Angling direct "king of the catch" competition...

[cully@wcc]

Hi guys, i was wondering if anybody on here has entered into Angling Direct the king of the catch competition?

I have a entry in the predator section with a brace of UK caught catfish, one was 70lb and the other was 71lb both PB's.

Im currently in first place but i'm looking to extend my lead, so i was hoping that maybe i could gain some support for anybody reading this, it would mean alot to me and it only takes up 30 seconds of your day...

below is a link to my entry:

https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/competitions/king-of-the-catch-2017/predator/sean-cully

all you have to do it click the yellow vote button and enter your email address, you will then receive a email from angling direct just asking you to verify the vote.
that's it, done.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU VERIFY THE VOTE OR IT WILL NOT COUNT..

THANK YOU...

 

[tomino2112]

not sure if its smart move posting this to your direct competition

 

[mikench]

Not me! If your catches were of roach, Rudd or indeed any fish other than catfish I may have responded ! I cannot think of any action or words that are in anyway favourable to such a hideous fish! ........ and I do like fishing!

 

[cully@wcc]

lol, mike they are great fish, its my first season targeting them, just trying something different through the summer months..
once the temperature drops i'll be back on the river and lakes after the carp and barbel.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Moderator hat: off - personal comment . . . . .

Is it really in the spirit of the competition to be touting for additional votes online?

Surely, in the interests of fairness this should not be allowed?

We (us anglers) had a very similar thing happen years ago when a well known fishing publication touted for votes for an angler in the BBC SPOTY competition and the angler was subsequently banned from the competition . . . .

 

[cully@wcc]

Hi, peter,

Sorry if i was not supposed to allowed to submit this post, i honestly thought it would be ok, i was merely looking to gain support from fellow anglers.
i wouldn't like be removed from the forum for it, that's for sure.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Hi, peter,

Sorry if i was not supposed to allowed to submit this post, i honestly thought it would be ok, i was merely looking to gain support from fellow anglers.
i wouldn't like be removed from the forum for it, that's for sure.

Hi,

My comment was a personal one, hence the reason for taking the Mod' hat off . . . . first

I just think that if the entry has sufficient merit then surely that alone should be enough to win . . . . ?

 

[cully@wcc]

i'd like to think your right peter as my brace of 70s is a amazing catch, but yeah it's about the pushing to get the votes too unfortunately.

 

[no-one in particular]

i'd like to think your right peter as my brace of 70s is a amazing catch, but yeah it's about the pushing to get the votes too unfortunately.

I don't understand this, your brace of 70's could get outvoted by a brace of 60's, is that it. Sorry for being thick but I don't know much about competitions, just curious.
And being thick again probably, I was a bit wary, a stranger turns up and asks me to click a link and give my email address in bold letters, I am not suggesting it is anything untoward but it was just my first thought; I will skip that just in case..sorry about that but you know what I mean.

 

[tomino2112]

Disclaimer: I do everything web-related professionally for over two decades.

Guys you have to realize that these contests are in no way about the best catch or the fish at all. Great example of that are carp entries approved in coarse category (instead of carp category).

AD doesn't care about who wins, all ot cares about are the emails they collect. Everyone who votes will be receiving bunch of marketing emails and since contestants will be asking friends to vote they will most likely have some connection to fishing as well and are more likely to buy something. They will also share all the emails with other partners (which is described in t&c, and recieve hefty sums for that.

Therefore it is indeed 100% about hoarding votes. 2oz roach can easily beat 7lb barbel and noone cares. Best way to win these contests is not to play the game. As the OP dis shamelessly here, share ypur entry wherever you can, cheat, whatever you can do, because trust me others doing it as well. Now it depends from company to company what measures they have to detect this kind of behavior. Obviously AD would approve just about any entry so they dont care about that, but i suspect they will care about if the votes are fro real email addresses and will have measures to detect if one person created bunch of mailboxes and voting for himself - all easily done.

You might be blown away by the prizes (£5000 per category) but you have to realize that the email lists they get out of it are worth much much more.

That being said, I would not send begging posts for votes to communities I are about (such as this one).

 

[thecrow]

I wont be voting for you or anyone else in this daft competition, if your catch is as amazing as you seem to think it is why would you need to come on here asking for votes? surely it would win anyway?

 

[mikench]

Angling Direct must pay lots for search optimisation as they always appear at or near the top of google when you search for something fishing related.

Just search for a reel or rod you fancy and you will find all the models you would want at really low( almost giveaway ) prices but guess what none of them are in stock! My bet is they never were at those prices!

I emailed them my views but did not receive a response! A carp rod I was interested in was £32 in the length and low TC required but was out of stock. They did have a 3.5lb tc rod at £90!

 

[tomino2112]

Angling Direct must pay lots for search optimisation as they always appear at or near the top of google when you search for something fishing related.

Just search for a reel or rod you fancy and you will find all the models you would want at really low( almost giveaway ) prices but guess what none of them are in stock! My bet is they never where at those prices!

I emailed them my views but did not receive a response! A carp rod I was interested in was £32 in the length and low TC required but was out of stock. They did have a 3.5lb tc rod at £90!

Yeah common practice, only they don't have to pay anything for search optimization. All they have to do is to fill up their stores and google and other engines automatically crawl their website and get all the data. That is also why they dont have any proper specs or descriptions on most of the items. They probably just pay $5 an hour to some poor kid to fill in as many things in their store as possible. I know this from my own experience when I was doing this as a summer job while in school.

I also find very frustrating that 90% of things I want are out of stock on AD. Maybe it is time for new online tackle shop! hmm dont give me ideas!

 

[mikench]

Go ahead Tomino!

 

[tomino2112]

Go ahead Tomino!

If I do (and I am mildy serious) expect shameless promotion all over fishing magic !

 

[steve2]

Angling Direct stores are no different to other types of supermarkets they will only stock what they can sell. 3lb plus test rods are in stock because they can sell those. Most carp anglers rarely fish with anything else it would appear these days.
If you were running a shop would you stock it with things you can't sell?

 

[tomino2112]

There are other ways to handle this than having to stock everything. I am sure that @mikench would be happy if they have option "get it in 2 weeks". Win-win for both sides, he would get what he wants, and they would get the money + customer

 

[mikench]

Angling Direct stores are no different to other types of supermarkets they will only stock what they can sell. 3lb plus test rods are in stock because they can sell those. Most carp anglers rarely fish with anything else it would appear these days.
If you were running a shop would you stock it with things you can't sell?

No Steve I wouldn't ! However if 6 out of 7 rods in the range are marked on the site as sold out I would restock !

 

[steve2]

But in the mean time the customer as gone elsewhere or changed their minds. A lot of tackle being on the spur of the moment purchases and when the moment as passed you say do I really need it and don't go back for it.
They would then be stuck with something they can't sell.

 

[mikench]

Normally if you have sold out of 6 out of 7 styles/varieties/options and your business is selling you restock surely! You would also rethink the item you have left in stock!

Most stockists of tackle can get items in stock at short notice. Chapmans as an example often quote an item as being available in a period of time. AD seem to advertise stock they do not have and may never have had!