Sponsored Anglers Merry-Go-Round

With every new season there seems to be the usual reshuffle of the Big name anglers around the manufacturers.... it rankles with my sense of integrity to a large extent....

I'm old enough/ugly enough to understand that folks need to make a living but, when last season Joe Bloggs was extolling the virtues of one bait/tackle manufacturer, this year he's with a different outfit and now they are the best thing since sliced bread... it smacks of hypocrisy and double standards.

It also demeans anything that the aforementioned sponsored angler has said in the past... I have largely stopped listening to them and it's the main reason I stopped buying the monthly/weekly comics....

there are loads of these chaps who spend a season with an outfit and then jump ship for a few quid more or a better deal on equipment/bait...

I was sponsored in the 90's for my coaching efforts.... I was bloody grateful for anything that the local (and now sadly defunct ) tackle dealer could spare... To me all this grubbing about for more bait/tackle/money sullies the sport to a degree and demeans the integrity of the angler playing hopscotch with the manufacturers, to the point where I'll ignore any recommendation they make as utter bullsh*t.

when you get youngsters coming into the sport they'll see it as the norm and act accordingly should they attain the skills to get picked up by a firm... I certainly don't think that this is the way we want our sport to progress...

I am firmly of the opinion that today's hi-profile specialists should have more integrity in dealings with their sponsors as I believe that their behaviour is costing the manufacturers sales and trust from the public...

There's little enough sponsorship to go round already and when you have to listen to what amounts to total b*ll*cks from some anglers, you have to wonder why they deserve such a deal in the first place....?

If the sponsorship games really were costing them more sales than they gained, they simply wouldn't do it. However, is this whole thing really such a surprise? Is anyone over eighteen, or with a modicum of intelligence really listening to, and buying heavily influenced by, the recommendations of a sponsored angler?

I'll admit to being a cynic, but know I won't be totally immune to advertising and marketing. However, I doubt I've been unduly influenced by a named angler since I felt that the John Wilson Avon/Quiver rod wasn't all it was cracked up to be in the mid/late eighties.

Now I find that I don't even recognise half the names associated with various angling brands. Also, it may not be especially wise or PC, but I don't give much credence to the recommendations of anyone half my age. I can acknowledge that they have far more angling talent than I ever will. However, when I have rods and reels older than they are, I doubt their ability to tell good gear from bad, especially when they are being paid to favour a brand, is any greater than my own.

I do think that the merry-go-round games do cost companies sales, but more than that I think the public trust aspect goes out the window...

and I share your thoughts on the JW Avon (in today's fishing world its a quarter pound undergunned)

I think that you are right when it comes to the talent aspect... that said I don't profess to know it all, but some of these so-called celebrity anglers do.... and it is somewhat refreshing to find that their "knowledge" in their chosen field is no better, or at times worse than your/my own

The only recommendation I take any notice of come from anglers that I trust to tell it how it is, most will be anglers I know personally others will be from places like this forum.

Advertising affects us all no matter how much we may like to think that it doesn't, I suspect that with angling equipment its the younger angler that is most likely to take notice of whatever the latest must have tackle might be, them and tackle tarts

I find it quite funny that different sponsored anglers are quick to extoll the virtues of this or that rod when a lot are made on the same blank produced in eastern countries in the thousands, funny how money manages to refocus the sponsored angler onto even better stuff than he used previously.

arthur2sheds said:

I do think that the merry-go-round games do cost companies sales, but more than that I think the public trust aspect goes out the window...

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That might be true amongst a specific section of angler. However, if it were true across the board, and lost more sales than it garnered, no one would be sponsoring an angler. They aren't doing it out of the goodness of their heart.

Generally I think advertising must work for enough people to be sucked in or companies wouldnt spend the amount of money that they do on it to shape buyers habits. Angling and also general items.

I think it not only extends to products but behaviour to those at the gullible end of the spectrum. Despite all the ho ha from the video game producers to the contrary I do believe violent games have an effect on SOME.

Unfortunately.



Throw enough mud and some will stick?

john step said:

I think it not only extends to products but behaviour to those at the gullible end of the spectrum. Despite all the ho ha from the video game producers to the contrary I do believe violent games have an effect on SOME.

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There has been some research done into this that showed that kids that spend many hours on these games do not do as well at school as others that spend shorter times on them.

