What does the future hold for our fisheries?

AS THE autumn leaves begin to turn, they herald not just the start of a new season, but also the end of one of the most remarkable summers of fishing on record.

Across the nation, clubs and day-ticket waters have been hit by a tidal wave of new pleasure anglers, giving our sport a much-needed boost. The question now remains: what does the future hold?

Many people will now be going back to work as the furlough scheme ends and, while a return to something like normal levels of angling activity is expected over the coming months, many fisheries and clubs are expanding and upgrading their facilities to accommodate the throng of new anglers ahead of the good weather returning next spring.

A tidal wave of new anglers has given our sport a much-needed boost

Aaron Grantham, manager of Lincolnshire’s Lindholme Lakes, one of Britain’s premier commercial fisheries, experienced such a busy summer that he’s completely restructuring his business plans.

“It’s been scary!” he told us.
“Numbers have dropped a bit in recent weeks, which is a good thing because the fish can have a bit of a rest, but the number of new people we saw was just incredible.
“Around 1,500 anglers visited each week, up from our usual 1,000, with a large proportion of these being pleasure anglers.
“If we can retain just 20 per cent of these newcomers next year it will be a massive boost for the industry, so we’re making some big changes to try to keep these new faces coming through the gates.”
“We’ll often have all our lakes booked on weekends for matches,” Aaron added,
“but from next year we’re going to make sure that we always have a lake or two reserved for the pleasure lads. Every weekend there will be up to 50 pegs to choose from. In addition, we’ll be building between 50 and 100 new touring caravan plots on a new site with a toilet block. We want to keep everyone happy and continue to appeal to the newcomers to our sport.”

It’s just not day-ticket fisheries that have experienced a dramatic rise in numbers, with angling clubs across the country also experiencing unprecedented demand from new members.

Wiltshire’s Warminster and District are one such club, and its president Richard Curtis revealed how the club was so busy at times that it struggled to cope with the demand.

“It was manic. I spent three weekends solid just sending out membership cards, and we took so much money through PayPal that it shut down our account because it suspected we were money laundering!
“In the 2015/16 season we had 142 members, including just one junior. Now, we have 924 members, including around 150 juniors. It’s a dream situation that I never could have imagined would arise.”

With such a sharp rise in members you’d expect that there would have been problems with crowded banks – as has been the case at some day-ticket carp lakes – but Richard revealed that the club managed to accommodate all the newcomers, and has even expanded its portfolio as a result.

“We’ve acquired a new water, giving us six lakes and two stretches of river approximately four miles long, ensuring there’s plenty of room for people to spread out. In addition, we’ve bought tools to help maintain and improve our fisheries, such as a boat with a weed cutter, which will help to manage our waters and hopefully encourage new members to keep coming. With the influx of cash we can continue to invest in our waters and continue to thrive.”

Warminster AC saw a sharp rise in members

Bedfordshire-based Vauxhall Angling Club also experienced a record year, and even closed its memberships in mid-August after reaching its 11,500 capacity.

Head bailiff Dave Bing, was impressed with the behaviour and respect for the rules shown by club members during the summer.

“At some day-ticket waters I know there have been problems with people kicking off about various things as well as huge queues to enter fisheries,” he says,
“but our members have shown great respect for the guidelines we put in place. I think the difference is that day tickets are a commodity.
“With an angling club, members have made an investment and are part of something. There’s more of a duty of care towards other members and officials. Our bailiffs have also done a great job of ensuring that everyone follows the guidelines set out by the Angling Trust.”

Many of Vauxhall’s new members have been people that have got back into fishing after a long lay-off.

“I’ve talked to lots of people who fished as kids but then started playing football or rugby at the weekend and focused on that as their hobby instead. While these contact sports were still banned, they gave fishing another go, and many of them now say, ‘Do you know what? I’m not sure why I ever gave this up.’ Hopefully they’ll keep coming for many years, and continue supporting us and the sport we love.”

Vauxhall AC reached its capacity