In article , Simondo
wrote:
Over many years angling I can't say that I have ever been in an angling shop
that has made me feel welcome. In some I have actually felt intimidated. I

A pity. I've been lucky I suppose but there have been several, there still
are two, where I'm recognised and welcomed even though I am a terrible
customer.

its no wonder these shops are shutting down. If they just showed some
greater professionalism, cleaned up the shops, got rid of the coffee
swilling match anglers that frequent the counter and give some friendly
advice then they might stand a chance. For me after 30odd years fishing I
would be quite happy to buy all my gear off the net and breed my own bait!

I have to admit that I've never felt welcome in a City TS. In small towns
where there may be little or no local competition they are under much less
pressure and are often run by very friendly individuals. Usually these
places also supply other country sports - shooting and riding are commonest.
These tend to iron out the seasonality of the trade which must be a big
problem for pure tackle shops.

The coffee swilling matchmen btw are really easy targets for the cunning
dealer: Much more pressure to get the latest gizmo and so acquire an
(mythical) edge - if Sid gets one everyone else has to - just in case. I
always regard them as a negative sign. A good tackleshop doesn't need to
sell coffee. (Mind you plenty of pubs in the west of Ireland sell a bit of
tackle on the side, that seems to work.)

Seek out an older, established shop; one that no longer has anything to
prove. Go when they're not too busy and be willing to offer them something
too. Half a tackle dealer's trade is information, it doesn't have to be
directly about fish (in fact he may be bored by talk of the local
'twenties') - a snippet combined with a query like (one that occurred here
recently) 'I see the gate at (local water) has been vandalised, who do I
inform to get it fixed?' is fine. You don't have to spend a fortune to be
treated well.

Cheerio,

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