The West Midlands, located on the coast of the Irish Sea in central England on the west side of the band of land known generally as the "Midlands," is home to some of England's largest cities. Birmingham, Wolverhampton and larger towns like Dudley, Solihull and Coventry all occupy the area. This area is very popular with anglers because of the many waterways. Along with the Irish Sea, the River Severn, the longest river in the entire United Kingdom, flows through the area to the southeast.
Locations
Because the West Midlands are so full of places to fish, from the River Severn to the over 7,000 km on rivers such as the Trent and the national canal hub, there are lots of places to find fishing supply shops for tackle and other gear. Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Shropshire have the highest number of tackle shops--largely due to the size of those cities. Smaller towns such as Powys and Telford also have shops to give you a chance to gear up before heading out to the water. However, for the largest selection when you need to get specific items or full gear it is better to get to the larger stores in bigger cities.
Fishing Gear
The most common fish in the area inland are trout, pike, roach, carp, perch, bream and chub. For that reason the many tackle stores handle baits and tackle focused on those species. Special stores even carry specialty items like travel rods for those times when you need a fishing pole that is compact, and yet useful.
Clothing and Personal Gear
Larger stores such as WMAC Direct, located in Darlaston, have a wide variety of supplies for personal comfort and necessities for fishing. These supplies include hip waders, boots and polarized sunglasses to combat the glare of the sun on the water.
Equipment
A good fishing store will carry important necessities like trolling motors, line spooling stations, hook sharpeners, bait bowls, bait and tackle boxes, nets, seat boxes that fit on your fishing boat and seating stations that sit on a shoreline complete with rod holders and drink holders.
Boats
Only the largest tackle stores can carry boats. Even those that do usually only carry small flat boats, or bass boats. Allen's Fishing Tackle in Walsall, West Midlands, carries Viper bait boats, a very handy device that floats your bait and tackle out on the water so you don't have to carry it in a vest, or leave it on shore. The Viper comes radio controlled so you can direct it anywhere you need it, or even send it over to a companion nearby.
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