I have seen several companies advertising for people to join the team. What is everyone's thoughts on this? A good way to get cheap bait? A publicity stunt? Or a desperate company?

In reply to Post #1
Possibly

asking for testers to pay for the privilege of saying they are a tester for xxx baits
For about 5p a kilo cheaper than buying it anyway. Because everyone wants to be sponsored nowadays don't they....

In reply to Post #1
I wouldnt want to do it personally, sorting through hundreds of applications, surely a few hand picked and quietly approached would be of more use . People whos results are already good giving there opinion has more sway for me. Especially if those people are fishing actual hard waters, not more stocked waters I know of one company who regurly show fish caught of a hard water on there pages and it does get my interest more than big hits on heavily stocked waters. But thats just me, I would give a pot or 2 to some anglers fishing hard waters and ask them to try your baits against the current baits they use 1 rod out 3 even and see what result you get back. If you publish that it would get my attention but im still a skeptical old bugger .

In reply to Post #2
if it was any good, they wouldnt need to advertise for internet whores and give away freebies

In reply to Post #3
the slant of my post was with respect to hookbaits specifically, the principle would be the same though in my opinion for loose feeed boilies etc. but with a reduced cost.

In reply to Post #1
Wanted


Here today gone tomorrow back street bait company seeks long term relationship with a halfwit. Must have own jogging bottoms Ridge Monkey Toaster and a Face Ache account.

In return we offer the latest thing in Semolina along with luminous *****, matching dips, wafters and over sprayed pellet.

As a team member you will get all the above heavily discounted by 50p a KG and a half price Fruit of the Loom here today gone tomorrow branded hoody.

No angling knowledge required.

Apply at.....................................................

In reply to Post #6


Promo team

No of which that applies has got a single clue about bait or how to adjust nor improve

In reply to Post #7
Promo team to publicise products is one thing, lads who use bait and understand it and use it because it's good is another. Why In today's world would a company need to ask people to join? Surely you would hand pick lads who purchased your baits and gave honest feedback

In reply to Post #8

In reply to Post #8
Surely it's all to do with attracting people to the brand by offering discounts and then hopefully if the bait is good they continue to use it, word gets around etc?

I think the world “field tester” is old school now, advertising agent is the real meaning nowadays, after all, baits are just round balls

In reply to Post #1
It's a ploy for garden shed bait companies to flog bait. They're not interested in field testers, or ‘team members' they just want to peddle their cra*p to idiots who will buy a hoody, promote their bait, and pay for the privilege 😂. It's usually people with unnecessarily huge rod pods and carp decals on their vans.

In reply to Post #13
it's usually people with unnecessarily huge rod pods and carp decals on their vans.

Posted on here a few years ago now, a mate of a mate who had just started carp fishing once came on a social with us. Sat having a chat like you do and I nearly spat my tea over him, told me he was starting a bait company, he had got a few recipes of the net and was going to have a shipping container in his garden and start rolling baits, seriously, clueless!

Wide scale like most things but reputation is everything for me with bait, you need the best you can get your hands on

In reply to Post #1
Personally I don't see an issue with it. For the company it helps create some brand loyalty and potentially some free advertising.

For the angler it may help them feel part of a team and get bait a bit cheaper.

People spend too much time in fishing worrying about what everyone else is upto and judging others, It isn't for me but I don't see the harm in it and its nothing particuarly new. I remember back in the day the world were '' starmer field testers''

In reply to Post #14
If he knew how hard it was to make it pay when you do it properly, he may have told you he was going into the porn industry instead 😂😂😂

In reply to Post #16
If I likened bait to the porn industry he wouldn't even be able to get a hard on, not even a single twitch

But didn't many company's start the same ? Baitworks out of his garage selling to mates and local anglers to help promote ?

It's easy to slate but if they enjoy it and make some money all the best to them.

I'd rather support a smaller company than one that's got 100s of sponsored anglers and the customer paying for it.

In reply to Post #18
They all started out making baits for mates - hutchy, premier/abs, solar, mainline, nutrabaits - pretty much all the old Skool companies. Although most started off sourcing ingredients, rather than mixes.....

The difference now is with Facebook, forums, etc, anyone can get a base mix together, buy a rolling machine and make a bait that will catch a fish. It's funny how one minute they are asking basic questions on places like this, next minute they're a bait baron lol

In reply to Post #19
It is a power of information and availability of ingreedients... With todays knowledge about carp and bait together with water full of carp it is not hard to make good bait, bait that will catch plenty... So it comes down to marketing and bussiness skills...

In reply to Post #18
Spot on Everyone has to start somewhere. It's easier to slate someone than support them. Guy I now use for my bait is a small time roller but the quality is like nothing else. His baits are literally tearing lakes apart. And his ethos of he will not cut corners on ingredients is very refreshing. I mean how many actually know what's going into the bait.

In reply to Post #19
So true

In reply to Post #1
I want cheap bait t shirts the lot,

In reply to Post #21
I mean how many actually know what's going into the bait.

My guess...Hardly any, unless they watch the owner knock up the base mix from scratch, weighing it out, or a word document of the baits contents, and liquid additives levels.

For a lot of people, it is a knowledge / Convenience / time / choice thing using ready rolled bait nowadays, many have never rolled their own bait, which is a shame.
So wouldn't potentially recognise a good quality, well put together, expensive bait from a cheap one so are persuaded by Catch reports, social media, friends recommendation or clever marketing, or a personal gut feeling.

