Ticket sales ‘best yet’ on top fisheries

A host of the UK’s biggest fisheries reported record day-ticket sales as 2016 shapes up to be one to remember.

Thousands of anglers hit the bank over the Easter weekend and two of the biggest commercial fisheries in the land, South Yorkshire match complex Lindholme Lakes and Linear Fisheries in Oxfordshire, are among dozens of UK venues which saw day-ticket sales rocket.

On the eight-lake specimen complex, every one of Linear’s 250 day-ticket pegs were taken up for the first two days of the weekend as the fishery struggled to deal with demand.

Fishery manager Chris Blunt told Angling Times: “Easter has always seen our banks busy with anglers but this Easter has been our busiest ever.

“With 50-60 syndicate members also fishing we had more than 300 anglers on the venue at one point. It was incredible, and I’ve heard other fisheries also did very well during the same period.

“The mild winter and good spring weather has seen carp stay on the feed. This meant catches have improved on previous years, and this in turn has attracted more anglers to our venue.

“We have also been proactive on the internet and social media to keep our customers in the know and encourage more visits.”

Just a week after announcing plans to increase the size of the venue by building new lakes and holiday lodges, Lindholme boss Neil Grantham also enjoyed a bumper weekend at the Doncaster fishery.

“Match bookings, festival and winter league numbers have gone up this year and the number of pleasure anglers we got over Easter alone was better than ever. Low fuel prices and mild weather have helped dramatically with numbers” he said.

The news will come as a massive boost to organisations and charities attempting to get more people into fishing, and with a number of fisheries and clubs working on improvements over the winter period, angling looks set to enjoy a bumper summer ahead.