What Have We Become ?

[mcipinkie]

RANT WARNING IN ADVANCE !!

 

I was shopping for new landing net on TW this afternoon and was shocked at the price of a new net, and they didn't have Frabills.  Then started looking at other stuff to see how much some of this stuff costs. 

 

New Fishing Shirt - $75

New Fishing Cap - $25

Fishing Gloves - $75

New Rod - $650

New Reel - $700

Chatter Bait - $18

Crank Bait - $25

Line - $35/100 yds.

Depth Finder - $6,000

Power Poles - $2,000

Trolling Motor - $3,200

1 oz Sinker - $10

Landing Net - $90

 

I'm not being critical.  I own some of this stuff myself.  I fished a tournament yesterday.  About 60 boats.  Over half of them were less than 2 years old,  including my new Skeeter.  Use $50,000 as a median price for a tournament rig = $3,000,000 worth of bass boats out for a Saturday fun tournament.  I'll bet every one of them had some of the premium products from above in the boat. 

Now I looked at the premium products so the costs will be higher than normal, but this is startling.  You know this stuff is selling.  Who buys it?  Who are the manufacturer's targeting?  I was watching some of the  ICAST videos on YouTube.  The values of some of those products is scary. How can the industry continue this?   Do we just have this much surplus income?  Boat sales are through the roof.  Tackle is in short supply.  It's a boom market.  I'm 73 years and relatively financial secure, and within reason can afford what ever I want, but I don't buy much of this premium stuff.

 

RANT OVER !!

[paulmandude]

I hear ya. I fish out of a 24 year old Ranger R72 and still feel privileged to be out on the water with my $100 electronics and old MotorGuide and 90hp Johnson. I’ve never bought a pack of Senkos, just always thought the price was out of line for such fragile baits. Besides, I feel I am not polluting the lake when they fling off on a cast.  I look for cheap baits to throw. Fishing has always seemed to be expensive but lately it does feel like it has gotten way out of hand. Just look at prices of strike king, Googan baits, Keitech, and other more premium fishing tackle. I seem to do just well with my $15 Diawa Samurai spinning combos and $50 baitcast combos with Big Bite Baits and yum soft plastics.  I guess what I’m trying to say is no need to make it expensive if you shop around for deals but some people seem to have more money than they know what to do with. It is well within their right to spend how they want. Me personally, I’d rather have lots of cheaper but still quality items than a few excellent things. 

[Dwight Hottle]

18 minutes ago, mcipinkie said:

RANT WARNING IN ADVANCE !!

 

I was shopping for new landing net on TW this afternoon and was shocked at the price of a new net, and they didn't have Frabills.  Then started looking at other stuff to see how much some of this stuff costs. 

 

New Fishing Shirt - $75

New Fishing Cap - $25

Fishing Gloves - $75

New Rod - $650

New Reel - $700

Chatter Bait - $18

Crank Bait - $25

Line - $35/100 yds.

Depth Finder - $6,000

Power Poles - $2,000

Trolling Motor - $3,200

1 oz Sinker - $10

Landing Net - $90

 

I'm not being critical.  I own some of this stuff myself.  I fished a tournament yesterday.  About 60 boats.  Over half of them were less than 2 years old,  including my new Skeeter.  Use $50,000 as a median price for a tournament rig = $3,000,000 worth of bass boats out for a Saturday fun tournament.  I'll bet every one of them had some of the premium products from above in the boat. 

Now I looked at the premium products so the costs will be higher than normal, but this is startling.  You know this stuff is selling.  Who buys it?  Who are the manufacturer's targeting?  I was watching some of the  ICAST videos on YouTube.  The values of some of those products is scary. How can the industry continue this?   Do we just have this much surplus income?  Boat sales are through the roof.  Tackle is in short supply.  It's a boom market.  I'm 73 years and relatively financial secure, and within reason can afford what ever I want, but I don't buy much of this premium stuff.

 

RANT OVER !!

One word for you describes it all

INFLATION

[garroyo130]

One of the changes I've seen with people around my age or younger (35 and below) is that home ownership is not an aspiration. Neither is retirement. If you take away what for some of us are the two greatest expenses, youre left with a good amount of disposable income. Add to this the social media era and you have guys who purchase products as much for the instagram pictures of them as for the fish they can catch ... if not more for the pictures. 

