Good value Fishing tackle on woodies

mawk

pretty much a repost of the thread I started in bargain alerts so if a mod doesn't want duplicates it can be deleted but I thought people here might be interested.

called in to woodies near the kinsale rd roundabout in cork today and saw that they now have a fishing tackle section. nearly all fladen gear so not apalling quality. didnt look too hard at rods and reels but there is a fairly good selection of terminal gear. sea coarse and game. very competetive on lure prices. poppers and plugs etc but also for hokais and feather and tied rigs.

edit--

can a mod change that to "in woodies" please

Compton

ewww fladen. pretty crap stuff tbh.

beer enigma

I guess its all down to how much you can afford & how often you're going to use the gear.

I'm not a huge Fladen fan, but on saying that its better than the Lidl gear. I bought a combo for holidays this year & had a load of fun for €30 (telescopic rod, reel feathers etc). I probably wont use it until next year again, so for me its fine.

rpmcmurphy

I have no experience of fladen gear but they do have a 7ft 6 4 weight brook rod that has received good reviews. My friend has one and rates it highly as do others.

twomeys

As a fishing tackle shop owner I had to go over and have a little sneak peak. As pointed out by others you dont expect to get Shimano or Gloomis in woodies but in fairness to them they had something to suite everyone.

Now the woodies I visited was tralee and its a stones throw from our main opossition so it'll be hard on them. A lot of the stuff was crap, but for things like bubbles and cheap gut, look you get what you pay for. I do think they will be left with an awful lot of it though. I think woodies jumped on this because some marketing guy in head office saw that fishing tackle sales are one of the few things in the retail sector thats actually growing. As more people are out of work or retiring, more people are fishing. But I agree with another poster, way better than lidl, though the woodies rods were mank!

And I as a retailer have no problem with shops like woodies selling this stuff, cause anglers will go in there, try and save a few euros and buy the cheaper stuff but will be back to us when it breaks!! :P Alls fair in love and war!! Anyway, the main thing is that we all try and put enough time aside to actually go fishing, its good for ya!

Eoghan

natdog

shblob wrote: »

ewww fladen. pretty crap stuff tbh.

wouldnt say your right on all fladen gear I have one of the solid c boat rods 8ft 20-50lb class and its a great rod for tope fishing really nice action from it.
I know thats probably not what woodies are selling but my expierience with fladen so far has being good.
I got mine from tacklebargains.co.uk great service and a lot cheaper than the shops.

twomeys

Hey Natdog,

The reason online shops in the uk are so much cheaper than Irish tackle shops is because in Ireland you have greedy landlords, greedy local governments and before you open the door in the morning you have bills to pay!! I dont think its fair to compare an online shop which can technically be run from someones shed with no staff or overheads to a high street retailer. As Ive said to other people in the past, if everyone keeps buying online there will be no shops. then when you want to spend 10 euro on some gut and tackle it'll take a week by post and cost you another 10 euro to ship it.. If we dont all try and spend at least a few bob in our local shops, be it tackle, butchers, clothes etc we are going to bankrupt ourselves...

At least woodies employ staff living in Ireland and pay irish taxes.. Im all for healthy competition..

SeaFields

There's a sticky at the top of the forum on tackle shops. One thing that you will see mentioned again and again by the regular posters in the thread is how good the advice is that is given by the tackle shop. That is one thing that you cant get online really. If you are in another part of the country you will nearly always pop into the local tackle shop, pick upa few local flies and get advice on permits and local spots. The local tackle shop can never be replaced by online retailers.


One thing I buy online is flies because of the value you get online compared to in the shop - maybe 20c a fly online vrs. €1 or more in the shop.

Woodies isnt aiming to take over a section of the market in fairness. They are catering for the mackerel bashers who will throw the rod into the shed until the following summer.

I know fellas who have gotten great bargins online and who have been badly stung. its hit and miss really.

twomeys

Hey Seafields,

I totally agree with you on all points. One interesting point you made is about Flies. As you can appreciate, the shops sell a fly based on trade price, Vat and profit. I am broken up trying to find a Fly supplier that will offer high quality flies without the high price. I currently stock Donegal Fly and in fairness to them they are very high quality. I recently caught about 10 trout on one of my flies and its like new. Cheaper flies can fray and fall apart after one or two fish.

I would rather pay a little extra and know that they will last. Also its important to note that better made flies will have better hooks. These are not only stronger but the will not rust. I have seen the cheaper flies rust in a fly box and I dont like it.

