Go Fishing - NEC

[Paulscatt]

Was the show a sucess overall?? Would you consider it value for money & did the missing giants such as Sensas & Drennan detract from the show as a shop window for the British tackle industry.

What struck me last year was the high number of younger visitors at the show. This has certainly not been reflected on the bank in my experiance so are they all 'armchair' anglers or sat hiding in Bivvies with the carp boys??

[davidwhittington]

Yea, it was a success on the whole as far as I'm concerned. But I might have gone with different aims to other people?

I went to wave around a few specific poles, and shoot the breeze over a couple of brews with some of my old team mates and the guys I used to compete against in the East Midlands Circuit. Other than that I just went to mooch around a bit to be honest.

If I had gone with a pocketful of cash looking for some good deals on high end items of tackle, I'd have come away disappointed. In this way, the lack of some of the 'big' names would have been a major problem.

Also, when I want to root through baskets of odds and ends to find a bargain amongst the rubbish I would go to chatsworth angling fair. To my mind Go fishing should be the flagship event of the fishing show calendar, and having reams of rubbish like '25 absolutely useless poorly made pole floats for a tenner' and shedloads of 'maxima - £3 for these spools that have been in the sun for a little over 3 years' adorning most of the retail stalls was a little disappointing to me.

There was a lot of bivvy silliness going on, but it's just a different arm of the sport, the fact it doesn't interest most match anglers in no way means it shouldn't be there, as has been said on other forums. It's Go Fishing, not Go Match Fishing.
Following on from that theme though, I was a little surprised to see nearly a quarter of the hall taken up by boats. I for one can't imagine anyone thinking, "I know, I'll go to the go fishing show and buy a boat. OOH! maybe I'll get two.." LOL However if they were there as an opportunity for potential buyers to take a closer look, why not go to the boat show, where there is more to look at? It seemed a waste of space that could have been used for something else to be honest.

Overall, I had an awesome day, but I know a lot of people didn't, and if I was a youngster on the verge of getting really into my fishing, there was little there to inspire me.

Dave

[ratboy]

I'd say it was a definat sucess. I went for the same raesons as Dave by the sounds of it. My main aim was to choose my nest pole & been able to see them all & have a wiggle in comfort made it a lot easier for me. I was actually shocked by how many of the poles comapred to what i'd been told. ( Quick mention for te MAP parabolix - absolutly stunning pole ).

I maneged to get a few freebies by watching some shows and picked up the odd tip along the way. I was on the lookout for a cheap but quality keepnet + a boss roller but i didn't see anything that took my eye or that was decent quality.

The bait stands - Van Den Eynde / Dyamaite etc were really good as you could smell all the different broundbaits / pellets / flavours etc. All the exibitors / 'stars' were also really good. As they weren't selling there products just promoting them there was no pressure applied neither.

I also managed to get a really good deal on a magazine subscription

So it was def a hit with me & i'll be back nxy year !!

Very Minor grumbles - to busy ( especially retail world ) - not as big as i expected

[si]

Its time they gave the show back to the manufactures and did away with a lot of the wishy washy flee market tackle stores. Ive been to every show since they started. In the early days it was mostly the manufactures showing off what was coming out in the next 12 months with the odd reputable tackle stall, but now a days the tackle stalls have taken over and the show as gone down hill. The idea when the show started was you'd go to the show and have a look, mess and feel at the tackle then go back to your local tackle shop and order it.

May be once they give the show back to the manufactures company's like Preston, sensas, fox, drennan etc etc might come back.

[dorsal 1]

Shimano and Daiwa were tipically head and shoulders above the rest, very impressive in my opinion. After that you could have gone to any back street tackle shop to be off loaded with last years and obsolete gear. Managed a very brief chat with Steve. Thanks polemaster, i,ll see you soon.

[ratboy]

I was really impressed with the Garbolino stand & pole alley. I manged a chat with Steve Ringer, Grant albutt, Mark Pollard, Dennis White ( who even rememberd me from his Barnsley Junior squad 13yrs ago ) Richie Hull - who were all really helpfull & happy to give you any advice you needed !!

Personally i didn't like the Badger stand or the 'cheaper stands' selling budget tackle but i saw loads of people carrying the gear around & we've got to remember that the Go Fishing show is for everyone - from the occasional angler that digs a few worms up & may go fishing 3 / 4 times a year with 20 year old gear to the matchman with a 3,000 pole.

It was also nice to see so many youngsters - including females ( don't mean to be sexist here !!! )

[danny]

what did you think of the browning stand

[Paulscatt]

Hoped you worked hard Danny & took home some valuable experiance .

[danny]

i did was brilliant day ..Dave you were wrong they were queing up including the browning babes. they were miles better at the hotel in the evening than a the NEC. Even you would have enjoyed it.

[Dave]

what you getting at i would of enjoyed it babes hotel evening brilliant concoction

[CJA]

lol jk

dn't knw whos worse, danny or dave?