From personal experience I wouldn't necessarily agree, I have a grandson that seems to live in some sort of cyber world being seen infrequently, ha is very intelligent and does very well at school. On the other hand his younger brother who also spends a large amount of time in this cyber world is very insular and has taken to bullying his cousin on some sort of game where they can actually speak to each other, he also is doing well at school, the bullying has now stopped but the younger one continues to spend most of his time on these games, it cannot do anything good for the way they think and grow up into adulthood, has his behaviour been caused by playing adult violent games? yes I think it has.

tis another reason to get em out fishing then

The turn offs for me is where some young twenty'ish carp angler is extolling some must have bait or other, there he is with his fifth or therabouts latest "fir'ey from some overstocked £25 per twenty four hours water that advertises its number of twenties and thirties at some astronomical high.
The spiel sort of goes" yes, I,ve bee a carp angler since I was ten years old and hed plenty of biggies but this ?? bait I,m using now is the dogs, would'nt be without it now at any price"
Sorry son, I'm to old a cat to be f#¤¿@d by a kitten. You or anyone else for that matter.

arthur2sheds said:

With every new season there seems to be the usual reshuffle of the Big name anglers around the manufacturers.... it rankles with my sense of integrity to a large extent....

there are loads of these chaps who spend a season with an outfit and then jump ship for a few quid more or a better deal on equipment/bait...

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Could you name me a dozen or even half a dozen sponsored anglers that have changed their sponsors in the last 12 months?

We might be old and cynical enough to see through the bull which passes for sponsorship but with respect chaps we, and I'm referring to anyone over 45 here, are not the target for the advertisers we have had our day and know that if you are in the right place at the right time any half decent bait will do and the fish don't give a stuff if your rods are 10 years old.
No, modern advertising is aimed at the up and coming, young and impressionable 20 somethings, they're the ones with the money, the time, and the hunger for the kudos which goes with having a few 'firties' over your drawstring and they are not yet jaded enough to be going through the motions, putting the bivvy up, casting the rods out over a bed of munga, cracking a can and rolling a fatty.
Next time you do the shopping with the mrs have a look at the latest carp mags, they're full of youngsters sporting all the latest gear and £60 haircuts cradling some big old lump from a day ticket puddle and receiving the plaudits of all the other wannabes.
They don't care that Barry Bigboilies changed shirts last season, all they care about is following his example and getting their mug in the next issue and 'all over facebook'.

cg74 said:

Could you name me a dozen or even half a dozen sponsored anglers that have changed their sponsors in the last 12 months?

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I was thinking this too... personally I think the whole idea is dumb but, contracts expire, maybe the company doesn't think the angler is representing their wares as well as they thought? Is the OP suggesting they should have lifelong contracts?*


* that was a joke.

I watch the porntube I mean youtube videos with the likes of Steve Ringer, Des Shipp, Rob Wootton, Nick Speed, James Robbins, et al and I think they are very informative with very little product placement. They do tend to say "using this rod/reel/line/groundbait" but that is about it.

They do tend to say "using this rod/reel/line/groundbait"

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if that isn't product placement what is....? and as for naming anglers who jumped ship.... I know of 4 that have changed since last year... I'll not name them, for the sake of embarrassing them... I'll let the the poster do his own digging... One of them parted company from his bait supplier under a very nasty cloud that was aired all over facebook last year...!

ARTHUR2SHEDS
strong words mate I read them comics out of habbit an the only angler I take notice of is steve ringer now LOL

I'm not surprised by the sponsorship Merry-go-round. It's no different to any other celebrity 'sportsman' cashing in. I would do it in their position, not knowing how long the chance of earning extra income or their fame would last. I'm in the 30 something bracket and don't take the slightest bit of notice of sponsored anglers. I do however take notice of the advice given by the experienced old farts on FM and thank you all for it

arthur2sheds said:

One of them parted company from his bait supplier under a very nasty cloud that was aired all over facebook last year...!

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I suspect this may be one of the very few I'm actually aware of, not for any good reasons. The individual I have in mind seems to fall out with sponsors on a regular basis. He's bounced from two or three companies that I know of, and, if I've actually become aware, it's not a good thing. I suspect that will be rather limiting his future opportunities. However, that particular merry go round has more to do with the individual than being a good indicator of the general state of things.

In the great scheme of things, I can't moan at folk wanting to make a living, but when their words and opinions on certain manufacturers are in the public domain one year and the next they are saying that their current employers products are the best since sliced bread, it somewhat devalues their opinions as anglers "In the Know"...

Now, as has been said, there are more'n a few of us folk who will take what these guys say with a healthy does of sodium chloride, but there are quite a few younger guys and gals who hang on every word they'll say... and these are the folk that the bed hopping "Stars" should think about and choose their words or their sponsors accordingly

Imagine a job that supplied you with expensive gear and enabled you to spend your time fishing.

I don't blame them....

arthur2sheds said:

if that isn't product placement what is....?

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I didn't say it wasn't, I said "with very little product placement"

If there is a a 20 to 30 minute video that I find interesting and informative I do not mind the odd "I am using this rod", in fact it would be a bit odd if they didn't, I think the tackle and how it is setup is a part of the information that most viewers would want.

I don't remember seeing any of the top anglers suggesting that the kit they use is the only kit that will do the job, normally the spiel is along the lines of "xyz is perfect for the job", not "only xyz will do the job". It is only the advertorial that pays for all the free informative content from the knowledgeable anglers.

A lot of the bait companies videos are pure product placement with no real information and I tend to give these a miss.