Fisheries confirm they’re busier than ever following boom in summer ‘staycations’
DEMAND for accommodation at the UK’s ‘stay and fish’ venues has never been higher, with many fully booked this year and rapidly filling up for 2022 too!
In a stark contrast from 2020, when lakeside luxury lodges and static caravans lay deserted for months, fisheries are now having to turn people away, adding their names to the already lengthy waiting lists of anglers desperate to book a stay.
It’s fantastic news for the industry, but for the budding holidaymaker, things are proving a challenge, as Lyndis Tyrrel, who works in the booking office at Lincolnshire’s Westwood Lakes, revealed.
“We’ve got people ringing up, looking for vacancies, and we’re having to turn them down!” she told us.
“We have 31 holiday units, from one to four beds, and they’re all fully booked this summer. We’ve got a waiting list as long as your arm with people keen to get in on any cancellations.”
It’s a similar story at Stafford Moor Fishery, and owner Jo Coombes told us just how busy the Devon venue has been.
“We’re usually busy, but we generally have a few free spaces. This year, there’s none! We’re fully booked until November, and lots of anglers have booked in for next year already. It’s been amazing for us.”
As to why fisheries are so busy, Jonathan Bozward, owner of Docklow Pools in Hereford, believes there are several reasons.
“We’ve got a lot of bookings that’ve been rolled over from lockdown, and on top of these we have new business squeezing in,” he told us.
“We’re having to turn people away. People just want to get out and do something, and staying in the UK is cheaper and safer than going abroad. Whether this surge will continue over the next few years remains to be seen, but for now, it’s a case of making hay while the sun shines.”