Angling Edge – Can’t Watch It Anymore

I understand that all fishing shows in the end are there to sell product, but its about balance for me. I guess I don’t remember them pimping as much before this season, but maybe they did, but I’ve had it.

The first show I watched this year they were pimping 3 products. 2 minutes into the last episode all they were talking about was a lure that’s been out for a year now.

Basically, I feel like it has turned into a infomercial.

Like I said, I understand that fishing + media = business, but if 75% of the show you are talking about product and not the actual fishing, then its time for me to move on.

Did this qualify as a rant?

Yep. That qualifies.

Not sure if is a rant, but I agree totally. It seems all fishing shows have gone from less fishing information to more selling sponsors products. I just don’t spend much time watching anymore.

TV in general simply sucks !!!!

I MIGHT be a little bias….

If you happen to recall the first year of Ido?

As I was watching the show on line the other day I commented to my self how few commercial breaks there was and what tripped that thought was at least one break that had one commercial and back to the show.

Funny that you brought that up Pug.

For the record, I love a good rant.

Part of what burns me is that I have always talked up Anging Edge while bashing In-Fishermen for being over commercialized. Now I feel duped.

Let’s be fair: fishing shows are still good for having a beer and taking a nap. You can’t discount that kind of thing.

Hey pug maybe john gillespie’s show is more your style. Watched his show the other day because I wanted to watch them catching whitefish in green bay, but after five minutes I thought I was going to puke. As far as lindners go Al will push a product if he really believes in it. I’m assuming you are talking about the scatter rap episode, I think that was the one with the talk about evolution at the end, which bothered me a bit but then I remembered everyone is entitled to their opinion. Al is one of the nicest guys I know in the business, he is still very passionate about fishing, I fished against him in a charity tournament last year and he still gets giddy when he collected his first place plaque.

I was just telling my son as we watched a fishing program last weekend, that it would be nice if the host would tell us how and what he was doing in detail instead of talking up the product and showing fish being boated. Not much knowledge gained.

Here’s a question – – if the TV personality pimping the product has credibility in your mind, are you more open to the product? If they are credible and use something successfully are you likely to try it?

I think many people might have a high opinion of Al personally and his fishing ability, therefore believing he would only promote a product if he really thought it was good.

Not saying that’s always the case with Angling Edge, and they over do it like most shows, but I think that’s in part how they’ve built their empire.

fishing shows are like magazines, websites, etc. They are in business to make money, and provide some entertainment. Just look at this site, full of ads, I hope they are making some money, or we wouldn’t be on here for free. Still enjoy the site plenty.

I get where you’re coming from, Pug, but lets keep in mind that there isn’t really a whole lot of new, ground-breaking information about open water bass/walley/panfish fishing being developed. The basics like location and presentation are the same as they have always been. The basics that were being spouted by Buck Perry, the Lindners, and others 20 years ago still apply.

What is new is the new lures being developed and how to apply them to these certain situations. As with fishing magazines, almost every article is just a rehash of something that was written a year ago when it the seasonal knowledge was pertinent. The only way to keep show or magazine or show fresh and interesting is to show how these new gadgets fit into the current base of knowledge.

I understand where you’re coming from and it does get a little old hearing Al say ‘Dis iss da best ting ta happen ta fishingk in a longk time” about every lure Rapala gives him, but the guy’s done so many fishing shows that going over the same thing again and again has to get old. I will say that the camera work for Angling Edge is far and above that of any other fishing show.

There are a few areas in fishing that could use some attention in shows, like how to use your electronics to their full potential, but there really aren’t a whole lot of topics that haven’t been covered to exhaustion when you’re talking about the more common species like bass, walleye, etc.

What I especially like about IDO is that James gives up to date info on fish patterns that actually helps people catch fish. Sure, he pimps products (gotta pay the bills), but not at the expense of the important information regarding catching fish.

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Not saying that’s always the case with Angling Edge, and they over do it like most shows, but I think that’s in part how they’ve built their empire.

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This is exactly how they built their empire. They took a scientific approach to figure out what made fish bite. Armed with that knowledge, they would take their Lindy lures to lakes that the locals claimed had been fished out. They’d stay in town for a few days and show off their stringers full of big fish at the bait shop.

When people would ask how they caught them, they would sell them their ‘magic new’ lures. In reality, it wasn’t the magic new lures that made the fish bite, but Al and Ron’s extensive knowledge of fish behavior.

I’m surprised that very few TV shows (including Angling Edge) have done much of anything regarding 360 imaging. It gets mentioned briefly once in a while but not much. When the product was first announced I thought it would be game changing.

The fact the Lindners haven’t spent much time on it either makes me wonder if they don’t want to promote something that they don’t think is that great or has too many bugs to work out? Even if its something their sponsor might really want them to promote..

I agree with you 100%

However James and his crew do it in a much classier way by metioning a few products but focus on educating us on fishing, stuctures, depths, weather, etc. so i actually learn something from every show vs. getting bored of listening to all the B.S. about products and at the end of those shows… i didn’t learn a darn thing about actual fishing techniques and strategies. Just got slammed about the latest and greatest “Bells & Whisles” product.

Babe Wink…. is the worst of them all and i would rather watch a Saop Opera before tuning him in anymore

Larry dahlbergs “hunt for big fish”FTW! Never seen him pimp a product.

