Another one bites the dust.

[John Cook]

No not Judds Dave, like Harefield and the Cabin, also we pass them on our way to our venues so handy and they are helpful and stock most things..

 

[David Gauntlett]

Dave H, exactly, where are we going to get a pint of maggots?

I'm ok, Harefield is not too far, but some local pensioner with limited transport is stuffed.

I've always made a point of buying local, the cost of internet delivery and hassle of arranging collection was not for me.
Then there was the club info and tickets.
And not forgetting the general chit chat.
And the aftersales service.

Probably, in the end, a great relief for Neil, it was taking a toll on him and his family, John had undergone three heart bypasses.

Neil was my old drinking buddy in C St P from way back when, and we even played in a band together in Germany.
The tackle business is all he's ever known.

Sad day

And that pensioner is me Dave

Not quite....I knew him from the bike shop just up the road from the tackle shop

As I say, not sure where this will all end. No doubt Neil told you about the steady downward trend in angling licence sales over the last few years? It seems that a large percentage of today's youngsters are so absorbed with TV, games consoles, laptops, tablets etc., etc., that they have no desire to take part in outdoor pursuits....and those few that do take up angling want it easy rolleyes hence the popularity of carp match ponds.

When you think about it, all these kids have been brought up with the internet playing a huge part in their lives....so where else could we reasonably expect them to look to for their gear, if they did have a hankering to go fishing? They can buy their licence on line now, book tickets for venues, all the equipment they could ever need, the majority of their bait, the proper clothing for our sport...there is almost nothing they can't get from the internet if they do decide to fish....and as mentioned, the internet is where a large percentage of them spend more than half their lives now.

I know from personal family experience that the mums and dads these days allow this situation to continue, despite misgivings about it, because "At least it keeps them off the streets"...and with all the dreadful stuff that is going on out there, that is a BIG worry for parents now. And let's be honest, who would have dreamt that the internet they allowed their kids free access to would eventually turn out to be as dangerous as the streets?

A lot of angling clubs, charities and other organisations do a very good job of trying to encourage and entice folk, youngsters in particular, to take up fishing as a hobby now.Let's hope they succeed!

Cheers, Dave.

 

[David Hall]

Dave, he was in Dees but on the tackle side, But anyway, i might have shifty about in there soon.

 

[Joe Fletcher]

AND.... Be Lucky Angling in Cheltenham has gone / going, no Angling shops in Cheltenham now, nearest is Blank-side OR our very own Rob Danter of Tewkesbury

Neil I was in Be Lucky Angling today and was chatting to the owners .
All his rods , boots and luggage etc etc is now half price .
So it might be worth a look . He is closed tomorrow Tuesday and opens again on Wensday .
The shop will cease trading on Saturday

 

[David Gauntlett]

Dave, he was in Dees but on the tackle side, But anyway, i might have shifty about in there soon.

Let me know when Dave, and if I can I will pop down to meet you I must say there is not a busting lot left now, and he is hoping to sell the lot before the predicted three weeks before he has to leave, so it will obviously continue to thin out until that time. May end up fighting over the last bank stick

Cheers, Dave.

 

[David Hall]

Frederick Beesley, ever been there Dave?

 

[Neil Smart]

Neil I was in Be Lucky Angling today and was chatting to the owners .
All his rods , boots and luggage etc etc is now half price .
So it might be worth a look . He is closed tomorrow Tuesday and opens again on Wensday .
The shop will cease trading on Saturday

Cheers Joe, will take a look.

 

[Dave Durrant]

Let me know when Dave, and if I can I will pop down to meet you I must say there is not a busting lot left now, and he is hoping to sell the lot before the predicted three weeks before he has to leave, so it will obviously continue to thin out until that time. May end up fighting over the last bank stick

Cheers, Dave.

Hey, I'll tell Neil to get the coffee and biccies in and we'll have a 'Dave' party.
Neil can be trigger.

Frederick Beesley, ever been there Dave?

I have. I went to buy a fly vest for coarse purposes and felt rather unwelcome. Do they do coarse tackle or bait?

 

[David Hall]

Hey, I'll tell Neil to get the coffee and biccies in and we'll have a 'Dave' party.
Neil can be trigger.



I have. I went to buy a fly vest for coarse purposes and felt rather unwelcome. Do they do coarse tackle or bait?

and Neil's assistant..err, dave!

 

[David Gauntlett]

Hey, I'll tell Neil to get the coffee and biccies in and we'll have a 'Dave' party.
Neil can be trigger.



I have. I went to buy a fly vest for coarse purposes and felt rather unwelcome. Do they do coarse tackle or bait?

Neil can be Trigger

I bagsy doing the 'falling through the pub counter' sketch....it should cheer Neil up

Frederick Beesley....hmmmm. You are not the first to sense that you were not welcome there. I have only visited the shop once, went there to look at air rifles rather than fishing tackle, and felt most uncomfortable when talking to the older staff member ( may have been Fred Bullers son, not sure).

I discussed the issue with one or two members of my shooting club and discovered that they are notorious for that. They specialise in game tackle and eye wateringly expensive shotguns. I rather think that though they stock a few items in the way of coarse tackle and air rifles, they feel that the 'rough' trade is a little below them

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Stuart Prescott]

To what degree are we supposed to support the local shop though ?

