitivites.

They were VERY excited! But I would like to know the thoughts of FM readers as to whether they would travel up to 25 miles to get;

Tackle at greatly discounted prices.

A shop that stocks all leading and most minor brands.

A shop whose staff are well trained in prduct knowledge and can hold a civilised conversation about their use.

A shop that will give advice on almost anything to do with any type of fishing.

A shop open 7 days a week, until 8'o'clock Monday to Friday.

A shop that has state of the art website for easy internet shopping.

A shop that stocks Coarse, Carp, Game and Sea tackle, under one roof.

A shop with a nice cafe for a relaxing cup of tea or coffee with a great atmosphere for talking with other anglers.

I welcome feedback and any ideas to improve on the above.

I should add that this shop has 100,000 plus square feet of space, is on a modern Retail Park with loads of free parking and there are lots of other shops for the wife to explore, unless they like riding, biking, walking, camping or shooting!

It is still in the exploratory stage but will be confirmed by Xmas, so your thoughts will help my company's decision.

Many thanks in anticipation,

Don

I would think that I have maybe 6 tackle shops within a ten mile radius of where I live but I only need to use two : www.ashfordtackle.co.uk

www.bleanangling.com

If I need a new reel or rod ect I will check up the price on the web shops , add the p&p and then checkout these local shops , nine times out of ten they will match or be cheaper .

The only gripe that I have with most tackle shops , is that they allways have a very poor pike section which allways seems to be in the main ........Fox products , who are ok but I wan`t to choose which brand I use , not have to put up with only one ./forum/smilies/angry_smiley.gif

Donald if you had a shop within 25 miles of me with the gear that I needed , then yes I would shop with you , It may only be once a month or once in two months but we all need to get the right gear we need from a good outlet .

Les, we intend to have a seperate department for Specialist Angling, ie; Barbel and Pike, stocking just about everything. My mate is a real Specialist angler, sits for days aftr pike, catfish, carp and barbel, so he knows what we need!

Watch the site for developments.

Don

Sounds great Donald. I sure would travel 25 miles and so often i do, well nearly 35 miles as i know they will always have what i need, and more often than not better prices than some online stores! And if i order something it will actually materalise. Unlike certain othershops i used to visit.

Local shop....: I amstill waiting for a call back to saymy rod has arrived... i only ordered it last October!

And if you succeed in delivering a shop with points highlighted above you are on to a winner!!! Open to 8pm, this is a god send for people who work all week and want to be on the bank early saturday morning...!

Mark
www.pikeandperch.co.uk

Don, I shoot as well as fish, so the answer to would I travel is a resounding yes!! I note with interest the parking element. A nearby free car park is absolutely pivotal to drawing customers in. Parking is at a premium these days which is an underlying factor in some main street shops' failure to weather the storms.

If I'm teaching granny to suck eggs please forgive me, but if you stock shooting supplies, the recent Crime Reduction Bill will need a good shufty. Under the terms of this bill, you will need to be a Registered Firearms Dealer even if you intend to sell only air rifles (which can now only be bought face to face and not through the mail).

Hansfords of Fareham also stock riding tack and other sporting, not necessarily fishing related, bits and bobs and outdoor clothing. If you are far enough away to not be in competition, they may be willing to pass on some early bits of advice. They are on the web.

An old Navyclub mateof mine recently retired from active service and set up a tackle shop in Waterlooville a couple of years ago - it's called Manning's. He's a bit further away from me so I haven't had a chance to visit, but he seems to be doing OK. Perhaps he might give you a few pointers on the inevitable snags you might encounter on first setting up. He's on the web or on tel: 023 9237 3073. Tell him I said a salty old sea dog is always happy to help.

I am fortunate on the Wirral that I have seven well supplied tackle shops within around 6 miles radius of my home, and I use three of them, Wirral Angling, Moreton Angling and the Fisherman in Birkenhead regularly for bait and all the smaller items.

When I want to buy a rod or pole though I travel out to Nantwich ( I often fish out that way anyway) and go to Stapeley Water Gardens which has the biggest angling centre I've come across. The service though isnt too hot in comparrison to the local shops, but it carries a wider selection to chose from.

As for buying mail order its fine when everything works but a pain in the preverbial if you have to send things back and pay for the postage of a large item. A cut priceumbrella with a defective poleonce cost me more than the most expensive on the market because I kept having to return it twice as the design was flawed. False economy in my opinion.

Sure you can buy off the Net or Mail order cheaper but if you dont support you local shop - and they will give you better service when something goes wrong - where will you buy bait in the future?

Thanks Phil for the input.

It is our intention to buy out several shops in the area prior to setting up our Megastore, why try to re-invent the wheel! All that we will do is integrate and consolidate the various sectors of the Leisure market that are our targets, bring them into the 21st century, give great service at great prices.

I've heard of Mannings and it is on our hit list for when we open down South, we've plans for nearly 30 stores around the UK within the next 7-8 years, plus we'll be buying a few venues!

It's exciting times, but it is our intent to make all of these leisure activities more affordable and more accessible.

I know about the Gun Laws but the funny thing is that more and more people are taking shooting up in one of its many legal forms!

Hope to see you at the store, all FM readers will get an invite to the grand opening.

Don

i'm a lucky one then with my local as oxfordshire has great fishing but awful tackle shops esp oxford.