[Mick Ward]

This is a subject that I have felt I have to mention as I recon we need reminding from time to time. Basically we all know that lure fishing in the uk is on the up, and it is, because through mediums like this forum etc we are starting to realise just how many of us in this country are into it and want to learn more and more. The thing that grinds my gears as a tackle dealer, and honestly, as an angler is it just taking so long for us to see more of the tackle we want in our local tackle shops. I have always said the best way to make our gear more available to all of us is to keep asking our local tackle shops if they can get it for us. Yes, admitedly most of you will just get "no, cant get that" replies, but if you keep asking politely hopefully the tackle shop owners will start to look or ask their suppilers. This is the way it works, wholesalers dont know what we want unless we ask, so please guys keep asking.

I am in france at the moment at the Nantes show, and have been speaking to guys about how it all started here. Basically just how it is now in the UK. Twenty years later it has taken over completely over here and still seems to be growing with more impressive lures, rods, reels and accessories.

We know how frustrating it is to not be able to get the gear we want locally, so what do we do? We order from Japan, America, Germany and even Jersey. So how are we ever going to get anywhere if we keep doing that? Yes prices are cheaper elsewhere but why? Because they have a bigger market than us. So how are we going to get our prices down? More buying power for the wholesalers in the UK is how.

Its an awkward situation I know, but whilst everyone is ordering from abroad (which i do too, dont think I am preaching here please) I am trying my best to get through to some UK wholesalers to get some decent stuff in at cheaper prices and get it distributed around the whole country. I am doing this because I want more and more people to see the potential in the UK.

So, where are we? japan? america? no we are here and we got to keep pounding away, so please guys keep asking your local shop, let them know you would rather spend your money with them and hopefully one day all the stuff you want will be here in this country.

 

[Tim Murphy]

I just wish I had a tackle dealer as forward thinking as yourself Mr Ward. I've tried and tried asking my local to get some half decent stuff in but it's all negative I get from him; "won't sell, too expensive" etc. I will try though!

 

[Steve Payne]

You are right Mick, Are local supplier always has the same answer it is to expensive and it wont sell at that price,

As you now Veals have started doing a lot more of the better end, and are very pleased the way sales are going, so yes you are right the more that buy together the better we all will be with selection and price.

 

[Dave Irving]

Mick,
I hope it will reach a point where local tackle dealers will at sick of seeing pluggers walking out of their shops having asked for something they haven't got. All it takes is enough pressure from anglers and they start to stock the kit we want. I make a point of asking if they stock or are thinking of stock the likes of Duo, TackleHouse or even Diawa lures. We have to keep bothering them until they realise there is a big enough market to be worth bothering with.

 

[Gary A]

Well said Mick. I'm sure there isn't a single person on here who wouldn't rather spend their money locally. There are so many benefits,

1. You don't have to wait X number of days for the goods to arrive from their destination.
2. Easier to get past the FPO, rather than parcels and packets arriving at home daily, lol.
3. Physically going into your local tackle shop is a great (expensive) experience where you get the opportunity to browse the shelves/racks at your leisure ( much nicer than choosing off the internet). You get first hand honest advice from the shop owner(£10 tackle voucher please Mr Fish lol). Theres always other like minded guys in there passing on their advice, swapping stories and generally having the craic.

Please keep up the good work Mick and Doug, the gear available to us now is a world apart from the general "spinning rods" of the past. Keep pestering the big companys until they finally agree to let the UK get there hands on the tackle they are keeping from us.

Best of luck

Gary

 

[wjmoree]

Where are you guys in the UK?

Well, I would say... way ahead of the Dutch! At least you have a forum like this one and even some guys experimenting Rockfishing or Eging... exiting stuff!

 

[Keith White]

I honestly do not see any reason why a daiwa account, or a shimano account doesn't mean exactly that.

If you want Daiwa JP or US or anywhere, dealers/retailers should just be able to order it in.

Remember, guys have polled Daiwa UK about the 'shoreliners' and got nowhere regardless of previous sales.

Not everyone is as forward thinking as Mick and Doug. Yes, there are now a few jumped on the bandwagon regards these lures etc but, only the very rare few (+fishing for example) have actually contributed something new to the UK tackle trade. It's like an iceberg, this forum and it's associated businesses and participants are the bit above the waves. the vast majority of the UK market lies buried beneath the waves still drowning.