[DitchPanda]

I'm all for good gear in due time. I had a buddy buy a $700 dollar baitcast combo when he started bass fishing...one of those guys that's gotta have the best. Great guy but not great with his money. Anyhow I told him he could get a perfectly serviceable combo for $200 or less if he watched sales but he had none of it. So he gets this combo and we go out one day...he asks what's the nicest combo I have. I told him it cost 1/3rd of his...so if he didn't catch 3 times as many fish as me he didn't deserve it. He caught 1 that day I caught 8 or 9 I believe. 

There is nothing wrong with high end gear if you need it...in the sense that you are accomplished enough to really use and appreciate it the way it was made to be. For others sadly it's just a status symbol. Give a crap angler the nicest setup you want..he still couldn't catch a fish with it and a box of dynamite. But that's what helps keep high end gear moving for companies. For every hardcore basshead that saves up for a high end combo or two because he loves chasing bass there is some jerk that has more money than brains who couldn't catch fish at a hatchery.

[Dwight Hottle]

Many guys are not getting the point. When I was in high school you could buy a new corvette for under $3000. The problem is the value of a dollar decreases every year. Hence prices have to increase to maintain the same relationship between cost of goods & selling prices. And unfortunately your wages & earnings income haven’t kept up with inflation either. Think about it. 

[gim]

“Get rid of your kids and the money flows like water.” -Slonezp

[Bluebasser86]

Those prices listed are mostly the very top or close to the top of the line products too though. I own all those items and didn't spend nearly that much on any of them.

[skekoam]

5 hours ago, gimruis said:

“Get rid of your kids and the money flows like water.” -Slonezp

I'm trying. Problem is I have 4 ranging from 18 months to 12 

[TnRiver46]

$35 for 100 yards of line? Somebody done lost they mind 

[Catt]

The #1 key to consistently catching bass is between your ears not between the folds of your wallet.

 

We give to much credit to the tackle & not enough to the angler.

 

A lot of this started with the "technique specific" sales gimmicks.

 

One example I was told I need a casting jig, a flipping jig, a pitching jig,  & a swim jig. If I didn't have all four I would magically miss fish.

 

I was also told due to the amount of stretch in Berkley Big Game I wouldn't feel as many bites, I wouldn't get solid hookups, & I wouldn't be able to get em out of cover.

 

My rant is over...for now! ?

[Scott F]

This situation isn’t unique to fishing. I’m getting back into golf and it’s the same thing. If you are an “enthusiast “ you will chase after the newest, shiniest, coolest and often the most expensive items in pursuit of your sport. The people who sell these items know a certain percentage of people don’t mind paying top dollar for what they perceive to be the best of the best. Cars, clothes, wine, vacations, or fishing tackle there will always be those with too much money who believe that they have to have the best of everything and happily pay for it. 

[Tennessee Boy]

14 minutes ago, Catt said:

One example I was told I need a casting jig, a flipping jig, a pitching jig,  & a swim jig. If I didn't have all four I would magically miss fish.

and you must have a different rod and reel for each one.  No one in their right mind would tie a casting jig on a swim jig rod.   The sensitivity would be terrible and the balance would be off causing all kinds of joint and muscle pain. 

 

 

 

[evo2s197]

12 hours ago, gimruis said:

“Get rid of your kids and the money flows like water.” -Slonezp

This is exactly why my wife and myself decided against kids, they don't add to our quality of life, much rather have fur babies and stay Dinks " Dual income no kids".

 

High end gear will always exist, if you dont like it, you dont have to buy it, plenty of used and budget equipment available.

[JediAmoeba]

13 hours ago, mcipinkie said:

Fishing Gloves - $75

I want to see these fishing gloves.  

[TnRiver46]

11 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

I want to see these fishing gloves.  

[JediAmoeba]

7 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

No way - my most expensive gloves I own are Cabelas guide wear I got on clearance for 20 bucks for ice fishing 

[Bankc]

It's a hobby.  And like any hobby, it's purpose is to consume your free time and money.  And just like any other hobby, you get to determine your level of involvement.

