IT’S OFFICIAL: WE’RE BACK!
After the Government gave the green light for a return to the banks, anglers have been flocking to buy licences and order bait, giving the industry a much-needed shot in the arm
Anglers flock to the banks and tackle shops as lockdown is partially lifted
FISHING has finally returned in England and Wales after lockdown, causing a surge in activity from anglers as sales of bait, tackle and rod licences soared.
The Angling Trust has struggled to keep up with new membership applications, and in the week of the Government announcement, searches for the rod-licence website leapt by 250 per cent and the number of users typing in ‘fisheries near me’ rocketed by a staggering 950 per cent!
Demand for pegs at the hugely popular Partridge Lakes in Warrington, which has nearly 400 swims across 15 lakes, was so high the fishery’s website crashed 36 hours before fishing resumed!
Soaring bait demand
Many anglers feared that their favourite baits wouldn’t be available to buy, but top matchman Cameron Hughes, who works at the family-run Nathan’s of Derby tackle shop, allayed fears over any shortages.
“Bait farms have kept going because it would have taken them too long to get back to capacity if they had shut down completely,” he told us. “I don’t see any issues with getting hold of bait. We’ve got six phones at the shop and three mobiles and they’ve been going mad all day with people ordering stuff.”
On the same day, Dan Wildbore, the boss of boilie brand Sticky, said: “We’re expecting a huge demand for our products and are deciding when to get back. It has been hard for people financially and mentally, but we’re aware that one of the first things on people’s shopping lists will be bait.
“We are working out how we can keep up with the demand and provide a safe working place for our staff. We are also planning to release our new products around the date that all of the retailers can be back open.”
Un-United Kingdom
The resumption of angling at any distance from home applies in England, and on a local basis in Wales. As the Angling Times went to press it appeared local-only angling was also on the verge of approval in Northern Ireland. Tackle shops were waiting on the green light to reopen, but the Angling Trust had written to the government asking for them to be treated like cycling stores in helping to keep the population active.
Angling Direct marketing manager Oliver Harper told us: “We’re euphoric about being able to fish again, and we will be following advice and guidance from the Government before reopening all 36 of our stores. Thankfully, our online service has remained fully open with encouraging levels of trade.”
Thanks to the Trust
Martin Salter, the Angling Trust’s chief policy advisor, told Angling Times that fishing’s return was only made possible by the organisation’s detailed proposal to the government and high-profile campaign.
He said: “There’s no doubt about it. That was confirmed to us in a virtual meeting of 48 other sporting chief executives. Sport England said to most other sports: ‘You should have done what angling has done and got your act together’. We’re now seeing other sports scrambling to catch up with us.
“It wasn’t rocket science. We had to make it easy for the Government to see that we were making our sport Covid-19 compliant, and we did that. There wasn’t a cat in hell’s chance of angling being on that first list of sports permitted if we hadn’t intervened. And anyone who says otherwise is either embittered or deluded.”
Trust membership numbers have spiked since the announcement.
“We’ve had a massive increase,” he added. “Hundreds more people have joined in the last 24 hours and we can’t keep up with processing at the moment.