when did you get your mag mine not arrived yet

We will have to wait until 2014, presumably the Jan 2014 mag to find out I suppose??

I read it, personally i think it’s either Drennan or Daiwa. They’re the only ones with brand new poles directly in competition with the MAP 901!!

@MarkT wrote:

I read it, personally i think it’s either Drennan or Daiwa. They’re the only ones with brand new poles directly in competition with the MAP 901!!

If as he said the company in question have cancelled all their 2014 advertising campaign and it is Drennan will that mean the end of the Drennan Knockout Cup? I can’t see either Drennan or Daiwa spitting their dummies out personally I think its Maver as they always have a new pole out and its always stronger stiffer and lighter than anything before.

I would quess either preston innovations or maver.

WGAS 🙂 who it is.

It’s been a common thought that nepotism is rife in the Angling world and those with talent or tackle get spotted early and get groomed or promoted by the older richer guys with a close/closed circle of influence and that this control flows down to what can or cannot be publicly said.

It’s refreshing to read outspoken reviews and firmly held beliefs from time to time and one of the original embryos does seem to have matured and found his own voice for the most part. Carry on giving Alex.

Like it or not the major manufacturers contribute a lot to the magazines through their advertising spend and without them there are no magazines!
I don’t think it is particularly brave to publish comment without stating the name of the manufacturer when they have already pulled next years spend. After all you have already lost the revenue so you have nothing left to lose so why not name them?
We can however all make assumptions as to which of the manufacturers had the most to lose but none of us can be sure even if there are no adverts in the January issue.
I expect that this is more to do with calling their bluff and seeing if they will change their minds and continue with advertising to avoid the bad publicity.
Time will tell

what do these companies [my guess maver] want alex to lie in his reviews keep up the good work we want the truth of what you think most us will make our own choice when spending that sort of money but will listern to others opinions

Agree that Alex is allowed to voice his honest opinion and as anglers we will take a very dim view of the company concerned. The great thing about tackle is that its a very personal choice and anglers will go a long way to source their own special line, hooks, floats etc. Therefore I am surprised that a company will take this view because no doubt many anglers will disagree with his opinion.
I personally just bought a Daiwa Air. I did not consider any other companies simply because I already have over 30 top kits from my Spectron and Tournament. Alex’s opinion would not have changed my mind and the manufacturers should know this so perhaps their move is strange. As far as I am concerned I still have one of the best poles on the market and it was the same when I bought my Spectron in 2000 and Tourney in 2004.
For the record in the past I have owned poles from Browning, Tricast, Maver and Tubertini and Daiwa.
Tackle reviews are nice but it doesn’t mean we will all go out and buy a product on a recommendation there are other factors to consider.

In my opinion Alex is treading on very thin ice. In any business you cannot upset your customers without consequences, the bigger the customer the more serious the consequences of loss of business. Trust me,I have seen too many highly opinionated intelligent people thrown on the scrap heap in my career.
We may complain about objectivity but deep down we know it is never going to happen, most things, as has been said, are down to personal opinion.
If the mag ditched all its advertisers and published objective tackle reviews who would be in the queue to pay £10 cover charge every month? I thought not.
It might help if the reviewer stuck to facts that any manufacturer cannot refute, I mean is it as long as it should be? Does it weigh what it says? When assembled and held in hooks what is the droop at full length? What is the butt dimater? Does it pack into into a single tube? How much are spare sections?
Most review I have read do not contain even some basic information. Telling me how it feels and how good the graphics are is of no use.

i say fairplay to him, in his opinion the 901 is the pole best pole on the market but thats only his opinion cant say its a fact, ive fished with and held so many so called super poles in the past and a lot of them wasnt all that , in my opinion, what suits one person wont another fact.

Totally agree with JohnH, his formula for a pole review is (in my opinion) spot on, and after reading a review go and try one yourself and make your own mind up, as for Alex and his comments, brave move in our present economic climate, nobody can afford to loose customers, but when you feel strongly about things they probably need to be said, lets just hope he hasn’t sacrificed a career for an opinion, (like many others before him in different walks of life).

