Browns at Leighton Buzzard to close...

Alan Whitty

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The last decent sized tackle shop within 20 miles of Luton closing, which is quite a shock as now to view newish products you are talking about a day out jobby...
 
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nottskev

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Bad news, Alan. I'd have thought, given the fishing available, there'd be enough anglers in your area to make a decent ts viable?
 

Alan Whitty

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There are two TS in the Luton area, both generally minimalistic with very little top quality tackle, for me I can't fish with one manufacturers gear, I want a bit of all of it, ie some Guru, Preston, Matrix and Drennan, that's for terminal tackle, Brown's was about 14 miles away from me, Bedford has two fairly comprehensive shops, 20 plus miles, Hitchin and Stevenage basically similar to Luton, Welwyn has good shop, Oakwood Tackle I believe, that is around 20 miles, Angling Direct at MK is good but again 20 miles plus, I don't know of any others, we used to have four in Luton at one time and there are a fair few anglers in the area, I believe I have more different patterns of hook in my chest of drawers than the two local shops put together, and mine are good patterns, lol...
 
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ian g

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It's mad , the amount of fishing available and anglers around Shrewsbury and we have one tackle shop AD available . As Mike says very carp orintated .
 

nottskev

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When I read this kind of thing, I think I'm lucky that by chance, nothing else, I live within 10 mins of two excellent tackle shops. All the gear you could want, plus all the bait - every kind of maggots, pinkies, dendra's, lobs, fresh casters anytime, cooked hemp and tares, frozen deadbaits and lampreys if that's your thing ..... Rods re-ringed, reels serviced and repaired, obscure obsolete items found in the back or in the cellar..... I sometimes envy anglers in other areas their fishing, but I'm well off for tackle and bait. Oh, we've had an AD for years, too. I've been there twice.
 

chevin4

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There ate two TS in the Luton area, both generally minimalistic with very little top quality tackle, for me I can't fish with one manufacturers gear, I want a bit of all of it, ie some Guru, Preston, Matrix and Drennan, that's for terminal tackle, Brown's was about 14 miles away from me, Bedford has two fairly comprehensive shops, 20 plus miles, Hitchin and Stevenage basically similar to Luton, Welwyn has good shop, Oakwood Tackle I believe, that is around 20 miles, Angling Direct at MK is good but again 20 miles plus, I don't know of any others, we used to have four in Luton at one time and there are a fair few anglers in the area, I believe I have more different patterns of hook in my chest of drawers than the two local shops put together, and mine are good patterns, lol...
A little further afield Johnson Ross in Hoddesdon is excellent. I was quite impressed with North Herts Angling Baldock when I called in a few weeks ago they have increased the range
 

Alan Whitty

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I like North Herts, but again, for me that is over 20 miles, also and you would know better than I, but i heard it went more specimen angling minded, which is fine if that is what your shopping for, most shops these days only sell a few Drennan floats, as for AD, I found they had a good amount of gear from the four major companies terminal tackle, but its too far to nip down to for a packet of hooks and you need to spend 50-80 notes to make the journey worthwhile, then you forget/or something comes up you need and your rodgered again.... also Hugh you aren't far from Baldock, I don't buy major items much these days, so going to Johnson Ross is pretty much a no-no...
 
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flightliner

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The nearest ts to me is 15 minutes walk away at a nearby commercial fishery, there was another also about 15 minutes walk away but he's sold out to a differant shop selling other items of fare.
I liked the chap despite having to make all the conversation.
My nearest AD is 12 miles away (24 mile round trip) so I dont go very much, only the odd occasion.
It's a well stocked shop
that you can buy any item of tackle, carp, specialist, and match type gear,plus all the bait, pellets, boilies, G Baits, deadbaits.
I think I've sung their praises on here before. The staff are courteous, and polite.
You can buy any item of tackle you need.
Whats not to like?
 

The bad one

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We don't now have a tackle shop within 7 miles of where I live. 5 years ago we had 3. Nearest AD at least 10 miles. One shop we do have is a go outdoors (Bury) about 8 miles away I'm told by the guys who work in the Angling Dept it's the largest in the country.
It's well stocked with tackle right through the price/quality range. The lads in the angling dept seem to know their stuff and it sells maggots. It's boilie selection vey large and has some boilies that are left field and good barbel bait.
As an avid tackle maker, what I do miss is the quirky stuff you could get in a real tackle shop
 

Alan Whitty

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I have always liked going into a tackle shop and looking round, spotting something and asking what the hell it is, I've found some fantastically useful items like that over the years, it helps having an engineering background so I suss how they work quickly, I watched a Guru podcast with Tommy Pickering a few months ago, a question they ask every guest is what item couldn't they do without, Tommy said a leviampo shot remover, I knew of these more than 20 years ago, thought they were a gimmick, after hearing Tommy's explanation I thought I'd give one a go, should have had one years ago, when fine tuning a float it takes seconds, being able to remove a number 11 stot or dust shot so easily is amazing, my point is I will now struggle to innovate my tackle, so will revert to being more of a noddy than I already am....
 

nottskev

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I got one of those to try and get Stotz off the line if you've added too many. It might be me using it badly, but I noticed it can shave a tiny sliver off the line, which is likely to be pretty skinny to begin with.
 

nottskev

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Only one, Mike? :)

Lovely to hear Italian pronounced properly :)



Did he miss a bit from the explanation? For that function, you need to squeeze the shot a little from both sides - it makes its grip on the line ease off a bit.
 

silvers

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blimey Alan, you don’t know you’re born … living out in the sticks it’s a 15 mile journey (27min) to the nearest tackle shop. Luckily it’s a very good one (Bailey’s of Warwick).
30 years ago…
There used to be two in stratford on Avon (one now)
three in Banbury (none now)
two in Warwick/Leamington (just the one now)

PS which are the two in Bedford these days? It was Bedford angling centre and Dixon Bros in my days in the area 😆. and that was a 10 mile cycle ride in those days 😉
 

nottskev

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Va bene Kev. Do a vid for Christmas. Would you like my Drennan flake punch set if you cannot get one?

Ooh! Yes please! For which I'll send you these svelte little Polaris floats, no's 1 and 2, 5g and 6g, which might just be handy for your deep tench pool next May.

Pol.jpg
 
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