GAC Number 1 ??

[shanksi]

Today's Flyfisher Annual Tackle Awards has GAC as Best Mail-Order Company which came as a surprise considering previous postings on the forum. Personally have only used them when going in to store and must admit have always found what I need.

Ian

[Braveheart]

I think TFF's advert for sorry, article on trout poopers sums up their credibility.

[rrw35]

Well dodgy Awards.com

Why do you say that RR?

Well........

Best Rod: Hardy Angel: Hmmm was'nt our "stopwatch challenge" rod a Hardy Angel every month?

Best Trout Lines: Cortland?? Oh Look, our ex-editor went to work for Cortland.

Best Mail Order Company: GAC...Hmmmm, its funny how Sportfish seem to win this for, lets see, 9 years in a row in all the other magazines.

Best Salmon lines: Rio...Oh, is'nt that Simon Gawesworth (who works for Rio) one of our monthly contributors?

Hey, call me cynical...............

[stevet]

Indeed - they reviewed floating lines this month and the snowbee xs didnt get any where near the top. As i remember it was considered one of the top floating lines by most of the forum members! The winner being the airflo 6th sense, also renowned on this site for bad floaters(?). The cortland 444 and 555 also didnt feature near the top....?

[rrw35]

I think i smell burning...................

Yes, it's the votes the TFF readers sent in.

[highlander]

This some kind of wind up? to get me going. Annoying thing is they probably believe it.
Saying no more on the subject of GCA I will give you a wee story about reviews.
More than a few years ago my wife in her wisdom bought me a set of Stone Fly tools. I remember her at the time telling me that the lady at Hopkins & Holloway telling her that we were the first to buy them in Scotland. Well it came as a complete surprise to me to read in, I think it was T& Salmon that it had one an award for "outstanding fly tying tools" or something like that. Think the Hardy Elite Salmon rod won at the same time.
Anyway my point is
1. Who voted for it?. Certainly was not me as I had only recently bought one. Maybe Scottish votes do not count.
2. In all the time I fished for Salmon that year & it was quite a bit if I remember I only saw one Hardy Elite & even then the person was not over enamored with it.
Go figure.
Trust reviews?, never in a month of Sundays. I am sure that more than a few are fixed & reflect peoples hidden agendas.
By all means use them as a guide but if you want in depth reviews well go no further than this here board. This is where you get the good info from people with no hidden agendas, well not many. By far the best advice available from people that know the score. People that actually go out & try whats out there.
Not some "Big Name" that endorses A or B simply because he gets paid to do so.

Tight Lines
PS Meant to say the Stonefly tools are rubbish. I broke two of the bobbin holders in quick succession got them replaced but have since binned them along with most of the others. Best thing was the wee plastic box they came in.

[Ruthvenflyfisher]

Highlander
Totally agree both myself and a many of my mates all had stonefly bobbin holders that all broke in the same place, total crap.
Gerry

[Lighthouse]

The best recommendations are from people who fish - the people you meet on the bank who have no commercial interest or incentive - the people who have bought and used gear that they are happy with and have served them well.

Over time (and in my case that's a considerable amount of time!) I have learned to avoid tackle reviews - although I'm still a complete tackle tart and I've bought a few lemons in the past - reviews are simply a starting point and one must be aware of bias, whatever the motivation might be.

It's particularly difficult for beginners these days because there's just so much choice and so much seductive advertising copy.

Although many of us who contribute here have diverse views on tackle choice, based on experience and or preference, the FFF is probably as good a place as any to get 'honest' views gear. (I hope!)

[The Famous Grouse]

FlyBri gave me a copy of TFF when he came over. It read more like satire than a serious magazine. The "Trout" Poppers article was especially interesting given the fact that the only angler featured in the article was the guy who sells them.

My comment to Bri was, I wonder if he had to buy the full-page advert BEFORE TFF would agree to publish the article?

As a point of comparison, I subscribe to a few woodworking magazines and their tool and product revews are somewhat helpful because at least one can compare the objective features of a group of power tools.

What the reveiws don't give a hint of are things like longevity. Since everything they reveiw is the current model, and most manufacturers come out with a new model ever few years, the question is how long does it last?

Fly fishing equipment is even worse because so much depends on: a) subjective traits or b) long-term characteristics like waders that stay leak free after a year of use.

What were the criteria for the competition? Besides numbers of adverts placed.

Grouse