Journalists are usually very good at choosing their words, they need to be. Alex could have said that this pole was up there with the best out there and anyone in the market should have a look. That would not have upset anyone. I seem to recall the MAP has top kits you can elaticate without having to remove a flick tip, a worthy difference to point out, as an owner of several new Daiwa poles I must have 8 such tops in my shed. Also to get to 16m I need to use the half butt. If the MAP does not then that is a valid difference to pont out. No one can take excetion to reported facts. Surely any manufacturer worth his salt will go away and improove or risk losing business. Thats how it works and why things in general get better not worse.
I repeat there is no need to upset anyone if you stick to facts.

From what I hear after a very tough year indeed a lot of the big companies are re-evaluating all their media spend and perhaps looking for reason to pull? Difficult balance lads. Easy to slag editorial off but the plain truth is that there are not enough anglers buying magazines to support them, and so they have to rely on the advertising spend. In this situation of course the advertisers have a lot of clout.

Far from slagging his editorial off, the general flavour here is positive support!!
I think we all understand how the economics of publishing sort of works and clearly advertisers do have clout.
The point I am trying to make is objective reviews can be done without entering into personal opinions. Many reviews miss very basic facts.
One other small example is publishing list prices when 30 seconds on the web will tell you much more, so why bother?

lets be clear here he has not slagged any one pole or company he just said in his world this is the best pole does that mean if he didnt say that about the the company in questions flagship pole they would have dropped their advertising anyway?

Having now read the editorial in question,i support alex bones 100 percent in his opinion.if any manufacturer chooses to withdraw their advertising over one persons opinion.you have to ask yourselfs why would they take such drastic action over a tackle review.?
surely if their own products are worthy of standing up for themselves on their own merits,there is nothing to hide behind or be offended by!
and if one persons review upsets this case of point,then they are surely doing the paying public a favour as well,as there is obviously something to keep hidden from them by offended parties.

I 110% agree with Alwx sticking his neck out. It’s nice to see someone who has the balls to say exactly what they think!

After all it’s HIS opinion and may not be that of everyone but at least he is being truthful

I also say fair play to Alex. He certainly deserves respect as he has aired his opinion on the whole gambit of the match fishing world across the last two years – including us forum users (remember Dec 2011!) – And so is worthy of praise given the potential risks. To me he is doing what an editor should and I hope his approach to things continues.

Personally I think that whoever the manufacturer is will back down on their threat. The impact of being known as the ones who have thrown their toys out would damage their name more surely?

I’ve just read it, fair play to Alex he says what he thinks and David Hall definetly doesn’t mince his words, anyone threatening to take their bat and ball home need to grow up all they have done Is underlined the fact that MAP make the best pole now and they are scared of their competitors

“Map make the best pole now” …or do they? 😮

John this thread is spinning off an earlier thread on TF that was having a go at journalists for not being truthful in reviews. Hence the ‘fair play to Alex Bones’ thread off the back of it.

I prefer to see items of tackle demonstrated on DVD or on screen now and loads of manufacturers of all types have spotted the savings/customer reach of this type of advertising.

ive heard off a very good source its tri cast thats pulled the plug,costing many thousands to dhp

Understood Gareth.
I hope reviews in future will be objective and stick to facts. There is no need for personal comments that are subjective and certainly no need to upset any advertisers. The gear on sale now in my opinion has never been better and prices are low.

would be suprised and dissapointed if it was tricast,but we will soon find out.

Why don’t they just up there game if there so upset? If it is the NW based firm there current flagship is around £800 cheaper than the MAP and not even in this new super pole bracket, seems like bully boy tactics to me and I for one am glad that somebody has stood up to them, whoever that may be?

All Alex has done is give his honest opinion about a product why would other manufacturers throw all the toys out of the pram I bet if you got all the DHP journo’s together they would all have different opinions about what was the best product.

That’s a good point Baku but you could say that about any specialist journalism – Top Gear for instance. Difference is that the BBC don’t need advertising revenue.

I’m sorry but if your willing to stump up £2000 plus on any item because someone else told you too your going to have a lot of disappointment in your life and no money left very quickly.
If i’m going to buy a new pole I’ll have at least a weekend or two going to large tackle shops having a good look and a wiggle plus i’d be looking whats on the bank and asking peoples opinion who actually own the pole and have no vested interest in it.
As far as Alex Bones goes good luck to him however when one man sticks his head above the parapet he is likely to get it shot off.

nobody’s mentioned Browning, wonder if it’s them? :confused: