THE BIG INTERVIEW
Nick Roberts looks for the next trend.
Nick Roberts owns the wellknown Bass Lures.co.uk website and also distributes fishing tackle via his company Top Water Lures. I’ve known Nick for years, and we have fished together a lot. It’s fair to say he’s a bass lure fishing fanatic, as happy fishing from the shore or the boat, and is a very talented angler. Nick is responsible for bringing Fiiish and IMA lures to the UK, as well as various other brands over the years.
QTell us a bit about how you got into the fishing tackle trade. Nick: Since a very young age, I have fished. My dad gave me a fly-rod when I was only five and taught me how to trot a worm down a stream for trout. This led to fly-tying and, subsequently, an obsession with lures.
In my early twenties, I travelled a lot outside the UK and it registered with me that the rest of the world considered fishing to be an exciting pastime, whereas in the UK the perception prevailed of a stale, dank and rather smelly pursuit.
I picked up a lot of innovative lures from abroad, tried them in the UK with success, and then decided I wanted to try to spread the word.
It started online with www.basslures.co.uk selling Lunker City products. Our brand base grew and then we started to distribute to other tackle shops. It’s not a stuffy environment, no-one wears tweed in our office, we wear shorts and hats, music pumps from all corners. The rest is history.
QWhat’s it like working in both retail and distribution? Do you find yourself being torn between the two based on what you prefer doing, or is it an easy balance?
Nick: I love both aspects of our business, helping individual anglers to make a choice for a day trip, while recommending an opening order for a new trade account.
I get a real buzz from customers telling me that the lure worked and they caught their first bass, or when a new outlet takes delivery of their opening order on a Friday and is back on the phone on Monday morning to reorder.
We get a lot of feedback from retailing a product initially before deciding whether to distribute it. It’s a natural progression. The model is proven and works well. Nike does it.
QWhen you came across the Japanese IMA lure brand, could you have imagined how they would take off in the UK, and how the brand offers such a massive variety of hard lures especially?
Nick: Yes, I saw something incredible straight away. Quality, unique colours and innovative lure types. They also worked immediately, and I am pleased that so many anglers have recorded so many catches using IMA products. I seem to remember you being quite excited on your first glance at a Komomo SF-125 too, Henry!
QWhat was the first model of IMA lure that you imported into the UK, and what were your initial impressions?
Nick: I bought a couple of IMA lures initially as a result of them receiving acclaim in Japan. I recall a Sasuke 120 and Komomo SF-125 arriving with me first.
I remember thinking “Wow! What an astonishing colour combination” but my mind was open and I was soon catching fish on the lures.
This was at a time when conventional lure designs were dramatically changing with the available technology. Designers were using new CAD technology and better had understanding of the relationship with light, weight, colour, sound, vibration and action.
As an angler you needed some lateral thinking, and those who were prepared to try the new wave of products have benefitted hugely. Who would have thought that you could catch a specimen fish on a black and rainbow disco-coloured Komomo 2?
QGive us a bit of an insight into working closely with Japanese fishing tackle companies.
Nick: Precision engineering, quality control, attention to detail and innovation. In Japan, fishing is so much more than a Saturday pastime. I’ll be honest, it can be hard work, frustrating at times. A lot of Japanese fishing tackle is batch manufactured in relatively small quantities.
Importantly, the Japanese are very, very protective of their domestic market, and most actually don’t want to export.
That might sound strange to most, but the fixation is on quality control and consumer satisfaction. The fear is that once a company starts to export, the perception is one of mass production and a drop in quality – and that can be damaging to a well-respected brand in Japan.
When I see comments made on social media about the lack of availability of a certain lure, I often want to explain this. Equally, for a Japanese company to consider an export market, they often need to guarantee volumes and will insist on minimum order quantities to offset their tooling costs. It’s like when you call me and say “Nick are you getting the ‘new, best, latest favourite’ lures in stock?”, You probably don’t realise that in order to service your ‘issues’ I might have to order thousands.
