Tackle Store Review – Tackle UK, Yeovil

With the New Year now come and gone I was determined to find a local tackle shop, so that when the weather finally decides to sort it’s act out, I would have a great store ready to supply my with my fishing fix! After a quick Google search I found that my closest store was a mere 18 minutes away in the form of Tackle UK (formly Yeovil Tackle Centre) and I was very keen to check it out. Driving to the location I noticed that parking for the store may be difficult at times, but on this occasion there was one space very nearby (I later found out that there is a sizeable car park behind the premises). So after a nifty bit of parking (thanks Rach) I arrived at the store not knowing what to expect, thankfully Tackle UK did not disappoint.

Walking into the store, I could see there is a range of branded rod bags hung from the walls and ceiling guiding you around to the left, this was followed by a large glass cabinet absolutely full to the top with reels of all shapes and sizes. Immediately you see racks of feeder and match rods, with head lamps on a stand to the right and Fox Carp equipment on the far wall. On closer inspection of the rods, I found it included the entire range of Drennan match rods, as well as a host of others. Worth knowing if you’re after a quality bit of kit.

 

Underneath the rods there is a vast amount of luggage, including, bait freeze bags and various shapes and sized carry alls. To the right of the Fox equipment on the back wall, the carp gear stretches the entire length of the wall and on to the rear wall, where it then merges with the large amount of coarse fishing equipment. Confusingly, the rods on show opposite this wall of carp gear are mainly boat and beach caster rods, including the brightly coloured continental rods.  Looking up and hanging from the ceiling there is more luggage and a large quantity of landing nets. Every spare surface of this store is covered with fishing equipment, which means you could spend ages looking around, hunting out a bargain. 

 

The rear wall of carp equipment merges with coarse fishing equipment, which fills the majority of the shop. Hanging on pegs from the walls are split shots, reel monofilament, hi-tech hooklength line, an enormous selection of hooks (including all the main brands) and various other essentials. These included but were not limited to; pre-tied rigs, olivettes, small and large tackle boxes and pole elastics (both solid and hollow). Again, worth remembering if you’re after a range of different types. This then makes way for a good selection of pole floats which are in specific holders at the far end of the rear wall.

 

Diagonally opposite these was a selection of poles. The rod rack was laden with flagships poles, all with prices tags well over £1000. The poles facing the window were more in the average anglers price bracket ranging from £399 - £999. I think Tackle UK may stock the full MAP TKS range, I certainly saw the 201 through to the 601 (You get what you pay for with these fantastic bits of kits).

The right hand wall and opposite partition displayed all manner of different baits, with maggots, casters and worm on sale behind a glass counter and groundbaits, particles and canned meats adjacent. I did notice that below this was a very impressive selection of groundbaits, were bait boxes full of different weighted Gemini Sea fishing leads. These were quickly followed by an enormous quantity of freshwater fishing weights in any size you could think of.

Near the counter the mass of bait continued, with buckets offering many different types of feed as well as high oil, and low oil pellets. There were also great selection of waggler and stick floats on a tiered polystyrene lazy susan, it wouldn’t be hard to burn a hole in your wallet in this store. I also noticed a few boxes of flies on the counter. With Sutton Bingham reservoir nearby it was no wonder that the store aimed to please all fishing disciplines. Having only recently moved to the area I asked the shop assistant for some advice on local venues. After a quick discussion where we talked about 3 of the venues I had already heard of (Viaduct, Todber and Mangerton), he provided me with a fishing directory for South West England. For £3.99 I now have an enormous list of venues and stores to visit within the South West region, what a result!

With heavy storms forecast for the next few days, there was no need for me to buy any tackle or baits. With its close proximity in mind, I am very pleased to be so close to a store with such a comprehensive array of coarse fishing tackle, all of which is more than competitively priced. I will undoubtedly be visiting here again, and on a very frequent basis.

As a rating I would say ****