Why are more lakes turning their backs on day tickets?
A growing number of UK fisheries are converting to membership-only
AGROWING number of UK day-ticket venues are turning their backs on day-ticket anglers in favour of members-only tickets.
Already this year some of the country’s best fisheries, including Barford Lakes, Colemans Cottage, Shatterford Lakes and Welham Lakes have decide to make the switch, with various reasons given behind the decision to say ‘no’ to day-ticket visitors.
For some, the change to members-only makes managing the waters far easier, as Shatterford Lakes manager Daven Percival explained: “Converting to a syndicate is a lot easier for us to control. We have had some bad experiences with day-ticket anglers stealing and damaging things.
“We realise we aren’t going to make as much money by adopting this approach but for us it’s about creating a nice and safe environment for our members.
“Members will only get access via fingerprint or keypad and we have lots of cameras to monitor things. This allows me time to focus on developing the site and making everything better for members.”
Management was also a key factor in popular Essex match venue, Colemans Cottage, converting to members-only.
They said: “As age, aches and pains catch up with all of us, we have had to try and work out an idea on how we can keep the standard up here and carry on running the fishery – this is what we have come up with.”
But is having a venue open only to members the best way to go?
Roy Marlow, owner of the Glebe Fishery near Leicester, certainly thinks so.
“For me, owning a fishery
that is ‘members-only’ has and always will be the only way I’d ever want to run it.
“I can control who comes in and out of the fishery and there’s now a lot of respect and an understanding between myself and the anglers.
“At the Glebe I also feel that what I offer is niche in as much as the fishery is set in a very natural environment – which you don’t see too often with other commercial fisheries.
“Litter can be a problem on many day-ticket venues, but you won’t find a single litter bin at my fishery. My members always take their litter home with them without fail”, he said.
Some fisheries, however, remain undecided, with Surrey’s popular Bury Hill only gradually making the change. Owner David De Vere explained: “We are slowly moving towards a members-only water but at the moment we are offering the best of both – with anglers still able to fish on a day ticket.
“A lot of money can be made from day tickets but if you don’t manage this properly it can cause problems, like fish damage. We’re not prepared to risk damage to our stocks just for extra cash.”
And the members-only move hasn’t gone down well with many Angling Times readers – see the panel on the right for some contrasting views.