Which side do you come down on

[fishcatcher4]

Probably. But in a lot of cases they will have paid for that tackle, though most likely at a reduced price. "Sponsorship" is not the money-tree some people think it is. But it does boost the confidence of the angler, which is why so many do it for so little.

Tommy Pickering didn't keep any of his maver gear.

 

[Lee Richards]

Steve endorses and uses the products so it's a family concern.
Coming back to the start and using Steve as an example they would have probably not got this far without sponsorship and profile projection.
Their skills and involvement make the partnership and now Steve is a top level known angler they had the platform to reap their rewards.

 

[Silverfisher]

You’d think half the anglers around here were drennan sponsored. I mean I mostly use drennan rods, reels, floats, feeders, hooks etc but a lot around here do that plus have drennan nets, clothing, luggage basically the lot so do look like walking advertisements! Does make them look professional tbf.

 

[Flathead]

You’d think half the anglers around here were drennan sponsored. I mean I mostly use drennan rods, reels, floats, feeders, hooks etc but a lot around here do that plus have drennan nets, clothing, luggage basically the lot so do look like walking advertisements! Does make them look professional tbf.

Perhaps because Peter Drennan is an Oxford lad and it is where he started

 

[Alantherose]

I think it’s quite cute seeing all the old fellas with their Drennan Y-Fronts on

 

[Silverfisher]

Perhaps because Peter Drennan is an Oxford lad and it is where he started

Oh yeah that’s almost certainly the main reason plus probably some of them are in the drennan Oxford match team as well and some may well actually be sponsored. Still quite funny though as I see them and rightly or wrongly think they look like they know what they are doing!

 

[Cobweb]

You’d think half the anglers around here were drennan sponsored. I mean I mostly use drennan rods, reels, floats, feeders, hooks etc but a lot around here do that plus have drennan nets, clothing, luggage basically the lot so do look like walking advertisements! Does make them look professional tbf.

I've just bought an MD cap and T shirt. I love them, but then I've always looked sorta weird. I'm sponsored by HM government, the London Stock Exchange and Barings who provide my pensions

 

[Guy Incognito]

I have the upmost respect for Tommy Pickering and he’s an angling hero of mine but he waxed lyrical about how amazing the maver products were not too long back but doesn’t use them now he’s a non sponsored angler. Can’t help but think they weren’t quite as good as Tommy said they were? ?

 

[Northantslad]

I agree about Jamie Hughes,he’s gone from Maver to MAP to Matrix, but as for getting information off here it’s no different!! If you ask a question about a pole, you’ll get 50 different totally biased replies, every one who has brought a certain pole will swear blind it’s the best ?‍?‍

Could there be two ways of looking at that (pole choice as an example), info from anglers on here against that of the pros, but this could apply to any which xxxxxxxx should i buy query.

The pros of accepting the pros viewpoint:
They should know what a good pole is and isn't as they use them all week
They may have had input into the design, hence their knowledge in that design is invaluable

The againsts:
The are they being paid to say it possibility raises its head
The type of pole and price wise may come to a price value more than some our (on here) kit collections put together, so the average Jo market may be isn't always the intended one, leads nicely onto the pros of reviews on here...
The venues and the circumstances during which the item is featured can't sometimes be re-created by your average Jo, whether that be accessing the venue in the first place or having to make do with the place being rammed with other anglers (noticed how quiet some of the banks are on some of the venues featured at times)

The pros of peoples opinions on here:
Not sure it is always biased, as bias would infer there is some other reason behind suggesting gear. The gear is used by many and well tried in many cases and across a bigger slice of people, than 1 or may 2 associated with a company. So if a question goes out on here, you can usually see a theme develop and one may be two makes being suggested more than others. With Barbel rods for example, Korum and Fox are suggested quite a lot and by people on similar budgets (non pros anyway), who are fishing similar venues and with no reason other than the product does the job well for them, being behind any suggestion.

There is more chance of people on here being at the standard of each other than at the standard of the pros, so price bracket and value for money comes in within a more varying budget, but not top bracket money.

