Anglers Sponsorship

[carpin crazy]

As i was reading through my weekly anglersmail i noticed some anglers use the same make for everything. Is this because they are sponsored by a certain company? If so how do they come about being sponsored

[Dick Dastardly]

Make the effort to get out there and catch fish and above all make sure people are seeing them catch these fish! They then further build up their own reputations by writing articles for mags etc telling everyone how they caught these fish.

 

Very few anglers are employed by tackle/bait firms for their actual imput into the product.They are employed/sponcered as they are regularly in the angling press so are known to the angling world.The ideal people to "endorse" a companies products!

[Anderoo]

It also makes me instantly distrust them!

[Dick Dastardly]

It also makes me instantly distrust them!

 

 

Slightly of topic (maybe?) but here's a different take on the issue.

 

Yes we all know that many many fish are published as being caught on the sponsors bait/company offering the best prize for a fish caught on their bait etc, etc. It always used to niggle me until a mate of mine did it.He caught a very big pike and claimed it was caught on a bait from a well known bait supplier.The company in question knew it wasn't but didn't care a toss!

 

He justified it by saying that all his fishing career he had always been straight and had to stand by and watch everyone else getting freebie tackle/bait etc.He thought this pike would be his one big chance so he was going to milk it! He basically got another mutual friend who is a well known angler involved in the tackle trade to act as an "agent" for the fish ie touting it around the various companies to see who would offer the most for the "caught on their......" rights.He got loads of stuff from all the top firms and reported the rod,reel,bait etc etc the fish was caught on accordingly.

 

The bait was the big thing though. To quote him though he said " well I knew my local freezer centre were unlikely to offer me a free freezer so I thought I would say it was caught on a------------ bait companies one!"

 

When I asked if he thought it was a bit off (don't care about the tackle companies as they were totally compliant with the whole thing!) miss leading anglers he replied by saying that it did no harm at all as all the stuff he had "recommended" was good gear that all the people not in the know/clued up wouldn't go wrong with if they got on the strength of his endorsement.If thinking it was the same gear/bait that he caught the fish on then it merely gave them confidence.The bait regardless of where it came from was the same so same there.

 

Could have been him wheedling out of it maybe but in all fairness it made sense and he was right in that case no harm was done.

 

My problem with product placement by the pros (namely writers and at that especially magazine/newspaper writers) is that often their pieces are wrote purely to "place" their sponcers products and as such at best detracts from the rest of the piece or worst results in a purely fictional piece passed off as repoting!

 

Incidently to demonstrate the irony my mate did really well out of his pike and the subsequent bait deal he got from the company he claimed the bait was from helped him catch a lot of fish! but the only company that never came up with the goodies they promised (a rod blank manufacturer) was in fact the only company whose product he had actually used!

 

Sorry Ive gone off on another of my reminisses! its my age you know!

[RobStubbs]

Budgie,

I know of exactly the same situation that has gone on in carp fishing. I do also know of at least one incident where the angler reporting said fish got bit on the ar$e with his dubious reporting. Said fish won him one of the 'catch of the month' type prizes, but since he never caught the fish on the bait he said he was using, he never got the prize. That said the bait company still got the free advert / publicity out of it...

 

Rob.

[Worms]

Well I'm knackered for sponsorship then aren't I?

 

Ogden Smiths, Allcocks, Milwards, Priory, Farlows etc. etc. I suppose J.W.Youngs are still about!

 

As for the bait well, the local corner shop for sweetcorn, bread and Babybel cheese, the tackle shop for maggots and my garden and the football ground for worms.

 

Arse, I knew this vintage tackle lark would bite me in the bum eventually!

[Elton]

I also know of cases where anglers have claimed carp on different baits. Often, the carp fall to something like plastic sweetcorn and are claimed to have been caught on the latest boilie. It winds me up no end, as people then work hard to pay £10 a kilo for that bait.

 

I'm always honest about what bait I catch fish on, but still worry that people won't believe me. When I had that new pb 35lb 12oz carp at the Wingham fish-in on a bag of boilies I'd been sent by Mistral, I was so glad that other people were there to witness it.

[Alan Stubbs]

I know of a regular 'article' writer who, when funds are short, knocks out an article for a mag.

 

That's fair enough, but its amazing how the same fish were only the caught once (check uot the photographs) using so many different 'I'll let you all in on my secret edge' tactics at the same time. Damned clever stuff considering the same pics have been used to show different tactics at various times in the same magazines. The pics are the same, only the words change - usually sponsors' names and the tactics.