Regards,

Eoghan

natdog

Tomeys,
Im a regular user of local shops with very mixed reviews and also very mixed reviews with online shops aswell.
Its your own buisness what way you want to shop but up in Dublin most fishing shops take the piss on pricing for example the rod I originally posted about was 130-140 in the shops and I got it for less than 60 to my door within 4 day of purchase.
There will always be fishing shops and the better ones will survive.

twomeys

Hi Natdog,

Dont talk to me about rip off shops. We see it everyday. I dont know how they have survived this long. We know one shop that sells the same boot we do. Our price with a profit sells for 180 euro, they sell it for over 300 euro. Thats just not on. It is getting harder and harder as a retailer as margins are being cut but overheads are constantly rising. Thankfully we are a small shop and dont have the headaches of some of the bigger ones. But this week alone 2 tackle shops have closed down this end of the country.

A big part of offering good value to a customer is finding suppliers that dont talso take the mick. Everyones entitled to a few bob but in my opinion some fishing tackle brands are just not on. A lot of them are made in the same factories, if one brand is on it it might be 40 euro if another brand is on it it might be 80 euro. Thats bull..

anyways rant over!! Keep shopping around though Nat, your doing the right thing..

Eoghan

beer enigma

SeaFields wrote: »

They are catering for the mackerel bashers who will throw the rod into the shed until the following summer.

That's me :rolleyes:

The wife doesn't seem to complain if I go fishing on holidays - its the regular course fishing that gets me into trouble lol

SeaFields

Andip wrote: »

The wife doesn't seem to complain if I go fishing on holidays - its the regular course fishing that gets me into trouble lol

Its the "i'll be home for dinner" and arriving back after midnight that gets me :eek:

TimMac

I learnt that lesson a few seasons ago, now i just say "ill be home later!!!"

SeaFields wrote: »

Its the "i'll be home for dinner" and arriving back after midnight that gets me :eek:

twomeys

its the opposite for me Im nearly kicked out of the shop to go fishing!! Just cant find the time

madred006

she said to me "are you going fishing "yes for a while is that ok "sure bring me back a diet coke "of course i will :)so stop at shop on way to river and get diet coke ,because i know she likes it at room temp return at 2:30 :Dand wake her saying got you a diet coke and she still not happy lol .

twomeys

haha Classic... These women folk, they can be hard to understand sometimes!!!

beer enigma

SeaFields wrote: »

Its the "i'll be home for dinner" and arriving back after midnight that gets me :eek:

I've given up on the dinner one - last time I used that I told her I'd bring dinner home with me & duly arrived with a cracking pair of rainbow trout........I think she was expecting McDonalds:rolleyes:

beer enigma

Back to topic - are Woodies now stocking because the likes of Lidl & Aldi are on the bandwagon ?

twomeys

I dont think so Andy, as I was saying earlier, fishing tackle sales are up all over Ireland and England and this is bucking the trend. One distributor told me he's up 30-40% on last year. I reckon its a marketing thing. The section they have in Tralee is small but its well stocked. Now its looking a bit messy cause people have pulled at it. I dunno how long it will last though, Ill give it 6 months..

Holyboy

Twomeys, how do you get away with your posts?if I even hint about my shop on the cycling forum the mods are straight on to me within minutes!but keep it up:)oh and im pretty sure I used to repair your reels(former truetackle employee) sorry OP a little OT.

twomeys

Well firstly Holyboy, The mods here and in the Equestrian section are the best Mods in all of Boards!! Secondly I do communicate with the mods regularly to make sure Im abiding by the rules and if Im not they are in contact very quickly and give out to me! Ill PM you on options that boards offer for retailers. Their working on some new things in the backround to allow us to communicate our messages and advise without breaking the advertising rules..

As per original topic, is Tesco next??!!

beer enigma

Holyboy wrote: »

Twomeys, how do you get away with your posts?if I even hint about my shop on the cycling forum the mods are straight on to me within minutes!but keep it up:)oh and im pretty sure I used to repair your reels(former truetackle employee) sorry OP a little OT.

Is that a commercial reference to Truetackle lol :pac:

I'm ok with Twomeys on here as he approached me beforehand & we agreed the rules - I always think its a shame to exclude good sources of knowledge.

