I agree with most of what you say, but coarse anglers are working class maybe, the fly anglers on my local rivers are not. The rivers, the test and itchen are managed and mown and very expensive to fish.

Many anglers in our club are unwaged and find life a struggle. We charge £30 a year for lakes and a strtch of river with concessions on that price too for juniors OAPs and disabled. We also run a series of matches on local commercials usually within an hours drive which typically cost about £15 to fish, this includes the pegging fee of about £7 and pools etc.
I know many would love to fish these but simply cannot afford it.
I do not think we are untypical and if we were to increase prices we would deny some members the chance to fish, that is the reality of life in this region for many.
I only forsee things becomming worse in the medium term so if anyone wants to get rich then you need to find another sport IMO.

Fuel duty set to go up again in April. Obviously this will have an effect on food prices yet wages have not risen and are on a comparative rate to six years ago!

So with less money, justifying spending even more on a leisure activity becomes increasingly unrealistic.

There has already been a massive percentage hike on the price of hooks etc., recently. Pushing the prices up will see less people on the bank.

The result is that instead of spending what they can afford, they would simply spend nothing.

That doesn’t appear to me to be a good business model.

I am probably in a minority as usual but in my opinion there are a lot of things that are too cheap in angling.

Most tackle is one, with rods and reels being an example. Even some poles at the lower end are cheap but the top of the range poles are way overpriced. As for the ridiculous rrp on them and the ‘discounts’ offered, come on start getting real.

Commercial fisheries are not cheap, they are OK maybe in some cases too expensive. Nothing wrong with people making money from their business but some around here keep putting up their prices whilst the quality of the fishing actually declines. Even on some commercials it appears that the owners are not prepared to pay for staff to do the maintenance work on swims, cut trees, remove weeds but leave it to willing volunteers to do these things.

Clubs come in all shapes and sizes but if the most of the ones I belong to are anything to go on, there will be very few in generations to come. Committees and work parties are made up of ageing gentlemen who will be too old to wield a spade or axe.

Some clubs offer extremely good value for money others are expensive especially when a lot of their active members spend the majority of their time on commercials rather than the local club managed rivers, pits and lakes.

As for the EA and the Angling Trust then both are too cheap in my opinion. I can remember paying 2/6d for an Essex Rod Licence and 6d for a ‘boys’ day ticket on a local lake. I hate to think what that would be at today’s prices. As for the Angling Trust, then if we want the Government to put more money into angling (with the inevitable intervention that would go with it) then the Trust needs to be backed. A powerful voice with a strong membership in numbers is the only way that it will happen. That is what the other sports who do get funding have.

I meant to say that the closure of tackle shops around the country is down to the cheap price of tackle and the pile it high, sell it cheap dealers as well as the bad weather we have experienced.

If that is true what you say Joff, I suggest that Mike must live in a cave some where, half way up a mountain – I would love to take this bloke for a walk down the river severn and show him the shear amont of obstacles that are in the river, in prime waters. No wonder fishing did not “move on”. It’s hard to move it on, when you cannot move the float!
I said something very, very similar about 5 to 6 years ago more as a jest really about the BAA which upset John Williams no end after Geepster hijacked it and put it in the then Midland Angler.
More expense is the last thing that angling needs at the moment in my opinion and if i am honest, I am begining to disagree with the AT on quite a few statements that they have come out with.

I agree with the sentiments spoken above on all sides. Unfortuneately these days we want to see what we are going to get for our money before putting any more into the kitty.
I’m now 66 years old and have been fishing since I was 8. I’ve always bought a licence snice it was necessary. I have lived and fished near the top end of the Thames for over 30 years. What have the EA done here over that time………nothing. The main work has only been to the benefit of the boats. There has never been any restocking except some salmon parr trying to restore the salmon runs. No bank work except tree felling for the boats. No improvement of access. The towpath was improved but only for walkers.
We are now infested with crayfish which they say they can’t do anything about.
If the AT (which I’m a member of) would sort out a few small problems, like increased shooting of cormorants, then this would send a message to anglers that they are doing something but we never see anything. Their legal branch does do good work but always has when it was the ACA. But what do we see for our £25??? They need to show us, the punter, what we are paying for.
Any increases in memberships or day tickets will be at the behest of the market. If its too expensive for people then they won’t buy and clubs and waters will go to the wall.

Agree with you Joff,
was amazed at this apparent(edited perhaps?)statement by Mike Heylin in the A.Times,
given the economic hardship , genuine despair and cutbacks that many are having, will or face after the cuts and banking disaster(don’t bet on another within a few years given continuing and mindboggling continuing lack of regulation and enforcement of paltry liquidity levels held that allowed this systematically).
Hardly encouraging to newcomers or youth in general given statistical current and future employment and cutting of training-education.
Was amazed at this apparent insensitivity – mind you was’nt impressed by the timing of an extra five pounds for my AT membership- though as the AT is a good campaign body for anglers and genuinely worth supporting despite his comments.
Though ‘foot in mouth’ as our nominal spokesman comes to mind!!! certainly hardly an encouraging statement to increased membership.
Not happy! and he should utter a personal retraction (or place in context if his comments were possibly edited for sensationalist news value by A.Times)?

quality reply orexina wait till you get the mitten crabs up your way then you’ll see what the e/a say about the little devils, sorry to say too cheap fishing was for the table food and the poles have shown us this practise still exists.?????? so maybe the cretin who wrote this statement should visit your local tackle shop if you’ve one left to exsplain what item of tackle is so cheap that you can justify your claims MUPPET

when people have less money it’s madness to increase prices.people will stop fishing or stop buying licences or tackle.you only have to see how many shops are closing down,some of which have been open for decades.the only people who agree angling is too cheap are the ones who arn’t effected by the recession and who can still afford to fish regularly.

Fishing is as inexpensive as you make it take a few slices of bread and go fish a free stretch of river and bingo a very cheap day. In contrast go to a commercial use 15 quid in diesel 20 quid in pools then 10 quid bait thats not to mention depreciation of your gear and the rigs,hooks and line you use I dont call that cheap !

If they put the prices of tackle and tickets up then most people will simply buy less and fish less.

Most people don’t have bottomless pockets, they have a maximum budget and when it’s gone it’s gone.

If they think fishing prices have gone down they should take a peak at my industry ! a package i used to sell 6 years ago for £25 / month now goes for £5 / month – they don’t know they’re born 😉