Tackle Taxi van on a ferry deck at dawn, crossing to Europe

How it works

From your door to the bank

Four steps, one van, and a date you can plan a session around. Here is exactly what happens to your gear between your driveway and the water.

  • 01Pick your departure
  • 02We collect from your door
  • 03It travels strapped, and alone
  • 04It is on the bank when you arrive

Booking

Pick your departure

Every trip is a fixed date to a named water, with a set number of slots decided by how much room is in the van. You book the slot, pay a deposit, and the date is locked. No quotes to chase, no weight bands, no crating.

If nothing on the schedule matches your dates, say so. Routes get added when there is a vanful going, and a lot of the schedule has been built that way.

See what is currently open

What we need from you at booking

A collection address and a number we can reach you on
The dates you are actually fishing, not the travel dates
A rough list of what you are sending
Anything fragile or unusually valuable, flagged early
Tackle Taxi van on a UK driveway at dawn with rod holdalls, barrow and cool box ready to load Collection day

Collection

We collect from your door

Anywhere on the UK mainland. The collection run is planned around the departure date, and you get a window rather than a vague all-day slot.

Have everything together and ready to go — rods in their holdalls, loose bits boxed rather than loose. We load it into the van ourselves. The person who loads your gear is the person who then drives it, which is the entire reason nothing gets lost between here and the water.

Inside the Tackle Taxi van with rod holdalls ratchet-strapped to the lashing rails and cool boxes secured low Loaded and strapped

The journey

It travels strapped, and alone

Rods go lengthways against the ply and are held on the lashing rails with ratchet straps. Bivvies and soft bags fill the base. Hard cases and cool boxes sit low. Barrows strap upright. Nothing heavy rests on anything fragile, and nothing shifts on a crossing.

No pallets, no general freight, no depot transfers. The only other things in the van are other anglers’ kit heading to the same water.

Angler’s swim at dawn with bivvy and rods set up beside a European lake Day one

Arrival

It is on the bank when you arrive

We deliver to the water you are fishing, not a depot forty miles from it. You travel out light — hand luggage and a rod bag if you want one — and your setup is there for the start of your session.

The same thing happens in reverse at the end. Your gear is collected from the water and comes back to your door, so the last day of a session is spent fishing rather than repacking for a flight.

The order of things

When everything happens

Indicative, and confirmed with you for your particular trip. Long-haul departures run to a longer lead time than a short hop into France.

At booking

Slot confirmed and deposit taken. The date is yours.

Before the run

We confirm your collection window and go through your list.

Collection day

Gear loaded and strapped. Balance due before we set off.

Departure

The van leaves and crosses. You travel out separately, however suits.

Your session

Gear at the water for day one, set up where you are fishing.

Return

Collected from the water at the end and delivered back to your door.

Getting ready

How to pack for the van

Nothing complicated. Pack it the way you would for a UK session, then read the right-hand column before collection day rather than on it.

Worth doing

Rods in padded holdalls, tips protected. It is the one thing that will not survive being got wrong.
Reels off and bagged, or in a hard case.
Electronics — bait boat, batteries, cameras — in hard cases rather than soft bags.
Bait sealed and frozen solid, not part-thawed.
Everything labelled with your name. Several anglers’ kit travels together.

We cannot take

Livebait of any kind.
Fuel, gas cylinders or camping gas.
Anything a ferry operator will not accept on a crossing.
Loose, unbagged tackle. If it cannot be strapped, it cannot travel.
If you are not sure about something, ask before you book rather than on collection day.

Still wondering

The practical questions

If yours is not here, ring and ask. You will get the person who drives the van.

How much notice do you need?

As much as you can give. Slots are limited by van space and go in booking order, and the popular dates fill months ahead. If a trip is showing as available on the site, it still has room.

What if my flights and the van do not line up?

They do not need to. The van runs to its own schedule and your gear is at the water for the start of your session. Book your travel around the fishing dates on the trip, not around the van.

Can two of us share a slot?

Ask. A slot is a volume of van space rather than a person, so two light setups can sometimes share where two full ones cannot. Tell us what you are both sending and we will say straight away.

Do I need to be in when you collect?

Someone does. We load the van ourselves and we would rather check the gear over with you there than guess at what is fragile. That is also when anything unusual gets flagged.

What happens at the end of the session?

The same process in reverse. Your gear is collected from the water and delivered back to your door, so your last day is spent fishing instead of repacking.

What if my gear will not fit in one slot?

Tell us before you book. Depending on the trip there may be room to take more, and it is far better sorted in advance than discovered on a driveway with the van already loaded.

Ready when you are

Find your departure

Pick a date off the schedule, or tell us the water and the week you want to fish. If we are already going, we will take your gear.

See departures Call 01283 000000
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