Lure choices base on what the media has spoon fed angler for years

I'm not going into the match theory belief that lures should be chosen based on the current forage, but over many decades have seen the influence of the media (TV show, literature, videos) which show respected angler celebrities pushing certain lures - many of which they were paid sponsors of - insisting on the 'match' logic for using such lures. That's not to say the lures didn't work, but that many didn't do well in many of the waters I fished.

As many have seen from my posts and now the ever increasing number of angler photos posted, lure design ultimately matters regardless the forage guesses assumed to up the odds of catching more fish on average. The most successful anglers on crappie.com are in tune with what to use, when to use them and how to present them. Propaganda is one thing but ultimately the truth-in-catching is the final test of lure choices from fishing in different waters over many years - of which I have been very fortunate.

I’ve been very fortunate to have been asked by several companies to represent their products. One thing each and every one have in common is the fact I have either already been using their product before I became a sponsor or I have had a relationship with people in that company.

I’ve been asked by folks to represent their company but when I looked into their product line, I found it didn’t contain products I would be inclined to use or want to tell others about. I politely declined their offer.

Very few folks in the fishing industry are in a position to receive FREE items from sponsors. Most of the time it gets down to discounts on products or services.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Lures are meant to catch people not fish.

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Originally Posted by M R Dux

I’ve been very fortunate to have been asked by several companies to represent their products. One thing each and every one have in common is the fact I have either already been using their product before I became a sponsor or I have had a relationship with people in that company.

I’ve been asked by folks to represent their company but when I looked into their product line, I found it didn’t contain products I would be inclined to use or want to tell others about. I politely declined their offer.

Very few folks in the fishing industry are in a position to receive FREE items from sponsors. Most of the time it gets down to discounts on products or services.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

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this is very true , very few manufacturers "give" away tackle . steep discounts sometimes but even then not terribly high in most cases.
i have been fortunate enough as well to be directly involved in the "want to try my stuff ?" program many times . some of the items were items i wanted to try or liked anyway and some not so much .i often get grab bags of free stuff when i order from tackle people i like to use and even subscribe to the send me your seconds program as well .
one thing for certain though , i DO NOT promote anything that dont ketch fish !
one manufacturer years ago "gave" me a very large amount of different tackle items ,to the point i never even got to use all the items . but to be sure there are a bunch of things on the market that are just marketed to ketch fisherman .
my agreement with any and all lure manufacturers is always the same , if it ketches fish i will promote it and if not only the manufacturer will ever know .
and in the end as always and forever and ever ....
KABOOM is still the word :Rofl

What prompts many anglers to buy lures based on hype? I think that in the back of my and other minds is the wish that we will discover the ultimate lure that magically catches fish most times anywhere it is cast. I remember visualizing in daydreams before I even got the lure in the mail of me catching that 8 lb bass or 3 lb crappie as well as a load of fish anytime I venture out. Heck, Bill Dance (Dance Eel) and Roland Martin (remember the Helicopter lure?) almost guaranteed it !

But I have to say, Al Lindner (rest his soul) was the most informative and honest angler when it came to lure selection. In fact, though he might have sponsored some lures, but anytime I read his articles or saw him on TV, he always gave a selection of same-type lures that could do the trick in that particular situation on the water. Never one-lure-catches-all all the time. There were others in late 70's and 80's like Al and worth watching and you never got the feeling you were being hyped. I miss them, YouTube aside.

there is NO silver bullet for the ever elusive crappie fish ,,,,,for sure
i have baits that NEVER ketch crappie until that ONE day ,,,,,and then its like WOW !
one bag i gave away because fish would NOT touch them ,,,,
then one day the guy i gave them to put one on when it got really slow .....
the fish started to just kill his jig ....and ....
he made me want them back i tell ya ....:Rofl

We as fishermen tend to use a lure one set way that has been productive for us before but quit using that lure once the fish stop biting when in truth if we change up the way we’re using that lure it will still catch fish. I’m guilty of not understanding all the different nuances involved with using a particular lure so I sometimes buy the hot new lure when the ones I have will work fine if I just change how I am using it. We are more vulnerable to being caught by new lures than the fish because we tend to believe (or want to) that that new lure will make us super fisherman. The more hype envolved the mor apt we are at being caught.

