Making a living from fishing?

[TF_JohnH]

My heart goes out to all those trying to make a living from fishing. The waters around here have been iced up now for 6 weeks and aside from a few venturing to Lindholme Hayfield etc the gear has remained untouched. I fear for the trade the impact of yet another cold winter will have. I know we all get jealous when the professional are out on festivals or UK champs and the like but we sometimes forget how long winters can be.
Lets just hope spring comes early and the summer is a belter to make up for lost time.

[TF_Fred Davis]

hopefully we will have some closing down sales and reap some real bargains, survival of the fittest in this tough economic time lol

[TF_inthedoghouse]

@Fred Davis wrote:

hopefully we will have some closing down sales and reap some real bargains, survival of the fittest in this tough economic time lol

Is it a laughing matter.

I fail to see the funny side of someone who has built there business up over years to lose it to a winter like we have just had

[TF_D.W.]

@Fred Davis wrote:

hopefully we will have some closing down sales and reap some real bargains, survival of the fittest in this tough economic time lol

Can I have some of that additive to put on my hook baits Fred? You don’t half get some bites on here lololol

[TF_inthedoghouse]

It was a genuine question

[TF_JohnH]

Winter is a long way from over yet, last year I dont think things warmed up until April. Its not just the shops, there are an increasing number of professional anglers out there. Also if the shops suffer so too do the manufacturers.
I dont rejoice at the thought of discount tackle, I just want somewhere I can go to buy gear and bait locally as well as obtaining information.

[TF_Gavin]

I was talking to my local tackle dealer about this just before Christmas, and while trade is slow his biggest concern was not directly his shop but for the bait farm! Obviously they’ll have had very little in the way of orders- could a tackle shop survive without being able to stock any (or of any quality?) live baits such as maggots and pinkies??????

[TF_Fred Davis]

I think that tackle shops have always sufferred a down turn in trade in the winter months and when i was young they also had a close season from march to june, now in march the commercials start to really pick up,infact my fishing club shuts down from december to march, joking aside and my first reply was said in jest as most realised, obviously no one wants any tackle shop to close or any commercial fishery to close, the main problem apart from the cold weather is the economic recession which is affecting many. last year when we had the cold weather one tackle dealer said he still managed to tick over as anglers came to the shop to buy bits and pieces because they were frustrated at not being able to get out. Once the weather improves I think anglers will be back on the banks in some numbers. it’s a good time to restock your bits and pieces, hooks, feeders and buy some of the new gizz mo’s preston mini methods, shotgun feeders, pellet method feeders and so forth.

[Del-boyParticipant]

@JohnH wrote:

My heart goes out to all those trying to make a living from fishing. The waters around here have been iced up now for 6 weeks and aside from a few venturing to Lindholme Hayfield etc the gear has remained untouched. I fear for the trade the impact of yet another cold winter will have. I know we all get jealous when the professional are out on festivals or UK champs and the like but we sometimes forget how long winters can be.
Lets just hope spring comes early and the summer is a belter to make up for lost time.

Got to agree 100% mate. It’s a struggle for most businesses to get through such a harsh winter that we’ve just experienced but like you say what about the guys in the angling trade? We’ve actually had frozen venues up here in Scotland for a lot more than the 6 weeks you mention and the word is that despite the recent thaw it’s going to be a while yet before we can expect ice free venues.

Anglers up and down the country by their very nature are never happy and always seem to be moaning about something or other (I include myself in this) but I’ve got to be honest and admit that I really sympathize with tackle shop and fishery owners at the moment.

[Average-AlParticipant]

This is moving away from the original post a little and I know has been mentioned in another thread but like many I seem to have spent more not going fishing than when I do and thats mainly in comfort buying of various bits of tackle. One thing that must impact of traders must surely be the strong and easily accessable second hand market. During this lull I have bought a Fox MSG box and a Beast Master 9-11 AX commercial rod, both of which were second hand in mint condition and a tidy saving on new prices at the shop.

[TF_D.W.]

@Fred Davis wrote:

I think that tackle shops have always sufferred a down turn in trade in the winter months and when i was young they also had a close season from march to june, now in march the commercials start to really pick up,infact my fishing club shuts down from december to march, joking aside and my first reply was said in jest as most realised, obviously no one wants any tackle shop to close or any commercial fishery to close, the main problem apart from the cold weather is the economic recession which is affecting many. last year when we had the cold weather one tackle dealer said he still managed to tick over as anglers came to the shop to buy bits and pieces because they were frustrated at not being able to get out. Once the weather improves I think anglers will be back on the banks in some numbers. it’s a good time to restock your bits and pieces, hooks, feeders and buy some of the new gizz mo’s preston mini methods, shotgun feeders, pellet method feeders and so forth.

Spot on Fred. Tackle shops usually suffer during the winter due to the fair weather anglers who generally fish 7 days a week in the summer put their gear away until the following season. A lot of shops used to sell quite a few large items at Christmas, but with the internet & mail order becoming so big, these people are now doing it from their desks rather than using their local shops (which is a shame) other than for their bait.

[TF_Serious Sam]

@Average-Al wrote:

One thing that must impact of traders must surely be the strong and easily accessable second hand market. During this lull I have bought a Fox MSG box and a Beast Master 9-11 AX commercial rod, both of which were second hand in mint condition and a tidy saving on new prices at the shop.

Not really, for you to be buying second hand the seller most likely just bought new stuff so the shops getting the moey one way or another.

[TF_raver]

My local retailer has sold next to no bait. But had a drastic increase in sales of Rods, Poles, Terminal tackle sold.

He reckons about normal for a winter – so far

[Carp-CatchaParticipant]

Like many it is a seasonal industry, there will be counteractive booms in the summer hopefully!

[Author]

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