I for one am determined to drive forward. I get sick of hearing...the French are years ahead, the japanese are years ahead !
They are as a majority, yes. But Britain used to be able to hold it's head high in virtually any sport. Not now I'm afraid but there are some genuine forward thinking guys involved here who could help turn the deck in our favour.

This year is going to be the most exciting yet for me. Loads and loads of idea's and I'm determined to do new stuff.
I hope you all join me in this quest and yes, we've all had to look elsewhere recently for gear and again, same people stand up and take note. Mrfish is there, new catalogs, working out what we might need, what is the realistic cost, import duties, carriage etc..

Risking a few grand like me and Kev have just done regards new technology rods/lines etc, etc is one thing. Try ordering for a bunch of guys blindfolded, rods, reels, PE, FC lines, New lures, Softies, Jigs, bags, Vests, Nets, Clothing etc....in all the possible sizes...

Would you risk that type of investment ? Takes a special kind of guy.

But you watch, as this becomes more popular, the worms will leave the woodwork, knock it maybe but...ultimately join band playing to make their share without the risk.

Enough for now and support your local dealer only if he is prepared to help you. But do try to convince them before shooting em.

 

[Simon L]

I have a local tackle shop owner who is very recpetive to all of this - the difficulty for him is sourcing the right gear, and understanding what we want. I will keep doing what i can to help him (for what it's worth), i guess i'm lucky to have a local tackle shop that thinks this way.

 

[Steve Lewis]

I have a local tackle shop owner who is very recpetive to all of this - the difficulty for him is sourcing the right gear, and understanding what we want. I will keep doing what i can to help him (for what it's worth), i guess i'm lucky to have a local tackle shop that thinks this way.

I agree with you Si, Mark would change if he thought others out there would buy if he stocked, we just need to keep nagging and nagging all the time ! I am sure we will get there one day !

 

[Simon L]

I agree with you Si, Mark would change if he thought others out there would buy if he stocked, we just need to keep nagging and nagging all the time ! I am sure we will get there one day !

He knows that people will buy it, and he actively wants to have the latest gear, and tackle that is different to any of local competitors. In fact, he's expressed an interest in talking to Mick.

On the flip-side, he's in the minority.

 

[Ben Field]

I think it'll be difficult for me here. Well, it'll either be difficult or very easy. Ed Schliffke (J13) is the main man here and he is slightly old-school is he not?! And owns the shop! I'm going to start asking a lot of questions just to judge the response. It'll either work or fall totally flat.

I think we should actually club together a bit. If we have a list of tackle shops that we want to start keeping stock, we can arrange to each ring them and ask for stuff - even if it's on the opposite of the country to you. We can probably all help eachother out by making multiple phone calls. People will start buying this stuff once they realise it's available.

 

[Mike Kennard]

I have been on a bit of a one man crusade for years now in trying to get Daiwa to change their attitude about lure kit. Initially, it was based on what Daiwa US were selling but in the last six years or so more biased towards Japan. Their response is lack of demand. Well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that if you are not selling what people want to buy, then there will be little demand. Sell them what they DO want and demand increases. Seems like some product/marketing managers are struggling with the concept of supply and demand. Strange.

I agree completely with Mick. We do need to support our local shops and I believe that for most people that is the first place they will look. Others know better right now and will go to the more enlightened dealers. It is in the interest of all dealers though to look ahead at trends just to make their own business profitable. Some dealers may not be able to afford to make an investment in lures until they know it is worth while. It will all kick off this Summer when we have lots of species being caught on lures all over the country.

What does make a huge difference is articles by people like Henry that reach more anglers than this forum does currently. It needs to be seen as achievable by most and not expensive and eliitist. That increases demand and the manufacturs will take notice.

 

[Luke Fox]

I totally agree it's gonna take people like henry that can feed this new information into media like sea angler and TV, hey it worked for me! I have been bassing for a long time and it took articles like henrys to realise where I was going wrong with my lure fishing. I certainly ain't looking back now my eyes have been opened. I will also take it to the tackle shop owners near me and apply some persuasive pressure!