I've recently priced up a pair of winter boots , as most do , I used the internet to research the product that best suits my requirements and got a price , £85 post free

With this thread in mind I contacted a local (minimum 30 miles drive ) large tackle store . They didn't stock the exact pair I was interested in , but a phone call later and they left me a voicemail , £117 and they wouldn't charge me for carriage for placing the order with their supplier ! With such a price difference it's not even worth a phone call back to haggle with them

Where do you think I'm going to buy from ?

I'm all for supporting the local , or not so local shops , but they need to be competitive

 

[Neil Smart]

To what degree are we supposed to support the local shop though ?

I've recently priced up a pair of winter boots , as most do , I used the internet to research the product that best suits my requirements and got a price , £85 post free

With this thread in mind I contacted a local (minimum 30 miles drive ) large tackle store . They didn't stock the exact pair I was interested in , but a phone call later and they left me a voicemail , £117 and they wouldn't charge me for carriage for placing the order with their supplier ! With such a price difference it's not even worth a phone call back to haggle with them

Where do you think I'm going to buy from ?

I'm all for supporting the local , or not so local shops , but they need to be competitive

That's the rub I suppose, the market decides, went into Be Lucky Angling's this morning and the owner was a bit bitter I suppose with on-line being blamed for his demise, but I did find another Drennan Barbel rod to add to the collection at half RRP, and a few other bits too.

TBH felt like a vulture picking over a carcass, but I have had had to close a business due to a huge Supermarket opening up on my doorstep, lost ££££'s win some lose some.

 

[Steve Roffey]

It's the same all over the country, over the last few years all the tackle shops in Shrewsbury have gone, just leaves Total Angling on the trading estate to the north of the town. Since the 2 tackle shops in Oswestry have also closed they are now my closest source of reliable maggots, a 25 mile journey! Not too bad when I'm heading for the river around Shrewsbury, but a royal pain if I'm planning to fish the upper river.

 

[David Gauntlett]

I understand exactly where you are coming from Stuart, and it's hard to argue with your logic. The strange thing is that many of the online shops have high street outlets as well...and sell at the same price there. That of course kicks into touch the argument that 'Online sellers can sell cheaper because they don't have a shop to maintain, with rent and rates etc.'

So...why can some sell cheaper than others? I do know that some are offered better deals than others by the tackle dealers, and that some allow 'friends' to sell their gear at cut prices from their car boot (literally), or their garage...which has high street retailers up in arms...but that doesn't explain all of it. I also know that the big distributors, such as Fox and many others...used to demand huge first orders to open an account with them....which was crippling for small retailers. Perhaps significantly, they have relaxed that in very recent times...more signs of less demand for tackle nowadays?

I don't know. I think it was down to many factors coming together, rather than just one reason....but the internet, and probably greed of individuals all played a part. What is for sure is that once the high street shops are gone....the cheap prices you can find on the internet now...will very curiously and suddenly come to an end....you can bank on that

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Keith Speer]

I worked for Fred Buller for 12 years or so when he had the tackle shop Chubb's of Edgeware, they sold up and moved to Amersham and used the name Frederick Beesley as Fred Buller wanted to keep the name of an old English gunmaker alive.

At Chubb's there was always a tackle shop manager (myself toward the end of my stay), mainly I think to have some staff that had more of the common touch, when dealing with coarse anglers, I would have stayed but I did not get on with Fred's son, Bruce, he was a nice enough bloke but we just did not see eye to eye, I wanted to make the tackle shop as good as it could be but Bruce really could not be bothered, it came to a head one day and Fred sided with Bruce, even though he knew I was right, so I packed my bags and went to make a living elsewhere.

My memories of Chubb's are superb, I met Dick Walker, Fred Taylor, Bill Keel, Peter Stone, Peter Thomas and many more famous anglers AND I even fished with some of them, though their interest in me was more concerned with two sugars than my superb angling ability!

To be honest I am not surprised that Dave was not too welcome, the major parts of their business comes from the more superior side of society that have a lot of money to spend on shotguns (and those that don't) and the wholesale of angling and shooting books.

Dave works in the building industry, sometimes I won't speak to him either!

 

[Julian Peacock]

I hate seeing tackle shops failing to make a 'net' profit and then closing down. I have seen six go round my way over the last 15 years or so and I dont think that the web is wholly to blame as bad ones usually go anyway; the web has just sped up the process for the rest.

The biggest loss out of these sad events are the youngsters who will never walk past a tackle shop display and gaze in wonder.....meaning that the onus on us lot is heavier than ever to encourage kids into our sport.

 

[Chris Hill]

The first thing to realize is that things change and that change is constant.

Assuming that because you are a passionate angler this will equip you with the skills you need to be a successful businessman is just not going to happen. Many tackle shop owners are well meaning and love to chat about fishing all day and give free advice; this is fine , but do not think for a minute they will stay in business.

There will be fewer tackle shops but the ones that are left will be professionally run and also carry larger stocks. They will also support on line business. As the village shop has given way to the supermarket then so the corner tackle shop will give way to businesses that can pile it high and sell it cheap. They are only thriving because it is where people have opted to shop......so whats the problem?

I also love the hypocrisy of those who are bemoaning the loss of their local tackle shop in one post and then offering advice on how to get it cheaper on EBay in their subsequent posts.