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.

Quote:

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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