spectr17
10-22-2001, 12:05 AM
Marketers put fishing out of reach.
Birmingham New columnist Mike Bolton
10/21/01
Everywhere you turn these days, there's sad singing and slow walking in the fishing industry. Fishing product manufacturers blame these extremely hard times on a bad economy. They obviously have their heads buried so far in the sand that they can't see that they've cut their own throats.
It was greed that caused manufacturers to convince a nation that it must have $200 fishing reels and $150 fishing rods and $25,000 bass boats to go fishing. Well, many of us who fell for that just can't afford it anymore. When money gets a little tight, a $150 fishing rod is something we can live without. That'll pay a power bill.
Those who couldn't afford it in the first place long ago found other forms of recreation. Now, there's no farm system to supply the industry with willing buyers.
My grandfather was a pretty good bass fisherman. I remember him catching plenty of bass with a reel that had no ball-bearings, much less five or seven or nine. He never owned a graphite rod, but that old fiberglass rod hauled in fish just fine. In fact, he never owned a boat that I know of. Every bass I ever saw him catch was caught off the bank.
The fishing industry abandoned that kind of fisherman a long time ago.
In reality, the fishing industry's marketing approach has been nothing short of phenomenal during the past 15 years. Talk about successful. I often ask strangers that I meet if they fish. The typical answer is that, no, they don't. Why? Because they can't afford a boat.
I take a good number of novices fishing. Many are ashamed that all they own is a single Zebco reel. If you don't own an expensive bass boat and don't own several $350 rods and reels, you're nothing, the industry tells us in its own subliminal way.
Good job, guys. You made the money while you could. Now it is time to reap what you sowed.
The fact that not a single manufacturer in the United States produces a push-button spincast reel these days is a sad commentary on what this industry has done to itself. The industry constantly preaches that you need to be a Rick Clunn or Kevin VanDam. When was the last time you heard the industry tell you that you need to buy a spincast reel and take the kids fishing?
I look on store shelves and see fishing lures selling for $6, $7 and $8. That's two pieces of molded plastic glued together, for gosh sakes.
Today's 225-horsepower outboard motors cost as much as the house where I grew up. For the price of a new bass boat, motor and trailer today, you could have bought much of my grandfather's neighborhood.
No wonder you're hurting these days, guys. I really don't see things getting much better, either. Countries overseas have taken notice of the niche you have created and are starting to flood the market with cheaper imitations. It's not bad stuff, either, and it is affordable.
Like most fishermen in this country, I believe in buying American-made products. I just worry that American-made fishing tackle won't be readily available in the future.
Worse yet, I worry a whole generation of kids will have no interest in fishing whatsoever. Sitting on a creek bank with a Zebco and a coffee can full of worms isn't really fishing, you know.
Birmingham New columnist Mike Bolton
10/21/01
Everywhere you turn these days, there's sad singing and slow walking in the fishing industry. Fishing product manufacturers blame these extremely hard times on a bad economy. They obviously have their heads buried so far in the sand that they can't see that they've cut their own throats.
It was greed that caused manufacturers to convince a nation that it must have $200 fishing reels and $150 fishing rods and $25,000 bass boats to go fishing. Well, many of us who fell for that just can't afford it anymore. When money gets a little tight, a $150 fishing rod is something we can live without. That'll pay a power bill.
Those who couldn't afford it in the first place long ago found other forms of recreation. Now, there's no farm system to supply the industry with willing buyers.
My grandfather was a pretty good bass fisherman. I remember him catching plenty of bass with a reel that had no ball-bearings, much less five or seven or nine. He never owned a graphite rod, but that old fiberglass rod hauled in fish just fine. In fact, he never owned a boat that I know of. Every bass I ever saw him catch was caught off the bank.
The fishing industry abandoned that kind of fisherman a long time ago.
In reality, the fishing industry's marketing approach has been nothing short of phenomenal during the past 15 years. Talk about successful. I often ask strangers that I meet if they fish. The typical answer is that, no, they don't. Why? Because they can't afford a boat.
I take a good number of novices fishing. Many are ashamed that all they own is a single Zebco reel. If you don't own an expensive bass boat and don't own several $350 rods and reels, you're nothing, the industry tells us in its own subliminal way.
Good job, guys. You made the money while you could. Now it is time to reap what you sowed.
The fact that not a single manufacturer in the United States produces a push-button spincast reel these days is a sad commentary on what this industry has done to itself. The industry constantly preaches that you need to be a Rick Clunn or Kevin VanDam. When was the last time you heard the industry tell you that you need to buy a spincast reel and take the kids fishing?
I look on store shelves and see fishing lures selling for $6, $7 and $8. That's two pieces of molded plastic glued together, for gosh sakes.
Today's 225-horsepower outboard motors cost as much as the house where I grew up. For the price of a new bass boat, motor and trailer today, you could have bought much of my grandfather's neighborhood.
No wonder you're hurting these days, guys. I really don't see things getting much better, either. Countries overseas have taken notice of the niche you have created and are starting to flood the market with cheaper imitations. It's not bad stuff, either, and it is affordable.
Like most fishermen in this country, I believe in buying American-made products. I just worry that American-made fishing tackle won't be readily available in the future.
Worse yet, I worry a whole generation of kids will have no interest in fishing whatsoever. Sitting on a creek bank with a Zebco and a coffee can full of worms isn't really fishing, you know.