QBe honest, here, when you first saw the Fiiish Black Minnow, what did you think? Did you have any idea how these lures would become a big part of the UK lure fishing scene?
Nick: Honestly, no! When I saw the lure for the first time, I remember thinking, is this just another shad, or could it be something very special? I wasn’t sold immediately. Then you see the action and you start to understand a bit more. Then you cast and catch and you are switched on forever.
I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with the people behind the Fiiish brand, and I have seen the evolution. The Fiiish Black Minnow changed my fishing forever, and so many other anglers have been through the same process.
QNick: They pull, and get my heart racing, end of. I have no other explanation.
QWhy are bass such an obsession with you?
What’s your favourite way to catch bass, and where? Nick: Ask me this question every year and I might give you a different answer. In lure fishing, you never stop learning. For years, I wanted to do nothing but fish for bass in 6ft of water with a Slug-Go. For a considerable period thereafter I would watch a Lucky Craft Sammy skipping across the surface for hours on end. When I was introduced to vertical fishing with the Black Minnow, again my thinking changed.
More products are coming, just look at the new Fiiish Candy Shrimp! That lure is going to change the way I fish, I just know it!
Anglesey is my favourite place on Earth and, in my view, offers unrivalled diversity for the angler. A day on the coast with my family makes me very happy.
QNick: This is a very strenuous question, for me. There are so many to choose from. I have to think quickly here because if I really delve into my portfolio, I’ll end up in a state of perplexity.
Top of the list is the Fiiish Black Minnow, simply because it has caught me more fish in the last few years than anything else, and the range covers every possible situation.
Next is IMA’s Nabarone. I just love casting and jerking this lure.
Then it’s a basic, 7.5in Lunker City SlugGo rigged on a size 5/0 Texposer Hook. On so many occasions I have ventured out with only this lure and I’ll never forget the love I felt when I first saw a Slug-Go.
QAre you constantly on the lookout for new fishing tackle brands, or do you like to concentrate on a select few?
Nick: As a business we have to keep our eyes wide open. I need to listen to people’s stories and watch influential anglers all the time. The industry is highly competitive and this drives exciting new breeds.
QWhat are your three favourite bass fishing lures, hard or soft, and why?
We have fished together a lot and, without a doubt, you are doing something a bit special/different when you fish the Black Minnow down a current in an estuary. Any inkling as to why you seem to fish so well like this?
Nick: Yes, as you rightly accept, very
often I have completely whooped you and I agree that I am a far better angler than you! Patience! Witness the lure hitting the bottom by observing a sudden slackening in your mainline before starting a slow lift and retrieve, repeat. Fish right to your feet and linger for as long as you can in the last yard. Ultimately, slow down.
QDo you have any thoughts on where the UK and Irish saltwater lure fishing market is going?
Nick: Onwards and upwards, of course! Trying to answer this question is the best part of the job. In truth, who knows, and you can guess all you want. I always look to Japan, the US and Europe.
We observe patterns emerge and melt every year, trends come and go. Sometimes there can be no reason and other times the origins of flux are easily identified. It excites me that more than 10 years ago I thought that I could play a part in moving lure fishing forward. Hopefully, we’ve done our bit at www.basslures.co.uk and through our distribution arm Topwater.
The most important thing, for me, is that we never, ever get to a point where we decide “Well, that’s it then, what more do we need, we’ve cracked it”. If you ever draw this conclusion, your fishing will quickly turn sepia. As the old angling saying goes ‘An angler with a closed mind is like an inventor with no inventions and no intention of inventing anything’.
QMoney no object - where do you go fishing in the world and what for? Nick: I love Anglesey, my head is always stacked out with plans to cover more ground and try new things in different places, at different times of the year at a different state of tide. However, I was once lucky enough to stay on a remote atoll in the Maldives. Every cast I caught a fish that bruised me badly. I would welcome that pain any time. ■