NEW 100k fund to boost angling participation
A BUMPER new £100k ‘Get Fishing Fund’ has been created to help support new and returning anglers, and the good news is that you can apply for a slice of the cash to help your club.
The Get Fishing Fund will help support new and returning anglers
The new initiative, announced by the Environment Agency and Angling Trust, has been created using extra cash from 2020’s boom in rod licence sales.
Grants of up to £500 are available for small-scale projects, while larger ones can apply for up to £5,000. Funding can go towards any events that aim to boost angling participation and can cover the costs of tackle and bait, as well as associated resources such as storage facilities.
Graeme Storey, Fisheries Manager for the EA, hopes that the fund will help even more newcomers enter the sport and continue the momentum gathered this year.
“We’re always looking for ways to support angling,” he said,
“and (overall) the Agency has invested £1.5m of the additional income from this year’s licence sales back into projects to improve fisheries.
“The increased interest in fishing over the summer proves that people are not only rediscovering angling, but more people are trying it for the first time. We want to see this continue and hope that the projects will encourage more people to try fishing.”
A few months back Angling Times spoke to Bryan Dray of Wellingborough and District AS, who along with other club members, runs a lot of junior events. We asked him where he wanted to see the additional rod licence money invested. Unsurprisingly, providing coaching events was top of his agenda, so he was understandably delighted with the new fund’s creation.
“It’s brilliant news” he said.
“Finding funds is difficult, particularly between now and Easter, so having this cash available is a real boost, especially at club level. One of our biggest difficulties is storing equipment securely, so knowing the fund can help is fantastic. We’ll definitely be applying.”
To apply for funding visit: grants.anglingtrust.net
Are newcomers missing out on vital skills?
SCROLL back 30 years or so and trotting a stick float, casting accurately and knowing how to feed properly were just three of the core skills people had to master before they could truly call themselves an angler.
Along this challenging journey the foundations for a life in fishing were laid, but are these vital skills being lost on today’s newcomers who make commercials or day-ticket carp lakes their first port of call?
There is a real art to catching consistently on a river
Some old-school anglers, such as carper Nick Helleur, certainly believe so. As one of the most respected people in carp fishing Nick, who turns 50 next year, recently starred on the Thinking Tackle Podcast, where he waxed lyrical about how much angling has changed in recent years.
“I was brought up being told that you ‘cast it out and reel it in’” he said.
“Nowadays, people have bait boats and poles. Learning the skill of casting in a wind or under a bush at range, for example, is falling by the wayside.
“A lot of people are one-trick ponies. Anglers should be able to trot a stick float and set up any rig you care to mention. They should be able to fish for any species without a guide or help. They should be able to go and do it – that’s the joy of angling”
“A lot of people are one-trick ponies”
With a strong correlation between rising rod licence sales and busy day-ticket fisheries this year, it would seem that a lot of newcomers are skipping the challenges of learning to fish natural waters, as Nick suggests. But is that a bad thing? Match legend Tommy Pickering doesn’t think so.
“Does it really matter?” he said.
“I know it concerns some anglers, but a newcomer doesn’t know any different. Commercials are convenient, comfortable, and have all the facilities you need. When people my age grew up, we had no commercials, just rivers and stillwaters where the fishing could be very difficult.”
In Tommy’s mind, the most important thing is that there are new people coming into fishing, full stop.
“The most important advice I can give to a newcomer is to enjoy it,” he added.
“Make sure to ask for advice, too, be it from your local tackle shop or having a coaching day. If you’re catching fish, it’s much more enjoyable, and you’re more likely to stick with it.”
“The most important advice I can give to a newcomer is to enjoy it”
Bob Roberts, one of Britain’s best all-rounders, is of a similar mind to Tommy, although he believes there are certain things that those growing up solely fishing commercials will miss out on.
“The subtlety required in catching roach, dace and skimmers on a natural venue is something that anglers who have grown up on commercials will lack, as well as knowledge of a wide range of techniques, but this is too much to take in,” he told us.
“With the rise of the internet and social media, everything is instant and people expect fishing to be the same. Commercials give people the chance to catch in comfort, with relatively little effort and expenditure. I think they’re brilliant and regularly have catches on them that I would have given my right arm for when I was a newcomer.”
Bob believes the quality of fishing on offer at day-ticket waters will help encourage people to keep fishing, but also isn’t worried that other aspects of angling will die out.
“Take beans on toast. There’s nothing wrong with it, but if you have it every day, you’ll quickly get bored and start adding new flavours or trying different things.
“Fishing is no different. People will eventually want to try something different and will no doubt develop curiosities for fishing a river or canal, even the sea.
“Day-ticket fisheries are having a fantastic impact on fishing and I’m so pleased to see new anglers on the bank. The positive repercussions of the work these fisheries are doing are being felt throughout angling.”
People will eventually want to try something different and will no doubt develop curiosities for fishing a river or canal, even the sea
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.”
Lindholme has big expansion plans
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