Here we go for a fresh week coming from a marvellous weekend which was greatly enjoyable, none of which included angling. On Friday night I went into Birmingham, not something I would naturally do as I get bewildered in cities being very much the out of town boy, but I was going in to see Big Country at the O2 Academy. The concert was fabulous, with Mike Peters standing in for the late, great Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson’s lad Jamie playing 2nd guitar.
I fervently hope that a live CD will follow the completion of the tour when the second section completes in April as it will go directly onto the iPod on my iPhone. Which brings me to my issue for the morning, is the MP3 player an acceptable addition of the up to date fishing tackle? I don’t know what the thinking is in today’s fishing etiquette, but I suppose that such a solitary activity will inevitably mean that plugging in the iPod is a keen temptation for many. But if swims are positioned by the water at fairly close proximity, the last thing the neighbours want when they are angling is the tch tch tch tch etc from next door if they prefer not to have their own tunes.
I cannot say for sure what my preference might be. I love my music, my taste tends to span from Tupac to Tchaikovsky. I do not really get much time to use my iPod as a rule, but I also have always regarded fishing to be something to be practiced quietly to give time by oneself to chill out and be alone but with an interest that isn’t too strenuous. So do I want to put my iPod in with my fishing tackle? It’s a tricky one.
On Saturday I was back in the city, this time with the family as we fancied going into the city for something of a change. I had not been in since the city centre was rebuilt although I did go once while they were building and got so horribly lost that I never went back. But I was extremely impressed, we went to the Bull Ring and Selfridges, though the issue is that it is, as always in shopping centres, the normal same names of shops as you find everywhere else. It is a great pity that specialist outlets don’t get a look in. Has anyone ever tried to set up a chain of fishing tackle shops? I do remember that there was a very fine looking music outlet (by which I mean a outlet for people performing music rather than another HMV) but that didn’t last long. Maybe it’s the nature of the specialist seller that they need to be found in corners and backstreets and have that local expertise and custom rather than a more general place or presence in shopping centres and precincts.
I think it’s a pity because the dedicated shop for things such as fishing tackle or music tend to be owned by the enthusiast and will never make the owners well off (and I freely recognise that in the majority of cases they have no intention to be so), but why can’t someone make a very general fishing tackle chain work and entice more people to the activity as a result? I know that many will rile and say that a big chain will put the authentic local specialist out of business, but I don’t agree because when someone decides to come into the activity, gets their first set of fishing tackle and a feel that they want to cary on, the dedicated shop will then come into their own. Also, operators of shopping malls such as Westfield may not be too happy on one of their shops being a breeding ground for maggots and other live bait so again, the locals will pick up the business.
It was great, another chance to see my favourite band of all time, a day out with the family and a nice Sunday at home makes for the perfect weekend.
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