 

I have a lot of hobbies, and none are cheap.  Having said that, none require you to spend a bunch of money on the best equipment available.  You can spend $100,000 on a single guitar, or you can play all of your favorite songs on a $50 guitar.  If you want a professional level guitar, it'll run you about $800.  That's enough money to get you a guitar that plays right and won't force you to struggle against it.  If you want a high quality professional level guitar, it'll run you about $2,000.  That'll buy you a guitar that plays and sounds as good or better than what 95% of professional guitar players use.  If you want a prestige piece that makes the average person jealous, it'll run you about $10,000.  That'll buy you a hand crafted piece of art that doesn't look like something everyone else owns.  If you want to make your millionaire friends jealous, there are $100,000 guitars that come up for auction every once in a while.  How much you want to spend, is up to you.  Though, keep in mind, that just like bass fishing, most of the pros don't spend any money on their gear, and don't use the fanciest, most expensive gear known to man.  They use whatever their sponsors tell them to use.  And they make it work, and make it work better than most of us could with even the fanciest gear.  Because at the end of the day, it's not the hammer that drives the nail, but the carpenter.  

[BrianMDTX]

As a somewhat older guy getting back into fishing after decades away from the sport, I was literally amazed at the “progress” that’s taken place. It used to be two or three rod/reel combos fit the bill for most anglers. Now there’s a specific set-up for every presentation under the sun. 

 

But the reality is most anglers are not buying and using $800-$1000 rod/reel combos. Looking at a lot of posts on BR, one may assume that, but there are millions of anglers out there using less expensive gear that still catch fish. 

 

High-end gear is nice to have, but not always necessary. There are tons of deer hunters that kill big bucks every year with grandad’s Winchester Model 94 .30-30, just as dead as the guy with a Dakota Arms bolt-action that set them back $5K or more. 

 

Some gear and tackle I can see. $75.00 for fishing gloves escapes me. Fishing gloves escape me lol. 

[MN Fisher]

23 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

There are tons of deer hunters that kill big bucks every year with grandad’s Winchester Model 94 .30-30, just as dead as the guy with a Dakota Arms bolt-action that set them back $5K or more. 

I hear that. Back when I hunted (before losing my sighting eye), guy I went out with had to have the newest and best 12 gauge semi-auto on the market - plopped $2000 on a Benelli Supersport (this was a few years ago). I out-shot him, collecting my limit of ruffed grouse while he got one. My shotgun is a 1959 Stevens 775a that I got used in 1975 for $50.

[Guitarfish]

I'm too lazy to go look for the model #, but I have an old Stevens that was given to me by my step dad. It's the only shotgun I have.

 

As far as expense,  I have lots of high dollar salt water stuff.  I realized at one point that every time I spent my money on equipment, I didn't spend it going on a trip.

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

and you must have a different rod and reel for each one.  No one in their right mind would tie a casting jig on a swim jig rod.   The sensitivity would be terrible and the balance would be off causing all kinds of joint and muscle pain. 

 

 

 

 

Which I why I don't give my rods names, that way if I put a casting jig on my worm rod it doesn't get confused!

 

Most expensive doesn't necessarily mean best ?

 

Some people buy high end for no other reason than they can. I have a buddy that's stupid rich, we were on Toledo Bend & he was having trouble adjusting his Metanium DC which was mounted on a Loomis Conquest MBR. While running 70 mph to the next spot he said let me see that rod, I handed to him & he chunked it overboard.

[BayouSlide]

13 minutes ago, Catt said:

I have a buddy that's stupid rich, we were on Toledo Bend & he was having trouble adjusting his Metanium DC which was mounted on a Loomis Conquest MBR. While running 70 mph to the next spot he said let me see that rod, I handed to him & he chunked it overboard.

Yup, that most assuredly meets the definition for both "stupid" and "rich" ?

 

Catt, a real buddy would have gifted that rig to you as long as you promised never to use it whenever you fished together ?

[RAMBLER]

There are a lot of people in this country who are making a ton of money pushing buttons and typing codes and don't really work hard for their money.  So, the retailers are charging what they can get for a product, not what the product is worth.

[the reel ess]

I fish from an 8 year old kayak, have decade old Lightning Rods, use Berkley Big Game and wear Magellan. To all but one of my friends, my arsenal is still overkill. That one friend has a Tracker with about 20 rods in it. He gets it.

 

Full disclosure, I have 4 reels and 2 rods that were over $100 new. And I use PowerPro braid for single hook applications. I use quality hooks and have several $15 lures. I order several lures a week and try like hell to not run out of the plastics I use the most. I believe in putting money where it matters most.