"A reality check is overdue on the price of fishing. It’s amazing value" - Dom Garnett

Complaining about the cost of living was a national obsession well before any pandemic, but you do wonder sometimes when it comes to the value of fishing.

Yes, it can cost a bomb if you want to join a carp syndicate or fly fish the chalkstreams. And yes, many of us instantly double the cost by accumulating enough tackle for three people. But is the cost of going fishing really so terrible?

I had to chuckle wryly to myself the other day as regulars at a day-ticket lake moaned about parting with eight quid. The last time I went to a fourth tier football match I paid three times that amount just for a seat, and still had to fork out for a pint and a match day programme.

My last day-ticket fishing session was a case in point. I was fishing a pretty rural lake and all I needed to get bites for pretty much the whole of an enjoyable morning was a pint of maggots and a few worms from the compost heap.

I have no desire to stir up a hornet’s nest here, but perhaps a reality check is overdue on the price of fishing.

Our sport offers incredible value for money. Thirty quid for an annual licence is not even 60p a week, and kids are free. Yearly club tickets can be had for well under £50 in most areas. So why do some of us still talk of daylight robbery? Do these people never take the wife to the pictures or pick up the tab on a family meal out?

Coarse and carp anglers, I have to say, are especially curmudgeonly on this score. As an all-rounder I quite regularly pay £20-£50 for a day’s fly fishing on a beautiful river or lake (I really should work harder on my Z-list celebrity status to get more freebies!).

Is the same fee really so unthinkable just because I happen to be casting a stick float or feeder?

In an era where the country creaks with debt and jobs are uncertain, it’s inevitable that people start to sigh about the price of everything from bacon baps to city centre parking.

Yes, there is real hardship out there and it can be brutal on families. But could it be that a huge part of angling’s massive Covid-era resurgence is the incredible value our sport offers? Perhaps it’s time we asked an honest question or two, therefore. Yes, the price tag of a day’s fishing can vary from “a fiver if I catch you” to three figures; but what’s the true value of a day’s fishing?

What price those few hours of anticipation, relaxation and excitement?

Far from being a rip off, our sport is an absolute steal.

What’s the true value of a day’s fishing?