 

[martin h]

Mick, i think some of the trouble is that "local tackle shops" do not know the true size of the modern lure angling, market and think stocking thousands of pounds worth of lures that they have never sold before a bit risky. I know because i had this with my local shop, they only seem to want to stock tackle for the many and not the few.
As you say they need to be educated, and once i convinced my local shop about stocking more upmarket lures (from you) they were surprised at how quickly they sold once word spread.
You are lucky as you are a mind of information about lure fishing and could probably hold a conversation about one lure for half a day, where as most tackle dealers are either into carp fishing or general sea angling and if asked to recomend a lure for a venue would be lucky to be able to pick one.
I think it is our tackle dealers who are behind the Americans / Frenc, etc and not the anglers. It is just a shame that most tackle dealers just do not do their homework to find new markets/sales

 

[Mick Ward]

Its obvious that some shops will never bother, they are probably more than happy with selling what they do, and fair play to them if they have a nice little area to supply etc. It is a nightmare for a tackle dealer to start stocking a lure or some rods that he actually doesnt really understand himself, and it is a big punt for many I am sure. I mean there are litterally thousands of lures to choose from, which one do you go for, which brand even. Its not easy for shops but a bit of looking and they could easily start to find where to get bits and peices from. Snowbee UK are available to all shops and they are starting to do some outstanding stuff, Bogas, Top quality pliers and of course they ahave picked up the Smith distribution and have now made Smith lures and rods available in most shops......great, thats a company that has seen a bit of a market starting. If I can get this other huge wholesaler to get products from their master company I am hoping it may soon be able to fill our shops with modern style rods, decent plugs and awesome softies for awesome prices, it'll be all the gear to get people into it and see the potential of purpose made gear for lure fishing.

 

[David Sharples]

Isn't the issue that although lots of people are now doing this it remains very minor in comparison to fishing in carp puddles or sitting under a brolly on a plastic box? The UK retailers have to prioritise that which will move through their shop fastest. If its specialist gear it means that the shop's catchment area will have fewer customers. If you are selling to walk in customers you will stock your shop with what sells fastest, not tie up cash in expensive items that will sell infrequently.. Its annoying but true. Look at all specialist areas like saltwater fly tying. Where can we get what we want in the UK? Only from online stores like UKSaltwaterflies. He has to sell online because his customers are spread across the country. I

f specialist lure fishing overtakes carp bashing in popularity then it could happen because there will be more profit and less risk...

If it was your money and you were looking to get a return on it would you tie up several thousand pounds in stock of high value items that will sell over a long period or buy items that will be in and out of store in a week?

 

[Henry Gilbey]

Really interesting to read all this. Forums like these are outstanding for sharing information........

As regards magazine articles, I do what I can, but it is always going to be word of mouth that is the most important thing in fishing. I write and photograph a lot of bass features because I love this modern bass fishing thing, and it is my job to write and photograph magazine articles. I have to make money from what I do, but because various magazines have been taking my work for a long time, some of the editors out there trust me completely to come up with the ideas for articles and then submit them. I do a lot of bass related articles because that is what I want to do, and I am often in the position to "steer" various magazines towards material that I am interested in producing - if that makes sense.

I hear lots of rumblings all the time about the various magazines, but I personally have a huge amount of respect for Mel at Sea Angler for taking so much bass related material from me - sure, a lot of UK sea fishing is essentially the same kind of thing (long range ledgering, wreck fishing etc.), and as such magazines have to reflect this for their readers, but it takes a leap of faith as a publication to allow a freelance writer/photographer (me) to go out and do what I do and then publish it.

But I am only one person - what you read and see in my articles is what I know and what I am learning about. There are bass anglers here on this forum and all over the UK and Ireland who know more than I ever will, and catch more bass than I will ever do so. A magazine reflects its writers. There is no big secret to having articles published - if you can write and photograph well and can put your information across in a way that is very easy to understand (alienating readers is bad news) then the magazines will look at what you do.

As for shops/websites like Mick, Veals, Bass Lures etc. - these guys have my utmost respect for doing what they do. Sticking your neck out and going against the norm takes a leap of faith, and we can but hope that more and more shops in the UK begin to take notice of what is going on. If we don't ask, we will simply never get.

I bet that these kinds of conversations were going on in France a few years back, and look where it is now over there. The market is changing for lots of different reasons, and I just wish we could see into the future around ten years from now and see where all this stuff might lead.........

But the fact remains that we need plenty of bass to catch for this all to keep growing.

 

[Keith White]

Really interesting to read all this. Forums like these are outstanding for sharing information........