I can't really think of a negative for getting as many 'real' if you like opinions as possible. Like i say something comes out, the pros advertise it and then the market uses it, i like and value as many opinions as possible and i get your point about the possibility of the potential for a hundred different answers, just not sure on the bias bit being behind any suggestion made by your average Jo.

When thinking about buying something, if there were a hundred different answers, then great i could glean from that, that it doesn't matter which one i buy (usually the case with my standard of fishing anyway!). If however there were common themes coming out of the hundred responses, then great, a bit to go on to narrow it down.

Have read all of the posts so far and think there has been some great discussion to date, but i do reckon that bias can only stem from vested interest hence i picked up on this one.

 

[emmaemma]

It's all in the marketing.....If Kim Kardashian was filmed pegging her bra and knickers out with @Neil ofthe nene's clothes pegs, he wouldn't be able to keep up with production......

 

[Neil ofthe nene]

Shhhhhhh that is not for publication. We haver a confidentiality agreement. She won't mention the clothes pegs I won't mention the .............

All I can say is the goat recovered.

 

[chefster]

It’s official-Neil of the Nene Blows Goats ?

 

[The one and only Harvey]

The idea of buying tackle based on what sponsored "names" recommend, has actually never occured to me. I must be a bit slow.

 

[chris1967]

Good thread ,could you imagine if they started making the gear and putting the anglers name on the stuff they churned out .
we could have Dave Harrell stick float rods another good seller would be if daiwa put a big name on rods say like Tommy pickering

 

[Cobweb]

Didn't Tommy Pickering have a signature Daiwa Whisker float rod about 20 years ago?

 

[Lee Richards]

Diawa have always had signature ranges and many moons ago I had a Mark Downes Match rod.

Their Loony Tunes Porky Pig range was a best seller ??

 

[mickthechippy]

Didn't Tommy Pickering have a signature Daiwa Whisker float rod about 20 years ago?

lent his name to a range a rods from Tri-Cast before that

 

[Foul hooked]

The problem i find with sponsorship is that it is all well and good these people waxing lyrical about the latest bit of kit from manufacturer xyz but they are invariably given the top of the range gear to play with, not the stuff that most of us can afford. If i was given a £5,000 pole kit to try out i am pretty sure that i would like it, however, when it comes to actually buying one my budget is gonna have at one nought taken off. A Pro footballer may well be sponsored by Adidas or Nike, but most sunday league players will not be paying hundreds of pounds a pair for their boots, but may still purchase a cheaper range from those manufacturers simply because their favourite player wears them. At the end of the day it all marketing. You are more likely to get an honest feel for an affordable product from these forums and other reviews. The main thing i look for in reviews is patterns in the comments and if the same complaint (durabilty, build quality, lack of spare parts, after sales etc) crops up regularly then i would avoid.
On that note, having just broken the top section of my cheap pole, anyone point me in the direction of a decent replacement?

 

[G0zzer2]

There is a huge difference between sponsorship and consultancy, in which case the angler is employed by the firm. And you would hardy expect someone employed by the Daily Mail to say that the best newspaper was the Guardian.

I have seen a lot of videos, and can't say I particularly remember many anglers saying: "This is the best .... there is." Usually they say "I'm using a such-and-such a ... because it will..." Or they say simply "I'm using Guru/Sensas/Van den Eynde groundbait" and leave it at that. But they are entitled to say why they like something (even if you don't believe them).

 

[Alantherose]

Marketing goes beyond the adverts though, doesn't it? Would anybody buy a pole with graphics they didn't like, even if it was technically the best pole ever? I suppose we're suckers for shiny stuff, especially if Jimmy McWinner uses it

It's fair game for tackle companies to take the opportunity to advertise their stuff. I always expect there to be a cannily devised piece of "product placement" on fishing videos, whether it's mentioned as a product or not (the most potent ads are usually the non-verbal ones I find). It's inevitable that the vids have ads, because anglers watch them. I'm not a match angler, but I like the techniques and have learned from watching Jamie Hughes and all the other Messi/Ronaldo anglers out there. But I've also learned as much from the lads at York Tackle (see, even that is an advert) and the old Passion for Angling/Catching the Impossible stuff.

Eat the meat; spit out the bones!