BACK ON THE BANKS Anglers reaction to the partial lifting of Coronavirus lockdown
... that means a boost for all corners of the angling industry as fishing returns with a bang
“Anglers have had to wait a couple of hours for a swim to become free”
ANGLING’S return has seen a flurry of activity on and off the bank with demand for bait, tackle and permits soaring.
When Oxfordshire carp complex Linear Fisheries opened two of its lakes for prebooked sessions, the slots sold out in under a minute, while re-opening day at Farlows in Bucks saw a queue of 100 cars at the gates.
Fishery manager Charlie Snook tells us: “The opening day was absolutely manic with a long queue outside the gates. We have a strict rule of only five cars through the gate at a time, which meant there was no contact whatsoever between anglers. Our bailiffs took payment from them with a contactless card machine, so interaction between staff and angler was at a minimum.
“We have 82 swims and they’re all spaced more than 2m apart, but it’s been so busy some days that anglers have had to wait a couple of hours for a swim to become free.
“Everyone has been respecting the new rules that we’ve put in place. Not a single person has broken them, which shows that they’re just happy to be back out.”
BAIT IN DEMAND
Elsewhere, Willy Worms’ online orders have been going through the roof since fishing commenced. Spokesperson Emma Pickering says: “Our website basically exploded! We returned to work on the Monday after the Government announcement that fishing was back on to an excess of 1,000 orders!”
The company continued to supply small quantities of maggots and worms to fisheries and pet owners during lockdown, but demand has now soared. “We’ve had lots of new customers,” says Emma.
“That’s probably down to the fact the tackle shops can’t fully open yet.”
HELP FOR TACKLE SHOPS
The continued closure of many tackle shops has caused problems for anglers and store owners, but manufacturer Fox has tried to bridge the gap by allowing anglers to order direct and still help out their local retailer.
Harry Charrington from Fox says: “On every single order we pay a commission to the shop that the customer selected as their preferred retailer. Anglers purchasing tackle through our website have helped more than 200 shops during the lockdown period, which is absolutely fantastic news.
“Even more pleasing is to see that a number of tackle shops have created innovative ways to generate income via call-and-collect options without opening their doors. Shop staff taking orders and personally delivering them to the customer
has been wonderful to see and hear about.”
Angling clubs, too, have benefited from a sudden surge in demand. Simon Freer, president of Bradford No.1 AA, tells us: “During lockdown membership sales and renewals were down about 30 per cent year on year, but that’s all changed since Boris’ announcement. Over the last 14 days, sales have gone ballistic to a point where we’re not far from levelling out. We could potentially see an overall increase in member numbers from 2019.
“People have been locked in for at least seven weeks so they’re looking for something do to outdoors, and fishing is the perfect solution.”