Paul, I can vouch for what Woody says - you should have seen my local tackle shop owners face when Woody asked for;
'a dozen white maggots' please, with 2 or 3 reds mixed in"
'a dozen white maggots' please, with 2 or 3 reds mixed in"
February Coarse Fisherman
- Thread starter Mark Wintle
- Start date
W
Wolfman Woody
Guest
Come on Peter, it was a water I hadn't fished before.
I need a lot to use as loosefeed.
I need a lot to use as loosefeed.
Jeff,
I know, I remember it well.
Mind you, I didn't see you loose feeding though, did you take the remaining 9 maggots home with you?
I know, I remember it well.
Mind you, I didn't see you loose feeding though, did you take the remaining 9 maggots home with you?
J
john ledger
Guest
Maggots and casters apart the only thing i find value for money in a tackle shop are floats both stick and waggler. I have enough sticks to thatch a roof but still find myself like a drug addict wanting another fix and at around ?1-50p value for money.
The biggest waste of space are the additives and dont some anglers shell out for these. I have a garage full of additives,specialist baits to test out from some well known companies that i would not feed a cormorant on,and will either bin them or give them away.
Like the rest of us i shelled out for a couple of rods i did not really need because i am as stupid as the rest.
There is no big money in angling for either anglers writers etc yet we still fork out more money on tackle and bait than any other sport. Sad but true
The biggest waste of space are the additives and dont some anglers shell out for these. I have a garage full of additives,specialist baits to test out from some well known companies that i would not feed a cormorant on,and will either bin them or give them away.
Like the rest of us i shelled out for a couple of rods i did not really need because i am as stupid as the rest.
There is no big money in angling for either anglers writers etc yet we still fork out more money on tackle and bait than any other sport. Sad but true
John,
That is an interesting comment regarding additives.
I remember discussing this with three of England's top match anglers some years ago at a match fishing weekend in Norway.
Their comments ranged from almost exactly what you say, to; I wouldn't fish without them and the best thing since sliced bread.
Personally, I rarely ever fish maggot without some sort of flavouring.
My match team did some pretty extensive trials and the consensus of opinion was that they did give an edge over those that fished 'au naturel' (and that don't mean they fished in the buff Jeff!
That is an interesting comment regarding additives.
I remember discussing this with three of England's top match anglers some years ago at a match fishing weekend in Norway.
Their comments ranged from almost exactly what you say, to; I wouldn't fish without them and the best thing since sliced bread.
Personally, I rarely ever fish maggot without some sort of flavouring.
My match team did some pretty extensive trials and the consensus of opinion was that they did give an edge over those that fished 'au naturel' (and that don't mean they fished in the buff Jeff!
J
john ledger
Guest
Peter
I recently went against the grain and bought some chub paste from one well known maker. I was fishing the Swale for chub with Mike Townsend and i tried some of this paste which turned out to be fish meal and as hard as iron.
Mike came down and took some of my cheesepaste which i had made and have been making the same way for years and promptly caught two chub.The stuff i paid for and it was not cheap has been binned.
Moral of the story,if you believe in fairies shell out for this stuff.
I recently went against the grain and bought some chub paste from one well known maker. I was fishing the Swale for chub with Mike Townsend and i tried some of this paste which turned out to be fish meal and as hard as iron.
Mike came down and took some of my cheesepaste which i had made and have been making the same way for years and promptly caught two chub.The stuff i paid for and it was not cheap has been binned.
Moral of the story,if you believe in fairies shell out for this stuff.
W
Wolfman Woody
Guest
I'm just photographing all of my reels in case of theft and the resulting insurance claim. I hope they;re never stolen though as I'd hate 'er indoors to find out how much they really cost.
J
john ledger
Guest
Thought you told me Woody dropped a maggot and spent an hour looking for it
Bob Roberts
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I wish I had said Tesco or Sainsbury's instead of IKEA Peter! ;-)
Yas the company is rich, but that is because it is well run and fulfils the basic principles of business success - right products, right place, right price, right time.
Give some tackle shops the 6.2billion from one year's IKEA turnover and they'll show you how to turn it into 2.6bn!
