Even without the current pandemic, there’s never been a more challenging time to run a tackle shop. With it’s efficiency, viral advertising and temptation, the Internet (and it’s evil offspring, Social Media) has revolutionised how anglers buy tackle. To be a shop owner now you need to move with the times, open your doors to new ideas and make yourself vital to your local scene. My mind was whirring the other day, thinking about how a tackle shop survives in this day and age? My local tackle shop came to mind and I wanted to give the shop a moment in the spotlight.

First I want to talk about the challenges a traditional tackle shop faces. The big one is as stated, the ease and availability of tackle on the likes of Ebay, Amazon and the Chinese sites like Aliexpress. We are all guilty of splurging on lures online because it is so easy! You see one you like, you google it, you buy it – it doesn’t matter where it comes from. There is nothing wrong with this in the grand scheme of things. It’s your money and how you spend it is your business. But what can a tackle shop offer that a faceless online entity can’t?

If you don’t already know, I live in Plymouth. Plymouth and the local area does have some good tackle shops, each trying their best to carve out a niche in a competitive and fickle marketplace. Lure fishing has, in my opinion, not been a huge priority to a lot of these shops historically. Times change though and a few, over the last decade, have embraced the ever expanding range of lures, rods, lines and reels. The tackle shop I want to talk about today has taken on the lure ethos, without losing it’s traditional and community minded focus …

Osborne & Cragg
This tackle shop, located on Bretonside, near the Plymouth Barbican, was started in 1972 by Claude Osborne and Alan Cragg. The pair traded for 26 years until 1998 when Simon Kingdom bought the shop. Simon’s dad was already in the tackle trade before this and as a 16 year old, he joined his father in the trade before they settled as partners with Osborne & Cragg. A direct quote from Simon is he has ‘never done a proper day’s work in his life!’, he has fishing in his blood and I know from experience he loves to talk about it! I have spent many unintentional hours in the shop, chatting all things lure and LRF, completely unaware of the time – it’s a gift he has (alongside making you buy things you never intended to!).

That conversation and friendliness is Osborne & Cragg’s secret weapon. Although we may disagree on our politics, the banter is always good natured and you feel welcome at the shop with always a tale to be told. Particularly in the early days of my Lerfing journey, Simon’s enthusiastic and helpful conversations always inspired me. It is likely I wouldn’t have the knowledge and a lot of the catches I have today without those early conversations. Those chats inevitably led to more time in the shop, meaning I had more time to buy things. Its a lesson I think some tackle shops can learn from – being open, helpful and non-judgemental leads to more sales – it’s common sense really.

The shop itself is not large but is full to the brim of lures and terminal tackle. There is a fantastic selection in ‘LRF Corner’, even if the Ecogear and Marukyu selection has thinned out a little due to a lack of supplier. The walls of Fiiish and other bass lures are substantial and the commitment to lure fishing is clear to see. That is not to say bait fishing is ignored though, there is plenty of the traditional and modern beach and rock fishing tackle for the smellier side of sea fishing. The walls are covered in images of big fish caught by local anglers and a few taxidermy specimens peer down at you, including the record ballan wrasse of over 8lb.

Simon and his father have cemented their place in the local lure fishing scene, despite a lack of parking directly outside the shop, by keeping the friendly, informative tone. The other way is by hosting competitions. Let’s be honest, although competitions may seem a simple idea to put on, there is still an outlay of tackle for prizes and most importantly, time. The species hunts they have hosted go on for at least a couple of weeks, so need constant tallying and identifying of species. It’s a thankless task but one I really appreciate. I have been lucky to win a couple of these competitions in the past and always look forward to them.

Another win for Osborne & Cragg is the embrace of social media – absolutely vital in this day and age. Promoting products, ideas and local fish caught is a simple and effective way to keep your shop on angler’s timelines. Simon has been great at replying to any queries and requests I have given him over the years on Facebook. Any new lures or rods that I like the look of, particularly with the likes of Majorcraft, HTO or Savage Gear, have been ordered for me with ease.

The big choice a tackle shop has is to have an online shop or not… There are advantages to both, the online shop gives you great scope and a chance to sell 24 hours a day. Being constantly open is hard work though and keeping an online store updated is time consuming. O&C have decided to avoid that, keeping things humble and shop based. It’s a tactic that seems to be working so far. With less overheads because they own the shop, they can afford to keep the scale small.

I may be a tackle tart who wants the most niche Japanese LRF tackle but the majority of people who fish aren’t like that. Shops really make their money from the fair weather fishermen, the mackerel chasers. It must be a hard balance between wanting to stock the fancy tackle and balancing the bills. Sets of feathers, floats and weights all have their place in any tackle shop though, no matter how much time goes on. Casual anglers can turn into full time ones and a good tackle shop helps to nurture that interest.

So what makes a great tackle shop? I think it’s clear that the shop needs to be open, friendly and community focused. To give the local anglers a space to gather, rally around and nurture the newest trends and interests. Being wise to stocking what sells every summer and what brings the more niche anglers in. You can go online or, if you can afford it, stay local, both have their advantages. Knowing the influence a good tackle shop has had on me, I think it’s only right I spent some time celebrating that shop.
You can contact Simon on his Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/osborneandcragg/

As always thank you for reading. I will do my best to keep updating the blog as we remain in lockdown. I’m a key worker so I’m more busy than ever currently, leading to precious little time for writing. Look after each other, stay at home and if you are lucky enough to have consistent money still coming in, support your tackle shops where you can. They are going to need us more than ever.
For further reading/watching please check out the following links.
My page on Facebook – Please like this if you want to be kept up to date with my most recent blog posts and catches…
https://www.facebook.com/benbassettfishing
My page on Instagram 
https://www.instagram.com/benbassettfishing/
The brand new blog at Street Fishing London with contribution from me
https://www.streetfishinglondon.co.uk/blog
Richard Salter aka Devon Lerfer – LRF videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2GYWRxohx3J6Qq7vFqZS0w
Neil Sutherland at Aquazid Studio – LRF based T shirt designs and more
http://aquazidstudio.com/
Art Of Fishing – Wadebridge based fishing tackle porn
https://www.artoffishing.co.uk/
Prime Angling – One of the best places to get your fill of LRF lures
https://www.primeangling.co.uk/