I was talking to Garry Garland one day RIP. He was telling me about driving from bait shop to bait shop trying to give tube jig samples to skeptical shop owners as hand outs. I am glad his version of a media campaign worked.
It looks to me most baits Not All are tweaked knockoffs of their successful originators.

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Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

What prompts many anglers to buy lures based on hype? I think that in the back of my and other minds is the wish that we will discover the ultimate lure that magically catches fish most times anywhere it is cast. I remember visualizing in daydreams before I even got the lure in the mail of me catching that 8 lb bass or 3 lb crappie as well as a load of fish anytime I venture out. Heck, Bill Dance (Dance Eel) and Roland Martin (remember the Helicopter lure?) almost guaranteed it !

But I have to say, Al Lindner (rest his soul) was the most informative and honest angler when it came to lure selection. In fact, though he might have sponsored some lures, but anytime I read his articles or saw him on TV, he always gave a selection of same-type lures that could do the trick in that particular situation on the water. Never one-lure-catches-all all the time. There were others in late 70's and 80's like Al and worth watching and you never got the feeling you were being hyped. I miss them, YouTube aside.

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AL Lindner is still with us- his older brother Ron passed away last year.

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Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

What prompts many anglers to buy lures based on hype? I think that in the back of my and other minds is the wish that we will discover the ultimate lure that magically catches fish most times anywhere it is cast. I remember visualizing in daydreams before I even got the lure in the mail of me catching that 8 lb bass or 3 lb crappie as well as a load of fish anytime I venture out. Heck, Bill Dance (Dance Eel) and Roland Martin (remember the Helicopter lure?) almost guaranteed it !

But I have to say, Al Lindner (rest his soul) was the most informative and honest angler when it came to lure selection. In fact, though he might have sponsored some lures, but anytime I read his articles or saw him on TV, he always gave a selection of same-type lures that could do the trick in that particular situation on the water. Never one-lure-catches-all all the time. There were others in late 70's and 80's like Al and worth watching and you never got the feeling you were being hyped. I miss them, YouTube aside.

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Anglers are just like other people, they want to be "the best there is"; they want accolades and recognition. They see the way to achieve these things is to emulate those people that are receiving that recognition, so they use the same rods, reels and tackle and all the rest of the equipment associated with the "pro" anglers.

Look how all the young kids (and in many cases adults as well) have to have a certain brand name and style of basketball shoes or tennis racket or golf clubs. With anglers it is no difference.

Sure, there has been great advances in technology in fishing equipment and many of those things have helped anglers to become more effective, but there also has been a lot of items, especially terminal tackle, that have been gimmicks and have only put profits in someone's pocket.

ClearCreek

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AL Lindner is still with us- his older brother Ron passed away last year.

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Wow - thanks for telling me that! Ron was also an innovator in his day. In fact I completely forgot about Al's site: HOME | Angling Edge
and his many videos on HOME | AnglingBuzz

This is Al a few years ago:
https://i.imgur.com/BU4JiNJ.jpg?1

Good Fishermen develope their techniques and preferences over time.
ClearCreek is right, with people starting out they try to emulate others...through trial and error they find their niche and comfort zone.
To me there are 2 kinds of fishing associated manufacturing companies.
The first sells cheaply made inferior products and have to pay and advertise continuously to sell them, they also roll out redesigned or upgraded lines continuously to keep profit margins up when sales of the original decline.
Then there are the companies that engineer high quality products that work, and their products continue making profits and they just add other lines to compliment those products.
My collections of fishing gear has diminished to the basics now....I own Daiwa reels, and a couple Bullets, St Croix Rods, Daiwa Braid, Keitech softbaits, Lucky Craft hardbaits, and my buddy's Sickle Jigheads....it's all about the basics!

