Was this year's opening day the busiest ever?

BANKSIDE space on many of the nation’s most popular rivers was at a premium last week as Britain’s anglers returned to running water action with a bang. 

As clocks struck midnight on June 15 to signal the dawn of the new season, the familiar sound of leads and feeders hitting the surface could be heard on stretches right across the country.  

Nowhere was the remarkable turnout more evident than the River Trent, where chub and barbel fishing fans were queueing up all afternoon to bag a swim.  

A busy start to the season on the River Trent

Newark and District Piscatorial Federation bailiff Alfie Naylor told us:

“We opened the gates to our Winthorpe Fishery at midday on June 15 and less than an hour later all 60-odd pegs were taken by anglers wanting to camp out ahead of the midnight start!” 

“I’ve never seen it so busy down there before – it looked like a fishing match! I guess the surge in popularity can be attributed in part to many people still being on the Government furlough scheme, alongside anglers returning to the sport.”

Clubs that allow night fishing weren’t the only ones to witness the crazy opening day scenes either, with day-only fisheries also seeing record numbers of anglers. 

Nigel Gray, owner of Davis Tackle in Christchurch, said people were queuing up outside the shop to buy day tickets for the Royalty Fishery on the Hampshire Avon. 

“We opened our doors at 7:30am and were continuously serving customers for at least an hour and a half,” he said. 

It was a similar story at many other tackle shops, with some unprepared for the sheer number of anglers wishing to buy bait.

“Between 9am and 2pm we sold 35 gallons of maggots and I had to go to our supplier to get 25 more!”

said Wayne Gray, who runs Top Tackle in Abingdon, Oxon.

“I’ve been here for 12 years and I’ve never seen an opening day like it.”