As regards magazine articles, I do what I can, but it is always going to be word of mouth that is the most important thing in fishing. I write and photograph a lot of bass features because I love this modern bass fishing thing, and it is my job to write and photograph magazine articles. I have to make money from what I do, but because various magazines have been taking my work for a long time, some of the editors out there trust me completely to come up with the ideas for articles and then submit them. I do a lot of bass related articles because that is what I want to do, and I am often in the position to "steer" various magazines towards material that I am interested in producing - if that makes sense.

I hear lots of rumblings all the time about the various magazines, but I personally have a huge amount of respect for Mel at Sea Angler for taking so much bass related material from me - sure, a lot of UK sea fishing is essentially the same kind of thing (long range ledgering, wreck fishing etc.), and as such magazines have to reflect this for their readers, but it takes a leap of faith as a publication to allow a freelance writer/photographer (me) to go out and do what I do and then publish it.

But I am only one person - what you read and see in my articles is what I know and what I am learning about. There are bass anglers here on this forum and all over the UK and Ireland who know more than I ever will, and catch more bass than I will ever do so. A magazine reflects its writers. There is no big secret to having articles published - if you can write and photograph well and can put your information across in a way that is very easy to understand (alienating readers is bad news) then the magazines will look at what you do.

As for shops/websites like Mick, Veals, Bass Lures etc. - these guys have my utmost respect for doing what they do. Sticking your neck out and going against the norm takes a leap of faith, and we can but hope that more and more shops in the UK begin to take notice of what is going on. If we don't ask, we will simply never get.

I bet that these kinds of conversations were going on in France a few years back, and look where it is now over there. The market is changing for lots of different reasons, and I just wish we could see into the future around ten years from now and see where all this stuff might lead.........

But the fact remains that we need plenty of bass to catch for this all to keep growing.

Henry:

As you know, there are quite a few guys who have passed on some stuff for forwarding to magazines etc and I hope it all helps.
Thing is, a public face, you are in a better position to 'steer' people so to speak.

You'll note I've bold typed just one little bit from your quote because I agree with everything else. I sort of agree and wish the bold type was going to be the case but, you, I and everyone else knows it simply isn't going to be that simple.
To this end, I feel that the hardline, enthusiastic and often concentrated effort to promote Bass alongside every lure article is counter productive. We've all done it, no finger pointing here. I'm just really excited as to what recent trends could achieve with bringing more people into the lure angling fold IF we removed Bass from the equation. Well, not removed, just eased up to allow other stuff through.

Sooner or later you know that decision could be taken out of our hands as effort : reward ratio's widen.

Remember: Eggs in one basket only needs one fall to break everything.

 

[Henry Gilbey]

Keith - you are quite right and I agree with you completely. You guys have been doing a great job, and people like me (journalists) need to get into nailing different UK based species on different kinds of lures and we then need to start telling people about it............

It will happen. Might take some time, but it will happen.

We can't base the entire UK saltwater lure fishing "thing" on bass only.

 

[Mike Kennard]

Keith - you are quite right and I agree with you completely. You guys have been doing a great job, and people like me (journalists) need to get into nailing different UK based species on different kinds of lures and we then need to start telling people about it............

It will happen. Might take some time, but it will happen.

We can't base the entire UK saltwater lure fishing "thing" on bass only.

Great thread.

Henry, it already is happening, just that the wider audience isn't aware. I have been fishing mini soft plastics and more importantly catching fish on them for over twenty years. In that time I haven't had a huge variety, due to location, but I have caught a lot more than just bass. Look at what Keith and the CI guys are doing at the moment. Another step forward. I have fished in the US, Australia and Japan using their techniques and when I have got home, guess what? They work here too!
It's not rocket science, it just needs a bit of enlightenment and more anglers would be willing to try it. I think that for this to succeed it needs to be pushed ALONGSIDE bass fishing. Bass fishing opens peoples eyes and get their adrenaline rushing. But that is not all that is out there. They need to be shown what ELSE can be caught and adapt those techniques to their local environment. How many people have access to flounders? I have caught them to 1.5lb on mini soft plastics. Pollack? CI guys are getting plenty. Wrasse? CI guys again are getting them but how many others have wrasse (and pollack) to fish for? Quite a few around SW England and Wales. There is a lot more potential out there than people realise.