High-end hobbies – investing in fly-fishing

Tuesday, November 02, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Personal, Protecting your wealth | Tags: investment, HNWI, Bespoke, magazine, Bespoke magazine, hobbies, investing, rights, investments, fishing, William Daniel, rivers, fly-fishing

At last, an investment that gets you out, provides good company and puts food on the table. No wonder they’re hard to come by, says Peter Cockwill, in our second post on high-end hobbies.

Ask anyone who fly-fishes and they will most certainly tell you that William Daniel (pictured) has the seemingly perfect job. His offices are the lush water meadows of southern England where his business, Famous Fishing, can provide access to exclusive stretches of river for individual anglers and corporate groups.

Combining a love of fly-fishing with an enterprising business is a skill and Daniel’s intrinsic knowledge of all that’s required to give good sport is highly valued. But he freely acknowledges that his network of individual riparian owners is essential to his success.

Rivers – finite resource and trophy investment
Rivers are a finite resource and each piece of bank to the midstream of the watercourse is individually owned, whether it be a hundred yards or a mile. This ‘riparian ownership’ can be a single ‘beat’ or subdivided into many beats with double bank, ie, ownership of both banks, being the most sought-after.

For the owners there is a return to be had from the investment, but Daniel urges caution to potential purchasers. “There’s not much of a yield on chalk rivers as the costs of managing a stretch of water are pretty much balanced by the income derived by renting it out. But there’s no doubt it is a trophy investment – the price doesn’t go down but it will go up.”

Capital growth potential versus service costs
Prices have been stable for the past couple of years, but one of Daniel’s clients was recently offered a 25% premium on a stretch of the Upper Itchen that he purchased four years ago, so there’s reasonable capital growth to be had.

Water, and all the bankside flora, fauna and wildlife within it, require careful management, so most owners employ or have the services of a river keeper.

In Scotland these special people are called ghillies and they all have unique skills in caring for their beat. It’s not just a matter of stocking with hatchery fish or hoping that wild fish will live and breed. The habitat must be maintained, the banks repaired, trees trimmed, grass cut and a myriad other tasks done while the keeper must also have a passion for the sport and be able to put that over to guests.

Rare habitats and rarer opportunities to invest
The by-product of all this work is an unexpected pleasure, says Daniel. “Chalk streams have a habitat that is rare – so when you restore a stretch for the benefit of the trout, you also encourage the other animals above and below in the food chain – so you’ll get otters and white-clawed crayfish returning, along with fish like Bullheads and other rare species.”

The prices of chalk streams may be particularly high, but the real difficulty is finding anything to buy.

“The only way is to approach an owner directly,” says Daniel. “You can buy fishing in Wales quite easily, but the problem is policing the river. The chalk streams are heavily monitored – but if you are not actually there, chances are that the locals, anywhere in the UK, will be there and using spinners and pulling out all the fish.”

Salmon fishing in Scotland is an alternative. “You can often find advertisements in The Field for a stretch of the River Tweed,” says Daniel. “Back in the 1970s, there was a trend for timeshares and those often come on to the market.”

Fly-fishing as corporate event
A day beside moving water with the subtle skills of casting a fly, choosing the correct imitation and making an accurate but stealthy presentation arguably does more for the psyche than any other sport.

When combined as a corporate event with casting instructors, a marquee and tasteful catering, the client not only has a day in beautiful surroundings but also learns a new skill and hopefully goes home with a tasty trout or two. Experience has shown that small groups sharing such days are much more inclined to relax and share their time than when separated at golf or mixed with the noise and bustle of horse racing or other major sporting events.

Contacts through fly-fishing often lead to lifelong friendships and it’s a pastime for all ages and from all levels of society. This brief overview of one man’s lifestyle shows how fly-fishing can be either a personal enlightenment or a lifestyle change that also generates an income and an appreciating asset.

Quick guide to fly-fishing rivers

1. Chalkstream trout
The rivers Test and Itchen are the cream of waters. Located in southern England, they are extremely valuable and much sought-after with a rod on the River Test costing around £25,000 for a single day’s fishing every fortnight. Usually operated as syndicates where membership is often only by personal recommendation, access can also be via letting agencies or clubs. Try Strutt & Parker fishing lettings.

2. Salmon
Scotland is synonymous with fishing for the fabled Atlantic salmon, which returns to the river of its birth. Well-known beats are booked years in advance with celebrities and peers of the realm organising their lives around their annual Scottish salmon week. A rod on the River Earn in Perthshire is
currently for sale for £12,000 for one week’s fishing in October in perpetuity. Try Country Pursuits. 

3. Wild trout
Less expensive than classic chalkstreams, rivers supporting native brown trout and grayling are available throughout the West Country, Wales, the Lake District and the north. Try Wild Trout Fishing.

4. Destination lodges
Foreign locations allow fishing for exotic freshwater species, saltwater giants, abundant Pacific salmon, sea trout and more. Operated from remote lodges in magnificent settings, these venues are usually serviced by high-profile booking agents but do require initial high capital and ongoing service costs. An 11-bedroomed fishing lodge in Thorne Bay, Alaska, is currently on the market for $3.75m. Try Viviun.

Feature: Peter Cockwill. Image: © Hannah Edwards.

This article appears in the Summer 2010 issue of Bespoke magazine, which you can either download as a PDF or receive in print format. Here’s how you can sign up to receive future editions of Bespoke. 

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