When I get dragged round the shops with the delightful Sue we spend an absolute fortune on coffee's and nibbles in the Costa's, Starbucks, Thornton's and so on. We're happy to pay even more if it's a nice little tea room serving home made scones. Expensive? No. Just part of the experience.
Take somewhere like Chapters bookshop in Toronto. My favourite in the whole world. You can buy books and records, etc. but you can buy coffee and snacks, there are comfy settees and all the latest magazines and newspapers are scattered around for free providing you read them on the premises. Lots of listening posts where you can hear the latest albums. Some days there are poetry or book readings, live music and so on.
The longer you hang around the more you're likely to spend and most importantly, feel good about it.
Maybe the smaller tackle dealer has to change his way of selling rather than what he sells. Maybe he should be charging for that cup of coffee. Maybe he should be demonstrating tackle items and simple tactics. You know, deliver the answers to those questions that get asked time and again on here. Perhaps he should think about service, education and satisfaction if he wants to suvive.
What he can't afford to do is do nothing.
Yas the company is rich, but that is because it is well run and fulfils the basic principles of business success - right products, right place, right price, right time.
Give some tackle shops the 6.2billion from one year's IKEA turnover and they'll show you how to turn it into 2.6bn!
When I get dragged round the shops with the delightful Sue we spend an absolute fortune on coffee's and nibbles in the Costa's, Starbucks, Thornton's and so on. We're happy to pay even more if it's a nice little tea room serving home made scones. Expensive? No. Just part of the experience.
Take somewhere like Chapters bookshop in Toronto. My favourite in the whole world. You can buy books and records, etc. but you can buy coffee and snacks, there are comfy settees and all the latest magazines and newspapers are scattered around for free providing you read them on the premises. Lots of listening posts where you can hear the latest albums. Some days there are poetry or book readings, live music and so on.
The longer you hang around the more you're likely to spend and most importantly, feel good about it.
Maybe the smaller tackle dealer has to change his way of selling rather than what he sells. Maybe he should be charging for that cup of coffee. Maybe he should be demonstrating tackle items and simple tactics. You know, deliver the answers to those questions that get asked time and again on here. Perhaps he should think about service, education and satisfaction if he wants to suvive.
What he can't afford to do is do nothing.
I have to agree Bob about book stores in both the USA and Canada.
My wife is a book-hound and she has spent hundreds of dollars - not on the books, but on the coffee ;-)
I also agree about the way small tackle shops ought to go about selling.
When I was seriously thinking about buying that shop I had ideas about demonstrations from well known anglers, videos playing in different parts of the shop, a good sized tank of freshwater fish from the area, groundbait mixing demonstrations and all sorts of others - not wanting to give away all of my thoughts in case I decide to go after it again ;-)
Just outside Houston at Katy Mall there is an enormous Sports/Tackle Shop that has a huge tank of bass etc.
Every Sat and Sun the resident professional (yes, RESIDENT!) gives a 20 minute display of different lures about 6 times a day.
Within minutes of the shows ending the shelves were emptied of the patterns he has been using.
I have to agree with you Bob, maybe they should start thinking about 'how' they sell!
My wife is a book-hound and she has spent hundreds of dollars - not on the books, but on the coffee ;-)
I also agree about the way small tackle shops ought to go about selling.
When I was seriously thinking about buying that shop I had ideas about demonstrations from well known anglers, videos playing in different parts of the shop, a good sized tank of freshwater fish from the area, groundbait mixing demonstrations and all sorts of others - not wanting to give away all of my thoughts in case I decide to go after it again ;-)
Just outside Houston at Katy Mall there is an enormous Sports/Tackle Shop that has a huge tank of bass etc.
Every Sat and Sun the resident professional (yes, RESIDENT!) gives a 20 minute display of different lures about 6 times a day.
Within minutes of the shows ending the shelves were emptied of the patterns he has been using.
I have to agree with you Bob, maybe they should start thinking about 'how' they sell!
Bob Roberts
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And you know what Peter?
We'd enjoy going to the tackle shop.