I've been a part of the fishing and hunting industry for a very long time. We own a small manufacturers representative agency. We work in sales but we do some basic marketing. Can't list company names as none are sponsors of this site. May not be considered fair to those manufacturers that do sponsor crappie.com and I highly reccomend shopping the folks who help keep this place going.

But there is no propaganda and I've yet to meet anyone who is in the business of selling any product that do not think of profit first. It's a business. It's capitalism and part of the American dream.

Fishing business is like any other --- apparel, automotive, grocery, hardware and any other business. The fact that we as a whole, watch TV , attend shows open to the public, or use the internet to see new offerings is an opportunity to shop . Like any other shopping experience it becomes necessary to look for pricing and quality.

Even a product we consider inferior can be of benefit to us if there helping bring TV shows to us.

I think most here know lure manufacturers are out to "catch customers" as they should if they want to survive. When the end user, that's us, find a product that we are happy with we become happy to a customer. When we buy stuff that doesn't pan out we aren't a happy customer. But that's on the consumer as they are many choices for us to shop. Use the commercials and other marketing to your advantage. It's important to know what not to buy.

It's fishing and it's really a small market. Enjoy the whole experience and buy what you like or make what you like but remember the marketing to consumers is just part of fishing.

I wish everyone much success in catching fish and much enjoyment from talking fishing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVmHs65Ec2Y

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVmHs65Ec2Y

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Ah man, says the phone number isn't working.

:biggrin:Rofl

SON! lol [emoji23]


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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Originally Posted by SuperDave336

Ah man, says the phone number isn't working.

:biggrin:Rofl

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I bought three tons of helicopter lures years ago. (I got a special deal where I only have to keep two tons at my house.)

Anyway, send me you credit card info, your full name and home address, and pics of your wife and kids, and I'll send you a package.

:crazy:

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

I bought three tons of helicopter lures years ago. (I got a special deal where I only have to keep two tons at my house.)

Anyway, send me you credit card info, your full name and home address, and pics of your wife and kids, and I'll send you a package.

:crazy:

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Sounds good but just so you don't confuse me with someone else can I send SS# also and maybe bank account info as well?

I would be highly suspect of an offer from DBD to send me his package.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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Originally Posted by SuperDave336

Sounds good but just so you don't confuse me with someone else can I send SS# also and maybe bank account info as well?

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https://media4.giphy.com/media/ljook...&rid=giphy.gif

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Originally Posted by slowhand

I would be highly suspect of an offer from DBD to send me his package.

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https://media4.giphy.com/media/ljook...&rid=giphy.gif

The funniest part is the price.

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Ah man, says the phone number isn't working.

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Kinda like the crap lure in the video. (Divorces are expensive !!)

But seriously, the original post wasn't about selling and promotion per se - anyone can sell a used car but one should always remember to ask the right questions to avoid a lemon. The concept of matching forage animals to better catch fish could have been started by diehard fly fisherman but definitely was used to sell lures and convince anglers that lure purchases should be based on it. I'm talking as far back as the 60's. But after a while many started questioning the idea such as this 2009 reply to a question regarding lure matching:

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I have caught the majority of my bass over my life time with lures that i know look like nothing they normally eat! (like - does a bass normally prey on a buzzbait with a chart. skirt ?!

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To this day there are many dedicated diehard match anglers that buy lures they are told must or should represent something predator fish eat or are feeding on - a concept repeated over the years in every angler catalog for most lures sold. That's not to say a realistic forage-looking lure doesn't catch fish, but the realization just occurred to me that the concept was engrained for so long without question to keep angler-customer TV watchers/ article readers buying stuff, not questioning the hype or real value based on the fundamentals of lure choice.