Holyboy

twomeys wrote: »

Well firstly Holyboy, The mods here and in the Equestrian section are the best Mods in all of Boards!! Secondly I do communicate with the mods regularly to make sure Im abiding by the rules and if Im not they are in contact very quickly and give out to me! Ill PM you on options that boards offer for retailers. Their working on some new things in the backround to allow us to communicate our messages and advise without breaking the advertising rules..

As per original topic, is Tesco next??!!

I wouldnt put it past them,they already have about 30 bike 'shop in a shop' in the uk and else where in europe thier stores sell just about everything! Oh woe to the poor little retailer:(

mawk

That's ok with me holyboy. Movement in the forum is good. On topic isn't always where the interesting stuff gets said.

I usually buy my gear in a well known city center shop in cork but I've been buying more gear online in the last year or so. More internet shopping altogether though. I'm happy to buy the quirky stuff online as I can't usually find it locally but when you just need the staple stuff.. Buy local that way you can ensure a good local supply.

SeaFields

twomeys wrote: »

One interesting point you made is about Flies. As you can appreciate, the shops sell a fly based on trade price, Vat and profit. I am broken up trying to find a Fly supplier that will offer high quality flies without the high price. I currently stock Donegal Fly and in fairness to them they are very high quality. I recently caught about 10 trout on one of my flies and its like new. Cheaper flies can fray and fall apart after one or two fish.

I would rather pay a little extra and know that they will last. Also its important to note that better made flies will have better hooks. These are not only stronger but the will not rust. I have seen the cheaper flies rust in a fly box and I dont like it.

I haven't had too many problems with the online flies I've bought. they seem to last altho i did have the hook straighten on a very large rainbow one day. I stock up on the brown trout flies online because of the cost of tying lots of patterns (relative to all the material one needs) but tie all my own seatrout flies and the odd salmon fly.

As someone who has worked in retail for 15 years all i can say is the keep the customer happy. The likes of woodies and aldi staff are, by and large, not going to have an iota of knowledge when i comes to the gear and setting it up or indeed where to go. This again is where the local tackle shop comes into play. Even if someone has kitted themselves out with gear from there they are going to find the need eventually to go to a tackle shop ( if they keep at the fishing that is).

An example....a few months back I was in a tackle shop in cork Was looking to get a fly tying material but he didnt stock it but said if i could to drop by tomorrow as he had loads at home. I dropped in on the way to work and he had it there and all. I said "how much do I owe ya?" ..."dont worry about it, just have a good one". Now a few weeks after that a friend of mine asked me to kit out her boyfriend with a rod and reel and a few bits for his birthday and handed me €100. That €100 wasnt going into any other till but his. Keep the customer happy and you'll keep the customer.

invicta

twomeys wrote: »

i(

tackle shop???? I've been in there:There is more fishing tackle in the next door neighbours van, than that whole shop!!!!! P.S. don't even consider Landers as opposition, to you, cos my friend,its like comparing lotus to lada. Most fellas here know which is the lotus

beer enigma

invicta wrote: »

[SIZE="4"][/SIZE]

twomeys wrote: »

i(

tackle shop???? I've been in there:There is more fishing tackle in the next door neighbours van, than that whole shop!!!!! P.S. don't even consider Landers as opposition, to you, cos my friend,its like comparing lotus to lada. Most fellas here know which is the lotus

Not quite sure of your point here Invicta - this is a thread on Woodies fishing gear ?

dermo909

I bought one of the 11' eco superlight pier/mackeral rods back in July and I've been very happy with how it feels in my hands. I get a good cast from it and since it was my first foray into sea fishing I did'nt want to ruin my shakespeare spin road.

Admittedly I was possibly a little trigger happy but for 24 quid(I think) I thought it was great value.

I did however go to my local tackle shop for my reel(shakespeare) and all the other bits n bobs. For that 24 quid I spent on the rod, I've easily spent 100 in the tackle shop getting all the other bits.

twomeys

Andip wrote: »

Not quite sure of your point here Invicta - this is a thread on Woodies fishing gear ?

@ Andy, just a Dig from a Fisherman who obviously demands a shop to be bursting with stock.. Well The last shop I knew like that it Cork closed down spectacularly..

@ Invicta Anyways just to be clear. We have a small shop in Killarney which caters for equestrian and fishing. The Equestrian side pays the rent for now as we are only developing the angling and as most know, Horsey people need more gear than anglers I cater ONLY for game anglers as there is no coarse down here. On average Id have 60 patterns of wet fly, 10 Rods for Fly and spinning and enough clothing, waders, gut, line to suit most and kit out a newby. This is our first year at it and we are building it up slowly. As you can appreciate, having lots of stock but people not knowing your there or not spending equals "closing down". As for Landers, ya I guess there only around 20 years or more.. Maybe call back in 20 years to me and we will see which one is still open!!! But thanks for your very kind words of abuse..

If I could Id have 50k of stock here and Id employ my Dad who has 60 years fishing experience, but this year thatsnot an option, maybe next year!! Im sure you'd get on like a house on Fire as Im sure your a well accomplished long standing angler..

@ Seafields, your dead right, you gotta keep the customer happy. And ya even though we are only a Lada according to some folk, this Lada will go out of his way to help everyone one. Yesterday I spent 20 mins with an italian man drawing him maps of where to fish. His grand total spend, €2.. But he went out the door delighted to have gotten local knowledge and I felt good helping him.

@ Dermo, thats exactly why Woodies can offer something good. If your only dabbling into Fly fishing you wont want the €400 fly rod Ive sitting on the shelf there as its madness.. If you like the new disipline, as you say return to a shop and get something good. It took me a while to accept it but we all need to stock the cheap and cheerful ..

Now this Lada shop is going off to unpack a large horsey order and get it on the floor.. I will dream tonight of someday being a Lotus, though I hear there very unrelaible and have terrible paintwork!!!

Have a great day everyone, I hope your all out fishing unlike this fool!!

E

pdstck

Hi Twomeys
where in tralee is your shop, will give a call to see what you have, i'm looking for a decent sea fishing reel at the moment cant find much on the net

twomeys

pdstck wrote: »

Hi Twomeys
where in tralee is your shop, will give a call to see what you have, i'm looking for a decent sea fishing reel at the moment cant find much on the net

Hey Pd

We're based in Killarney not Tralee. I'm currently not stocking sea reels as I mostly get asked for fly and salmon gear and that season is closing in ten days so we are winding down the stock for the year. I will be doing sea gear next season and for sure. Now I have all the main brand sails le to me including shimano etc so you are more than welcome to pop in and I can show you what's available and price it for you. You can then buy closer to where you are or order through us but I'll help you out as best I can.

Eoghan

ch750536

You will always need the cheap gear for noobs to gain entry. At that point they dont know what is suitable for them or what they want to fish for. They wouldn't know how to buy a good rod, as they are quite individual.

It's a good thing that Lidl \ Aldi \ Woddies offer a route in to fishing at low cost, once they know what they want guess where they will end up?

pdstck

Twomeys
can you pm me your shop address thanks

beer enigma

ch750536 wrote: »

You will always need the cheap gear for noobs to gain entry. At that point they dont know what is suitable for them or what they want to fish for. They wouldn't know how to buy a good rod, as they are quite individual.

It's a good thing that Lidl \ Aldi \ Woddies offer a route in to fishing at low cost, once they know what they want guess where they will end up?

I agree - it's an intro to the sport - Ive been fishing for 30 years and would love my 8 year old to enjoy it too, but can't afford to lash out on gear only to find he changes his mind after our first trip. If he enjoys it then I'll invest with decent gear but Lidl/aldi/Woodies provide a good cheap source for starters

There's always a danger that cheap gear leads to poaching/illegal but I think the introduction of a national fishing licence for coarse to fund bailiffs could help

fisherking

The money from a national licence would simply be absorbed into the banks like the 60 euro "salmon conservation fund"

Andip wrote: »

ch750536 wrote: »

You will always need the cheap gear for noobs to gain entry. At that point they dont know what is suitable for them or what they want to fish for. They wouldn't know how to buy a good rod, as they are quite individual.

It's a good thing that Lidl \ Aldi \ Woddies offer a route in to fishing at low cost, once they know what they want guess where they will end up?

I agree - it's an intro to the sport - Ive been fishing for 30 years and would love my 8 year old to enjoy it too, but can't afford to lash out on gear only to find he changes his mind after our first trip. If he enjoys it then I'll invest with decent gear but Lidl/aldi/Woodies provide a good cheap source for starters

There's always a danger that cheap gear leads to poaching/illegal but I think the introduction of a national fishing licence for coarse to fund bailiffs could help

copeyhagen

any of the woodies in dublin have the gear?

could do with a few terminal bits and bobs.

the one on malahide rd doesnt anwyay. or didnt few weeks ago.

cheers