The Week Ahead...

This entry was posted on 6th January, 2014

Apologies that the last couple of weeks have been a little quiet on the blogging front, as you can imagine the run up to Christmas is a very busy time for us, and a huge percentage of our time is set aside for festive deals and promotions. But now it’s all over things are getting back to normal.

I hope everyone had a very Happy Christmas and New Year and that you got all the items of tackle you asked father Christmas for and that you have been out on the bank and caught a few! I hope the coming year is a successful, happy and lucky one for all of our friends and customers.

Here at Angling Direct we have lots of great stuff planned this year, both in store and online and we look forward to providing top quality content for all anglers, to help with that fishing fix!

So what better place to start, than with the first ‘week ahead’ post of 2014…

 

 

The Prospects… Unless you’ve been living under of rock for the past month you will have no doubt seen the rather stormy weather that’s been battering the UK. Whether it’s been strong winds, extremely high tides, storm surges, heavy rain or even all these factors combined, barely a day has gone by where the weather hasn’t been mentioned in the headlines.

It seems that the weather has taken a rather uncomfortable pattern… one nice day, two wet and windy days, one nice day, two wet and windy days, and so it goes on. Ok, so this might not be the scientific forecast, but that’s how it seems to me!

I suppose there is one small saving grace and that is how mild it’s been! I can probably count on one hand, and have a couple of digits spare, the number of days I’ve had to clear frost and ice off my windscreen.  In all honesty it hasn’t really felt like winter at all, in fact it’s almost seemed like we are still in autumn, after all throughout the whole of 2013 everyone was saying that the seasons/weather was 2-3 months behind, so perhaps the current weather it’s not a total surprise.

One thing I did notice is that on the east coast of America they are being battered by heavy snow and ice, in New York over 7inches fell in a matter of hours! As a general rule we tend to receive this weather a few weeks after they have had it, as the weather fronts move across the Atlantic into our path, so will shall see, perhaps in the next couple of weeks we may find the weather changing once again.



Looking ahead to this week, the weather doesn’t appear to be that bad, well certainly for us here in the east. It looks as if finally we may be due a relatively dry week, as not a lot of rain is forecast, and good periods of sunshine could be present. The wind is forecast to remain relatively strong and will continue from a south, south west direction. The biggest change is perhaps in the temperatures, as throughout this week they are predicted to slowly drop as we progress towards the weekend. Today we have a high of 11 degrees (feels like 8) and on Thursday we will have a high of 7 degrees (feels like 3).



What could this mean for the fishing…

According to our friendly fishing App, this week isn’t the greatest, the best days (if you can call them that) appear to be tomorrow and Wednesday, as Wednesday has a rating of just over 63% fishing efficiency. This tales off towards the weekend and continues right into the start of next week, so overall not great! However, as they say as long as you’ve got a line in the water you’ve got a chance.

If you are after a fish this week I reckon you could rely on the good old faithful Chub to produce a bite or two, with the extra water in the rivers and with them resembling the colour of hot chocolate, try fishing the slack area’s with big lumps of smelly luncheon meat or cheese paste!



If you do plan on having a session and do get out then good luck and of course don’t forget to let us know how you get on! Send any pictures and reports to: contact@anglingdirect.co.uk

 

 

My Fishing…

Over the Christmas period my fishing was pretty non-existent, with work being extra busy and with many free days being taken up with festive parties and celebrations I spent more time at a different sort of watering hole!

I’m hopeful that January may be more productive, as I look at it as a detox month and a month where the wallet gets a rest! I’m hopeful of a few sessions on the beach and plenty of fishing and filming with Steve.

Even though it’s only the 6^th of January, I’ve already surpassed the amount of fishing I done in December, with a trip to the beach yesterday.

Me and Steve visited Aldeburgh, with the hope of catching some Codling on camera, in a nut shell it was another case of Whiting city! I managed to miss one proper cod nod, you know the type, slack line everywhere, wind down and strike into fresh air and one microscopic Codling on my last cast, but by this time the camera had stopped rolling, as the strong Southerly wind made fishing virtually impossible!



We still managed some decent filming and will definitely convert the footage into part two of our Cod Quest! For those of you who haven’t seen part one, you can do so below. Part one has been very well received, with lots of positive comments and feedback, as well as an ever growing view count, it seems to be increasing quicker than any of our other previous videos. It also comes up as the number one video on YouTube if you search the term ‘sea fishing’, which is pretty cool!

Anyway, if you haven’t seen it you can watch it below…

To watch in HD simply click the little cog icon and select 1080p!



 

Pictures Of The Week…

Now I mentioned in my last blog that December’s picture of the month was a very close knit affair and I wasn’t wrong as the voting went right up until the last day! However as there could only be one winner and in the end the £50 voucher ended up in the hands of Tosh Welton, who received an amazing 149 likes! Tosh’s picture can be seen below…



January’s picture of the month competition is now open and in full swing and already we’ve seen some real crackers, as soon as I get five minutes I’ll get the album created and everyone can start voting!

In the mean time, if you want to get in on the action and stand a chance of winning a £50 voucher then get sending your pictures in!

Also it’s worth remembering it’s a picture of the month competition and not a just a fish of the month, so it’s not all about the biggest Carp!