Another consideration is opening hours. When's your tackle dealer open? When you're at work? When you're fishing?
By choice I'd want to shop mid-evening not mid-day.
I want someone to say, 'Have you seen these? They're new and they're really good. I use them all the time now.'
I remember a famous angler opening a shop near me and for a while it was great. Bought all my gear there and picked his brains at every oportunity. Then we saw less and less of him. He was upstairs in the office or away fishing. Eventually you hardly saw him. Instead you got the young lad serving you and selling fishing tackle is a whole lot different to selling MacDonalds.
We'd enjoy going to the tackle shop.
Another consideration is opening hours. When's your tackle dealer open? When you're at work? When you're fishing?
By choice I'd want to shop mid-evening not mid-day.
I want someone to say, 'Have you seen these? They're new and they're really good. I use them all the time now.'
I remember a famous angler opening a shop near me and for a while it was great. Bought all my gear there and picked his brains at every oportunity. Then we saw less and less of him. He was upstairs in the office or away fishing. Eventually you hardly saw him. Instead you got the young lad serving you and selling fishing tackle is a whole lot different to selling MacDonalds.
I am pretty lucky that my two local shops are open from 7am to 7pm every day except Sunday when its 7am to noon, and I've used them for all my bait, rods, reels and tackle for years.
Andy at Avon Angling is a really good chap, always wanting to show you the newest pieces of kit, but never expecting you to buy it. He is generous with both his time to chat and his advice on swims for the Avon and the Stour too.
Prior to that I used to go to Steve Gardner and Steveie Saunders shop in Sutton, only stopped because it was too far away. I have watched Steve Gardner talk young anglers out of buying ultra expensive poles in favour of ones that would better suit their skills and needs - and he would be loosing profit on the cheaper poles too.
These are the sort of shops that get ALL of my trade.
One of these fine days I may get the urge to own and run my own shop, maybe when I retire from this mickey mouse business that I've worked at for the last 35 years ;-)
Andy at Avon Angling is a really good chap, always wanting to show you the newest pieces of kit, but never expecting you to buy it. He is generous with both his time to chat and his advice on swims for the Avon and the Stour too.
Prior to that I used to go to Steve Gardner and Steveie Saunders shop in Sutton, only stopped because it was too far away. I have watched Steve Gardner talk young anglers out of buying ultra expensive poles in favour of ones that would better suit their skills and needs - and he would be loosing profit on the cheaper poles too.
These are the sort of shops that get ALL of my trade.
One of these fine days I may get the urge to own and run my own shop, maybe when I retire from this mickey mouse business that I've worked at for the last 35 years ;-)
W
Wolfman Woody
Guest
"One of these fine days I may get the urge to own and run my own shop,"
Ok, if you have almost ??million to put into to store and stock Peter
I agree with Bob, but a lot of the blame might rest with local council and property developers. Tackle dealers have been priced out of the high street. Rents and rates are astonomical there, but it is there, where there is passing trade, where you will get the custom to do these things.
But also, the high street of today are different from yesterday. Car parking restrictions abound and the closest you can get to the centre of Wycombe now without paying for car parking is about 1 km.
I believe we suffered a lot when Woolworths stopped selling tackle. Yes, it wasn't the greatest quality, but it brought kids into the sport and once hooked they soon found where their nearest PROPER dealer was.
There's a lot of things wrong, but there are also some conditions in existence that cannot be addressed in many towns.
Ok, if you have almost ??million to put into to store and stock Peter
I agree with Bob, but a lot of the blame might rest with local council and property developers. Tackle dealers have been priced out of the high street. Rents and rates are astonomical there, but it is there, where there is passing trade, where you will get the custom to do these things.
But also, the high street of today are different from yesterday. Car parking restrictions abound and the closest you can get to the centre of Wycombe now without paying for car parking is about 1 km.
I believe we suffered a lot when Woolworths stopped selling tackle. Yes, it wasn't the greatest quality, but it brought kids into the sport and once hooked they soon found where their nearest PROPER dealer was.
There's a lot of things wrong, but there are also some conditions in existence that cannot be addressed in many towns.