Dahlberg Diver.

I’m just eating some Jack’s Links, sitting on my Yeti cooler, and talking about my Shimano. No product pimping there.

Gotta love Larry, though. The man is a pioneer and not afraid to get his hands dirty to develop some really cool lures. Oddly enough, he’s no longer with Shimano.

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Hey pug maybe john gillespie’s show is more your style. Watched his show the other day because I wanted to watch them catching whitefish in green bay, but after five minutes I thought I was going to puke. As far as lindners go Al will push a product if he really believes in it. I’m assuming you are talking about the scatter rap episode, I think that was the one with the talk about evolution at the end, which bothered me a bit but then I remembered everyone is entitled to their opinion. Al is one of the nicest guys I know in the business, he is still very passionate about fishing, I fished against him in a charity tournament last year and he still gets giddy when he collected his first place plaque.

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No thanks to Gillespie. I feel the same way.

No doubt I like Al as a person and a TV personality. That just adds another layer to my disappointment.

The Scatter Rap was the second episode where I didn’t last past 2 minutes. The first episode he talked about or mentioned the Talon about 100 times. There were 2 other products they were pimping on the same episode. One was some Rapalas and their fancy colors. Not sure what the 3rd was, maybe the trolling motor or sonar.

One thing to remember is that most fishing shows generally don’t get paid to produce the shows, they are paid to promote their products. Lindner’s have always had a strong sponsorship with Rapala, Lund, and Mercury and therefore their show reflects those sponsorships. They switched from Shimano to Quantum a couple years ago, but generally, they remain strong in their sponsors. I feel they do a great job in their shows of how to explain the subtle things that go along with their products.
I don’t see anyone on this site complaining that IDO has too many sponsors ads, or that James pimps his Ice Force gear.
I think most of us would love to have full sponsorships from all the good companies and be able to fish full time- I know I do!

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The Scatter Rap was the second episode where I didn’t last past 2 minutes.

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I won’t last that long if I see an open water fishing show that features bass or walleye.

I think you should either embrace the shows for what they are or embrace not watching any of them. I chose the latter years ago.

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Here’s a question – – if the TV personality pimping the product has credibility in your mind, are you more open to the product? If they are credible and use something successfully are you likely to try it?

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You don’t think I got a nice variety of slender spoons because of IDO, do ya? Or gill pills. Or Diamond jigs. My take on that is I consider most lures that are the same, well, the same. Since I wanted to give ice fishing with spoons a try, I loaded up with what was on IDO TV and being talked about on the site. I get it. But show me the lure in a fishes mouth and I will get excited about it, I don’t need a 5 minute infomercial on it.

I kick myself every time I break down and buy an In-Fisherman magazine. I’ll want to read a couple articles. For example some technique using spinnerbaits. When I get home there is a few paragraphs on the technique and the rest are pictures of all these spinnerbaits with a blub on them and how you can buy one.

It’s all about diminishing returns for me. Talk about a product too much and I’ll be turned off.

Briefly talking about products is one thing. That I don’t mind. In fact, I like a little talk about it. But the meat of every show should be the fishing, the techniques and the location. IMO

Sorry about posting this in ice fishing, I thought I was in general.

Back in the 80’s I subscribed to InFisherman. The other day I was somewhere and saw one and it was paper thin! It had to be 90% ads and cost six bucks. That’s a couple Slender Spoons!!

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Here’s a question – – if the TV personality pimping the product has credibility in your mind, are you more open to the product? If they are credible and use something successfully are you likely to try it?

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My wife (in a nice way) took all my magazines for a year , put em in a pile and added them all up. I was embarrassed at what I spent. She told me she would go check them out at the library for free and save the $. You can only read the current issue there, and check out the previous issues. I took out all the seasonal stuff pages (spring crappies, walleyes, etc.) and recycled the rest of the mag. Since that stuff is regurgitated religiously every year I can just go back in my folder and look at what season it is and enjoy the article again without paying for it.

You don’t think I got a nice variety of slender spoons because of IDO, do ya? Or gill pills. Or Diamond jigs. My take on that is I consider most lures that are the same, well, the same. Since I wanted to give ice fishing with spoons a try, I loaded up with what was on IDO TV and being talked about on the site. I get it. But show me the lure in a fishes mouth and I will get excited about it, I don’t need a 5 minute infomercial on it.

I kick myself every time I break down and buy an In-Fisherman magazine. I’ll want to read a couple articles. For example some technique using spinnerbaits. When I get home there is a few paragraphs on the technique and the rest are pictures of all these spinnerbaits with a blub on them and how you can buy one.

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Pug,
Did you turn 73 or was it 74 this year?

I have actually wished James to do MORE on camera demos of the products he uses and how he initially chooses those locations and methods. Many times he states what he is doing, but it would be nice to see them in action. Over the shoulder camera shots of the flasher and/or underwater camera would be great. Not just showing the fish bite, but structure, how high off bottom, etc… A picture is worth a thousand words, so I hear.

IDO not included, I think too often we watch other edited shows that simply show someone catching fish. Big deal. Tell me how to use what I bought in the correct way, and show me how to choose a location, and why.

I thank James and the IDO staff for sharing that knowledge and hope he shows us more demos of exactly what he is doing.