If you want to enter our December competition and appear on our blog and social sites then feel free to email your pictures and reports to…contact@anglingdirect.co.uk you can also share them with us on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

 

 

In The Press…

BCAS Better Than Ever In 2014

Over 120 stands have confirmed their attendance at the British Carp Angling Show. Taking place at the Norfolk Showground on the weekend of the 18th and 19th January next year, organisers are expecting to see more people attend this year than ever before.

The show premiered in January 2012 and blew the minds of many exhibitors who were thrilled with the busy and lively atmosphere, where visitor numbers reached an estimated 9,000 over the 2-day show. Last year, figures fell slightly due to the date having to be changed because of inclement weather, but the show was still hailed as a great success by all who attended.

This year, the enormous 50,000 square foot heated emporium will house over 120 angling related stands varying from fishing tackle, bait, equipment, apparel and accessories all at great low show prices; as well as demonstrations, magazine subscription offers, freebies and a host of big celebrity names.

All the best highlights from the previous show will remain the same; the presence of star names will again be warmly welcomed, and several book signings are set to take place.

Guests are encouraged to lose their bearings as they explore the maze of fishing and angling stands, each one buzzing with energy and excitement. Whether it’s watching boilie-making demos, picking up a bargain, or telling your own stories from the riverbank in the bar – the weekend has all the right ingredients for a blinding weekend dedicated to all types of fishing!



We All Have A Right To Know

The public’s ‘right to know’ what gets dumped into our rivers received a welcome boost this week when the Court of Justice of the European Union granted public access to environmental information about the activities of the privatised water and sewage companies in the UK.  This judgment came out of an  ongoing case at the UK's Upper Tribunal  which aims to overturn the decision in 2010 that denied the public access to information about water companies.

The Court of Justice ruled that as a matter of principle water and sewage companies can be subject to disclosure obligations to the public, but that it is for our national courts to rule definitively on the facts in this case.  Lawyers are hopeful that the judgment will lead to the establishment of public rights of access to environmental information held by water companies.  The Upper Tribunal is likely to rule on this matter early in 2014.

Although they were once state-owned, water companies were privatised in the early 1990s, but have always considered themselves outside the UK’s freedom of information obligations.

This ‘secrecy blanket’ has protected parts of the water industry from proper public scrutiny, and in some cases from legal action.

Angling body, Fish Legal has therefore been battling through the courts for many years to get the industry – one of the biggest polluters of the water environment in the UK – to be required by the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) 2004 to reveal what they allow to spill, leak and seep into our lakes, rivers and coastal waters.

The legislation places a duty of disclosure on those subject to it and important safeguards - meaning the public can expect to receive complete and accurate information from organisations within a certain time frame.  If they don’t comply, there is a formal process of complaint and appeal to the Information Commissioner, and through the courts if necessary.

William Rundle, Head Solicitor at Fish Legal, said: "This judgment sets out clear guiding principles for the continuance of our case. It is now clear as a matter of principle that the privatised Water and Sewage Companies may well be subject to public rights of access to environmental information, where certain criteria are met. This ground-breaking statement of principle will be subjected to an examination of the specific factual circumstances by the Tribunal which will give its final judgment shortly."



 

In Store…

Well I don’t quite know where to start!

As I’ve already mentioned and as you can probably guess, Christmas was a very busy period for us, both in store and online. We had been thinking about and planning for the festive period from November onwards, so it was great to see all the hard work pay off, it was also extremely rewarding from a personal point of view and as John ‘Hannibal’ Smith (for all the young one’s, he was a member of the A-Team!) once said… ‘I love it when a plan comes together’.

I hope everyone enjoyed our dedicated Christmas section, daily e-shots and festive competitions, I also hope that everyone on our database received their Christmas card and little Christmas gift!

After a short period of calm, this week really see’s things stepping up a gear as we start to think about and slowly plan the year ahead. We already have some fantastic new things coming for 2014 and there’s certainly plenty to be excited about.

If you regularly read our blog you will know that a few weeks back we mentioned we were rolling out a finance scheme, well I’m pleased to say that has now all been done and its up and running and working! You can check out the full details by clicking the link below, as there are many different types available, including interest free and low credit options.

Angling Direct Finance Scheme



Also as mentioned above, the British Carp And Angling Show is only round the corner, in fact it’s less than two weeks away! Taking place on the 18^th and 19^th of January at the Norfolk show ground, we are pleased to announce we will be there!

We are in the process of finalizing all the details for the big weekend, including preparing the stand, offers, special products and general show rigmarole!

If you are planning to attend then please feel free to drop by and say hello, as we’d love to see you!

 

Product of the week…

Fox Cookware Sets

I’m loving Fox’s new splash of orange throughout many of its new items and this new cookware features it on the handles, making it immediately recognisable. It certainly looks the part, but how does it perform?

Well we’ve had one of each sent to us for testing – There are two full sets containing various pans, but each includes a kettle. Boiling time on the kettle – and so far they’ve performed very well. Boiling time on the kettles (there are two sizes available) is impressive, largely thanks for the special heat skirt that recycles some of the flames that would normally go unused…

To read the full review and to watch the video click the link below…

Fox Cookware Sets