CORRESPONDENCE
Trade shoots itself in the foot
Over the last few months much has been written about bringing and keeping people into fi shing. One requirement for this is a vibrant tackle industry supporting local tackle shops so anglers can easily obtain bait and accessories before fi shing. That gets harder as more shops close every week. One of the causes is Internet sales and crazy prices, and the supply to these outlets has been well aired. But there’s a new kid on the block. It has been my policy not to deal with used tackle. Several reasons including the number of instances of tackle theft reported to me. Now there must be one near most shops. It’s your local Cash Converter Shop. The one near to me seems to have an endless supply of good clean new even, tackle, and appears to be selling more than I am. The trade itself is in turmoil. The intervention of Sports Direct was a disaster. It directly destroyed Waterline Wholesale, Seymo Tackle, John Roberts and indirectly probably put the fi nal nail into Clarkes. These were reliable companies with products covering all aspects of angling with a wide range of brands, low carriage paid orders and quick delivery. To get the
equivalent of one order with either of these I now have to use at least three wholesalers. That means three orders and with out of stock items problem only receive 70% of my requirements. The 500 page Leeda trade catalogue is devoid of trade prices! Order a couple of crimping tools clearly marked each and I get a couple of packs of fi ve! So what next? The marketing and branding lads at Pure Fishing have invented the invisible rod bag. Yes, supplied loose in a fl imsy open poly bag comes the Cypry three piece carp rod. No more extricating sections from bags, just toss them aside when fi nished with and soon it will look scratched and damaged like it’s had a lifetime of use. If you have two there’s extra fun sorting out the sections. If this catches on no doubt it will be extended and copied by others trying to keep up with Pure Fishing! Just one thing though… Has anyone asked the angler if he thinks it’s such a great idea? According to John Henderson at Pure Fishing it will help keep down the price of low-end price rods. Buy one for £400 he will still inconvenience you with a rod bag. John you are insulting probably 80% of the angling fraternity if this becomes the norm! It is not what the trade needs in the current
climate. As far as I am concerned a rod without a bag is unsalable. Did the marketing wizards talk to any dealers or anglers before embarking on this innovation? I doubt it because if they had it would be a dead fi sh in the water. I feel for the guy in Pure Fishing undergoing the surgery to remove a bullet from his foot…
Ian Halton Angling Supplies
Editor: We hear you on second hand tackle - Steve has actually written about it in this issue. We also tried to get hold of John Henderson for comment - but at the time of going to press he had not responded.
Have you got a trade issue that needs addressing? Or maybe you’ve read something in this magazine that you strongly agree or disagree with. Either way, we would love to hear from you!
Please send us an email at:
nick@tandgmagazine.com, or give us a call on 07967 507996
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