Anglers back on the water across region
Fisheries across Shropshire have reopened their doors for the first time since lockdown started as angling is one of a handful of sports allowed to return.
Although they have to adhere to strict social distancing, angling returned on Wednesday alongside golf and tennis.
For Weston Pools in Oswestry, that means a welcome return to business – while giving their members an outlet during the pandemic.
“It’s a relief to be back open, fisheries manager Darren Humphreys said.
“A relief for us, because it’s been a nightmare as a business not to be open for seven weeks, but more so for our fisherman themselves.
“There’s been no money coming in, but we’ve gone through three quarters of a ton of pellets to feed our 50 ton of fish across all our pools.
“Everything has had to keep running behind the scenes with no money coming in and we’re pleased to now be back.
“On Wednesday, we had 70 people come down. It’s been brilliant. It was joyous to see everyone return on our first day back.
“There were people returning who came every week before lockdown and then we also had new people come, too. Seeing new faces was fantastic and was very welcome.”
The work behind the scenes has been relentless, with the government giving them two days notice before allowing them to open again.
Despite that, Weston Pools have acted quickly to get up and running in time.
“We’ve been using an online ticketing system for people to book in and it’s strictly one in, one out with the shop,” Humphreys added. “There are regular toilet checks, sanitiser for people to use and everyone must stay two metres apart.
“There have been a lot of changes in a short amount of time.”
The return of the sport was down, in large part, to the Angling Trust who presented a detailed plan to the government on how and why they should return to action.
Their help, both at a national and local level, has not gone unnoticed and Humphreys has heaped praise on the governing body for their work in ensuring a safe return for the sport.
“They have been at the forefront of this, the paper they produced for the government was so important,” he said. “They’ve been a massive help in giving us guidance on how to do things safely and have provided posters to put up around the fishery.
“There’s different phases of fishing coming back so right now we can’t do match fishing.
“Without their help, we might be in the same situation as football where we don’t know when or how it’s coming back.”