In reply to Post #13

In reply to Post #24
The consumers have so much choice but it must be so hard to work out who does thing honestly and the right way. As I have said before many times, having seen behind the scenes of some of the U.K. brands and seen what actually is classed as “good bait”, it must be a minefield for anglers who do not understand the bait concept. Word and mouth from within the company is normally enough to answer the questions. If a “field tester”says he's joined cos it's cheap and he gets a free hoody, that itself is not the answer I would want to hear. I am glad I make my own bait today.

In reply to Post #26
You know

In reply to Post #26
Your right about one thing, choosing a company to buy bait from is a minefield. Every blurb on every tinpot bait company reads the same "I couldn't buy bait of high quality so I rolled my own, every other company is ****"

The constant but subtle casting of aspersions by a lot of bait barons is a massive turn off for me, if I scratch these companies off, scratch the companies with revolving doors rather than a long term core of testers/ambassadors, and scratch the firms without a long term proven track record I'm left with a much shorter list

What is a good bait ? One that catches fish or one that is sold by a well promoted company ?

As mentioned there's that much info available now it's hard not to produce something half decent or better. There's also a lot of reputable company's who don't make there own mixes or even roll there own bait just bag and sell it on.

Are these better than a garage set up who's made everything from scratch and learnt by experiment.

Just a typical angling thread to do down the smaller company's. Been a trend for a while now people worried about others to much.

In reply to Post #29
Agree with a lot of that. I think we are in an era now of whoever shouts the loudest sells that bait and everything else. Shut a lot of good companies down because the sheep will just follow “the next big thing” ffs

Personally. I think people, especially new comers go about this the wrong way. You should start off with buying from a small bait company. Where you can actually speak to the person making it. If it's Fred in a shed so what, as long as he makes a good bait and doesn't cut corners.

Then after a decade or so, if you haven't left to take up golf or cage fighting then armed with a bit of bait knowledge you can buy from the big boys on price alone and actually have something to compare it to. You'll probably decide a lot of it Is shi@e.

Where I have an issue is guys just reselling other peoples bait. I mean how many rebadged McNuts with a different flavour are there being punted about. I took a very long time getting my basemix right. I kinda think what's the point. I could have gone to Geoff and said roll me a load of McNut, dye it pink and flavour it with dog sh@t and custard and I will market it as Ape Bait UK.

Actually I might have hit on an idea here. Do you think there'd be much interest in a range of Dog Sh@t and Custard flavoured hook baits?

In reply to Post #32
That's pretty much what I found when I opened a bucket of odyssey soaked in liquid e I'd forgotten about for a fortnight

In reply to Post #31
Keep your mental **** in your own head dont spread it
...

Friend of mine became a "field tester" and when he tested the pop ups he was given (given meaning slightly discounted) they didn't float. He reported back with his findings and was told to F*** off

In reply to Post #36
Lol. I love that.

You gotta name that company. That's a classic.

I used to have a very small group of field testers. My bait company was run as a sole trader and my turnover (not profit) was circa £10k - £12k a year (this was about 14 or 15 years ago now). Not enough to live on but at the time a good source of extra income as my overheads were low. I was one of the first sellers of bait on this new thing called 'eBay'

Myself and a couple of friends would do all the initial testing. These tended to be the first of a 'new' bait I was working on and normally fished alongside a known good bait for comparison. Not often but occasional these would be a disaster for various reasons (baits to soft to stick out, pop ups that sunk after a few hours etc). I learnt a lot about the baits from this stage of testing.

I then had a couple of guys that would help me roll baits in the evenings (yes I was that man in a 'shed' if a 800sqft barn is a shed) after my 'normal' day job. They got the bait for free and I got the labor for free, it worked for us all. This bait could be my current bait or the next new bait depending on what was needed.

Finally I had two guys that got the bait at cost price. They used to take 10kg every month or so. They would start off with a 'new' bait just before it was ready to sell to the public and the catch reports from them would give me the confidence to then sell the bait to the general public. They often carried on with that bait for a year or two until the next 'new' bait was ready for final testing. If I asked them to change to a new bait they would do so without question, I looked after them. Yes they got free hoodies when I had a few made

I packed it all in as it needed to grow to the next level and my 'normal' business (electronics design and assembly) is better for me and my family in many ways (its more stable, its growing a lot faster than carp fishing and frankly it pays better!).

I miss not being in the industry at times but its not an industry I would want to depend on to pay my mortgage.

In reply to Post #30
Agree with that, the smaller companies seem to produce the best from what I can see. As for the rebagged mcnut........that bubble has burst as I think anglers are so well connected now. I was guilty of it once too although not by choice. You can have a crap bait and a huge marketing budget and do well in this game or you can play the long game and make decent stuff and let the anglers results do the selling.

In reply to Post #39
Would you like to rebadge my Dog Siht and Custard flavour?

I'm about to start offering Franchises. I'm funding it using a nice man from Nigeria who's recently been in contact with me about a huge lottery win. I've given him my bank details. Just awaiting my money ££££££££££

In reply to Post #40
DSC is a more catchy name 😂😂
“This bait is mustard so get on the custard” 😉

In reply to Post #42
Pmsl Love it.

You know it's a winner. Loads of belacan, nb acid, powdered custard and a vanilla flavour.

I'm thinking about this too much aren't I.

In reply to Post #40
Your Dog **** and Custard would sell if it was in a Mainline or Nash bag.

In reply to Post #45

SHOCK - HORROR!!!

Backstage Mod's room now in turnoil over Bowler's rant!

In reply to Post #48
I doubt it, but it does highlight the lack of neutrality which is the first thing a mod should have.

In reply to Post #49
That's a bit like a neutral home umpire....

In reply to Post #49
Bowler stumped by spin